Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

I headed to Kansas on the morning of April 4th hoping to arrive in time and look over some hunting ground and get settled in my Motel. I was able to do both. I spotted 2 groups of Turkeys north of where I was staying, and got a plan for early the next morning.

The downside was the weather man was predicting Cold, Snow, and Windy weather moving in. Like all hunting I have ever done I didn't concern myself with the things that were out of my control and got in a mindset to hunt hard.

The next morning I awoke to temps just below freezing and sustained winds at 35 mph with gusts over 40 mph. I made the short trek to the north, and after setting up Pretty Boy & the WidowMaker decoy Icrawled in my blind at the end of a picked corn field where I had spotted a group of Turkeys the evening before. The field, timber, & creeks put me in whatI believed was a good spot.

Hearing Turkeys was out of the question at any distance with the wind. It wasn't long before I spotted Turkeys in the field west of me. They were soon in the middle and a group of 4 of the long beards spotted Pretty Boy and here they came at a fast trot. Pretty Boy did not stand a chance against these 4 intruders and soon lay on his side.

The challenge for me was to pick out the biggest and hope he would stand still while I slipped a Grizz Trick through him from only 15 yards away. It happened faster than I can tell about it. My 1st Rio was on the ground! I shot him with my 09 BowTech Sentinel (no it was not too long to shoot out of a blind) It was set up with a Limb Driver arrow rest, HHA Optimizer sight, B Stinger stabilizer, shooting CX Aramid 250's tipped with Grizz Tricks.
My Turkey weighed 25#
10" Beard
1" spurs

I was very pleased indeed.

Dan

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

That afternoon I tried another spot just east of where I had been that morning. I had also spotted a group of Turkeys there the evening I arrived. The winds had picked up even more during the day to a steady 40 plus mph,and temps had actually fallen a little. The 7 hour set was pretty uneventfulas I had one hen come by and check out the decoys, and I spotted 2 Gobblers 150 yards or so working through the timber right before dusk.

Ok back to plan A and the corn field the next morning. It was 17 degrees with winds that had calmed to 20 mph, and I could actually hear Turkeys on the roost this morning, and I was excited about the next couple of hours ahead. I had set Pretty Boy & the WM hen up the same way as the previous morning.

There were soon Turkeys all over the field and I began calling but not overly aggressive. It was not long before 5 Turkeys broke out of the group and headed for the decoys again. This time I was Not so fortunate as they were 5 Jakes and I decided to pass since there were at least 3 long beards in the field. Several Hens followed the Jakestothe decoysand had me pinned down for a while. Soon the group went back to the west and I decided to give a few yelps. I then heard a Gobble behind me and across a big creek, but after investigating I could not see anything.

I kept working the calls every once in a while and after about 15 minutes I heard the Gobble behind me again, only this time it Boomed, and I knew he was fairly close. I again looked for him and finally spotted the top of his fan on the other side of the creek at the edge of the field. Time to hit the call again and I got a booming Gobble in return. Within seconds I had 3 Mature Gobblers on the opposite creek bank Struttin' their stuff. Another yelp and they all 3 gobbled at once. What a rush!! I was only hoping they would cross the creek.

I then thought I heard something out in the field, but after checking it out for a couple of minutes decided it was nothing. When I looked back to check on the 3 Gobblers they were on my side of the creek and heading a little behind me. Another yelp on the call got a triple Gobble and they soon spotted the decoys and all 3 came to full strut, spittin, and drummin' within 5 yards to the east of the blind.

Here they came to the decoys and would soon offer me a shot. I had decided to pack in the Ross Carnivore 31 this morning. It wasn't long before I was at full draw on a Gobbler at 10 yards and let it eat! The Ross was setup with a Hostage Octane Pro arrow rest, ViperPredator Micro Tune sight in matching AP,Alpine SoftLoc quiver, Vibracheck stabilizer, shooting Easton XX75 2013's tipped with Grizz Tricks and sporting Firenocks which worked flawless. This Gobbler was of the Eastern variety and a beautiful specimen for sure.

He weighed 24#
9" beard
1" spurs

2 days, 2 Turkeys down in less than 20 yards, and these 2 gobblersmade my 5th killed with Slick Tricks.

I guess like most Hunters I was elated to have had such quick success, but to a degree saddened that the next morning would find me on the road home and Not in a blind listening to Turkeys.

For everyone that tried to contact me while I had limited access, Thanks for your Patience!! You will be taken care of!

Dan

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Awesome Dan! Nice to see the birds youi were telling me about!!

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Congrats!!! Great pics

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Seems like an incredible time! Congratulations on what look like 2 awesome birds.

Just out of curiosity, why the two different bows for the two hunts?

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Congrats on two GREAT gobblers! That was fun to read, but I'm sure it wasn't near as fun as being there!

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

I actually got the Carnivore 31 and rigged it up with Turkeys out of a blind in mind, but I had also gotten my Sentinel riggedin the last couple of weeks and had been shooting it as well as any bow I've ever owned.

It may well be my go to bow for Whitetails this fall, and I didn't want any jealousy in the ranks so I decided to let it draw first blood.

I also wanted to test it out in a blind. I remember when anything sub 37" was considered short, and I had No problems shooting the Sentinel out of the blind.:D

Thanks to everyone so far for the Congrats! It was a Blast!!

Dan

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Way to put em down!

Congrats :)

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Congratulation's Dan, well done!!

RE: Kansas Turkey Trip!
 

Thanks for sharing your hunt/story with us.