I don"t just mean "turkey blind". I went up to Merrillon, Wisconsin last spring to call gobs for my friend,Dick Fisher. My fifth trip over the years. Although Dick lost all sight in 1971 (diabetes), he retains a passion for bowhunting, and has taken a number of big game animals including deer, P&Y pronghorns, and black bear. Blind bowhunter? " Dick has never used a crossbow; he can draw his (Mathews)bow, and his assistant sits behind himto aim with the offset sightand tells him when to release. It's a team effort.
Ourthird and last day foundthe two of usonhis friend Jim"s farm. Jim had gone out the previous night and set up a Double Bull Matrix blind on the edge of a field near a clearcut. We had immediate gobbling that morning, and before long, a mature tom walked by our blind only 2 feet away "we didn"t try to draw on him as we thought he"d go into the decoys " not. A midmorning jake later squeaked byas we considered whether to try for him. Just after noon,a mature gob cranked up, and eventually came charging in to whack the jake decoy set up on top of a hen. We hit the gob amidships, and the bird walked ~80 yds to the nearbyclearcut. After waiting an hour, I walked up to the clearcutonly to flush the gob - Icould have whacked himif I had a 6-foot tennis racket - he labored to getair, and glided 200 yds downhill into some woods. Phone calls brought more help, and we began the search at 4 pm. We immediately found feathers just inside the woods, and the remains of the gob were nearby - all we could recover were a leg and the wing" coyotes must have been waiting there for him with their mouths open, I had seen some earlier in the day. I took a pic of the search crew, Dick is on the left.
Dick did take a 25# turkey in 2004, and became the first blind person (as far as I know) to ever take a turkey with a vertical bow (the storymay get published in "Bowhunter Magazine" this year).
Dick"s health is not the best, diabetes is taking its toll on him " he just turned 70. Dick makes wingbone calls (a neighbor adds the artwork), and he has an unlimited supply of gobbler wingbones from his friendsin Wisconsin. He prefers hen wings for the higher pitch. Dick donates a number of his calls for auction to groups supporting disabled hunters. If you ever have any hen wings you would be willing to donate Dick, PM me, and I will forward you Dick"s mailing address. Dick has done a lot to help blind hunters get into bowhunting; I can pass on poc info if you know someone who needs advice. Dick's wife Betty handles their email.
-fsh
Blind Turkey Bowhunter 0, Coyote 1
