The "No Nock" Turkey

[Jerry Russell]

I have just a few personal rules that I follow when I hunt turkey.
#1- I won’t shoot a turkey unless he puts on a show (struts) and is on video. I do this because I see them as magnificent animals and just killing one for a little meat has always bothered me a great deal. Watching the show and being able to relive the hunt over and over again somehow (to me) brings more honor to the taking of this beautiful animal. It is just a personal thing.
#2- Try very hard to never shoot a tom in full strut.  It is very easy to misjudge body position when they are blown up and I have never lost a bird that was not in strut. Today I broke this rule and it almost cost me.
After guiding for turkey the first month of the season and seeing several birds work over our decoys, I decided to have a little personal time and chase a tom for myself.  May 1-15 is the last two weeks of our turkey season and hands down my favorite time to chase longbeards. I like the fact that the birds have been hunted and present a good challenge. Most of the hens are sitting nest and the mature toms are willing to fight for the remaining ladies. This was what I wanted to see as I parked the truck and shouldered the heavy load of a blind, three decoys and my camera gear for the long walk to my favorite turkey spot.  Now getting to this spot is serious work. It is a grueling 75 minute walk with over 40 pounds of gear through thick pines followed by a jungle like crossing of a ¾ mile wide privet thicket wet swamp bottom. Half way across I have to wade a long creek and then more privet.
The reward is a secret little spot that has always rewarded me with a gobble from the roost for over four years of hunting here. I have made this walk dozens of times over the years but the heavy rains had made things look different and I got off track in the privet, which is a very bad thing.  For those that have yet to have the pleasure of traversing this little taste of the congo, imagine brush so thick that when you trip and fall, you don’t hit the ground. It pulls at your pack, bow, and clothing. Holding a straight line is nearly impossible. As I staggered along in the pitch dark, I looked down and found a recently shed whitetail antler.  Finding a shed has always been a lucky charm for me. After the now 90 minute death march, I hoped the lucky charm would help out.

   

[Jerry Russell]

After setting out an Avian jake decoy and two hens, I settled into the blind to wait for daylight. I fully expected to hear multiple birds but nearly three hours into the sit, all was silent. I was disappointed to say the least but I dug my heels in for the long haul. Experience here told me that trolling longbeards normally came back through this swampy bottom after the hens lay down on their nest about ten every morning. I remembered looking down at my bow and seeing that one of my arrows had lost a nock on the walk in. I thought about moving a nock from a target arrow but became distracted by something and forgot about it.  

[Jerry Russell]

I called with nothing more than a cluck or two every thirty minutes and pulsed the rotator motor on the jake every 3-5 minutes. The set-up was awesome and after a single cluck I heard a booming gobble from the nearby strutting field.  I gave him a gobble and when he answered I cut him off with another gobble and then I went silent. It took about ten minutes for his ego to engage and I soon saw him headed my way at full strut through the shallow water of the swamp. Man, what a sight.

   

[Jerry Russell]

At 70 yards he spotted the decoy and stopped cold. I tapped the remote and gave the decoy a 1/8 turn and it was if he was pulled to me with a string. Three times he paused and each time the moving decoy jolted him closer. At thirty yards he was coming fast and I decided that I needed to stop watching the show and turn on the camera and pick up my bow. I lost sight of him but I could hear his steps as he passed just a few feet from the blind.  He appeared in the shooting window and went strait to the Avian.  I had every intention of letting him pound the decoy for a while but to be completely honest, I just could not wait.  He walked behind the decoy and this was something I had never had happen before. He was at full strut and I had to wait a while for him to step clear for a shot.  I was calm and focused as I picked out a feather tip that covered his vitals and off side leg.  I drew my Black Widow and watched as the lighted nock went exactly where I wanted it to go. I expected a death flop to follow but he simply jumped a few feet and looked back at the blind. I thought the shot was perfect and expected him to just fall over but as he moved off to the side the string tracker line did not follow.  He turned to walk away and I grabbed for another arrow. Panic hit me when I realized that my arrow in the quiver had no nock.  I gave him a yelp and clawed at the target arrow to remove a nock. It seemed to take forever but it was really only a few short seconds.  My yelps had convinced him to come back for the fight but as I came into the window for the shot he figured out that something was just not right and turned to leave. I yelped again to stop him at about 13 yards and picked a spot very low and dead center of his back. At the shot it was as if everything went into slow motion and the arrow took him right where I was looking.  He fluttered up into the air about six feet but there was little doubt that he would go down quickly.  

 

[Wannabe1]

Great story and pics! Congrats on a fine bird.  

[Jerry Russell]

He had made it less than 40 yards and I found him next to a small creek. He was a beautiful bird. As I carried him back to the blind another tom sounded off about one hundred yards away. I started to jump back into the blind but decided that nothing could top this morning’s hunt and killing another bird should wait till another day. As I carried the bird down the big creek, I was reminded of a hunt in this exact same place four years prior where my then 10 year old son had taken his first turkey with a bow.  I put the bird down on a sand bar and tried to visualize my little boy carrying that big tom down that creek. What a special memory that was and what an awesome hunt I was blessed with today.
I just love turkey hunting.
 

[Jerry Russell]

I had to laugh just a bit when
I looked down on the way out to find another "lucky charm" laying in the trail

 

[Jerry Russell]

Here he is. A beautiful bird from a special hunt.

 

[fnshtr]

Great pics and story.

Thanks for taking us along.

[MR BILL SHORTY]

       

[yellow bow]

     


  :cool:

[JMG]

Great story!!! Congrats!!  

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Great Story. Congrats on the nice bird.

[Mudd]

Simply ..... Thank you!

     God bless,Mudd

[JamesKerr]

Congrats!

[T-Bowhunter]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

[Dirtybird]

Thanks for the great read and congrats.

[RC]

Outstanding!!!RC

[rwbowman]

Very nice story and bird, boss!

[bowkill32]

good grief....that is awesome!!!!!