So I head out onto the field and sure enough there are more birds than I thought. Naturally they didn't think much of the walking bush and exited stage left in a hurry.
I walked toward the northeast corner and found a pocket in a cedar that clearly had been cut out to accommodate a popup blind. I set up my stake out low blind and used the previous trimmings to brush it in and set the hens out around ten yards from me in the field.
I hunt turkeys from a Torges tree seat so I brushed out a low spot on my left for lower limb clearance. As I got everything together I spotted a hen come onto the field and leave. Nice to know they'd come back.
It turned into a really long day in my little hideout, waiting for the afternoon matinee.
A few long hours go by and I let my bladder get the best of me. While attempting to relieve myself, a hen turkey FLIES in from the woodlot behind me (insert caught with my pants down joke here). She lands feet from my decoys and starts her rant as boss hen of this field. In the video, the shiny object to the left is the smaller of my decoys that she'd already beat to the ground.
After a half hour of this business I decide it's time to get her off the stage and get my decoys set back up in case the boys show up. AND THEY DID! A nice Tom and three Jakes walk out together. The Tom heads for the south end of the field and the jakes linger. After some soft yelping and purring, two of the jakes come over to investigate. I look down and there's a memory card error on the screen of my camera (the hen footage is on my phone).
Anyhow, one of the birds decides the avian x hen is suitable to breed and wastes very little time showing off and attempting the deed. As he mounts her the first time she leans over and throws him off. He climbs back on quartering toward me so I'm reluctant to move for fear of being spotted. While the second bird walks around in the backdrop, the young stud seems preoccupied with his seemingly submissive new girlfriend. I decide to try to finish raising and drawing my bow. No spooking on the bird's part and concentration on a single feather lead to a clear mind, clean release and clean pass through in front of the left wing butt and out the right side of the chest cavity. He blows up and runs 20 yards before settling down in the field. The second Jake is still standing in the gap between the decoys and I consider tagging out, but decide to hold out so I have an excuse to keep hunting this season! Phone dead, camera dead and one turkey dead. I retrieve my bird, pack up and head for the truck. I took my time while at the truck to let my phone charge enough for a quick photo before dark.
I used my Holzrichter Custom longbow drawing 47#,an Easton Axis Traditional shaft and Fred Eichler series Muzzy Phantom broadhead: total arrow weight 529 grains.
This bird goes into my bowhunting career as my first harvest shooting three under.
Thanks for reading!
Topic: KS Late Day Jake (Read 341 times)
