Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: huntertrapper on February 06, 2008, 10:17:18 pm
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Who will be huntin spring turkey this spring? i plan to go out and hunt with my 50 year old 55 pound longbow using either tradepoints from M-P or some glass points(if i get them sharp enough). Any info on huntin them would be appreicated. i have huntedem with gun but now got this bug so i wont be doin it with a gun no more considering the difference of having to draw while the turkey comes in. any pictures of kills or set ups would be cool. thanks all
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No experience but good luck and have fun. Kenneth
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Get you a Guille Suit....and do a lot of either Bait and Wait....or do like I do....do a lot of Belly Crawling to get close!! I got two this last Fall Season....and anyone that Hunts Turkey knows....that the Fall Season is the Hardest....cant call them in like you can when it is the Rut.....So practice your Turkey calls and get something to camouflage yourself good....and talk them into shooting distance....it makes you Blood Pump...and you know you are still alive!!
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yeah in Penn. stalking is illegal in spring (to many numnuts that will shoot anything that moves.) But yeah stalk to get in close then call is what we do. we try to put them to bed the night before.
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You should have no problem harvesting a bird with stone points ... lots of practice and good calling techniques... should be the key to success... Mike a/ho
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Finding their Roost is one sure fire way of getting close...just don't let scent give you away....they have great eyes...but don't forget the Nose!!
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when you say nose you arent serious? :)i know they have good hearing and sight but the nose?
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If they could smell no one would ever kill one...Mike A/ho
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exactly what my dad say. it would be like huntin a coyote.
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has anyone killed one not wearing camo? i know Mr. Huston has from one of his articles but has anyone else? i aint much into camo but will wear it for turkeys if i must? i know they got some great eyes.
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If they cant smell than they have ESP!! Cause I was sitting against a Cedar at the edge of the Creek this Fall...in my Guille Sit....looked just like the Tree itself.....the Turkey came in crosswind ....and when the got just a Tad passed me with the wind hitting my back...and straight towards them....the lead Hen spooked and they all flew off over the Water and into the Salt Cedar...the only thing I could chalk it up to was that it was hot that day...in the 90's...and that Guille Suit is one Hot Muther!!! You like Turkey....I have Turkey...I feed them about 300 pounds of Corn a Month....not on purpose...but the Deer feeders are Dinner Bells to these Birds!!
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Huh? i guess you never know. where is it your aim. i have heard where the feathers connect with the head,(small target) or at the wing butts?
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Depends on what part of the Bird is presented to me for the Shot....if you are really good ....you can aim for where the Neck meets the Body.... but I usually take a shot that hit above the Breast under the wings ...in lets say their Arm Pit region :o
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like where the wing butts are? :-\ or down a bit?
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I like to follow the Leg up the Body about 2-3 inches into the Wig...and shoot for this area....you normally will get the joint of the wing and definitely get vital on the way in...also I dint try for a thru and thru shot either...it is a lot harder for these big Birds to fly off...if they have an arrow stuck in them....if you hit low in the Guts....they can fly off 10-200 yards and it makes finding them a lot harder
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I got my turkey last April. This wasn't just my first turkey with a primitive bow, it my very first and ONLY turkey I have ever killed. I aimed a few inches above where the leg enters the belly area. I missed the lungs, but cut a major artery. He only ran 40-50 feet before dropping. I was hunting out of my bro's Double Bull blind. We had seen the turkeys roost the night before, so we snuck in before daylight and set up along the edge of the woods. My bro put a lone hen decoy 10 yards in front of the blind, and when all the turkeys flew down the next morning, two came to us (one jake and one 2 year old gobbler). One well-placed shot with my stone tipped rivercane arrow, launched from my osage bow brought the gobbler down pronto.
I'll be back out in the woods this spring, trying for another one. Hopefully I'll get lucky.
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Good job with the stick and stone ... nice looking bird.. and a great looking bow... Mike A/ho
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has anyone killed one not wearing camo?
Millions of Indians. ;D
Ok, being a bit of a smart-elbow there, they didn't have Mossy Oak Breakup, but I'm sure that they effectively used natural cover and often probably mud or paint for camo. turkeys see really well in color, so camo is a definate help-either modern camo or just wearing clothes that blend into the color scheme and texture of the woods around you.
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i hunt without camo all the time. and i stalk them all the time. sometimes i win sometimes i lose. i like to stalk in as close as possible and try to pick a tree with two or more trunks to shoot through. my favorite shot is from behind the bird between the shoulder blades. if the fan is up ill shoot for the bung and skewer the bird. if i cant take those shots i go for the head and neck. turkey wings are like armor. if you hit it in the wrong spot it will stop an arra. if im using steel i use guillitines and head shots. best modern head for poppin birds heads off.peace
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If it is legal to use decoys where you hunt get yourself a JAKE decoy.
Set him out in front of your setup about 10 to 15 yards away.
Make sure that he is facing your set up. Head on.
Call in a big Tom Turkey. When the big Tom gets up to the Jake decoy he will try to show him up by out strutting him.
The big Tom will look the Jake straight in the face and strut up big.
This will offer you a shot at his rear. (Bung)
And his head will most likely be covered by his fan so he cant see you.
I have seen this work. Just not for me yet.
Thanks
David
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Like Jamie said. I dont use camo either. Turkeys CAN smell their sense of smell is just not as developed as say a deer er a hawg. They rely on great eyesight and hearing as their first line of defense. I take mostly neck shots (at the base )......bob
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okay thanks guys i will definitely be practicing a lot before then.
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Thanks for the topic. This wil be my second season, hopefully first successful one ;).
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A Turkey biologist will tell you that there is no proof that a turkey can smell. If that was true, there would be a ton of crap in Cabello's and Bass Pro shop for that problem. Yankee, more than likely , you moved. They have 3/4 vision without moving their head. They can literally see behind themselves. I shot the one in the hunting pictures with no shirt on. I was in a Bull Blind though. ;) I called them in and it was fall birds. I put Jake decoys out and called. The Big Boys came to kick some but.
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Well, I didn't get a tag again this year. ::)
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I dont always believe what bio's say, like I dont always believe what DNR says. Seen both them foks backtrack and hem an haw too many times in my life. I have seen them (turkeys ) use their sense of smell ta find a meal be it berries er corn that has been put out fer them and was covered with hay so they could not see it. As far as Cabela's an Bass Pro Shop they probably concentrate on whats the common fact and popular-----------their eyes. Lots of sales there fer them in camo blah-blah-blah...........bob
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people that absolutely believe you need camo to get close and shoot will buy whatever they sell.
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Well I for one, Don't believe they can smell well enough to pick up human scent. I've killed a few 'ol boss gobblers and many were close enough to spit on. Some saw me move and spooked, but I have never thought one smelled me and i've been real close to more than a semi could haul! Saw Filer
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Sawfiler, I've had hens jump across my legs. I've even had people tell me Buzzards can smell dead animals up in the air while they are flying. Check out the nose on a bird, Biologicaly, they are not made for long range sniffin'.
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lovr the spurs, very cool
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Don't spose you have any trouble locating fletching material Shannon ;)?
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Naw, I save all mine and have all my friends including a check station and a taxidermy shop or two save them for me.. I have 4 or 5 hundred I need to send out and have ground. I usaully have Raven Arrows do it for me, she grinds all my right wing in exchange for the left wing.
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What do you do with the wing bones?
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Chuck them. I never really thought about keeping them for calls since I use mostly mouth and friction calls.. If you wanted some, I suppose I could save you a few this spring..
Btw, i'm not a poacher. I hunt Ky and Tn spring and fall seasons. That's usually good for 6 spring birds and 2 or 3 fall birds. Minuteman said it well when he described me as "a turkey huntin fool" ;D
Two years ago I hunted 27 mornings straight and saw 13 gobblers fall. I guess you could say I like it a little.
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I'm just like you. I'll take 2 weeks vacation and hunt states as far as I can drive. I need my Merriam for my Grand Slam. Then it's off to Costa Rica. Turkey is my favorite hunt, Nothing like hearing those Wippowills and Owls just before the "witching" hour.
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I love being up in the mountain before daybreak laying in the leaves waiting to hear that, Gobble gobble Gobble. its awesome. :)
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Down here it's the Owl's and the Coyotes....right before the Turkey come down from Roost....the Coyotes start to making all kinds of Hell....sounds a lot like a lot of Hounds on a hot trail :o
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up here it is wolves and grizzlies.... lol .. Hawk....A/ho
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Just about everywhere I hunt has a bunch of barred owls. I never have to use a locater call to get one to gobble. Most of the time they won't work around here anyway >:(. Before season opens, every Dick, Tom and Harry around just has to go out and blow on owl calls till there blue in the face, just to make them gobble. I love to hear it, but I want a gun or bow in my hand when I do. I think an old bird gets wise pretty quick to locater calls. Seasons a couple months away and i'm already starting to get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.
I dream of killing one of them long spurred Osceola's one day.
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o yeah we got plenty of yodlers too. and we use owl calles to locate
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Hunting Osceola's is a different kind of hunt. These birds aren't afraid if getting their feet wet. And they have some nice hooks.
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I like the spurs too. Wish I had kept all of mine that way!! ;)
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The length of the spurs is the only true way of aging a Tom. A bump , a late hatch 1 year old. A bump with a point a early hatch Jake, 1 year old. Short , 1", 1 1/4" sharp, 2 year old. NICE 1 1/2" ,1 3/4" , (2" approaching in the record category) hooked(curved),spurs, 3 years old or more. Most of them don't live much longer than that.
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Around here it takes at least 4 years for a gobbler to get 1-1/2" spurs. A jake would have a bump, a two year old would be less than an inch to a blunt 1", a three year old will be from a sharp inch to 1-1/4 and a 4 year old will usually be over 1-3/8. There's just something about them osceolas, they seem to have longer spurs than these easterns around here.
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have any of you seen hens with beards? i had one land some couple feet from me last year. i though about shootin since it had a beard and all and didn't. then my dad says after she flew, you coulda shot her now that i think of it.
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There are a lot of Predators down here and the cover is thicker. I got a bird the State has on their record web site a few years ago that is my best.They go by beard length which doesn't make sense. But it had a 11 3/4" beard and 1 5/8" hooked spurs that I hung on my bicycle handle bars. The bird weighed 22# ,which is big for an Osceola on public land in the spring. And took him with a muzzle loading shotgun. Come on down, 2 year olds are usually sporting 1" to 1 1/4" needle sharp spurs.
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huntertrapper, Yep, a GOOD, hunting buddy shot one out from under me in Alabama
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you shot that bird with a muzzleloader thats great i love them things?
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Hi everyone,my name is Tim and i am a turkey hunting addict. Ive been known to hunt for two weeks and then call in sick to work just so i can go hunt them some more.Where i hunt here in MN. the birds can get up to 28-30 lbs long rope like beards and 1.75 needle sharp spurs.I don't think they have much for a sense of smell,considering Ive had them sneak right next to and past my double bull blind with me in it smoking,scared the beejeebies out of me.I ve had them as close as 20 feet from me gobbling like mad,while standing very still next to some trees and wearing just regular old street clothes,secret is to remain absolutely still,mouth calls work great for this sort of thing.I too like to use the guillotine blade, but then you have to leave the mesh window open on the blind cause that 4 inch blade will shred it real quick.
the guillotine is great for head shots,its like popping the flower head off of a dandelion lol. If I'm using regular broad heads i like to wait and try to get a pooper shot,more reliable than a broad side shot, ever seen a turkey fly about 600 acres with one busted wing and arrow sticking out both sides,not a good thing. we are kind of lucky here in MN,in the fact that if you don't get drawn in the lottery for gun season,you can buy an over the counter BOW permit and lots and lots and lots of great public hunting land. the only draw back to bow season is that it is the last two weeks of the season,and the birds get just as spooked as the giant rabbits (or as other people call them DEER) do during hunting season. Now thats when you really know if your a turkey hunter or someone who just likes to go turkey hunting.well i gotta go now,its only 2.5 months to bow season,gotta go practice my calling now, mmmmmm TURKEY HUNTING.
good luck to everyone this spring thats going after them thar buzzards,and GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE ;D ;D ;D
TIM
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Hunter, beardsd hens are very common around here. I'd say at least one in 50 has one. Multiple beards are pretty common in some areas also. I've killed 10 or 15 birds with from 2 to 5 beards. I would say my best overall bird was 24# 10-1/2, 9-1/2, and 8" beards. He had 5 spurs, two on one leg and 3 on the other. The extra spurs were small, but he had 'em. Saw Filer
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Hunter, beardsd hens are very common around here. I'd say at least one in 50 has one. Multiple beards are pretty common in some areas also. I've killed 10 or 15 birds with from 2 to 5 beards. I would say my best overall bird was 24# 10-1/2, 9-1/2, and 8" beards. He had 5 spurs, two on one leg and 3 on the other. The extra spurs were small, but he had 'em. Saw Filer
You need to quit hunting next to the nuclear reactors. :o Justin
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wow! 10 to 15 birds. were all with a stickbow? or gun? and yeah we have some here that have 2 birds. i think maybe a few more spurs too.
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Bearded hens are not that uncommon I see atleast one a year. I shot one years back. I believe it has to do with geneticis,they can funtion the same as any other hens, and I have seen them raise brood.
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the one i saw a couple guys saw.
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I have seen a number of hen beards from other hunters, friends etc. They all seem to be thin and have a kink in them, and average around 6 to 7 inches. I hope to bag a longbeard though with the longbow this year, can't wait
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Same. good luck to you ;)