PHD turkey question-harvest pics page 3

[tracker12]

This has been a very interesting year so far.  I started by buying a DSD Submissive Jake to relapse my aging decoys.  The first couple days I hunted I had birds hang up but I am not sure they saw my decoys (jake and 2 hens).  The last three days I have used just the Jake and no hens.  I killed a nice bird last weekend with a roller bow miss  a shot opportunity one day and today missed a Jake twice:(  with my Longbow.  I am really having trouble taking my eyes of the head and picking a spot on the body.  I catch my eyes wandering.  I have a few very dedicated Turkey hunters and the lone Jake or strutter for some reason has been getting attention.  Go figure.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I spent 5 days in Texas using the Avian X decoys and had mixed results. Early mornings while the Toms ere still following the hens around the hens would come in close, but the gobblers hung up and circled around....

late afternoon i had one gobbler come right in but he busted me in my brush blind moving my bow into position.... The next time i try that turkey hunting i'll be using a pop up blind.

 i do think the lone gobblers in the afternoons are more susceptible to the decoys.... or it seemed so in my case.... i tried the lone hen and pulled the jake one morning and got the same results.  the gobblers hung up and did a lot of calling, but wouldn't come in past 30 yards.....

5 days just wasn't enough time to get it going this trip.....But i gave her a good shot.

[Ray Lyon]

First off, thank you all for the comments. First I'm happy to report I've earned a bachelor's degree and put a nice six inch beard gobbler this morning. It wasn't the long beard that's been my nemesis this week, but a nice bird. My nemesis did show up this morning at half hour after shooting light. He worked two hundred yards across the field and hung up at fifty yards. My first configuration was a feeding hen right up next to the blind and theJake and second hen in the breeding position about twelve yards out facing the blind. I was thinking this would pissed him off. Well he gobbled his head off but wouldn't commit. Off he went.  Gobblers were sounding off and the it went quiet.  Next I got out of the blind  moved both hens up close and put the Jake out at thirty five yards thinking it would be like duck hunting and I'd create a landing zone. Well he comes back through and moves through just on the outside of the Jake at forty five yards strutting and gobbling the whole way and moved off again. So I moved the decoys again. Jake at about twenty and hens at seven. Here comes more gobbling. Can't see him yet out the front window but sounds close. It's multiple gobblers and the three of them march right up to the jake and start trashing him. One of them stopped long enough and took a Kustom King Trailmaker broadside at twenty one yards from my 1971 Super Kodiak. It actually looked like the arrow bounced off of him and he flopped over dead in fourteen yards. The arrow actually penetrated five inches out the other side and broke the hip bone. His wing snapped the carbon arrow off and it looked like it bounced off.  
The moral of the story is that the older bird was just a little more cautious and experienced. The three amigo's were looking to trash the young upstart with the two lady friends.
With only one day left in our short season three birds in the hand was more likely than  an old bird in the bush. Pictures to come soon.

[Florida lime]

Patience pays off !  

[Ray Lyon]

Hmmmm double post.

[WESTBROOK]

Well done Ray    

[Kopper1013]

Congrats!!!

[Pheonixarcher]

Congrats Ray! I got the last season this year. I'm really starting to get pumped.

[T-Bowhunter]

Congrats!

[KAZ]

Nice work!!!!

[Ray Lyon]

So here are some pictures.  1971 Super Kodiak with original limb covers.  Easton Axis arrows with Kustom King Trailmaker heads.  This is the same arrow point combination that I took my fall gobbler with last year.  Deadly combination for me.  On the autopsy picture attached, you can see the white leg/hip bone piece sticking out a little. The head broke this on the way out of the bird.  43# bow, turkeys are tough.

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 Here's my final setup. The hen decoy up front with another hen decoy off to the left in the shadow that is not in the picture. The Jake Decoy in the middle and then the two gobblers behind it that came in with my dead bird laying in the background.  The jake decoy is at 21 yards from the front of my popup blind which is on the other side of the service drive leading around the edge of the field.  The two gobblers are standing at about the closest point that the big boy ever came to my setup.  My daughter Morgan will be hunting with me during the third season hunt period in two weeks so we'll see what the birds are doing then.

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[Fritz]

Nice bird and pics! Congrats!

[Longbow58]

Congrats!

[woodchucker]

Sorry Ray, almost forgot!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

[Ray Lyon]

Thanks gentleman for the kind comments. In northern MI, our seasons are a roll of the dice, in my opinion. Our first two hunt periods are 1 week each and then the third hunt is a 3 week long period where anyone not drawn for the first two get to hunt.  The weather for the first hunt can be iffy and you have to put in for the permit by February 1. If you have bad weather for the week, especially the weekend if you can only hunt then, you may miss out on a chance for a bird. Fortunately for me, the nasty weather was early in the week.  The plus side is that you're hunting uneducated birds. While I was able to get close on a couple of evening hunts, Saturday was truly a glorious spring day to be in the woods. Sunny, crisp and no wind.  I felt comfortable getting in and out of the blind to change up decoys because I was able to track gobblers by sound (however they can always slip in silently). Even though I didn't bag the 'nemesis', I still had fun trying and it was a learning experience-what more could I ask for.

Good luck to those still out in the woods and hopefully, as the original thread title indicated, I just wanted to share ideas back and forth on scenario's and what could be done different. It certainly is a nice way to bridge the gap until the fall hunting seasons come around and the bonus is I have an opportunity to get out with my daughter during the last hunt.        

[Ron LaClair]

Congratulations Buddy, you're getting to be one heck of a turkey killer. We might have to change your camp nickname to   "Big Turkey"    

[Ray Lyon]

Hey Ron, I hope last falls bird and this one are not isolated instances.  Before that I was one bird in 13 years, which I hardly believe puts me in the 'turkey killer' category.  

As for you, get after that long beard you were telling me about. The northern faction of the Shrewhaven gang was 2 for 2 last week. If by chance your turkey has a 9" or greater beard, Greg and I will concede bragging rights.    

[A.S.]

Congrats Ray!

[Ray Lyon]

Thanks Allen,

Hard to see in the picture,but that's one of your string builds (with Bow Hush silencers). GREAT product for those of you who use vintage bows and want a B-55 string.            

[old_goat2]

Nice bird! Congrats!