Bowhunting W/O Blind

[TEmbry]

For those of you who bowhunt spring turkeys, how many do it without the use of a ground blind. Im thinkin hard on trying this in a few months. Obviously having brush to hide you is a plus, but are there any other tips you guys can offer? I wouldnt mind hunting with a blind, but it limits me way to much for the way i like to hunt. In a typical morning i might make 3 or 4 setups and resetting the blind each time would just suck.[:'(]

Any tips on setups or drawing back on birds withouta popup blind?

[kingvjack]

I've tried but never accomplished this feat..... I will try again this spring.

[Bobgobble2]

I can tell youTE being able to use a mouthcall and good use of your decoys can help a ton with the obvious.Having your hands free and his attention somewhere else is a big help.Your set-up is critical too,a gun is alot easier to maneuver than a bow,i've shot a lot of gobblers lying in a prone position with a gun, a bow is out of the question.Your set-up takes a little more thought and forsight in considering this.I would definately practice with your bow too in shooting from the positions you could possibly be in out in the woods hunting.Its far different than the ole silloutes and haybales in the backyard.......good luck Bob..

[vmartin]

in my experience if you are in an ambush situation you need to find yourself a tree to back you up, a seat to elevate you above the ground, and you need to practice pulling your arm back to shoot. if you don't mock shoot before the turkey is there you will run into unexpected movements. movement is the key to turkey hunting, minimize what the turkey see's and try to use a decoy to gethis attention off of you. in any stalking situation with a bow i usually use the crick lines, depressions, and ridges to my advantage. try to find out where they are going and then stand motionless on the far side of a tree and never move a muscle till you are accually going to shoot, most make the mistake of looking around, or moving their bow before the turkey is in a shooting lane. lastly when you shoot pull with a practiced smoothe motion, he usually won't sprint or fly right away, but you will have 2-5 seconds to shoot at a stationary target.

[TeeJay]

All this is true and helpfull, but I have been hunting like this for 5 years now and my best success has came by standing. Stand behind a tree expecially a small evergreen. Bushes work fine too. Something to break your outline up but be able to see through also. Back your poundage WAY down. For you may have to be on draw fow a minute or longer. Draw when bird is on back side of tree or in full stut facing away. I am yet to get a bird that is in plain view. Like mentioned before always try to set up in a ambush situation using a treeline or something. Oh and be prepared for your success rate to vanish. I have got 3 birds in 5 years hunting 3 states. I used to score 3 birds ayear.

[MKMGOBL]

I've got a blind just for bow hunting turkeys.Only problem is that all three of my fall bow kills were from not in it. I'm not sure but I think hunting from a blind in the spring has to be better than in the fall seeing they are easier to call in and predict. With the ones I"™ve taken with the bow, it was a lot of missed opportunities and busted hunts while trying to find the perfect set up. One was taken using a large tree and the other two I set up and used the thicket/hedgerow to conceal myself.

Again, a lot of trial and error but for me, that"™s what make my fall hunting so much damn fun. Best of luck