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Crazy turkey chases

muddy

muddy

Well-Known Member
It seems bowhunting turkeys always brings out the oddest stories and chases. Let's hear them

I have several, but will start with one that sticks out . I had a bird charge pretty boy decoy and I hit him low, but snapped his leg. He took off flapping on one leg and I knew i needed to find him, and a big stick, not necessarily in that order. He blew of the hill flying 5 feet in the air but couldn't gain altitude because he was hitting brush. Eventually he hit the ground and took off doing the one legged hop 2 wingedflap and making good time. I'm not slow, I was gaining ground but he was getting into thicker stuff and gaining advantage. He got thru a hog wire fence and got stuck in multiflower rose that spanned over a ditch.... like a spider in a web. I had no choice, I had both feet on the top wires, gave it 2 bounces and was airborne.

In my mind I was Superfly Jimmy Snuka, but when I landed on that bird, then crashed thru the rose bush and into a 5 foot ditch I suddenly realized how awesome I really was. The bird then went berserk and I remember holding his neck with one hand, punching with the other, and eventually killing him. Extracting myself from that ditch was absolutely horrible. The adrenaline had worn off and my short sleeve shirt and shorts were no protection from the rose thorns.

But, I killed the bird.

One of the great things was that when I shot I grabbed the blind bottom with both hands and heaved so I could get a good start on the bird. When I got back it looked like I had gotten into a fight, there was stuff EVERYWHERE and the blind was upside down 10 feet away. Good stufd.
 
I've had a few chases in my day.

My first bow bird I hit low and he went out to about 40 yards and just laid down. After emptying my quiver trying to get another arrow in him I decided to sneak out of the back of the blind and try to run him down. As soon as I made the corner of the blind he spotted me and the chase was on. I chased him about 75 yards across an alfalfa field before he made it into the thick stuff. Once we got into the thick stuff i gained on him and eventually caught him in thorn bush. It was my first turkey and I was pretty determined so I didn't feel much. If I would of just left him alone he probably would have died right where he was laying but I guess I didn't want to risk it lol.

I had another chase 3 or 4 years ago when a pair of 2 year olds came into the set fired up. I picked one out but hit him low and watched him limp over the hill. When I went to retrieve him I topped the hill but he was still alive and took off. He took flight and would of probably been gone forever but he ended up catching the top of a t post and all but gutting himself.

Then there was last week. That one takes the cake. Trying to run a bird down with only a broken wing is difficult. If it wasn't for a hog wire fence I don't think I ever would of caught him.

My turkey chases have dropped dramatically since switching from a COC head to a big mechanical, but it does still happen.
 
You gotta get them to freak out, they start trying to fly and fall over a lot when they get freaked out. Broken wing, they go down. Busted leg, they try to jump up to fly, fall down. Then you give em an elbow
 
Another bow kill story here - Russ was hunting and I was along to observe the laughs. 4 jakes came in and he shot at one and hit low leg. It hops off with the others into the timber and he asks... "what do we do now"? I'm grabbing my socks off the top of the blind (they were drying out after walking through the wet grass from an afternoon rain storm) and as I'm lacing up my boots I say "we run him down!". So we both get out of the blind and run after the flock, the injured bird is quickly left on his own hopping on one leg while the other three fly off. This bird is making his way up a BIG hillside, I have no weapon along but Russ did grab his bow for the chase. Russ was behind me, I was in front hoping to catch the jake. Along the way I wasn't making up too much ground but did randomly find two arrows of Russ' along the way. I didn't think much about it but grabbed them and continued running, with two arrows now, in case I needed a weapon once I got to the bird. The bird had finally gotten about 90% up the hill but had now hit the steepest part - both me and the bird were struggling but I did finally close the distance and all I could do once I got to him was step on his tail fan hoping to hold him down while I caught my breath... that didn't work, he made one push to get away and left all his tail fan feathers behind but three. He had more energy left than I thought! I quickly got my hands on his neck and the rest is history.

Funny part was Russ got to me and the bird and first thing he says "did you grab my arrows on your chase? I was shooting at the bird hoping to get a second arrow in him." haha So he's out there flinging arrows through the timber at this bird hopping along with Sasquatch chasing it - just glad he didn't loose an arrow and I didn't get shot with one.
 
muddy said:
You gotta get them to freak out, they start trying to fly and fall over a lot when they get freaked out. Broken wing, they go down. Busted leg, they try to jump up to fly, fall down. Then you give em an elbow
Click to expand...

Ya, the best part of chasing them is when you finally catch them and theres that split second thought of " what in the hell am I going to do with him now"
 
My first ever ever bow killed tom was in 1993...a year with much flooding in SE Iowa. In those days I turkey hunted a section of river bottom timber with about 1/2 of the land being "low" ground along the river and the rest being "high" ground, a mostly timbered bluff rising above the low ground, with row crop separating the two areas of timber. I always did well there, but this year was fantastic since the high water forced all of the game to the high ground.

Note - in 1993 there were no commercially available blinds to hunt turks out of, back then it was real, we had to get our shots off without the cloak of a man made blind that so many of you whippersnappers use today. :) :p

My first set up that morning was the very best turkey hunt I have ever had in my life. During pre-season scouting, I had found a big oak tree that had been destroyed by lightning the previous fall and there was enough of the main stump present that it served as a perfect "1/2 blind" and then I had brushed the rest of it in pre-season prep. Many of the leaves were still attached to the branches too from when the tree was killed the previous summer/fall. Turks roosted all around this area, so I had to get in there super early and I had even raked a path so I could do so silently. I got in the "blind" that morning and shortly realized that I was right in the middle of a whole blamed patch of turkeys. Some were roosted as close as 30-40 yards away. I had a decoy out and as things got light the toms started gobbling and the hens started yelping and it sounded like a barnyard in full throat. :) There were probably 20 very vocal birds within 75 yards of me. :eek:

As birds started pitching down, several of them appeared to have aimed themselves at my decoy...just a few yards away. The sounds of birds landing within mere feet of you is startling, even when you can see them coming. Nevertheless, I held it together and prepared to take my first archery tom...only I didn't really hold it together. I got the biggest case of "Tom Fever" I have ever had and over the next 20 minutes I managed to launch 5 arrows at birds, all within 5 to 10 yards, clean misses all! :mad: Like I said, I didn't really hold it together! :)

So I was effectively out of ammo, as I only had one arrow left in the quiver and it was bent so much it was more hockey stick than arrow. So...being the braniac that I am, I stood up and scared off the remaining turks, went about collecting my arrows and began making up a "Plan B". I switched the last good broadhead I had, from the bent arrow, over to one of my recovered arrows and began creeping to a spot about 150 yards away where I had dug out a little hiding spot at the very tip of a drainage. There was a bird gobbling about 75 yards away and I raised that decoy up over my head a couple of times, so he could clearly see it, and then belly crawled out about 3 yards and plunked it into the ground and back slid my way back to my "hole".

I then went to work on Mr. Tom with the trusty box call and once I started cackling at him he broke down and headed my way. It is quite a rush to call one up, eyeball to eyeball basically, and have them spitting and drumming at 3 yards! :eek: I waited until he was fanned out and facing away from me and then I drew and held until he turned back around. (I could have really used a good lesson on turkey aiming spots back then. :rolleyes:) I released the arrow, thinking I had hit him perfectly, but I now know I was a little low. Even I couldn't miss at 3 yards! :D

He walked/limped away and I stayed frozen, not knowing if I should chase him or not. He got about 40 yards away and then went out of sight over the top of a hill. I decided to follow him and I then quietly stalked after him, seeing him hunkering down close to the base of a tree, just a few yards past where I had seen him last. So now, there he is, laying there about 15 yards away and I thought I better put another arrow into him. Only I reverted back to my poor shooting from early in the morning and then missed him. Now he jumped up and took off in flight...egads, I am losing him...only to crash land about 80 yards away on the other side of the ravine. I watched him for a few minutes and he wasn't moving, so I scrambled over there and grabbed him. Eureka! My first bow kill, no sweat. :rolleyes::D
 
I could have written a story this morning but I opted to stay in the blind and hope for the bird to expire on his own as I had 2 pretty solid arrow hits in him. After watching him for 1hr 15mins he finally expired. That's the longest I ever watched something die.

I have done a turkey chase once(which is why I didn't today). That bird was with the shotgun, 40 yard shot and stoned him. I sat their for a bit enjoying some tobacco after the kill. Leaned gun against tree. I start walking out to the bird fist pumping as I just scored a big gobbler, thats when the bird comes to and takes off running. I was running my top speed and not gaining on it and the dang thing got away. Talk about going from a high to a low.
 
The very first bird I ever shot was a nice little chase. I was nine years old and out with my dad and grandpa. It had rained all morning while we were in a blind and we decided to head in. We headed to my grandpas house and said we would get back out there when the rain quit. The rain quit and we got to the new spot when as the sun came out for the first time that morning. As soon as we got out of the truck a bird hammered not far into the woods so we got ready quick and headed in. We spent the next little while working a group of birds that were just over the hill from us and a tom finally committed. We were lying behind some multifloura and using my Dad's arm as a shooting stick I shot the tom. Dad jumps up and we start running towards the bird and the bird starts running the other direction. As we start to get closer multiple birds are running and flying all over the place. Dad is gaining ground and I shuck another shell in the chamber while running. Dad caught up to it and was running along side him doing the whole "what do I do now" thought process. He just grabbed the toms neck and basically windmill dunked him to the ground. After about 5 minutes of celebrating and laughing about the sequence of events that just occurred the bird got his second wind and we had to restrain him again.

This next one happened just a few years ago while I was in college. I went out after class for an afternoon turkey hunt to a farm that I just gotten permission to hunt. It was mainly ag fields and terraces so I just easing my way around the farm glassing for birds. I spotted a lone tom walking a fence line so I made a plan to get in front of him. I was lying on top of a grass terrace expecting the tom to stay low on the left side of me allowing an easy shot. Well, that didn't happen. I spotted him straight in front of me about 30 yards and he was angling to my right up the hill. I slid my legs to the left so I could get in position to shoot. I didn't have a decoy and he wasn't getting any closer so I pulled the trigger at about 35 yards. He got knocked off his feet a bit and was a little wobbly but took off running down the hill. I started sprinting behind him and proceeded to get close, stop, rush a shot, sprint to get close, and repeat until my gun was empty. The last shot was as he was entering a timbered creek and he was still moving. I kept hauling through the woods and when he tried to jump the creek he landed hard on the opposite bank and I basically jumped across the creek and two foot landed on his head and finally ended the chase.

Fun times for sure! These stories are a hoot to read!
 
The only chase I’ve really had was a very short one. A tom came in silent strutting and the works. I hit him low so a watched him go away slowly. I quick jumped out of the blind and as soon as I started running I felt a POP on my inside right leg and it felt like I was peeing on myself and it hurt. The chase was over after three paces and he got away.
The next day my inside right leg turned every shade of blue, purple and green imaginable. The injury took two months to heal and it was tough playing golf that summer.
 
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