I assume that there are many of us who have hunted over the years and have an animal that just seems to elude us despite repeated attempts to do one in. For me it has been turkeys. But things seemed like they might take a turn in my favor recently. About two weeks ago we started seeing a few turkeys in our field across the pond. Laura chastised me in the past for trying to stalk them because she feared that my continued pressure would run them off altogether. So, as the turkeys seemed to be becoming more and more predictable we talked about an "acceptable" way for me to pursue them. I suggested that I put up the Double Bull blind by the stone wall on our property line near where they seemed to like to cross. This was OK with Laura so yesterday I did just that. When I got up this AM to make my first attempt they were already in the field as light was making it way into our day. After a while they left. Now, there are two flocks that have been coming and going. This one was made up of 11 birds, 3 adult females and the rest this years brood. The other flock numbered 6 birds with one larger female and the others apparently her brood from this year.
After the flock left I knew that they or the others would make a reappearance between 10 AM and noon. So at 9:30AM I made my way to the blind. Once inside I decided the best angle to sit in anticipation of where I expected them to come from. At exactly 10 AM I heard rustling in the leaves right behind the blind. Usually I hear them clucking as they approach so I expected to see squirrels when I peeked thru the seam of the blind. I was surprised to see two turkeys going over the wall a mere 5 yards from the blind. I could hear others and it was evident that the flock of 11 birds was going to be passing by at very close range. As the first bird went by at about ten yards I wasn't sure if it was an adult female or one of the younger birds. She was followed by three much smaller birds so I had a sense of which were the shooters and which I would let walk. The next bird in view was not a young one. I knew that in the flock of six the lead female was much bigger than the bird in front of me but she was giving me a perfect shot at 8 yards. She had stopped in the perfect spot for me to draw without moving in my seat so as eased back the string and released the arrow I was surprised to see her drop like a brick. The arrow, as it turned out, had decapitated her, hitting her in the back of the neck precisely where it joins the body. She barely moved as she lay there. The other birds didn't have a clue as to what had just happened. One of the other mature hens came over to investigate and others were starting to surround the now dead hen. As I unzipped the flap to the blind there were turkeys going in every direction on the ground and in the air. It was a turkey circus! And my turkey jinx had finally been broken.
For those that need to know I was shooting my 60# DAS Master Hunter. The arrows were Beman MFX Team Realtreee MIcrodiameter 340's cut to 29" and sporting 220 grain four blade Muzzy Phantoms. The shot, which was a pass thru, basically took her head off as the broadhead cleanly sliced her neck and spine where they meet the body. No lost meat!!!!! And she never knew what hit her. It was one of the cleanest and quickest kills I have made on anything bigger than a rabbit. The one thing that surprises me the most is how less photogenic I become as I get older.....but here's a pic, nevertheless.
By the way, even though more experienced hunters advised me that I did not need to use the shoot thru netting I did use it. I have had turkeys see me moving in the blind as I was getting ready to shoot on previous outings and I did not want to leave anything to chance...so I used the netting.
I also have to add that Laura asked me to leave the blind up. It seems that she would like to fill her turkey tag, afterall.
Topic: Turkey jinx busted!!!!!!!!!! (Read 1265 times)
