Good on ya. Prove ’em all wrong. I’m always amazed at how little faith people have in trad bows. Have they forgotten almost all of human history?

Good luck…a spring turkey with that special recurve will be a real trophy. Here in PA we wait until May and it is hard. I can go out the back door and hear them now. This will be the 5th season chasing them with the longbow and I have yet to fling an arrow at them. I am trying without a blind though, just stubborn I guess. The problem here has been competition from gun hunters. They hear a gobble and come running screwing everything up. I am heading back in as far as I can get this year. Less birds, but hopefully less competition.

Next Saturday is opener here in CO too! And I face the same problem as Mike — a super-abundance of shotgun hunters, esp. on opening weekend. (And the industry and their media minions keep complaining “We need more hunters.” Not anyplace I hunt!) Anyhow, I’ve killed a few birds over the years with stickbows and never once used a manufactured blind. And any advantage you could get from a training-wheel bow — shortness for maneuvering in thick brush, and let-off so you can hold at full-draw seemingly forever waiting for that tom to step out from behind the tree — you can equal with a short, low-draw recurve. For years I had an old Bear Black Bear, 48″ long and 40# draw if I recall, which I kept just for turkey hunting and sure wish I still had it. Best luck to you all, and remember that the reward of any endeavor is proportional to the effort involved. Years ago I quit shotgunning for turkeys because it was always over in the first morning of opening day and then I had a 6-week season ahead to sit and twiddle my thumbs. The greatest problem in killing a turkey with any bow is having them run off after the shot and they hide so well you’re lucky to find ’em. Most of this problem arises from aiming low and forward as we would on deer, thus slicing through mostly only breast meat. I only figured this out for myself quite recently :oops:, a turkey’s vital organs are high, so aim at the wing butt (where wing attaches to body). This is also the only game I hunt with the biggest 3-blade heads I can find. Talk about a rite of spring! 😀 dave

Here are a few pictures of what Dave was talking about in regards to turkey vitals…

Skeleton.

Good luck with the turkies. I have to wait till the 23rd, but then again we have a lot of snow yet here in MI.

Good visuals, Mr. Downing. Thank you! Hard to believe how little there bodies are when all those feathers are fluffed out! I can think easily of human-related jokes on that “fluffed feathers” thing, but will keep it to myself. Looking at all this, I understand and applaud those very few hunters, even among traditionalists, who shoot either blunts or “gillotines” at the head/neck and say, “either I hit and kill quick, or miss clean.” But gee, for me it’s all I can do just to arrange a good shot at the Body! 😳 One nice thing about turkey hunting, beside being something challenging to hunt in spring, is that there’s really no “trophy” bragging rights to them and, unless you like your meat soaked in fried greese, there not so delicious as venison. So we just go out and hunt the pea-brained genuses and win or lose and have fun either way. Homer (and make no mistake, I am HOT to hunt turkey!)

Opening day is the 15th here in Idaho. I’m taking my longbow my first set of cedar arrows I’ve ever made and some good tweezers (I hunt barefoot). This year I’m taking a young man who just passed his hunter education class and who’s single mother doesn’t have the ability to make a hunt happen for him. He’s going to use a shotgun (I know I know sacrilege), but he has not passed his bow hunter ed class yet. Keep the fingers crossed I hope to be posting pictures of this young man’s first turkey. Good luck to you all can’t wait for the 2011 pictures to start being posted. Hopefully I’ll have some too this year.

Erik

Wait – barefoot? We must be in very different parts of Idaho. I’m hoping the snow is lower than my Muck boots by the 15th.

Muck — I think starting any new turkey hunter out with a shotgun is a good idea. There’s a learning curve to be climbed and it can be tough enough even with a 12-bore until you figure it out. But once you do figure it out, if you have uncrowded places to hunt and birds that talk, well, for me it got too easy. For years I hunted them shotgun only. Then I transitioned to hunting with bow the first two weeks, which always gave me opportunities to blow some set-ups and miss some shots and get frustrated — then I’d take the old Winchester out and get it done. But that was all long ago. For years now I’ve hunted exclusively with a bow and generally have better luck in fall than spring, when you’re allowed to kill any turkey, not just bearded toms. Give me a hen or jake anytime for good eating. The biggest challenges here in the mountain SW are other hunters and wind wind wind in the spring. I once saw a tom try to fan when a big gust blew in from behind and knocked him right over on his face in the dirt. 😳 Don’t think that poor embarrassed fellow got any loving that morning. dp

David,

Thanks for the great story I love it! Thanks for the support I am not trophy hunter never have been and never will be. I am a meat hunter only, so yes I agree with you in looking for the most tasty not the biggest animal. Thanks again.

Erik

All you folks carrying on about Turkeys sure makes a fella jealous. I am told we have them in Alberta, but only by draw and in the FAR South (about 14 hour drive). Guess I’ll have to stick to Beavers n Bears, woe is me:wink:.

I can not sleep in 4 short hours I’m going to be in the mountains whatching turkeys. Going to have to shoot 100 arrows just to get the twitches out. Best wishes to all you.

Erik

Good luck runamuck. Keep us posted on how it goes.

T minus 36 hours here.

And it just started snowing again.

And as long as we’re on this topic, anyone shot Magnus Bullheads out of a trad bow before?

Never done it myself, but I have seen it done a few times on web videos and it appeared to work rather well.

I leave Wis. at 4:30 am Tuesday the 19th. headed to the Blackhills I have both SD and WY tags. Tenting in the hills hunting the birds with my longbow and deer/elk sheds with lots of walking and looking. Also scouting water holes for my fall elk hunt in the same area of WY. Good luck to you all, be safe!

P.S. I Just got an e-mail from the mother of a young man that just completed both the Hunter Education, Bow hunter Edcation class that I teach. He got is first turkey, hunting with his uncle last Sunday durning Wis. Youth turkey season.
Here is part of the message-
Shayde got his 1st turkey on Sunday, the 10th. His turkey was 24 lbs, 9″ beard. He was so excited! He is very proud of himself! His cousin Noah got a 19 lb. turkey. Shayde rubs it in alittle that his was bigger! 🙂

I come back from my hunt on Easter Sunday, will past an update when I get back.

Good Luck to all you LUCKY fellows that can talk Turkey now. I have to wait until May 1 here in the Adirondacks. I have retired the shotgun also in favor of the longbow. Spring Turkey sure does cure cabin fever!

Bummer. I hope it picks up for you.

Funny that they would all just disappear like that. Any idea what the cause might be?

Was out from dawn to dusk looking for birds. I saw 6 live ones but they were on someone’s ranch. Then I crossed paths with a dead turk which must have been eaten by a bobcat or some predator. The way the gas prices are, I am not turkey hunting any more this year. Just one trip.

Well after three straight years of the turkey hunting not being what it once was, this year has been an absolutely fantastic time chasing the Mountain Merriams. My time hunting them is almost over however as our family is expecting the birth of our third son any day now…I wanted to share a couple of experiences with all you fine folks.
A friend of mine Doug Krueger, who just recently started hunting turkey with his recurve, killed a beautiful Tom on the third day of the hunt! Doug is a turkey hunting fanatic and is simply the finest turkey hunter I have ever had the fortune of hunting with. Here is a picture of His Tom.

Congrats to Doug! Anyone who goes to that much trouble applying facepaint deserves success! 😛 You forgot to mention that he hit it in the neck and almost beheaded it, cool.

My season continues to be slow, and this morning I called in only my second tom of the season. The “dead decoy” ruined things again; you think I’d learn. They come in and see a deke that’s not moving and instantly go on guard. So these days I put one out only if there’s enough breeze to move it around some, which there was this morning. But by the time the tom came in, no wind. Even so, had the tom walked in front of a big ponderosa I’d have had my preferred shot op, where the tree behind the bird stops the arrow and pins the beast to the tree so it can’t fly or run off. But he walked behind the tree instead. And then it started snowing. Oh well, it’s all good fun, and humbling. Maybe I’ll get one for my Easter basket tomorrow. dave

Yesterday morning, I headed out early to hunt the roost in a spot that is usually crawling with other hunters. Another friend of mine Trey, who also recently became a traditional bowhunter, joined me as we headed to a particular ridge where you can usually hear Toms gobbling in the roost. We were greeted almost immediately with a couple of birds gobbling their heads off, including one that was within 150 yards of us…I planted the seed and gave a few clucks to let the birds know that there were hens around. After the closest Tom headed off in another direction in search of the real thing, we pressed on, headed up the ridge towards another gobbling Tom. All of a sudden, He gobbled and it was so loud that I knew he was about to make an appearance. Trey and I scrambled to the quickest hiding place we could find. I crouched down behind two pine trees and gave a couple of clucks…The next moment, I heard the unmistakable sound of a strutting Tom…He was here but I had not seen him yet. I tapped on my leg at Trey and mouthed silently, “He is here!” The Tom gobbled again and I looked up and all I could see was the top of his feathers as he moved ghost like through the trees. I knew right away that he wasn’t coming in to us, he was on another course. I stood up and weaved through the trees looking for a shot opportunity. The Tom was following a hen that I didn’t see at first and they were within 25 yards. I finally cleared the final tree for a shot and I came to full draw at the strutting Tom, immediately the hen saw me and took off. The Tom came out of strut and I decided to take a head shot. I released the arrow and watched it go right by the bird’s head. The two birds headed off quickly to parts unknown. What a fun morning! A few minutes later Trey spotted two birds headed down a gully, we tried unsuccessfully to bring them in. Right after the latest bird sighting, I looked up and saw a Cross carved into a tree. Despite hunting this place for several years, I had never noticed the Cross. Awesome…As many of you know, yesterday was Good Friday. I thought I would share…

One more picture that Trey took without me knowing.

Dave–That is good news to hear you got into birds once again. I looked out the window and up the canyon a couple of hours ago, saw the snow and wondered if you were hunting up there this morning. Cool! Yeah those dekes can get you into trouble sometimes, I stopped carrying mine in my pack just so I wouldn’t even be tempted to use it. I believe it is better to have the Toms search for you within the canopy of the trees…

T– the best turkey trad bowhunter I ever knew says the same thing, almost to the word re dekes: “Let ’em search for that hen they hear.” But I believe we all are talking about Merriam’s turkey in wild mountain habitat. Probly could be different for Easterns in mostly agriculture areas, I don’t know. Could be what Mr. Petersen said, about using one if the wind is blowing to move it, could be good. Unless the wind quits are the wrong time like it did with him today. He must be crazy anyhow, hunnting turkeys in a snowstorm. 😛 Just kidding. “Good crazy” as my wife would say. H

It’s been really tough around here, and talking with a few others seems to confirm it. Haven’t even heard a single gobble yet, even being set up in places where there is fresh sign and/or where I saw turkeys the previous day (and this is not a place where they get a lot of pressure). Owl calls, crow calls, hen purring/cutting – no responses to any of it. The other morning, I decided to not call at all and just listen – nothing. They’re there, but they just seem shut down, silent and really spooky. Oh well, I’ve seen a lot of other cool wildlife, including a nice bull elk the other day and more mulies than I could count. When I’ve been bored, I practice sneaking up on them. Still have a week left, maybe the birds will “turn on”….

I just got back from hunting with a friend downstate. He had turkeys coming in from every direction. Two promising toms came in from our right, turned, and walked straight at the blind. At 15 yards I shot right at the chest. Arrown hit just to the left of its beard and exited in front of the opposite drumstick. It just turned and walked away. It left a huge blood trail and we found it dead about 60 yards away. I couldn’t believe it made it that far. Anyway, 9 3/4″ beard. Not a bad one at all:P

Atta way to get ’em, Fubar! Now you have to eat that big old bird! 😛 Seriously, congratulations as I know that it ain’t easy. Homer

Strong work, FUBAR!

Hi all,
Had a fun trip to the black hills. It was shortened by a 8″ snow fall Thursday night that was going to add another 12″ before Saturday am. Along with high winds up to 50 mph. I thought it best to pack up Friday around 9 am and make the 2 mile drive on the two track road I was camped on, out to the main gravel road. And the 7 mile drive out to the paved road while I could! The first night (Tuesday) after setting up camp I spotted an old elk shed 25 yards from my tent sticking out of a snow field. It got down to 15 degrees that night but I found a new 5 point elk shed on a snowy hill side that day, but never heard or saw a turkey. It never got out of the mid 20’s and the birds were not active. Thursday brought better turkey hunting weather some sun highs in the upper 30’s/low 40’s little wind. I called a huge tom up a hill that ended up 4 yard behind me strutting and drumming, I tried to turn my head to see if he was turned away with his fan blocking his veiw so I could get my longbow around for a shot, but I spooked him, he ran out 30 yards and strutted and called back to me for awhile then walked off. It was very cool. I found 3 deer sheds, Later that day the weather was turning and rain/snow was called for. As I went to sleep for the night the snow was starting to fall. In the attached photos You can see my camp Tuesday after setting up and Friday after tearing down. I alot of fun, can’t wait for next year! Take care Ron

after snow storm started photo

this years shed finds

Ron– Considering your weather problems in the Black Hills, I’d best quit grumping about 30-40mph winds spoiling my own travel hunt last week. I too had a good time anyhow, but I had my wife and dogs in camp and no snow to deal with. You’re due a turn of good luck and good weather after that strong effort. Dave

Good to hear some of you are finding turkeys and having fun. Plenty of hunters here but no turkeys, a silent spring so far.