Turkeys without a blind.

[joebuck]

I believe and hunt the same gospel as RC.  He's spot on IMO

[Green]

It has been 10 years since I've bowhunted Turkeys and I'm anxious to get back at it this Spring.  I agree with RC...mobility is the key.  Ghillie suit and 3 leg folding stool, as well as limb pruners and you're pretty much in biz....as long as you've patterned your birds.  Nothing beats an early Spring morning and the fly down.....then it's on.  Dang....3 more months.

[Roy Steele]

I've ued a ghillie sence the eary 80's. Run and guns fine but when you get there slow,slow down. My grandady killed over 300 gobblers in 9 or 10 states. This he stressed to me a 1000 times. I'm sure this is happen to all of you. You give upget up and spook your gobbler. When you think he's gone weight another hour. HE'S LIKELY THERE.
  Never know a gobbler real gobbler hunter that did'nt scout alot have patience.That come bind with scoutings.And learning to be totally still. Remember a gobblers are'nt like deer. Gobblers see depth reception. So they can look over and say look there's a hunter in CAMO.
  Use a ghillie and learn to use the natural cove and do'nt move. Scout,scout,scout, Get in his way it's a lot easer ot call him if he already wants to go that way. Your calling just got great.
  I killed dozzens useing just that tactic. My friends think I'm a great caller. I let them think that. In reallity I'm not you don't have to be. Turkeys don't go to calling contest. So they don't know what their surpose to sound like. They all sound different.

[Roy Steele]

All yea learn to shoot of the ground seting on your butt. You can learn to do it. It's not hard I've shoot a 60 to 64 inch selfbow while seting on my butt for over 20 years. Plus if you set on your butt you'll beand in alot better. You may not have the time to look around for a nice spot to set up a stool.

[ChuckC]

Mudd and Guru have described a "bow blind" that they added to the quiver side of their bow to aid in covering draw movement.  I made an ultra light version and it seems to work OK.  I will try it out next spring.

Might do a search and find that thread
ChuckC

[Green]

Chuck - Did some searching for that thread....no luck.  Anyone?

[mongoose]

I guess I'm just not that good of a turkey hunter, and I agree with RC, spot on. The turkeys in southeast Ky are hard to hunt(for me anyway), even with a blind    My hat is off to all you guys that can consistantly harvest these wary birds      

[twitchstick]

The only turkey I was able to get a shoot on last year was without a blind. I missed but I have killed in the past without a blind. You just have to be more aware of your surroundings when you draw. Movement is what always gets me busted when I don't have a blind.  If you can pull them passed you then you are in business. Some of the roosts I hunt may take a 4 mile hike to get to so going in light can be a real advantage. The bird mention above I don't think I would have shoot at from my blind. I had abandon my decoys(which they could see but won't commit) and had bellied crawled to some hen'd up birds. When I finally was right ontop of them two of the lesser birds came in on a string. This was after two hours of calling. Blinds have a big advantage in some scenes but being without a blind has advantages too. You can see the birds better and can adjust to what is needed easier IMO.

[tippit]

joebuck has a ton of ways to hunt without a blind.  I've used his Martha Stewart wreath to help cover my bow movement plus my ghillie.  Wire wreath rim with silk vine attached that you can get & make from a crafts store.  Tell the sales lady what you're trying to do...then watch at her facial expression  :eek:    Tape the wreath to your bow and shoot through it...Doc

 


My 56" Pronghorn with wreath & paint job.


 

 

[mongoose]

Interesting set up there Tippit  

[KentuckyTJ]

Turkeys can be patterned just like deer and in my opinion should be hunted the same way anytime other than in the spring. You should scout for three days and hunt the final day. Once you figure out their travel routes, pick an ambush point in the brush and bust one.

While sitting in a deer stand I noticed this group of birds walk up out of the woods and feed through this little field for a few days in a row at about the same time daily. I went in cut out a couple shooting holes in the cedars and like clockwork they came through.

       

       

       


My right side shooting hole in the background of this next photo from the birds perspective. There were around 18 birds in this flock and they had no idea I was there.


       

       

[J. Holden]

I shot my one and only turkey without a blind.  I was caught in the open, I was on one knee and the tom was focused on his hens.  They had passed me and I just held very still.  I drew very slowly and let 'er rip.  I must say that God blessed me and my arrow hit right where I was looking.  It helped too that I wasn't calling.  Had a friend doing that from behind a tall juniper.  I felt great until the tom ran and flew off the hill.  Then the fun began...  We found him under a tree and he's now adorning my wall in the "man cave".  Good luck, it can be done.

-Jeremy  

[mongoose]

Ky T, that's a really cool set up there and a super nice result, congradulations  

[HcSmitty]

Yeah, i was gona say the same thing bout how "kewlllll" ur set up looks.  I prefer the natural over the "produced".  I cant think everyone enough for all ur stories of success and advice.

[Jim Dahlberg]

100% with RC.  He hit the nail on the head on all aspects.  Here is my set up.  Big Snuffer heads are the order of the day.  If you see a couple of gobblers with their heads locked up fighting use the opportunity to walk up on them and shoot one! When their necks are all twisted together and one has the head of the other in his mouth. They will be so involved with each other that they won't pay attention to you.  Move quickly but no jerky motions.  The picture is proof.
 

[koger]

Lots of good info here, RC and KY TJ, I agree with you both, depending on hunting situation. I tend to hunt more like TJ, on small spots of private land, and just hunt travel routes, like deer hunting, actually same ones, as they use the same ones here in SE Ky where I live. I have taken 10 trad birds, last one was on the ground in a ghillie, slipped up on a whole flock, using terain, they were in a feeding frenzie, eating fox grapes, and I shot the closest one, had his back turned to me, a #20 gobbler with 7 inch beard. I believe the ghillie to be the utltimate camo.

[rice]

I read an article several years ago by E. Donald Thomas about cutting a v in a cedar or pine and shooting the bird when he walked by from the side. I had some light weight webbing type material called leafaflage. A 30 foot piece weighed about a pound. It was 3 foot high. I would walk through the woods and lost call until a gobbler answered me. I would then find a tree and wrap the leafaflage around a tree facing away from the gobbling bird. If the bird was to the north, I would wrap the flage with 15 foot pointing toward the S.E. and 15 foot pointing to the S.W., and I would sit with my back to the tree and my decoy would be 10 yards from  the end of the mouth of the fence. The idea was as the bird came down the side of the leafaflage "fence" You draw and shoot when the bird comes into view. I have killed two gooblers using this method. It was light and worked well. The tree would hold up the fence on the back and I used 2 tent stakes to hold the ends of the fence.
I now use a blind on an old golf bag hand cart. And I just set up in a good area and read a book and call ever 15 minutes, sooner or later, a bird will show up.

Chris

[wollelybugger]

Trouble with hunting Pa. birds is they are so smart. They become decoy shy and blind shy both.  There is a old timer named Jack Brobst who has killed over 50 turkeys in the old days with a recurve and longbow with no blinds. He would set up aginst a tree with a stool. He had a article in TBM a long time ago, Mike Fedora, his wife and himself all killed a turkey in one morning with their recurves.

You have to wait till they fan out or walk by to get a shot without a blind. Sometimes you can get a shot when they walk behind a tree and when they step out you shoot them. I like to set up where there are big trees, they will let you move when they walk behind them.  You got to practice shooting by holding your bow out and pulling straight back with little motion.

[foxbo]

Jack Brobst wrote a book explaining his style of hunting. It is well worth reading, especially if you want to torture yourself and hunt eastern turkeys without a blind. I bought my copy of his book directly from him, years ago. I'll check to see if he left a phone number anywhere inside.

[joebuck]

Jack B. also used a fabric blind material he staked out around his tree. Jack was the pioneer of calling up birds and bow shooting them