I will start this happy story by giving what I consider to be a most useful "tip". It gets hot in the late spring in the south, and even though you plan on hunting a field edge from a pop-up tent, and think that it will be ok to wear Crocs and short britchesso you won't sweat to death....DON"T DO IT. More on that later.
I have been trying like the devil to get my girlfriend on her first bird all spring. Our season closes Saturday, and yesterday was our last chance together. This morning, even though I felt like half of me was missing (and it really was) I went out to try and kill one with a bow. I have been very blessed in my short 24 years to kill a heck of a lot of turkeys, so I thought I would try to kill my next with a bow. I have been bow hunting for 5 years now, and have taken lots of deer and pigs, but this was the first attempt on turkeys with one. I wore shorts this morning, because I frequently do when I hunt deer from my pop-up tent with a rifle. I knew right where I was going to sit, and knew I wasn't go to be moving, so heck, I wore my Crocs too. The birds have been most uncooperative this year, so I wasn't expecting much. I brought a gallon of sweet tea, a bucket to sit on, a good book and one mouth and one crystal call. Set up the Widowmaker and a feeder about 15 yards in front of me. Didn't hear a thing all morning.
At about 7:30, I knelt down to refill the tea glass and was contimplating getting rid of the morning coffee when I looked up and there he stood in the wheat at 36 yards. Never a gobble, never a kelk, nothing. He took ten quick steps to the right (all I could see was his head), and then he went back to feeding. Amazingly, he didn't spook. Now, my set-up was somewhat hasty.....well ok...to be honest, I thought the blind stood out like a hard on in a pair of sweat pants, but it didn't seem to bother him any. I purred on the mouth call very soft and he finally let out a roar. He moved off to my right and down into the bottom, gobbling his head off at every crow, every horn, every loud noise from the rock quarry. Apparenlty it got him started.
The piece of woods I was sitting in is acctually an "island" of trees in the middle of what amounts to one, but is acctually two large fields. There is a small spot where the farmer has a spot for the tractor to cross a creek that is sort of tight, but otherwise its field on all sides. The block is about a 1/4 miles around (think the track around the high school football field). the bird went across that small bridge, which was 75 yards to my right and came back in behind me. I had the window open in the front of the blind with no screen. Then I had the screens up on the sides and the full window up (black) behind me. This bird, gobbling the whole time, acctually walked
6 feet to my right and looked into the screen of the blind. It reminded me of the T-Rex in Jurrasic Park. I have never been so shook in my life. I thought for sure he was going to see the decoys and keep walking past me, assuming he didn't spook, but he turned around and walked back the way he came! What luck!
He gobbled at least 30 times as he walked out to the far corner of the block. At that point, I really had nothing to lose, so I gobbled back at him. He hollered back twice and I did a challenge purr. While I do this sort of thing on stage and in call demos...this isn't something I make a practice of. The bird was pretty hot and I was guessing (correctly it turned out) that it was a 2 year old. And if there is a bird in the woods that will cooperate, its a 2 year old. This bird came running back around the other side of theblock to my decoys like a fat kid with a dollar to the ice cream truck. He was quartering toward me at 26 yards when I broke the shot, and the Hammerhead took him and inch high and a inch right of the base of the beard and exited right out his posterior orafice. He did a back flip and hit the ground running. He went straight into the thickest thicket on the property, conviently 25 yards to my right. This is why you shouldn't wear shorts. I don't know how that bird made it as far as he did (only 30 yards) because that hammerhead litterally eviserated him. The term, tore him a new one, really does not qualify the damage this head did. The exit wound is really the size of the top of a Dixie cup. He went in to the thickest patch of blackberry, poison ivy and green briar you could ever dream up. I was standing 10 feet from him and had been searching for 45 minutes and was contimplating driving an hour back home to get my golden (if he can find ducks then he can find a turkey right..) when I saw the crest of my arrow. Sure enough...there he was!
This bird put on one heck of a show. I have honestly, never in my life been this shook up as when he came up behind me like that. I have had birds do that before gun hunting on a couple of different occasions, but something about bow hunting one really made it that much more fun.
Bird has 10 1/4" beard with matching 1" spurs. I am guessing the weight at around 18 lbs. Not real big, he might be a little more, but I haven't gotten to weigh him yet as the scale hasn't returned home from a friends house. I'll update later with the weight.
Here is a self portrate. Sorry for the rather poor lighting, had to balance the camera on the bumper of the truck. Here is me, in my shorts and Crocs, with my first attempt...and success....at bow hunting turkeys (I thought everyone said it was a challenge....but even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then what?!)
First time with a bow... One for One
