How many of you guys have shot turkey with your bow without a blind. I have yet to kill my first turkey but plan to do it with traditional gear and no blind (hopefully this spring). For those of you who have done it do you have any tips or tricks that have worked for you?
I have twice, both times I had ladyluck on my side! The first a spring tom I just got lucky he was alone and drew when he was behind a bigpoplar tree and released when he came out from the side of it.
The second time I got lucky when a group of fall birds came by and I managed to get in front of them. They saw me draw and spooked but one young one stood there just a little to long!
I bet I have been busted drawing on spring birds close to 30 times now! A blind definately helps put the odds on your side! I'll have my blind out for most of the spring season, but there's just sometimes when I have to cover ground working birds! It's hard to sit there when you can hear birds just over the next ridge!
I have 2x's. The land I hunt has rows of pine's I setup in an area that is missing a tree to the field side so it makes a hole. This has also worked against me when some poacher's followed the turkey as the came to strut. I ended up getting peppered.
Dave
Folks killed turkeys with bows before commercial blinds were available. Jack Brobst, from Pennsylvania, killed turkeys every year, spring and fall, with his longbow, and normally just sit against a large tree. Mike Fedora could tell you about Jack....they hunted together several times. Jack has a book on it that was printed in the 1980's I believe. It's hard to find but a very good read. If you are sharing the hunting area with shotgunners, I wouldn't want to be in any blind.
what do you mean by "no blind"? do you mean the enclosed pop up blind, or no cover at all, like putting downfall around you? to me a blind is anything to break up your outline or block some of you body. now many people consider a blind a "tent" with shooting windows. :)
I have taken around a lot of turkeys with a bow and have never used a blind.
Never use a blind, all natural cover. Been busted more times than I like but I don't mind....I'm having fun and like the added challenge. Came home empty many years, 2 yrs ago I finally connected on a nice tom and last year I was fortunate to kill 2 toms with the bow. Hope the luck continues this May... ;) :jumper:
All my turkeys have be shot by spot an stalk or spot an sneak into an ambush situation.
I've never used a blind for any sort of hunting.
Not for any particular reason other than they are not really a thing in NZ hunting outside of duck blinds.
I've shot around 20-30 Turkeys over the years and I'm happy to admit that due to very light pressure in NZ from anybody other than bowhunters,they are not as spooky here as they are in America.
Their definately not stupid though and the birds in my area know "exactly" who what I am.
I have spent the best part of a year targeting just one one bird and had many "all mosts" before finaly inviting him home for lunch.
A lot of visting American hunters to NZ go away thinking our birds really are stupid,,,but what they never realise is that some so called "hunting guide" has just led them to a semi tame flock that might be hunted one or two times a year at the most.
Those birds are not the real deal and I find it very sad that these guides do this sort of thing, because when they are truely wild birds and under real hunting pressure they are probably one of the most difficult animals you could ever try to stalk.
Just remember if you ever come to NZ and want to hunt real wild turkeys,,,you stay at my place and hunt my birds,and you will most definately be "hunting" them.
If you can kill Ga. Turkeys without a blind consistant...you should be on TV.RC
Them turkeys are tuff to get a shot on for sure. I have never killed one with a bow but the two that I got a shot on I waited until they were all fanned out and spun around with the ol' bullseye facing me when I drew and tried to put it right in the hole LOL.
managed to harvest a few tail feathers and let me tell you when them dudes lose a tail feather like that the ol' bullseye shrinks by half LOL.
Goodluck with it.
I to have been busted more than once drawing on them,maybe this yr I will get lucky,I think if a turkey had a nose like a elk you would really have a hard time getting one.
I tried three straight springs to get this done without a blind... I won't say its impossible but very difficult.
The birds see so well they always pick me off.. One time I made it to full draw and of course had a deflection off of brush between me and the bird...
Never Shot a Turkey, YET, Dont Use A Blind. Other than Natural Cover. My Problem is Method I believe of Finding that Right Spot!! Gotta Keep On Hopin' and Hunting!!
It's tough but can be done. Our good ol' native cedar trees make great natural blinds.
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I have. Actually my first trad kill. Saw em walking through the woods. I snuck a small hill and waited for them to show up. I was sort of hiding behind a tree about 12 yds away. It worked!
There's nothing any more antsy (not smart) than an Eastern Wild Turkey, and in Pennsylvania they are as wiley as any in Georgia or any other state. Ol' Jack Brobst will tell you that 8^).
We have a million hunters here, and 2/3'rds of them hunt spring turkeys with a shotgun. That's why you would have to be insane (or have a death wish) to get in an enclosed blind and call them. Decent cover and no movement is the key to getting a shot at them, and I want to be able to see what or who else is coming to the call.
By the way, I don't put a whole lot of creedence in what I see on TV for hunting anything. They have to kill to sell products.....anything goes. :saywhat:
Never have used a blind, other than natural materials. But then, have yet to bring home a turkey. Have, unfortunately, missed many and wounded one that I am sure became coyote grub later that day. Best for me is two person set up, just like elk bugling. Shooter along the side of the path the turkey will take to the caller and decoys. We move quite a bit during spring turkey season and a blind would be a hindrance. Carry a piece of burlap, though and pin it or clothes pin it to brush if needed.
3 so far; hopefully another one this spring.
I do it all the time using Shaggie suits, natural blinds, hanging stands in cedars. and the occasional luck shot on the ground.
Both of my turkeys have been killed without the use of a pop up blind. One I was sitting at the base of a big oak tree the other I was in the pines on the edge of a food plot in the National Forest in WV.
Who's done it without the blind?
That's a little too personal, don't you think? :D
IMO, turkeys are as fun to hunt as to eat. They have radar vision, the more eyes in the group the more likely you'll get busted. Concealment, stealth, & a good bit of luck are imperative, including camo, calls, blinds, whatever, is to your advantage. Public land makes me real nervous with all the gunners; so, I don't use a blind or camo. I've bowkilled half dozen or more turkeys since my first in 1989 (none on public land).
QuoteOriginally posted by FerretWYO:
I have taken around a lot of turkeys with a bow and have never used a blind.
Merriams don't count :biglaugh:
Killed quite a few Easterns without a blind. You just don't move if you can see their head.
George, you need to move my friend. : ) Everything around where you live is tougher to kill than a snapping turtle. I lived in PA for 7 years and had great luck on public land for deer and turkey.
Have had the good fortune of killing alot of them, most were without a blind. We have alot of turkeys, hunt in remote areas with little pressure coming from hunters of the human kind, the landscape makes it easier to pull it off, spot and stalk will work, but spotting and circling and trying to intercept them works better, One thing I have found out is when they get into range your bow better be back and ready to shoot. Knowing where there coming and going really helps.
I don't have any trouble at all, IndianaBowman who lives in New York 8^))). I'm good where I live. I was telling those southern bows that their turkeys aren't any smarter than the Pa. ones.....maybe just smarter than the hunters. 8^))))))))).
George, I've been humbled more times than I want to remember by a bird with a brain the size of a pea! Kind of leads you to follow the old axiom of trusting your instincts doesn't it!
Your in a beautiful part of the world!
I did it once just to see if it could be done. I got mine just by letting him get in very very close and a quick suprise shot. I missed a couple before the one that I made a fast shot on. He was suprised and stood there not knowing which way to run. My favorite by far is being in a blind and having them totally fooled. I was fortunate enough to get a second shot two different times from a blind.
I sat in a blind with my wheel bow last season. Used a crow call to find a bird, had my boy coming, then he stopped responding... 30 mins later BANG!! So, basically I called in a nice bird for some gunners. Fun part was, they came up on my spot, saw my decoys and started to load their shotguns until one whispered "decoys! decoys!"... that had my heart going...
Almost got another one in the Fall, but the bird lost interest in my calls about 25 yds out... I like to shoot inside of 20.
THIS YEAR... I will be out there, no blind, with my new Widow PSR III, maybe a ghillie suit or GOOD 3D camo and a low natural blind to draw on opening AM. Should be a good day!
GEORGE I DON'T AGREE Turkeys are super smart with Xray vision. A couple years back, I had three doe tags and no turkey tag. I was sitting on my chair with my feet up, enjoying a cigar and a cup of tea, (I call it deer hunting) when a large flock of turkeys came down the hill in single file. Everyone greeted me, as they passed within 15 feet of me, they said things like "nice day, how ya' doin', there's a deer on the other side of the hill,". They could tell somehow or see that there were no turkey tags in my billfold.
Personal opinion....but I view the NA wild turkey as a VERY worthy adversary. And, taken without a blind, with traditional tackle.....I think this may be the ultimate trophy.
Been after them for 2 yrs with trad tackle (with and without the blind).....and I've yet to drop the string. I'll keep trying.
Kudos to all of you who have....and continue to "get it done" this way!
What are some of the things you guys do that have been successful that you think can help us rookies??
Taken around 25 without a popup blind. Things that worked for me.
1 Jack Probst book George mentioned. I just mimicked what he did. hide well and place 2 decoys at 45 degree angles. Draw when the birds fan away. Can take a long time. get comfortable. be patient. I waited 2 hrs for a shot once. While the bird was within 40 yards strutting the whole time. I Let lots walk away and never drew.
2 natural blinds I made on previous hunts just in case I needed them later.
3 Windy days sneakin in leafy camo
4 PATTERNING the birds and waiting
5 Not changing my bow/deer setup, just adding muzzy grasshoppers behind my arrow.
6 NOT giving up and getting the shotgun
7 decoy on a string
8 finding birds that haven't been messed with to much
9 little netting for run and gunning
10 shooting for the top of the leg
lost 2-3 birdes out of around 50 now.
11 call very little except for jakes
Thats my story
Gotta go eat
Doug
I have and it is tough. Some seasons I go in real fired up about the effort. I'm leaning more towards taking kids and the shotgun this year.
I got to talk to Jack last year and he is still alive and kicking, I don't think he hunts anymore. He was using a breeding setup with decoys twenty years ago. He was way ahead of his time when it comes to hunting with a bow. He also invented a attachment to fit on your longbow to use a string tracker. It was the same principle they use to strap on quivers today. He had his own mouth calls, called in my first gobler with one of his calls and bought some turkey hunting arrows off of him. Jack Brobst was one of those legends who you never hear about.
Hey Doug S.,
Good to see you here! We miss you in SD. I hear that you and Al are going to be gone during the South Dakota Bowhunters Convention hunting down in Texas.
Back on the topic, my first turkey with my bow was without a blind and it was a cool experience and my most recent turkey this fall was without a blind. I hate to sit in a blind but I have to admit it is especially deadly when it comes to turkey. I hear it is the same way with antelope but I just can't stop crawling through the cactus hoping one of them will be stupid enough to let me kill him!
Good luck this spring guys and gals of Trad Gang!!!
One word....ghillie :wavey:
I actually took a nice Tom stalking him, kinda. What happend is he saw me and tried to sneak away through a trail that ran down a ridge. I was able to cut him off at the pass because I knew where the trail ended up. He stopped for less than a second at about 20 yards, just long enough for the bullhead to do its job. Literally took his head off. I was shocked. I've yet to be able to reproduce that hunt and perhaps will not for many of the reasons discussed in this post.
OH sheesh! I hope I can this year. I got me a big ole dry spell,with the bow and no blind going right now. Maybe I will make a ghillie.
Im with RC on this one.
It would take a miracle to kill a turkey without any kind of blind in Alabama.
Thanks for all of the input guys.
This past fall I came VERYY close to killing a hen (she was at five yards) but there was a stick placed perfectly to where I couldn't draw my bow back :mad: :mad: . After about 5 minutes of 15 birds feeding around my stand the lead hen (I'm guessing) decided that blob in the tree just wasn't right and they left the scene.
I immediatly chopped down the branch but for no cause as I never saw the same flock again.
QuoteOriginally posted by George D. Stout:
By the way, I don't put a whole lot of creedence in what I see on TV for hunting anything. They have to kill to sell products.....anything goes. :saywhat:
Unless you're on the *********** talking about our "stupid" Illinois whitetails, right? Methinks you're suffering from the long-term effects of wild game withdrawal. ;)
last year was my first year chasing turkeys with trad gear. I took 1 from a ground blind and 2 without a blind.
The first one I took without a blind happend when my buddy and I were heading back to the truck and we heard 2 big toms firing off about 200yds ahead. I set up my decoy and ran 30yds past it, towards the toms and my buddy went 30yds back away from them. I was crouched in some brush along a stone wall, about 20yds from an opening. I called and got them coming in on a string. Once they commited I shut up and my buddy started calling. The birds walked right though the opening and headed for the decoy. I drilled the biggest at about 25yds from behind.
The second bird i took without a blind was a stalk. The birds were feeding in a field about 10yds from a 4' high stone wall that divided the field. I crawled along the wall and popped up next to the birds, shooting one of the better toms at 15yds as he ran away.
My first with a compound was on the ground. Basically, I got in front of the birds by using brush as cover and waited until they were 20 yards away.
The other 6 I've taken were from a ground blind.
Good luck.
Paul
Here in West Tn turkeys are kind of isolated to certain areas and you pretty much have to hunt large tracts of river bottom, publicv hunting land. Turkeys are educated enough that if you use a decoy, there is a 99% chance you will not kill a turkey. They will hang up as soon as they see it and if they aren't convinced real quickly they're looking at a real turkey, they are gone!
So, I guess it's all relative. Like Jason pointed out, southern turkeys that are smatter than us southern hunters, or "stupid" Illinois deer, it's all relative! But it would be just short of a miracle to kill one here without a blind.
i have killed 3 turkeys in the fall while hunting deer out of a tree stand, but in spring have used a blind for the last 14 years,