Trad Gang

Guys, I would like some opinions.  I run and gun with a shotgun, but can it be done with a bow?  Can it be fruitful to get up and hunt every morning before work with bow in hand.  Can I work birds as if I have a shotgun, but instead sit by a tree with my bow.  I usually go hunting several mornings a week, but was wandering if I would be wasting more time if I took my bow without a blind or decoys?  

I would also like to know how you guys carry your bow.  Do you have a sling?  If so, what is the best sling, and where to get one.  I know that they make slings for wheelie bows, but was wandering if there is a technique used to transport your bow with fast access.  I also want to protect my bow somewhat.

I would love to completely put the gun down for the bow, but I am not much on sitting in a fixed location every morning.  I also hunt afternoons, and move around alot.  I definitely know that hunting with bow will be less productive, but a few shots a season this way would be sufficient.  

Please give me any ideas or methods on how to do this.  I am also going on an all bow hunt in Texas, but do not want to just sit in a blind.  I like to get out there with the turkeys.  Thanks

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I would have tried to give you an answer but there are a number of guys who do this that are a lot better than i am. I did a search using your post and there are several more posts with info related to this other than the ones i listed.  Hope this helps. Good luck!  :)

That is all I do now.  No blind, no decoy.  I just go hunting with my bow in my hand and tyr to make things happen.  My objective is to make it more challenging. I couldn't care less about killing a turkey with a gun.

Thanks for the info.

Richie Nell do you have frequent success using this method.  I believe that I am going to try it.  How do you carry your bow?  Do you just carry in your hand or with a sling?

Spurs, I prefer this method, but I can't claim much success at it. The shots I've had, I managed to miss. It's much more exciting than blind hunting, but less productive for most folks. I like to move as close as I can to a gobbling bird and lure him in without any aids other than a call, but getting the shot off is tough. I try to set up where there are big trees between me and him in bow range, so I have a chance to get the bow drawn while his head is hidden. One of these days...

I hunted with a fellow in NC while I was working for Longbows & Recurves magazine who held most of the turkey records there. He used a stool (hard to shoot from sitting on your butt) and full head-to-toe camo, and was very successful at it.

It helps to have lots of gobblers in the area, so there's more competition for the hens. They tend to come more quickly, and not quite as suspiciously.

I started bow hunting turkeys last season and had three misses.  Two were legitimate chokes.  I haven't had any action this year yet.  I just carry my bow in hand.  No holder.

I have learned that I would rather miss one with a bow than kill one with a gun.

The turkey journey of getting to the moment of truth without a blind, without a decoy and with a bow is alot of fun...dead bird or not.

Bow in hand and spot and stalk with calling or  butt on folding stool and calling once they are found.  I always wear a 2/3 length shaggie suit that matches the environment I am in.  I have found that if you are standing up in the shaggie and paint you face they don't seem to notice you as much.  I do carry a folding decoy since I like to keep their attention on the decoy instead of me.

Does it work, yes, is it a lot harder than a shotgun, you bet.  Also way more rewarding when you kill one.

Never use a blind, just natural cover. timing your draw is critical when more than one bird is around.

It's tough, challenging but can be done...Good luck.

I suppose I've been pretty consistant as one could expect taking turkeys without a blind, but's it's tough, and hard on your nerves!  I have gotten luckly a few times just sitting on the ground when everything was absolutely perfect, but in reality you will have more success distracting them with a decoy.  Some guys hunt in states where they're illegal, so lack experince using them, but once they see how well they work they're usually looking for ways to use them on other hunts, in legal locales of course:^)  Did I mention that you need a Shaggie suit??

It can be done but I would highly recommend a decoy or two. I use hazel creek decoys. They are expensive but they are worth every penny. The birds focus in so hard on the decoys that you can more times than not get a second shot or two if needed. There are also a couple other companys offering great decoys such as the Turkey Roost, Double Header Decoys, and a lees expensive option Dave Smith Decoys. Good luck

Guys who bowhunt turkeys without a blind are either a) hunting merriams or b) spirtwalkers who like hunting turkeys more than eating them.

 :jumper:

If youre turkeys are like the ones in Southwest Arkansas, you got your work cut out for you. Anything is possible though. Good Luck.

These turkeys are tough, but I love bowhunting so much that I am going to have to try it.  I went out this afternoon with no luck.  I did shoot a cottonmouth from about 15yds.  Pulling the arrow was the interesting part.  

I will definitely take my shaggy suit next time.  I have a nice light weight ghillie.  

Gary do you camo the bow at all?  Do you have a fletching preference as far as color or do you just cover the others with a piece of camo cloth?

I appreciate all the responses.  I am a very long time turkey hunter, and just couldn't get motivated to take a wheelie bow.  I would just rather shoot them with a gun.  All has changed since getting trad fever.

it aint huntin if your sitting in a tent.

I lay my side quiver on the ground so "fanning the fletching" isn't a problem.  As far as feather colors, most of the time I use lime green as hens and a barred green cock feather . . . very natural colors during spring green-up and also works well during fall deer season. Like I said, I always use a Shaggie (3/4 coat).  I forgo the cumbersome mask that comes with the Shaggie (interferes with my glasses) for a tight fitting spantex type camo mask . . . cover my hands with OD military wool glove liners. Bow camo depends on which one using.  The main thing is to keep within the shadows with a good backdrop.  Once a bird is spotted I slowly point the bow at my jake decoy and FREEZE until the gobbler faces it and fans in my direction.  Once his head is hidden by his fan I draw straight back and attempt a "Texas Heart Shot":^)  It's a nerve rattling way to hunt but works for me, some of the time, HA!

QuoteGuys who bowhunt turkeys without a blind are either a) hunting merriams or b) spirtwalkers who like hunting turkeys more than eating them.
 

What Biggy said
 :bigsmyl:

get a piece of blind fabric 4 feet high- around 12 feet long. Cut some slits in it at various places along the piece- and affix a stake, using some aluminum stakes, maybe those green metal round tomato stakes with the plastic coating on them, with a point in the tip to poke in the ground.

Place your stool against a tree- run the fabric around the back of the tree and out in a "V" shape so you are sitting wih your back toward where you expect birds to come from.

Using fresh cut sapling limbs, etc stick them through the slits to sort of brush it in a little, and stick your decoy out in front fo you, facing away from YOU as you sit in the stool.

Start your calling and as the bird approaches he won't see the decoy until he makes it by your "V" and when he does, he'll be so focused on the hen you can draw and shoot with some real chance of making a shot

I've killed  a few that way. It's light enough a setup to roll up "as is" and move several times in a day wihtout much effort.

I may try the blind fabric.  I like the idea of moving several times.  My double bull is just a pain in the rear to tote around and pack.

A guy at Westervelt Lodge in Alabama showed me the "Inverted V Setup" Ray.  I know several compound guys who have used it successfully.  They only use the net, but of course they have the advantage of holding, and holding, and holding . . .

Tom, I hunt from a Double Bull whenever I take my son with me.  I leave the cloth case at home, roll the blind up tight, and strap it vertically to a Bullpac frame.  You can "run and gun" with it this way.  Popping it off and setting up quickly is a minor chore - just takes a little practice.

Gary, do you brush your blind in?  I tried the double bull once last year in the middle of a field, and the bird worked in and saw the blind, turned and went back up the hill and then started gobbling again.  They say don't brush it in, but I am not sure they are hunting easterns. Lol!

Spurs, I recommend a camo bow with NO reflective qualities. One of my best opportunities was blown because the gobbler spooked at 15 yards. My bow was the only possibility, and it was flat black with very little shine. I hadn't even twitched, and the rest of my camo was good. Now I use either removable tape or paint.

That's the only way I hunt deer and turkey.  Just pay attention and you'll do fine.

in the latest trad archer's world there's some product rap about the 'apache pyramid blind' - no website or online images that i've found yet.  looks like the name - a camo tri-cornered teepee shield.  

"Pro Release shoot-through Apache Pyramid Concealment Blind weighs a portable 3 pounds, adjusts from 1 to 5 1/2 feet high, 3 to 8 feet wide, and sets up in 10 seconds. Trebark, Mossy Oak, and Realtree Camo patterns are standard, plus woodland, cattail, and snow patterns are available on special order."

QuoteGuys who bowhunt turkeys without a blind are either a) hunting merriams or b) spirtwalkers who like hunting turkeys more than eating them.

Nice!.....Guess that's why they invented 12ga turkey loads   :biglaugh:

Ghillie on the way.  Fletching some black w/ brown or green instead of my normal brights.  I will have my blind set, but am trying for the "blindless" turkey this year.  My bow is camo, but needs a little something I think.  
After sitting in the tent last year, its time to up the nerve factor.

quote:

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Originally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
Guys who bowhunt turkeys without a blind are either a) hunting merriams or b) spirtwalkers who like hunting turkeys more than eating them.

  :smileystooges:  

I can not say I am good at it, because I still have never shot a turkey, lol.  But I have learned from alot of my mistakes!

I dont use a "blind", just natural cover.  But I think this year I am going to adjust some natural cover, so technically I will be hunting from a "natural blind".  I actually read a awesome little tip in Outdoor Life where you just find some trees in a square formation, tie a rope around them and hang brush from the rope.  Then you cut holes into the brush and walla, a natural blind!  In the past I have just used a stump or something to use for cover . . . but I think I might give this tip a try?