First Turkey

[tnbowhunter]

For the wife that is.
We started not to even go hunting this evening. It's been one of those cloudy rainy days. Anyway we decided to go for awhile just to see if anything was moving, I'm glad we did because we hadn't been in the blind for an hour when I see this turkey off about 200yds in the woods. I gave a few yelps and it cautiously made it's way in. We [the wife and I] were in the same blind and from her position couldn't even see the bird so I was giving a play by play about it's whereabouts. I was a nervous wreck, I just knew we would get busted and that would be the end of that. It finally got directly in front of the blind at 25 yds and she let er rip. Perfect shot!!!!
It didn't have much of a beard but hey for a first Turkey who cares. I bet it's going to taste pretty darn good.

[helomech]

Congrats, and what a man to let his wife take the bird. Yall must have lots of birds up there, because that didn't take long. I know people that turkey hunt alot and don't kill but one or two a year. Have you ever killed one with a bow?

[tnbowhunter]

Originally Posted by helomech

Congrats, and what a man to let his wife take the bird. Yall must have lots of birds up there, because that didn't take long. I know people that turkey hunt alot and don't kill but one or two a year. Have you ever killed one with a bow?

We don't have a "lot" of birds, but we do have them patterned pretty well. This is where those food plots come into play. Turkeys are like anything else, the hens will be where the groceries are and the Toms will be where the hens are, especially this time of year.

I killed my first and only turkey last year in almost the same exact spot. We have a lot of restraint and will only take one or two birds off our property hoping that the population will grow. We also practice predator control and kill every feral dog and coyote we see. We also trap and kill or relocate several raccoons each year as their numbers were way out of control when we first bought our property six years ago. I will give the foxes a pass knowing that they probably do their fair share of nest robbing but foxes are few and far between around these parts so I will share as long as they don't get too greedy, lol.

No, I haven't killed one with a bow..yet. I am still learning how to hunt them and will probably try to get one more with a gun then switch to a bow, probably next year. For those that have taken one with a bow I take my hat off to ya. I have never seen a more wary animal than these wild Eastern birds, all it takes is one movement and they are outta here.

As far as letting the wife kill this bird, I swear it was more exciting for me watching her than if I had taken it myself, I was almost hyperventilating when he stepped into the shooting lane.

Thanks for the "congrats" I'll be sure to pass them on to the better half.

[helomech]

I love to hear that more and more people are doing so much to manage the wildlife.

I saw in some magazine that they make a turkey arrow that is four long blades that will actually cut the turkeys head off. Don't know much about them, but they shouldn't mess up any meat.

[tnbowhunter]

Originally Posted by helomech

I saw in some magazine that they make a turkey arrow that is four long blades that will actually cut the turkeys head off.

Heck yeah, I saw the video, I can't remember the link but it was pretty awesome.

[bloody13]

Cheers to that!