Alright guys sorry it took me so long to get the story. Work keeps interfering!!
Well this is how the story goes. It was a far cry from being a text book kill but I couldn't be happier with the way it worked out. My mother-in-law has 38 acres that is loaded with birds. My season started on the 20th of April and it was a really slow start. Between weather and home I was not spending as much time in the woods as I would have liked. I hunted all this past weekend in between thunderstorms and didn't hear or see a single bird. Last night my wife, son, and I went to my in-laws for a birthday dinner. We finished up about 7:00 and I told my brother-in-law (who I am starting to convert to traditional) to grab his bow and lets go do some stumping. So we took off. I of course had a few arrows tipped with broadheads and calls in my pocket hoping for the slight chance that I may encounter a bird. We did more walking and talking than shooting which was alright. We got to the back of the property and he was reminiscing about this past deer season. We were about 50 yards from where my blind was sitting just standing talking. A group of crows flew over cawing and all the sudden a gobbler thundered from about 100-200 yards to the south. I told him to jump in the blind. My decoys and everything were still in the blind so we quick set them up and got set up in the blind. I started calling and got an immediate response. He came in on a rope. He covered the distance in about 2-3 minuets. Instead of going to the decoys he took a turn and walked 15 yards down the south side of the blind. I had an opening so I pulled back and let the arrow fly. Just as I released he started to go into a full strut. From what I could see it looked like my arrow blew through his feather without even hesitating. The bird flew up and landed about 40 yards away and just stood there not quite sure what had just happened. I started to purr and cluck quietly on my slate call but the bird would not move. We watched him sit there for probably 15 minuets and nothing was happening. It was now 8:00 and I knew my wife would want to get home and put the kid to bed so I told my brother-in-law to call and I was going to sneak out the back side of the blind and see if I could get another shot at him. Now since I really didn't expect to see any birds that night I was wearing blue jeans, a work polo shirt, my camo sweatshirt and a green and white Michigan State hat (just like in the pics). I walked around the corner of the blind and the bird just sat there. I got to within about 20 yards and he didn't move. I couldn't get another shot because he was lying behind a downed log. I moved to about 15 yards to where I had a clean shot into his body and he started to walk away. I knew something was not right because he never ran or flew. He stopped about 40 yards away on a stump so I drew an arrow and missed by a long shot. He didn't even flinch. I drew my third and last arrow and hit the log he was on right at his feet. He jumped down and walked away but I was out of arrows. I called my brother-in-law out of the blind and told him I was out of arrows so there was nothing more I could do. At this point we still figured I had missed him with the first arrow. We went to the original spot where he was when I took the first shot and found a feather. I worked on digging my broadhead out of a log when my brother-in-law walked to the spot where he sat after the first shot. There was a puddle of blood there so I now knew I hit him. I ended up breaking the arrow that was in the log right at the back of the point so I still didn't have any arrows. My brother-in-law walked over to get my other 2 arrows and the bird was sitting there 10 yards from him. He told me to hurry up and get him but I still had no arrows. By the time I got over there to get the other arrows the bird was walking away through some really thick crap. I got my other 2 arrows and I heard my brother-in-law say that he crossed the creek. So I doubled back to go cross the bridge that we built over the creek but my brother-in-law followed the bird across. By the time I got over there he was on the bird and had wrung his neck. At final review we seen that my arrow had actually slit the bird's neck right where the feathers start on the body. If I hadn't pushed it he probably would have bled out where he was sitting but I am glad we followed it up and stayed on him. It was not exactly how I had pictured taking my first turkey with a bow but it worked out in the end.
I was using a 52" Shrew Classic Hunter shooting Elite Arrows tapered cedar with Wensel Woodsman heads. The bird was 23 pounds, had an 8 & 1/2" beard and 1" spurs. This is also my first mature bird!!
Tim
Topic: Turkey meets Shrew!! (Story on Page 3) (Read 2159 times)
