Gobbler hunting with a bow

Kay Richey with a jake gobbler she shot with bow and arrow.

 

There are any number of ways to hunt these sharp-eyed birds, but one thing is a constant. Hunters must have some way of concealing the movements necessary when drawing a bow on a strutting gobbler.

Trust me, it's not easy. Turkeys see well, hear well, and there often is enough of them around a gobbler that coming to full draw isn't easy.

One way of doing it, and the most effective way, is to use a pop-up ground blind of camouflage material. These blinds take hardly any time to set up, and a bit of natural grasses or broken tree branches can allow a hunter and his blind to blend right in.

One way to do it is to locate a gobbler or two the night before, watch them fly up to roost, and return the next morning well before dawn. Set up the blind in the dark as quietly as possible, climb inside, sit down and stay quiet.

Sometimes gobblers will gobble first, but often small birds will be chirping and then the crows start to fly. The cawing of crows often triggers a spirited gobble.

Don't get impatient and hurry a bow shot before it's time.

 

I prefer to let the birds gobble two or three times before making a soft and short yelp. That's it, just one very soft call. Gobblers aren't deaf, and if they hear it and haven't been spooked, they will answer.

Just sit tight. It's not necessary to answer every gobble. In fact, let them gobble one or two more times, and make one more soft tree yelp. Listen for the birds to gobble from the roost, and then beat old turkey wing feathers against tree branches like a hen flying to the ground.

The gobblers will hear that, and often gobble again, and one more soft yelp is usually all it takes. If you are using decoys, there are different schools of thought on decoy placement.

I like to use two hen decoys and one jake decoy. I like the jake decoy facing the blind and the hens five or six yards farther out. When the gobblers come to the decoys, it's best to place the jake about 18 to 20 yards away and facing the pop-up blind. This will normally put the live gobbler between the jake decoy and you.

Gobblers almost always will head for the jake decoy, and I've watched adult gobblers jump up on the jake decoy, knock it over, and start putting the spurs to the decoy.

Shooting the gobbler is pretty easy with a shotgun, but it is much more difficult with a bow. Gobblers can stand still for long minutes, but when they come to the call and decoys, they are moving around.

Two certain shots are possible. A shot taken at a gobbler facing directly at the hunter is fairly easy but I know many people who wind up killing the bird but slicing off the beard in the process.

Wait for the bird to drop his wing-tips, spread his tail feathers, and prance around. Once the bird stops, aim for a spot just below where the beard comes out of the chest, lower the sight three or four inches, and try to hit just to one side or other of the beard. Done properly, this will kill the bird quickly.

The other way is to wait for the bird to start strutting, and let the gobbler turn all the way around to face the jake decoy. Aim for the center where all the tail-feather quills go into the back end of the turkey, and take a well-aimed shot.

Place the jake decoy in front of you and shoot when the gobbler goes to it.

 

A mortally wounded turkey will almost always shoot 10 to 12 feet straight up into the air, and fall back dead. I strongly suggest using a Game Tracker unit, because if the bird is not mortally wounded, it will fly or run off. The bird may not travel too far, but if it goes out of sight, they can become nearly impossible to find. A  string tracker can be a big help in recovering the bird.

Do not take side shots at a gobbler. The wing bones and feathers are heavy, and it's difficult to place an arrow through the wing feathers. I've talked to a few turkey hunters who say they shoot their bird at the juncture of the head and neck with an arrow, but it would be a difficult shot because a gobbler's head is always moving.

Of utmost importance is to position the blind so a shot can be taken sitting down. If the tent has horizontal and vertical windows, position a vertical window in front of you. Sit back, with full camouflage on, and wait for the bird to get into the proper position for a shot.

My wife has shot two gobblers with a bow.

 

My wife has shot two nice gobblers with her bow, and everything must into place in order to be successful. It is even more of a heart-pounder if a longbeard is taken with stick and string.

Turkey hunting with a bow is a major challenge. It's not easy with a bow, but when it works, it offers a surge of adrenaline that will be hard to forget.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Shoot lower draw weights

An accurate shot with a lower-poundage bow can be deadly.

Even big bucks can be killed with sharp broadheads and low draw weight. Doubt that? Well, don't bet big money against it.

I've seen it thousands of times over the past 30 years as more hunters are drawn to bow hunting. The strongest looking guy on a 3-D course has muscles in his spit, and he delights in telling others how he pulls 92 pounds or some such thing.

He tells others he is dead-on at 60 yards, and his arrow speed is well over 340 feet-per-second. He usually insults other hunters by asking them how much weight they draw, as if it's any of his business.

Be more comfortable and accurate: shoot lower draw weight.

If they answer 55 pounds, 60 pounds or 65 pounds, he criticizes them for not shooting more poundage. Such jokers attend one or two 3-D shoots, and then wonder why no one wants to shoot with him. Such people can become intimidating bores. Shooting high draw weights can be dangerous to your health.

Other than because of a personal belief, there is very little need why any sane person should be pulling 90 pounds or more. It's not needed, and drawing so much weight doesn't make most people a better archer.

In fact, one could argue the case that too much draw weight can make them a worse shot. How so?

It's easy. Anyone who draws that much weight is an accident waiting for a place to happen. There used to be a guy I knew, and he had to retune his bow after every four or five shots. The vibration of the shot was so violent his bow would go out of tune. Watching it explore made some people want to take up croquet.

Once, the bow blew up when he shot an arrow much too light for his draw weight. The bow disintegrated in his hand, and only through sheer good fortune, did he escape serious injury. He was cut up some when things started flying off his bow.

Trust me -- shooting too much draw weight can be hazardous to your health.

A month later, as he cranked his bow up another two pounds, he drew it back with visible difficulty, and shot one arrow. It was on the second shot that he blew out a couple of shoulder muscles, and the last thing I knew he was pulling 55 pounds. His he-man days had painfully ended.
Heavy draw weight can cause lasting damage to back and shoulders.

He no longer razzs other hunters about their meek draw weight. He learned a lesson he'll never forget. Too much draw weight can cause long-lasting injuries.

The one thing such macho guys believe is that pulling heavy-duty weight helps them. Another guy I once knew cranked his bow up to 85 pounds, and he knew he was teetering on the ragged edge of too much draw weight. He gritted his teeth, and when he shot, he would miss the kill zone by a foot or more. He wounded too many dee that couldn't be recovered, and also wound up hurting himself. He no longer hunts with a bow.

Most of the deer shot in Michigan and other states are taken at 20 yards or less. It doesn't take a heavy draw weight to shoot a razor-sharp broadhead through a deer with 35-40 pounds.

One woman I know is extremely accurate. She has good eyes, good form, and has shot over 300 chipmunks and red squirrels around her home using a bow and arrow. She rarely misses, and if she draws on either one of the small rodents, it was dead but doesn't know it yet.

She gradually built up her strength to draw 40 pounds, and she shoots deer every year. She shoots arrows clean through the deer with a two-blade broadhead, and that points out the two things any bow hunter needs to be effective in the deer woods. They need to be able to be accurate, and must shoot arrows tipped with razor-like broadheads.

Shooting accurately with razor-sharp broadheads is important.

It's hard to over-emphasize what sharp broadheads mean.

Most factory broadheads are not razor sharp. If you shoot a replaceable blade broadhead, choose one with the sharpest possible blades. If you choose a fixed-blade broadhead, choose a two-blade head than can be sharpened by hand.

We use a flat file to get the broadhead reasonably sharp, and then we put the finishing touches on with a stone. The tiny burrs on the edge are removed on a leather strop like the ones barbers once used to shave with.

It doesn't require he-man strength to shoot a deer. It does require accurate shot placement, and very sharp broadheads. A bow shooting an arrow at 180 feet-per-second or faster, and an arrow tipped with a very sharp broadhead, is far more effective than a bad hit from an arrow traveling 300 feet-per-second. Too much draw weight can lead to target panic and flinching.

It's a matter of concentration and skill rather than one of brawn and bluster. A cool hand, under pressure, can place an arrow accurately, and the sharp broadhead does the rest.

Which of these two scenario do you think works the best?

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Practice: Broadheads or target points?

I'm not an expert at anything. I just report what works for me. My way is not the only way, but it works and has been my system for more than 30 years.

Take, for instance, the controversy that promotes shooting target points first and then broadheads once it's time to hunt. It seems to be a pretty simple transition, doesn't it?

This question comes my way many times every year as bow hunters start putting in more time on the target ranges. Many hunters spend many hours shooting at hay bales, sand piles, 3-D or other targets with their target points when not actually hunting.

Thorough practice on a target is important  but is it necessary to do it twice?

Their bow and sights are dead-on for various ranges, and most feel they are set for bow hunting. The first day out, along comes a nice buck or a fat doe, and by now they've switched to broadhead. Back, ever so slowly, comes the bow string to a firm anchor point. The hunter nudges the sight into its proper aiming point, and makes a smooth release.

Perhaps he hits but maybe he doesn't. It could be a complete miss. Is it target panic? Is it a case of jittery nerves or buck fever? Or, could it be something much different?

Good questions. Tough ones to answer. Two schools of thought exist, and who is to say which is right or wrong?

Each of us has a personal philosophy, and here is mine. I practice by shooting broadheads, and for what I consider to be very good reasons. I don't want to sight in my bow with target points, and then have to do the job all over again with broadheads.

Yeah, sure, I know! Many makers of broadheads say their heads fly just like target points. Again, some do and some don't. Are you willing to trust perhaps your only chance of the season to a manufacturer's promise?

For many years I had a big deep sand-pile in the backyard. I'd shoot off my back deck at a target set up in front of the sand. One by one, the broadheads would cleave through the target paper outlined with the vitals of a deer, and the arrows would plunge into the sand.

Sure, shooting broadheads into sand will dull them. I don't care because I've shot two-blade fixed-blade broadheads for many years. I have to sharpen them anyway so what difference does it make? None, to my way of thinking. In fact, I think it makes perfect sense.

I eliminate the target point phase and begin with broadheads.

Starting out with broadheads eliminates having to shoot target points and then sighting in again with hunting heads. I get the program done right, the first time, and don't have to keep fiddling with my bow sights. The time I save can better be spent on pre-season scouting.

Granted, some open-on-impact broadheads shoot almost like a target point but they are very expensive and most hunters don't want to shoot them into a target or sand-pile. Can't blame 'em for that, but how else can they practice to determine if they shoot like target points?

So, let's consider the alternative. We buy a dozen quality arrow shafts, cut them to the right length, and keep six for target practice and six for hunting. We shoot six arrows at the target, mess with the sights a little bit, shoot another six arrows, and sooner or later our target arrows will be smacking into into the heart-lung area of a 3-D deer target.

So we shoot and shoot during the summer with our target arrows, shoot vanes off other arrows, and occasionally by luck or skill, will Robin Hood (shoot one arrow down the shaft of another arrow), and we know we are shooting very well at that point.

The summer passes, as it has through July, August, and soon we’ll be into September, and we become as serious as a heart attack about preparing for what may be our bow season's shot-of-the-season.

Will we be ready and on-target for the season opener on Oct. 1.

It's time to test our broadheads. The season has opened, and already we're looking forward to the rut. Our sight system may or may not be right for the broadheads. The two-, three-, four- or even five-blade broadheads suddenly start acting quirky. They no longer hit at the aMW point of aim as our field tips did.

They plane to the left or right, shoot high or low, and may impact the target nock-high, nock-low, nock-right or nock-left. We try to tune the sights to get the same results as with target points, and often find it difficult to do. We may finally have to make adjustments to the nock, move the arrow rest in or out, to the right or left, and we are soon back at Square 1 -- sighting in the bow the second time.

I choose to bypass the target point phase, and stick with broadheads. I have Block targets in my 25-YARD basement archery range, and sure, they get chewed up by broadheads, but if necessary, I buy another Block target for indoor shooting.

The whole purpose of bow hunting for whitetail deer is to shoot a straight arrow, each and every time you shoot at a buck or doe, and you want to know exactly where that arrow is going.

I'm not saying it can't be done by shooting first with target points, and then switching to broadheads, but one factor against shooting multiple-blade heads is it does two or three times the damage to a target as two-blade heads. So, I stick with the razor sharp two-blade, begin shooting with them, and when it comes time for a shot, I'm ready.

I don't have to worry about arrows veering off in odd directions. I know precisely where my arrow is going, on each and every shot. Such is not always the case when we switch from one to the other, and then don't shoot broadheads because we don't want to rip up targets.

My way works for me, and that is plenty good enough for this bow hunter. How you do it also is a matter of personal choice. Don't feel you must imitate my system, but be forewarned that sighting in a bow the second time can be a waste of that valuable commodity.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors