In the words of Mr. Justin Fallon...
Been really windy here this past week. Spotting birds has been very challenging. I set my blind up this morning after watching this flock of birds crest a small ridge the past 3 mornings. I didn't know if turkeys were "habitual" like whitetails, but I decided to find out.
After the rain stopped, I heard the distinct putt putt putt in the distance about 100 yards away. It's amazing how much better I can hear in the darkness! As the sun broke the hozion, the first gobbles started. Slow at first, but as the sun cameon, the gobbles intensified in volume and numbers. WIth my 10 x 50 Leicas I could see the tops of several heads bobbing up and down. The sunlight seemed to just beam off them in the distance.
I wondered what the day would bring. With full light on top of me, the entire flock circled wide by about 75 yards. They broke hard to my left and not one of them responded to my call. I thought all was lost. My watch said 7:05. So there I sat in my Double Bull. Been there 90 minutes and I was pretty sure the day was over almost before it got started. Having been fooled dozens of times in the past by those whitetails taught me to stay put.
About 90 minutes later I caught a large tom headed right for the hen decoy I had put out. He stopped just shy of it about 20 yards and began to drag his feathers on the ground and spin in circles. He was shielded by a couple of large bushes but I could see him clearly enough to know that if I got a chance at him, that I would take him. In a split second, he seemed to cover the last 12 yards to the decoy and before I could react, he had stepped in the shooting lane, shrugged his shoulders at my lifeless decoy and was on his way back out to the field. My heart sank.
My grip on the Comanche recurve's grip tightened and I made sure my cedar arrow was nocked and ready for duty. Suddenly, 4 tom turkeys showed up at once and swaggared from behind the blind to the decoy. They were much faster than I thought and again, before I could react, all 4 were on the other side of the decoy. (I can hear you all laughing at me right now). Three of the toms headed for cover and as the fourth crested the ridge and was about to walk out of my life forever, the string of my 52" bow touched the corner of my mouth and the 160 grain Magnus head was launched! In a split second I watched the turkey in my peripheral vision as the arrow sailed through the air, covering the 25 yards in no time flat. Upon impact the turkey was LEVELED! He flinched one time and then all was quiet. The arrow went where I looked and my hit was on target striking the gobbler in the middle of the back where the wing butts meet the body slicing the turkey's body nearly in half.
Ever try to crawl out of one of the window ports on a blind? It don't work! I tried to flip the blind up in all my excitement, but I had staked it down with four magnum stakes from the inside due the winds. I was trapped like a thief in prison. I popped one of the stakes out and then another. As quickly as I could I hoisted the blind over my head and ran to recover my trophy.
He lay there in silence with just a small trail of crimson blood trickling down his chest. I gave thanks and then picked him up by the feet and felt the heft of his body tug on my shoulder. Together, we walked through the woods back to my truck. Along the way, we heard more gobbles. His brothers. We will be back for them another day.......
Topic: Justin's Turkey! (Read 681 times)
