Archery Turkey Hunting
“The Mother-Load”
Successful Archery Turkey Hunt
Good morning Jon and Susie,
My 2019 spring Kansas turkey hunting was great. I always like to get out with my bow early on since the pressure is low. I started out on a farm I had never been to before. I heard one bird and he came close right off the roost but would not commit. I waited a few hours and then went on a walk and spotted the one solo gobbler with seven hens. I called and worked these birds for about an hour and finally they worked my way and the gobbler got within about 30 yards but I was unable to get a shot. The bow presents a challenge on a ground stalking scenario. I then drove around looking at other properties that day and spotted a single gobbler with a hen next to one of our leases and reserved that spot for the next morning. I got to the spot early set up my blind and waited for the gobbles to start. It was a cool morning mid 40’s but clear and calm. I waited and waited but never heard any gobbles anywhere near or far. I was a little disappointed. I kept calling every 5 minutes or so and about an hour in I decided to lay down in the blind to rest my back. It hadn’t been 5 minutes and I heard something hit one of my decoys. I was caught off guard because I had not heard anything all morning. Much to my surprise a nice tom was destroying my jake decoy. He came in without making a sound. I finally got positioned and was able to make a shot on the bird. He made it all the way across the field before dying.
On my third hunt I went to a spot I hunted one time last year and heard lots of birds but never had any work. I went to where the birds were last year and this year I heard only one gobble close but heard a bunch over the ridge. I hunted the single bird and he flew down with hens and worked off. The other gobbles were getting closer so I made a move to get a good view of where these birds were. There were four gobblers and 5 hens. They wanted nothing to do with calling so I tried using a decoy and crawling into the field but the hens spooked and ran off with the gobblers in pursuit. I made a plan to wrap around on the birds and try another vantage point. I made it around a ridge and back to the birds. This time about 100 yards away. I snuck down got below the birds and started calling. Before I knew it three two year old gobblers were at five steps in front of me and I couldn’t get a shot again. The birds worked off and over the ridge. The fourth bird was still with the 5 hens about 80 yards away. This birds was definitely the boss tom. The three two year old birds gobbled non-stop the whole morning but this bird never made a peep. I got my decoy and slowly behind crawled behind it up to a large oak tree about 60 yards from the gobbler and got into a better position and began calling. The old bird slowly worked towards me zig zagging all the way to 30 yards where I was finally able to get a shot and harvest the old bird. He had 11.5 inch beard and a 1.75 inch spur. The other spur was broken off. That’s the first time I had seen that. All in all I had a great few hunts but was a little concerned that I didn’t see any jakes or hear what I thought were any jakes. Hopefully I was just missing them. Numbers do seem to be down this year compared to years past especially in Missouri on the private ground I hunt in the southwest and western part of the state.
Thanks for all you guys do giving people the affordable opportunity to get out and enjoy nature.
Feel free to share the pictures.
Brad
Congratulations Brad! A job well done!
