Willie
PMA Member
Well, things finally came together for me yesterday morning. The last three times out I’ve been watching turkeys enter a pasture area through an opening in a woven wire fence. While hunting till 11:00 on Saturday and having one hen after another take the longbeards away from me I decided to change things up. I talked with a buddy after Saturday’s hunt and was a bit disgusted and joked that if things didn’t start heading a better direction I was going to start hunting them like deer and set up on their travel routes. Yeah, I know, kinda slow but hey, at least I’m not above admitting it.
So up went the blind twenty yards from the fence and that’s where I’d be Sunday morning - no decoys & no calling. Strictly waiting for the birds to come to me. Morning comes and only one gobble on the roost. The days before you couldn’t hear yourself think at times from all the talk before fly down. Nonetheless, two hens fly down behind me and I’m waiting for the tom to show his face – no go. Hens work past me perfectly at twenty yards and they enter the other pasture continuing to feed. At last, the gobbler shows himself on the other side of the fence, up on a ridge, silhouetted in the rising sun – would have made an awesome picture! It was torture not grabbing the slate call to try and coax him in. After watching him for 45 minutes and trying to send subliminal messages to the hens to bring him by me, he works his way to the creek bottom, probably in search of a more receptive hen. He’s at thirty yards feeding parallel to the fence. I only had one shot opportunity and took it. The Guardian nailed the spot and three feathers flew off the bird and after ten more yards he came to his final resting place. Perfect shot right above the thigh area put him down quick and not as much as one wing flap as he lay still. I couldn’t believe it happened so quickly. Days of no opportunities all came together in just seconds. I felt truly blessed as this was the third season chasing long beards with archery gear. I set a goal three years ago that I wouldn’t gun hunt a turkey till I scored one with the bow. Now knowing how tough it was to accomplish, I can honestly say it was worth the wait.
My boys were stoked and couldn’t wait to get home from Church to see the bird. Of course pictures had to be taken and I had to tell every detail of the hunt to them. We wrapped some turkey chunks up in bacon and grilled them to perfection tonight. As we were sitting at the dinner table eating, my oldest son announces…”Dad, we’re eating meat from the wild”. Oh man, you should have seen my wife’s eyes rolling. Almost sounded like the “Nuge”.
![icon_rolleyes[1].gif](https://www.iowawhitetail.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon_rolleyes[1].gif)
Good luck to those with tags still in their pockets. For me, it’s time to take the boys camping and fishing, something we need to do a little more often and Mom deserves to sleep in a few Saturday mornings. I circled the opening in the fence where the shot took place. I hope you enjoy the photos!
23.15 lbs
9.5" beard
1.0 & 1.125 spurs
So up went the blind twenty yards from the fence and that’s where I’d be Sunday morning - no decoys & no calling. Strictly waiting for the birds to come to me. Morning comes and only one gobble on the roost. The days before you couldn’t hear yourself think at times from all the talk before fly down. Nonetheless, two hens fly down behind me and I’m waiting for the tom to show his face – no go. Hens work past me perfectly at twenty yards and they enter the other pasture continuing to feed. At last, the gobbler shows himself on the other side of the fence, up on a ridge, silhouetted in the rising sun – would have made an awesome picture! It was torture not grabbing the slate call to try and coax him in. After watching him for 45 minutes and trying to send subliminal messages to the hens to bring him by me, he works his way to the creek bottom, probably in search of a more receptive hen. He’s at thirty yards feeding parallel to the fence. I only had one shot opportunity and took it. The Guardian nailed the spot and three feathers flew off the bird and after ten more yards he came to his final resting place. Perfect shot right above the thigh area put him down quick and not as much as one wing flap as he lay still. I couldn’t believe it happened so quickly. Days of no opportunities all came together in just seconds. I felt truly blessed as this was the third season chasing long beards with archery gear. I set a goal three years ago that I wouldn’t gun hunt a turkey till I scored one with the bow. Now knowing how tough it was to accomplish, I can honestly say it was worth the wait.
My boys were stoked and couldn’t wait to get home from Church to see the bird. Of course pictures had to be taken and I had to tell every detail of the hunt to them. We wrapped some turkey chunks up in bacon and grilled them to perfection tonight. As we were sitting at the dinner table eating, my oldest son announces…”Dad, we’re eating meat from the wild”. Oh man, you should have seen my wife’s eyes rolling. Almost sounded like the “Nuge”.
Good luck to those with tags still in their pockets. For me, it’s time to take the boys camping and fishing, something we need to do a little more often and Mom deserves to sleep in a few Saturday mornings. I circled the opening in the fence where the shot took place. I hope you enjoy the photos!
23.15 lbs
9.5" beard
1.0 & 1.125 spurs
