My story kind of starts out on Sunday morning when i went to listen for birds. I didn't have far to go so i left about five AM on Sunday morning, i heard four gobblers and had been watching the long range weather forecast so i decided to set up my blind Sunday afternoon for Tuesday morning because they were calling for rain late Monday and Tuesday. I hate to set it up in the dark so i set it up ahead of time, i was set for today. I arrived early this morning i set up my decoys and made myself comfy and it was only 5:15. I sat back in my seat and poured a cup of coffee from my thermos, wow was it terrible i made instant and put too much in it :scared: About 5:30 i heard the first gobble he was quite a ways away but i thought no way am i moving now, a little later i heard a different one, each in opposite directions. I thought i had it made surely one of them will come in, i waited for it to get good and light then i called the one to my left answered back right away. A little while later he was on the ground and headed my way gobbling his head off, the next thin i heard was not good it sounded like a guy hooting on a juice can type owl hooter, using the classic who cooks for who cooks for you all. About five minuets later all hell breaks loose, five deer come running by like they were on fire after that i heard nothing. I sat there and called once and awhile but heard nothing, about 7:30 i heard a shotgun blast at the other end of the woods but i held tight. I thought to myself I'm just going to sit here and drink my crummy coffee and eat my snacks calling once in awhile. A few times i thought about leaving but i hung in there, at 11:30 for some reason i looked out the window on the side that i had to lean way over to see. Low and behold there stands a Jake at about 40 paces, he turns and starts to walk away, so i called real soft to him next thing you know he turns and starts my way. On his way he sees the decoys and his head turns red white and blue but he never makes a peep. Now i see there is more than one, three of them total. They are coming in perfect for me to get a shot, i had to kneel down and get ready. I let the first one walk because the next one looks bigger, i draw my bow anchor they stop i release and watch my arrow fly just over his back, i was right in line were i wanted to be i picked a spot it just was about three inches higher than i wanted. They putted and left i was glad i was on my knees because my legs were shaking some after it was all over. Even though they were jakes i think it was the most exciting moment i have ever experienced while turkey hunting. I had though if i had my gun it would have been over before it started but with my recurve it unfolded nicely and even though i missed it i still had a blast. I can't wait till Thursday that is my next day off.
Sounds awesome....to get to full draw on a bird is pretty outstanding on its own. Get em next time!
sounds like you had a ball man way to go :biglaugh:
By the way the birds were at 16 paces when i shot.
That's why they call it huntin' :thumbsup:
Good for you. Get him next time!!
Larry
Awsome story,, That heighting of awarness of your shot and the rush following with bow and arrow is awsome. Good luck on your next hunt sounds like your doing great. JB
James : Sounds like a great day to me , turkeys are so cool.We should get together and hunt some time . I hunt some over in Nunda and Letchworth . Also hunt behind Stonybrook park and in Dalton. Good Luck :0) Drew
Great hunt Stone, I had a bird gobbling on the roost this morning about 100 yards from my blind.... I tree yelped once to him, ... he answered and I shut up,..... I heard a hen yelp from that direction and that-was-that..... he never gobbled again.
Hunted till noon and never saw a bird..... but they are there..... Patience is the name of the game with turkeys!
Hang in there!
Sounds like a GREAT DAY Jim!!!!!
I drew a big Goose Egg today LOL,Never even heard a gobble :confused:
Ah,the time spent in the feild pursuing the critters is what its all about,to connect with one is a added bounus! Ya will connect yet . Nice story stone knife. :wavey:
Great Story James! Thanks for the good read... :) ...
... mike ...
Well....my day started at 5am and as I stood in my driveway at 5:45...I let out some loud crow calls. Immediately in the back 2 toms gobbled back.
I smiled, got in my truck and went to work...I'm off Wed/Thurs...so you know where I'll be tomorrow morning, just hope the rain holds off.
Good luck to all you bow benders!
Thanks for shaing that. Beats the heck out of workin!!
Argh so close, but so far!!! they are an exciting critter to hunt for sure, Good luck on your next hunt. I have to work all week and had 2 birds gobbling next to the shop, was all I could do to go in the building.( I didnt even look toward the edge, if a saw birds I would have blown off work hehehe)I do have a 3 day week-end, so I'm going to hunt it hard for turkeys in the am and arrowheads in the after-noon. Hope to have a few nice hunts and smoke some turkey breast's and have a pocket full of arrowheads.
JIm very nice. I was up at 4:30 and in the woods by 5:15, I was amazed at how light it was already. I set up my DB and was putiing out my dekes when I hear a gobble, and than two more. It sounded like to big birds about 100 yards away and a jake about 80 yards off. I got settled in and waited until 5:30 and let out a few yelps. I got an immediate response and heard 2 birds fly down. I did not call again until 6am. I got another gobble down along the creek about 50 yards away and that was it. I called every 10 minutes until 6:30 and than my wife called and said, "pack it in your gonna be late for work!!" I folded up and off I went in lessthan 5 minutes, that is why I love my DB. I had to be to work by 7am. I pulled out on to the toad and went 200 yards and there stand two big toms and a hen not 100 yards from where I was set up, they were right near the hedge row in the rabbit valley. I am gonna give it another go Thursday morning!! Shawn
Stone, the satisfaction is what its all about.Glad you had a good time.I was skunked but saw a lot of game.They stopped gobbling after 7:15 for me, theyve never done that where I was hunting before.Got the next 4 days off so Ill get after em again.
Set up at 5:15 this morning and got in a little close to a big bird on the roost. He didn't pick me off, but had to hear me setting up. He was gobbling his fool head off. Double and triple gobbling. I was on a ridge top and he was in a tree about 40 yards away. I knew he would pitch down on the ridge and I was hoping he would come right in. I was snuggled up real good in some nice thick blackberry brush. I was giving him some soft yelps and purrs just to let him know I was ready for him. He pitched off the roost and landed on the ridge top not 35 yards away, might as well be 135. I gave a couple soft yelps, he gobbles and proceeds to walk down the hill in the opposite direction. He hurt my feelings, I was sounding all sexy and ready and he turned his back on me. I gave a little more excited yelps, with some cutting in and found out why he left me. There was a group of hens further down the ridge that I didn't see. They didn't like me competing with their man so gave me the business. I immediately pulled up and went in the opposite direction to a flat about 150 yards away. I set up and snuggled into some more briars, nothing like getting a butt full of stickers. After I set up I pulled out the raspy hen calls and proceeded to fire the hens up. It worked just like it was supposed to and I pulled the hens right in. Three came straight in and saw something they didn't like. They were putting and making a general nuisance of themselves. Fortunately, the big boy was occupied with a hen and didn't pay them any attention... 20 something #s, 10" beard, and 1 1/4" spurs. He is a bona fide limbhanger. I have pictures! What a great morning before heading off to work!
Nice stories guys and congrats on the bird Terry.
I got one this am with (shhhhh) the bang stick.
Now for the rest of the season its bow all the way :0) Best of luck :0) Drew
Andy, if you had a great morning and enjoyed your time afield, then it doesn't matter what you were toting! Congratulations on a successful hunt!
Thanks Terry :0) :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I will be heading out tomorrow around nine...I wish I could get out there at first light, but I will take what time in the woods I can get. I still hear em gobbling every night and every morning, and only one has been taken around here(with a boomstick) which was 18# and had a nine inch beard.
These stories have been killing me....I will post tomorrow after the hunt.
I had no gobbles off the roost today, but at 8:10 had a nice big old hen come right in to the decoys at 7-9 yards clucking. She stood around for a few seconds then walked off behind me. This proved my blind set up was good....
Near 10:00 I heard a faint gobble in response to a call... then a crow called and he gobbled. I knew right off he was a jake by the way he sounded.... He came quickly to my calls and was circling at 20-25 yards to my right when he saw my jake decoy. He took one look and turned and snuck away. I had a hen and a jake decoy out..... Now I was second guessing about putting out that jake decoy, or maybe the decoy's head is to blue-gray and looks too dominate, maybe it should be all red?
Anyway at 10:30 I heard a gobbler sound off and there were two birds answering my cutting.... I called some more and they came closer and closer.... I thought I would see them any second but then I heard a hen call and the next time they gobbled to answer my cutting they were far off again. I stuck it out till 11:30 then walked out. Excellent morning....
I set my blind up tonight in a different spot all kinds of fresh scratching it was still wet. Glad i moved locations i heard someone trying to roost one blowing on a crow call right were i was the other day. I'll have to report tomorrow and let you know what happens. Good luck everyone. I have shot a lot of them with a bang stick nothing wrong with it, but not this year it will be trad or no bird for me.
Took my son this morning before he had to go to school. We had 4 gobbling around us, but we also had a dozen hens to compete with. The hens did not want to share their boyfriends and led them away. Good morning though. We learned something for tomorrow morning.
I went out about 9:30 with the idea of walking around looking for a lonely gobbler to answer some yelps, or a crow call. I walked up on a doe with last years young ones following. They took about a minute to decide I was not supposed to be there. Had a chicadee land on my head(I was calling them too)lol. I found a ton of may apples and fiddleheads. Oh yeah....didnt hear a single note from the turkey kind...nor did I find any fresh sign. Great morning though.
Being new to New York - what's a Fiddlehead? Is it one of the smaller black morel mushrooms? Also, do you get the big yellow morels up here?
Had almost the exact same thing happen on a shot I had at one. Just missed. I had no problem finding my arrow(another good reason for a string tracker!) Better luck to both of us next time!
The sounds of spring, my favourite part! Nothing beats turkeys Gobbling at first light. Great story, were ready for chapter two and the pictures to boot. Good luck!
IndianaBowman, google Fiddlehead fern
Went out today saw three guys waling in the other end of the woods. I heard one gobble on roost two times, at about 6:10 he started gobbling on the ground after i called he answered every cluck i made then nothing. He must have found a girlfriend, i took my mounted turkey out for the first time she's a bearded hen i have had for over 20 years. My daughter named her Frazier when she was little. I'm really interested in what kind of reactions i get from even the hens, no luck today maybe tomorrow.
IndianaBowman, fiddleheads are the tops of ferns, sauted in garlic. A few of the restaurants pay top dollar for em, and offer them as a side.
I have seen a few morels around here....dont know what kind they are..when I showed my brother they disappeared.
I was striper fishing tonight on the Hudson....gobblers were going nuts on the islands. Might make it back out for a few tomorrow....
Thank Jamie! If you ever need someone to hold your boat on the water and help pay for Herring let me know! I love to striper fish and haven't found the boat I want to buy yet. I want one to bowfish, duck hunt, striper fish, and pull kids on skis. Any ideas?
Going to Moose River Plains tonight in the Dacks.Ive seen very little turkey sign there over the years while deer hunting, a few feathers and bout a dozen birds but its still an experience to be in the big woods.Brookies on nymphs and Heineken afterwards will be reward enough if no birds meet my grizzly tipped cedars.
Israel,
Sounds like a good time, you might have better luck than me. I heard birds this morning even had one go by gobbling at 100 yards or so, a little later i heard three shot in a row that's never good in spring turkey season. A half hour later i hear something walking and it's big. Turns out to be the neighbor he was the one that shot he thinks he broke a wing on it. I talked with him for awhile then setup on the other end of the woods but heard and saw nothing. Tomorrow my daughter is coming with me maybe she'll change the mojo.
Good luck Stoneknife!! Act like it is a bunny!