The first hour in the blind was boring. Drizzle, chilly air, calm, song birds but that was all. Every once in while I would let out a few calls with the diaphragm and alternated with the box call. I had set out one female decoy hoping that, as has happened in the past, a roaming tom might take an interest.
I was surprised that I did not get any responses from the orchard where the bird had roosted the night before. Then I heard it...just as I had almost convinced myself to take the short walk back to the house to get the coffee. The gobble surprised me and I wasn't really sure where it had come from. I waited a bit and everything was quiet. I took the box call and stuck it outside the blind and tweaked it a bit. Two gobblers responded simultaneously and they were somewhere in or in back of the orchard.
We played with each other for about 10 minutes. I would call and they would answer. Finally I could make one out. He came from the orchard and was walking back and forth in front of the shed..about 100 yards from me. I could see one bird but not the second one. However, every time I would call both would respond. After 20 minutes I was convinced that they were hung up. There was nothing I could do but wait. So, that is what I did. It was still early....wish I had my coffee! This could take a while.
Then fate intervened. I spotted a turkey on my side of the pond (the shed and orchard were on the other side). It was walking towards me. I could not see a beard and it appeared to be a female. She came all the way to the blind and actually gave the decoy a few pecks. She then proceeded in the direction I knew several females were nesting.
While my attention was on the female I had not been paying attention to the two males across the pond. When I looked up to see what they were up to they had cut the distance in half and were walking along the pond and if they kept on their current course they would get to the brook and if they did what they normally would do they would cross it in range of my blind. It occurred to me that they, too, must have seen the female and were on their way to impress her. It was at that time I wished I had a video camera. They were beautiful as they made their way into the woods and crossed the brook. They would stop on occaision, strut and gobble and then continue on. No hurry, no fighting, just a two man parade right out of the book.
For a moment they disappeared in the ravine formed by the brook. The next time I saw them was when they crested a small knoll about 15 yards from the blind. Their attention was obviously on the female that had walked by a few minutes earlier. The first male, the smaller of the two, walked about 12 yards from the blind, stopped and displayed. I don't believe he ever saw the decoy which was partially hidden by a tree. The second, and larger of the two, came up the knoll from a slightly different angle and as he approached the spot the first tom had displayed he saw the decoy. He stopped immediately and went into full display. My shot was partially blocked by a small sapling so I held off. He stopped displaying and took a couple of steps and stopped right where I needed him to. As if on cue he again went into full display. I had thought a lot about shooting at a turkey under these circumstances and knew I had to be spot on with shot placement. The wing butt was all I could think about and before I knew it the white fletch of the arrow was there. From the time I committed to taking the shot until the arrow struck I have no memory of taking the shot except for focusing on where that arrow needed to be.
At impact he looked astonished. He didn't know what had just happened. The bow made no noise, as I recall, and he just turned and ran the way he had come with the arrow sticking out one side and white fletch on the other. When he made it to the brook and had some daylight he took wing. He flew over the pond, over the sheds and about a second after I lost sight of him I heard a crash. Was he down, was he running, I didn't know what was going on but the shot looked perfect.
The other male had made his way back to the front of the blind. He was confused. He was clucking and running. He ran around the pond, by the sheds and I could hear him yelping near where I heard the wounded bird crash. His yelping was persistent and he seemed to be stationary. I silently hoped for the best....he was with my dead bird.
I slowly made my way over near the orchard and decided to walk up the path in the woods aways and come in thru the woods thinking that I would find the bird dead somewhere nearby. I got to the orchard, the second male still yelping but moving. I found my arrow sticking straight down in the grass and the second bird was about 50 yards into the woods and again stationary. I scanned the edge of the woods but saw no dead bird. Hmmm! Now what? I started to move in the direction of the yelping bird. He moved on and I found myself about 75 yards in the woods without my bird. I circled back to the orchard and picked up the arrow and as I glanced in the direction the yelping bird had taken I saw an unfamiliar brush pile about 5 yards in the woods. There he was...piled up as if he had actually flown into the tree and fallen at its base.
For me it was a short turkey season but a perfect one. The morning unfolded like you hope it would every time you venture out. I'm still pretty "high" with the results of the morning hunt. When I took him to the registration station he weighed in at 21 pounds. His beard was 9.75 inches long...spurs were only 3/4".
Here's the pictorial.
Me and the bird...two pics.
Bow, bird and broadhead....two pics.
Shot placement.
I hope the rest of you all equal luck and enjoyment in your hunting pursuits. It's just a great day here in NH.
Topic: Another one bites the dust. (Read 597 times)
