Danny and I just returned from Idaho for a spring bear hunt. A good friend of ours does very well in this area, and typically sees many bears. He pointed us to the spot on a map, so we packed our stuff and headed up. We had never bear hunted before and had no idea really what we were getting in to. But that is part of the adventure that I enjoy so much.
Well, the bears must have heard we were coming because we only saw two the entire trip (our friend usually sees between 10-15 a day). No matter, I got to spend time in the wilderness with my brother, camp out, view all sorts of wildlife, and see a part of the country that I had not yet seen. We had a great time.
I will definitely plan on going back next year. The temperatures were painfully hot, especially for this time of the year. I would imagine that the bears went totally nocturnal and/or moved to a different elevation. Hopefully next year we will have better luck!
Here are a few pictures from our trip:
We used a raft to cross the river. This enabled us to hunt a lot more country as the road stayed on only one side.
An example of the type of hikes we were doing daily. On this particular hike we spent the night 1/4 of the way up. We did see a very large bear up on this mountain as we were going in. He never did show back up.
A lovely camping spot.
As we were glassing I spotted this elk about to cross the river. The video is really nothing special but it shows the kind of country we were hunting in, and it was very enjoyable for me to watch this elk swim the river that morning. Sights like these are what makes hunting special.
We spent A LOT of time behind our binos. Danny had to take his shoes off and relax after an excruciating hike.
Danny nearly stepped on a grouse before she jumped up. We left quickly so she could return to her nest.
The only bighorn we saw the whole trip. One, lone ewe.
We got out for one more trip to Nebraska. I knew the hunting would be tough as the shotgunners had been after them for a few weeks, but boy...it was TOUGH! It was the first time that I have ever been skunked in Nebraska.
I hid under a thick cedar tree with my leafy shirt on and called in a few jakes. The largest was 25 yards away from me, and had no idea I was in the vicinity until an arrow passed through his feathers. I was livid with myself for missing.
This set up produced a 7 yard shot. Unfortunately it did not produce a bird. My buddy Paul was set up here, and he gave off a few of the softest yelps he could muster. 15 minutes later a few jakes showed up. Any loud calling would make every gobbling turkey in the country shut up.
I was so confident in this set up that I took pictures of it counting on this being the last thing a turkey saw. Unfortunately all the turkeys stayed on some private land about 1/2 mile away.
Colorado Turkey Hunting:
Danny had shoulder surgery a few months ago. He cannot shoot his bow but that doesn't stop him from getting out and hunting and scouting new country. Last week Danny made a 10.5 mile hike according to the GPS, and in that hike he turned up two gobbling turkeys. They were on him so fast that both toms busted him.
Yesterday Danny went up with our good friend Andy. They saw a group of about 30 bull elk. A few of them looked like they are going to be dandies!
Like the previous week, they heard some gobbling but not much. There just aren't many turkeys in this area. Early in the morning they called in a gobbler from at least a 1/2 mile away. He hung up at 50 yards and they weren't able to close the deal.
After a big hike they were heading back to the truck and spotted a group of 5 jakes. The jakes were unresponsive to calling, so they circled wide and ambushed them. Two shots later Danny and Andy doubled up on mountain birds.
Danny put in over 20 miles of hiking to kill these turkeys.
Danny and I are heading to Idaho in three days for a spot and stalk bear hunt. We have never been up there and are going completely on our own. A good friend pointed out a few drainages on a map and said there are bears there. We'll see! Be sure to check back because at the very least I count on having some great pictures of beautiful country.
Well I finally got the turkey videos from opening weekend up on YouTube.
Lets take a look at these shots, and I will offer my comments on the shot placement and the effects of each shot.
Let me start by saying that it is extremely difficult to guarantee shot placement on an animal this small, and one that moves around as much as turkeys do. For this reason I shoot the largest broadhead that I can get to fly well. Because the chances are high that an arrow will go through non-vital portions of the turkey, I want to cause as much damage as possible to create as quick of a death as possible. It's not like turkeys are large birds, so a large broadhead does a lot of damage. But at the same time they can be incredibly difficult to kill. My experience has led me to become a firm, firm believer in LARGE broadheads for turkeys.
We'll start with the turkey that I killed on opening morning. Watch the video first and then we'll discuss the outcome.
The turkey died at the spot last seen in the video.
You can see that I missed by shooting higher and to the left of where I would ideally like to shoot.
Having seen several turkeys shot in this exact same place I knew that this turkey would not go too far. You can see the damage done to the turkeys leg by the way he was walking. It would have been difficult or impossible for him to fly away.
I was shooting an extremely wide four bladed broadhead. The bloodtrail from the spot of the shot to where the turkey died would make any deer hunter happy. You can even see the blood pumping out of him in the video. So, while I don't recommend this spot to shoot a turkey in, I have seen it be quite lethal, several different times.
Next lets take a look at the turkey my Dad shot.
This turkey required a follow up arrow a short time after the initial shot.
This was a breast shot and did not pass through any vitals. The shot should have been further back, towards the intersection drawn.
We knew right away that it would require some time to recover this turkey. Lucky for us he stayed within our sight for the entire time. The turkey laid down on a hill, so Dad came up the back side of the hill, while I walked straight towards the turkey. He ran up the hill and Dad met him on the other side. The turkey was too weak to fly and had a hard time running.
I truly believe that if we had pursued this turkey right away we would have never gotten him. He would have had the strength to run or fly well out of our sight. Also, I think it helped that we were able to watch him for a long time and see where he laid down. Had he wanted to I am sure he could have covered quite a bit of ground before laying down.
All in all, I hate this spot to shoot a turkey, it usually leads to very difficult recoveries, and almost always requires a follow up shot. But sometimes you get lucky!
Now lets take a look at the turkey that Ashley shot.
As you can see Ashley made a great shot (third time's a charm!) and the turkey died on the spot. She completely took out the far leg and it was barely salvageable to eat.
I would also like to share my thoughts on shot placement, and my reasons why. I have been a part of around 50 turkeys shot with traditional archery gear and my opinions are based off of my observations from those experiences, as well as research I have done on my own.
I shoot at turkeys from any angle the shot presents itself, and I aim at the intersection of an imaginary line drawn straight up from the legs, and horizontal from just above the beard. Essentially this is the top of the hips for a broadside shot. I shoot here for two main reasons. One: I have a hard time picking a spot on a turkey, especially a tom in full strut. So looking straight up from the legs gives me a good reference to where his body actually is, and helps me zone in on a small aiming point. And Two: I have found that from any angle the turkey is standing, this intersection is very lethal, and kills the turkeys quite quickly.
Take a look at where I would aim at any one of these turkeys:
If I miss my aiming spot low or high I have a good chance of taking out the turkeys hips, and a turkey that cannot run very well cannot fly, so recovery is easier. A shot that is a little too far forward is still within the body of the bird, and a shot that is a little too far back will shoot through the guts of the bird and allow for an easy recovery. In two of the videos below you'll see shots that were both too far forward and too far back. Both turkeys were recovered without problem, one dying in sight, and one requiring a follow up shot (but the bird was too weak to fly).
I have lost too many turkeys over the years. However, since aiming for the birds hips, my success rate in killing turkeys has been 100% for the last few years. Losing a wounded bird can, unfortunately, be easy. A turkey that flies away is very hard to find, and they can hide as good as a pheasant. By taking out their hips I have seen a dramatic increase in the ease of recovering my own turkeys.
Hopefully I'll have some more videos later on this season! Check back in the next few weeks!
My first turkey hunt was over the last few days of March and the first few days of April in 1992. We had a great hunt and got in to birds left and right. At one point a big tom ran up and gobbled 5 yards away from me (that's a big deal to a 10 year old!). On the last day of the hunt, April 2nd, my 10th birthday, Dad and I hid under a big cedar tree and called a flock of turkeys right to us. My Dad shot his first turkey that day with a Bighorn recurve. What a birthday present for me! To say that I was excited wouldn't do it justice. I remember driving in the truck, looking at the stars, and telling my Dad that it was the best day of my life.
That recurve made it's way around the country to a few different states and in the hands of a few different owners. Earlier this year we got a call from a gentlemen in Arizona (I think) who said he had a recurve to sell to us. Well dang if it wasn't that same bow from 20 years ago. I had to have it, so I bought it myself, and vowed that I would kill a turkey with that bow this year.
After a great opening weekend in Nebraska we headed back out for round two. This time it was just my Dad, my Mom, and I. I really wanted my Mom to get a turkey, and it was just pure dumb luck that I ended up shooting one myself. I guess it was fate.
On this particular morning we had toms coming and going from a lot of different directions. A low pitched "vrooom" got all of our attention. My Mom had never heard a turkey drum before, so when I told her there were some turkeys behind us she thought I was crazy. But sure enough, three big gobblers were making their way down the hill behind us.
The turkeys made their way to the front of our blind and were approaching our decoys. My Mom had her bow ready to go! The toms were mere steps from walking in to the window of the blind and giving my mom a shot when they suddenly turned around. I couldn't take it, so I grabbed my bow while Dad dropped the side window on the blind. I pulled that 20 year old bow back and let fly a cedar arrow with a big Snuffer leading the way.
The shot was perfect, the turkey was facing away when I hit him. He flipped around, flew across a small creek, and died on the bank not five seconds after I shot him.
Just as I was watching him lay down I hear a put, turn around, and see that we have another big tom in our decoys. As I sat down mom got few shots off, but all she hit were feathers. Bummer! She has never shot a turkey with a recurve and it would have been something else to shoot a double with my Mom (how many people can say that?).
The turkey died on the bank, we could just see him through the trees from our blind.
Quite a birthday present, both then, and now, 20 years later.
Dad and I had talked about doing this hunt for a few years now. What good luck that I was able to shoot the same bow that he did all those years ago. This time the bow is not leaving the family!
No better moments than walking back to the truck after a successful morning with my parents! I can not wait until I'm making these kinds of memories with my own son.
Man! Cabin fever was really starting to set in, a trip to Nebraska for their opening weekend of turkey season was the perfect prescription. We went out and hunted with my cousin, Chad. This was an exceptionally good opener as the weather was extremely nice and the large winter flocks are already starting to really break up.
The season opened on Sunday. On Saturday the local range was having a 3D shoot, no better way to warm up for turkey season than hitting the range! We had a great time, and the weather was almost too nice.
Dad bearing down on a javi
Chad whipped up on all of us
Ashley has pretty solid form for a newer shooter!
On to the hunting!
Day 1:
We have hunted this place quite a bit so we were familiar with how the turkeys moved about this property and where their main roosts were. We came up with a plan that we thought would be solid.
The first morning of the hunt I sat in the blind with my Dad while Danny and his girlfriend Ashley went a few hundred yards down the field in the opposite direction. There were extremely large flocks roosting at both ends of the field, as well as large flocks in adjacent properties. They all usually converge in this corn field to do their morning feeding before heading up in the open hills to spend their days.
Here's a look at our general plan and how we set up on opening morning.
As you can see, we did not want to set up too close to the roost. These birds are in their gigantic winter flocks at the moment, but they utilize these roosts throughout the year. We wanted to hunt them a few days in a row, so we tried to coax some in after fly-down, and once they left the field we went and hunted somewhere else until the following morning.
The vocalization was intense, the first three hours of the day was non-stop hen talk. The toms and jakes were yackin' it up as well. Before they flew down the gobbling sounded like a constant thunderstorm. Once they hit the ground the gobbling slowed down more and more as the morning went on. After a few hours of being on the ground they all but quit gobbling.
The toms were not really that callable. They were perfectly content to stick close to the hens spitting and drumming their hearts out. As we have done in the past, we called a lot hoping to bring the hens our way. Our plans worked out well.
After an hour or so of observing the turkeys they finally made their way to our end of the field. Once some of the hens got close we picked up our calling tempo which brought them to within feet of our decoys. Naturally, some jakes and toms followed them over.
I am not picky on shooting turkeys, jake or tom it does not matter one bit to me. With a few jakes at 15 yards and a nice tom at 20 yards, I shot at the jakes. I think I had a pebble in my shoe which was greatly distracting me ;) so my first shot went high/left by a few inches. The jakes all ran out a few yards further and were now standing next to the tom, 20 yards away. I quickly grabbed another arrow and put it on the string. This time I took aim at the tom sitting there strutting.
I usually aim straight up from the legs, at about beard height. My arrow hit him a little behind the legs. The turkey gimped out 75 yards or so with blood absolutely pooring out of him. He bedded down and died a very short time later.
I was shooting my Rampart longbow and a Sasquatch broadhead. I'm a big fan of the largest broadhead I can find for turkeys. I think that it paid off on this tom with my "less than ideal" shot placement.
A big ol' Sasquatch broadhead. I am sure happy I had this wide broadhead on the end of my arrow, it did its job.
I love when the guys are waiting at the truck, and I round the corner with a bird on my shoulder! :) I love it just as much when I can see another bird on the ground at the truck. The camaraderie is one of the best parts about hunting!
A few hundred yards down the field Ashley was getting quite the introduction to turkey hunting. Ashley played DI softball at Purdue University, and she is one tough gal. Danny was just four days out of shoulder surgery, so Ashley was the one who had to carry in the pack with two chairs and the blind.
Wave after wave of turkeys came past the corner of the field where they set their blind. Turkeys can be such easy targets to miss. On Ashley's first shot her arrow sailed harmlessly over the turkeys back. A little while later another jake came by, this time she got some feathers. She was stepping it in. The third jake that came by didn't have a prayer. The third shot was so perfect that the turkey didn't even run 3 yards, it died on the spot.
This was Ashley's first successful bowhunt, or any hunt for that matter. She has been practicing like crazy, and is quite the shot by now. Once she got her nerves under control the turkeys had no chance!
Ashley was shooting a Rampart recurve and a big ol' Magnus 4 blade broadhead. She got her first bow late last winter and has become a great shot in the past few months.
I was so glad I got to be there on Ashley's first turkey hunt. I only wish I could have been in the blind with her and Danny.
Day 2:
The following morning it was my Dad's turn to shoot. We set up in the same field directly opposite of where we were the first morning. There was some thick fog that allowed us to cross the field, completely confident in doing so without spooking any roosted turkeys.
The second morning we only saw about half of the birds that we saw the first morning. The turkeys took their time flying down from the roost. I am not sure but I think that the thick fog may have had something to do with it. They also took their time making their way in to our field, but they eventually did.
One of the first groups of hens to enter our field had about five toms with them. Two of the toms broke from the group and charged in at our decoys. I had out a Primos Jake-Mobile decoy. The first big tom ran up to it and postured a bit, as if he was going to get to spurring the decoy.
I was about to freak out because Dad was taking his sweet time picking an opportunity to shoot him. I had the video camera running and the turkey wasn't far from leaving the video screen. I hate when somebody urges me to shoot, so I generally try not to do that to others, but my nerves got the best of me as I told my Dad three times to "SHOOT!"
Well he finally shot. We have had a lot of discussions about where to shoot turkeys, and heck, my Dad even wrote an article about it for this blog a year ago. But when you're in the moment sometimes it can be easy to forget to really pick that spot. Dad hit this turkey exactly where he was aiming, problem was, he aimed too far forward and shot the turkey right through the breast. When they are in full strut it can be very deceiving where their body is.
You can see where Dad hit this turkey. His shot was far too forward. He should have aimed straight above the turkey's legs.
I was convinced that he missed and only shot through feathers, but Dad insisted that he hit him. The turkey ran away and joined the main group out in the middle of the field. Around 20 minutes later we noticed one turkey had separated itself from the main group and was just standing there, not looking around, not pecking the ground, just kind of standing there. I started to think that maybe Dad was right, maybe he did hit that tom. Through our binos we kept an eye on that bird. Not too long later and he went up this small hill and bedded down. That was a good sign, and for the first time after the shot I got excited that Dad got him.
The hill across the field where the bird bedded down.
Zommed in and you can see him better.
After the turkeys left the field Dad circled wide of that hill and came up the back side. I went towards the turkey, which hobbled to the top of the hill. Dad was waiting there for him with a Simmons tipped arrow.
Here's Dad punching his tag. The old man was right...again. He sure did hit that turkey, but it goes to show how important shot placement can be for turkeys. Had the main flock not been in an open field it would have been easy for this tom to find a better hiding spot, where recovering him would have been much more difficult.
Dad was shooting his Hawk recurve. He shot this turkey with a Sasquatch broadhead and finished him off with a Simmons Shark. Another testament for big broadheads on less than ideal shots on turkeys.
Dad and I with his tom.
We are headed back to Nebraska next weekend to hunt again. On April 2nd I turn 30 years old. My wife loves to remind me of it too. On my 10th birthday my Dad and I were hunkered under a cedar tree where he shot a turkey with his Bighorn recurve - my first turkey hunt and one heck of a birthday present! Since then that recurve has made its way to several owners in several states, and then by pure happenstance it is now back in my hands. I'll be shooting that same Bighorn, exactly 20 years later, to try and kill my own turkey with it. We should have a fun time!
