Opening morning of Indiana's turkey season found me and my recurve on a familiar ridge overlooking a deep holler awaiting the first tom to sound off. I had taken the time to do some scouting, and after striking out two weekends in KY, I had high hopes my luck would change.
This was a small patch of public ground which I knew held 3 longbeards. At first light, the first tom revealed his location with a thunderous call. I wasted no time, and slipped in quietly to set up my decoy and blind. A short while later, I realized he wasn't alone. I clearly heard 2 other toms roosted around him.
I made a few calls and was immediately answered. These birds were hot. Everything I threw at them was met with a very quick response. I didn't call a lot, but I made sure they knew I was there. Around 7:00am, I heard the he first bird fly down, and by 7:10, I had 3 tom's strutting around me at about 18 yards. I watched as the last bird, a big wide bearded tom, chased the others away. He was definitely the dominant bird, and he didn't want them near my decoy. After a few minutes of putting on a show, he finally got within 15 yards. I came to anchor and let loose. The arrow sailed right over the turkeys back! I quickly nocked another arrow, but in the excitement, I didn't notice a small limb in my shots path and my arrow was deflected and the turkey decided it was time to exit.
Since this was a small patch of timber, I didn't push the birds. I backed out and tried my luck else where with no luck. That night we had thunder storms, so I had mixed feelings about what to expect on the second mornings hunt. I slipped in early to the same spot. Daylight came and there were no birds to be heard. I decided to slip in a little closer to the birds location from the previous morning and try my luck. I set up my blind be and decoy and settled inside. I called softly a few times and after about 15 minutes, I thought I heard something. I looked to my right,and I could see a tail fan coming my way. As he got closer, I could see it was the same wide bearded bird from the previous morning.
This time he came in silently and never made a peep. He strutted back and forth for a bit and finally I took a shot at 10 yards. He went 10 yards and fell over dead. I was ecstatic, this was my first archery turkey. I must say it was quite the hunt.
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag113/pfraze2/1961EB75-C971-491A-8199-E1DE617A0733_zpsmayvmlze.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/pfraze2/media/1961EB75-C971-491A-8199-E1DE617A0733_zpsmayvmlze.jpg.html)
(http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag113/pfraze2/6332374A-2741-478F-902A-24943BD5C823_zpsm3hnjhtl.jpg) (http://s1301.photobucket.com/user/pfraze2/media/6332374A-2741-478F-902A-24943BD5C823_zpsm3hnjhtl.jpg.html)
Nice!!! Congratulations!
Bravo. I hit one with my car, does that count.
Way to get it done . :thumbsup:
Congrats ! Nice bird and way to stick with it.
Congrats!
Very cool and a nice story too. :thumbsup:
Great hunt and nice shooting! Thanks for sharing.
Congrats! Nice bird!
Way to stay after them!
Congrats on a great bird!
Bisch
Great story! Thank you for sharing your hunt with us. Congratulations.
-Jeremy :coffee:
Way to go sir! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I like it when it happens like that. Now the ice is broken. Can you shoot more than one?
Only allowed 1 bird in the spring. Thanks for all the comments
It is all good but that first one is the best. Congrats...
Awesome! Congrats on your first!
Good stuff brother. You have earned it.
Great story! Congrats to you!
Congrats! :thumbsup:
Congratulations that's a beauty of a bird!
Steve Jr
Congratulations!
Nice! I'm hoping to give it another go this weekend... those birds are tough.
Nice shooting, and thanks for sharing!
Congrats! Great bird!
Fast and clean,well done. Congrats
Great bird and shot. Thanks for the write up.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Congrats! That's a nice bird.
Congrats. Great story...
Nice bird Perry!!!
I hunted Indiana public land birds alot before I moved from thier to MI.I enjoyed it
You said the bird has a wide beard.It certainly does and judging from the pics it looks to me like it has a tripple multiple beard.I could be wrong as pics are decieving.Sure looks like 3 seperate sections.
Anyways its a beautiful bird and congrats on your success and harvest :)
Well done Perry :thumbsup:
Deno
That is a really nice bird. Congrats on such a trophy!
Thanks for all the comments. This bird only has 1 beard. Being wet give the appearance of multiple beards.