Team 9.....My first bow turkey....LONG story
05-12-2007, 04:43 AM
#1
Dominant Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
Team 9.....My first bow turkey....LONG story
I’d roosted birds in the same spot for a few nights…..only to have them skirt me on the way out on Thursday and Friday mornings. So….I got into the woods on Friday evening in the spot where I thought I’d either: a) have a better spot for Saturday morning or b) catch them going to roost. I ended up setting up not 30 feet from where I’d taken my first deer with the bow.
About 5:00…..a thunderstorm starts to roll in. I’m a little spooked…..but I figure I’ll ride it out in the DB if it hits. I DID look to see if there were any trees that look like they might fall my way before I set the blind up…lol. Thunder starts cracking…..and the good side of that is…..shock gobbling. They would gobble at a distance when the thunder was closer. I thought I heard a gobbler getting closer as time went on. At 6:00…..I’d bent over to look out……and I see 2 Jakes RUNNING towards me, but to my right. They got to about 50 yds…..and were looking in my direction. It had been about 10 minutes since I’d run my last series of yelps…..and I wasn’t going to call to them, again. I started crunching leaves……and they looked in my direction for about 30 seconds…….then both turned away in the direction they had come from and left almost as quickly as they’d arrived. I was mortified. WHY didn’t they come to my Jenna (long story…but I named my deke after a famous……”character” who loves to roll in the hay). I noticed that I’d set her up on the side of a deadfall…..and that they likely couldn’t see her from where they were (only place they couldn’t see her). Lesson learned.
10 minutes later I see a bird to my left. A couple of purrs….and it’s heading in my direction. I’m glassing the bird and there’s NO BEARD. It was the biggest hen I’ve ever seen. She walks by at about 7 yds (right by Jenna) and perches on the deadfall. She is a HUGE girl….and the most vocal hen I’ve heard all season. I play with her….calling back and forth….thinking our “conversation” may draw in a gobbler.
I heard gobble after gobble after gobble as the storm skirted my location. There must have been 10 gobblers working the area (mile?). I heard 2 gobblers that had gotten behind me (where they’d been roosting the previous nights) and this was VERY frustrating. I heard 2 more seemingly headed in that direction. Oh well…..tomorrow was looking good if nothing else.
7:00….and I see 4 birds crest the knoll (I’m turkey hunting in my deer honey hole). They stop at about 50 yds……and take a right. DANG! What don’t they like about my set-up?? I KNOW they can see Jenna……but they’re not committing. I see one LONGbeard……and 3 jakes. They head to the right…..and no amount of leaf crunching or purring will entice them to come closer.
A few minutes later……2 of the jakes start to return. They hang up over the hill…..and sit there fanned out…..silent…..seemingly cleaning themselves by picking at their feathers. No dice on coming closer, though. The 3rd jake then appears…..and it seems like they’re spurring one another and jousting over who might get to court my Jenna. All I’m doing now is sliding my foot back and forth in the leaves. They FINALLY start to commit……and I see one starting to my right a little. I quietly lower the blind on that side …..trying not to be detected. I can tell that I’m NOT going to be able to get a shot from my chair……and I get on a knee. When he gets to 20 yds………..I shoot. Miss. I can NOT believe it. Everything was “right”. How did I miss? More on this, later.
He scurries around more to the right and out of range…..and back to the other birds. I nock another arrow……and begin scratching the leaves again…..and he backtracks to my right, again. I range him at 30 yds, this time……and come to full draw. I have to let down when he doesn’t stop…..and walks behind a tree. I decide to draw, again, when I see his head. I see it…..draw……and he comes to a stop…..offering a perfect broadside shot. I loose my arrow and it THUMPS him. It’s 7:40.
He flops and jumps up over the knoll…….and I hear the other birds going crazy….I’m guessing they’re jumping on him. I didn’t know what to do. In haste……I nock another arrow and start creeping that way. I get behind a tree and see the other 2…….I have a shot. I THEN remember I can only shoot one a day (2 a season). I stay behind the big tree until I see them and hear them leave…..then I start the SLOW journey over the knoll. It only takes me about 20 seconds to spot him……not 10 yds from where he’d been hit. He’s done.
MANY emotions go through me…….not the least of which was a feeling of pride and perseverance. This was my 25th bowhunt for these birds, this season. I glassed him and concluded he was, indeed, done……then went over to get my 1st bow bird.
I called Rob/PA to tell him of my news…..and was describing the scene as it unfolded. I told him of my miss, too……but it wasn’t until later in the night that I remembered something. I remember being in SO much disbelief when I’d missed. I was trying to decipher what had happened……..when I noticed the hole in my blind. I’d shot through the blind with my mechanical head. I guess the drag when it opened strayed my arrow just enough to miss the bird. I stepped off the kill shot. 30 yds.
Here’s the end result of a TOUGH turkey season in NC. I’m done. Family day, today. I’d like to thank ALL of you who lived this season WITH me. He’s part yours.
Thanks, to all.
Sincerely
About 5:00…..a thunderstorm starts to roll in. I’m a little spooked…..but I figure I’ll ride it out in the DB if it hits. I DID look to see if there were any trees that look like they might fall my way before I set the blind up…lol. Thunder starts cracking…..and the good side of that is…..shock gobbling. They would gobble at a distance when the thunder was closer. I thought I heard a gobbler getting closer as time went on. At 6:00…..I’d bent over to look out……and I see 2 Jakes RUNNING towards me, but to my right. They got to about 50 yds…..and were looking in my direction. It had been about 10 minutes since I’d run my last series of yelps…..and I wasn’t going to call to them, again. I started crunching leaves……and they looked in my direction for about 30 seconds…….then both turned away in the direction they had come from and left almost as quickly as they’d arrived. I was mortified. WHY didn’t they come to my Jenna (long story…but I named my deke after a famous……”character” who loves to roll in the hay). I noticed that I’d set her up on the side of a deadfall…..and that they likely couldn’t see her from where they were (only place they couldn’t see her). Lesson learned.
10 minutes later I see a bird to my left. A couple of purrs….and it’s heading in my direction. I’m glassing the bird and there’s NO BEARD. It was the biggest hen I’ve ever seen. She walks by at about 7 yds (right by Jenna) and perches on the deadfall. She is a HUGE girl….and the most vocal hen I’ve heard all season. I play with her….calling back and forth….thinking our “conversation” may draw in a gobbler.
I heard gobble after gobble after gobble as the storm skirted my location. There must have been 10 gobblers working the area (mile?). I heard 2 gobblers that had gotten behind me (where they’d been roosting the previous nights) and this was VERY frustrating. I heard 2 more seemingly headed in that direction. Oh well…..tomorrow was looking good if nothing else.
7:00….and I see 4 birds crest the knoll (I’m turkey hunting in my deer honey hole). They stop at about 50 yds……and take a right. DANG! What don’t they like about my set-up?? I KNOW they can see Jenna……but they’re not committing. I see one LONGbeard……and 3 jakes. They head to the right…..and no amount of leaf crunching or purring will entice them to come closer.
A few minutes later……2 of the jakes start to return. They hang up over the hill…..and sit there fanned out…..silent…..seemingly cleaning themselves by picking at their feathers. No dice on coming closer, though. The 3rd jake then appears…..and it seems like they’re spurring one another and jousting over who might get to court my Jenna. All I’m doing now is sliding my foot back and forth in the leaves. They FINALLY start to commit……and I see one starting to my right a little. I quietly lower the blind on that side …..trying not to be detected. I can tell that I’m NOT going to be able to get a shot from my chair……and I get on a knee. When he gets to 20 yds………..I shoot. Miss. I can NOT believe it. Everything was “right”. How did I miss? More on this, later.
He scurries around more to the right and out of range…..and back to the other birds. I nock another arrow……and begin scratching the leaves again…..and he backtracks to my right, again. I range him at 30 yds, this time……and come to full draw. I have to let down when he doesn’t stop…..and walks behind a tree. I decide to draw, again, when I see his head. I see it…..draw……and he comes to a stop…..offering a perfect broadside shot. I loose my arrow and it THUMPS him. It’s 7:40.
He flops and jumps up over the knoll…….and I hear the other birds going crazy….I’m guessing they’re jumping on him. I didn’t know what to do. In haste……I nock another arrow and start creeping that way. I get behind a tree and see the other 2…….I have a shot. I THEN remember I can only shoot one a day (2 a season). I stay behind the big tree until I see them and hear them leave…..then I start the SLOW journey over the knoll. It only takes me about 20 seconds to spot him……not 10 yds from where he’d been hit. He’s done.
MANY emotions go through me…….not the least of which was a feeling of pride and perseverance. This was my 25th bowhunt for these birds, this season. I glassed him and concluded he was, indeed, done……then went over to get my 1st bow bird.
I called Rob/PA to tell him of my news…..and was describing the scene as it unfolded. I told him of my miss, too……but it wasn’t until later in the night that I remembered something. I remember being in SO much disbelief when I’d missed. I was trying to decipher what had happened……..when I noticed the hole in my blind. I’d shot through the blind with my mechanical head. I guess the drag when it opened strayed my arrow just enough to miss the bird. I stepped off the kill shot. 30 yds.
Here’s the end result of a TOUGH turkey season in NC. I’m done. Family day, today. I’d like to thank ALL of you who lived this season WITH me. He’s part yours.
Thanks, to all.
Sincerely
05-12-2007, 08:04 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Brainerd Mn. USA
Posts: 419
RE: Team 9.....My first bow turkey....LONG story
The feeling of success is a great one isn't it! Good going GMMAT! Congrats! I have a tough enough time with a shotgun let alone a bow. Send me his score so I can get him posted on our teame score board.
