Trad Gang

She got here Saturday afternoon, yesterday morning she went to "work"!

A lot of pix and a story with a couple "twists" to follow....
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040395faithgob.JPG)

Be back later....

:campfire:    Good Start!  >>>---->

I see Faith has grown some whiskers.

  :campfire:

you have an audience

Nice!!!

:campfire:    :coffee:

:coffee:  Can't wait to hear.

:campfire:

:campfire:

Should be good!

Looking forward to seeing the pics and hearing the story.

OUTSTANDING

Looks like Curt has a bit of a story to tell!

:coffee:

:campfire:

Gobble Gobble!!!  He's the Timex!  Congrats....

  :coffee:    :coffee:    :coffee:

:campfire:     :campfire:

Nice    :campfire:

Yeah Boy!

:campfire:

:campfire:

Awesome bro!

I'm waiting for a good story!     :clapper:

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

Faith showed up kinda unexpectedly this past Saturday. I mean I figured she'd be coming as I had her for the month of May, but I was so wrapped up in things around here...just kinda forgot.

As a matter of fact when the mail lady handed me the big box I still hadn't thought about it being her till Cade brought it up...Miss faith was in NY!

Cade and I had both shot her a little in AL. when we were on our trip to visit the Wilson family, so we kinda knew what to expect...a fine shooting bow!

I'd had some arrows given to me last year by a good old friend of mine that I was hoping would work out of her. I'd even gone ahead and cut them down about a month ago so they'd be ready. They were GT 35-55's, and I hoped 250grs would work up front. I wanted to use my favorite 1 1/4" 250gr. 3bl. VPA's.

Within a few shots it was apparent that they'd work just fine.

I strapped on a GN quiver also given to me by my buddy Jim, and loaded his arrows into it...I felt ready to hunt within about a half hr. of shooting and prepping...Miss Faith isn't very "picky" to tune and shoot.

Cade got home and wanted to shoot her...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040333faithgob.JPG)

This was honestly his very first shot!
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040334faithgob.JPG)

•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040335faithgob.JPG)
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040350faithgob.JPG)


The next morning we were set-up on a bird we'd roosted the night before....long story short...he came in to about 30yds. then went to some other birds in the distance...but Cade and I still had an exciting hunt...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040353faithgob.JPG)
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040354faithgob.JPG)

Found this under the roost tree...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040355faithgob.JPG)

"Dropping in" to our late morning spot...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040356faithgob.JPG)

Again, nothing came close...

Hiking back out...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040360faithgob.JPG)
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040361faithgob.JPG)

Good first hunt with Miss Faith, close, but not close enough.  Besides what fun would it be to kill one the very first morning out?   :rolleyes:    :dunno:  

The next morning(yesterday) would be different...

:campfire:

I was beginning to wonder when the Curt turkey story would begin. Can't wait for the rest.    :campfire:    :coffee:

Soooooo.....

The next morning I decided to set up in a spot where, in the past, has been very productive. I killed a bird last spring on the very last day of the season here.

I'd been here twice prior this spring, once scouting before the season and heard on bird that started gobbling late on the roost. I could hear birds across the road gobbling for at least a half hr. before this bird sounded off.

Then one day last week I hunted and only heard one gobble at 6:10am way up on the mountain, a good 30-40min. later than the birds usually start gobbling. Then I had a hen come in and keep me company for over an hour...nothing else.

I had a good feeling I should be here the night before, so there I was setting up in the dark....

It was getting lighter by the second and I'd been hearing birds behind me down the hill for at least 10 minutes now....and still no gobble up above where the birds usually are.

I couldn't tell if the birds behind me were even on my side of the road. But with nothing where I was set-up, I was getting itchy to move. But I was reluctant to do so till the last minute because I knew if this other bird was around he wouldn't gobble till later than usual.

So I waited....and I waited.....and I waited till I couldn't take it any longer. I took the blind
down, grabbed my deke's, tucked everything under my arms and ran down the hill to try to figure out where these other birds were!

I got down there, blew a crow call and heard....NOTHING!!!!

Sweating from the run down the hill I waited a bit and crow called again.....NOTHING!!!!!

Ten seconds later I heard a gobble though....back up on the hill where I was!!!  DANG IT!!!

So I grab all my stuff, shove it all under my arms and run, yes run back up the hill to try to set right back up where I was to try to get ready before he does whatever it is he's going do, or go.

Now I was really sweating!  But I got set up, and while doing so heard him gobble one more time. he sounded about 150yds away. Right where he was that time in the pre-season.

I called to him and he answered...at least i hadn't spooked him...I was in the game!

A couple minutes later he gobbled again, and it sounded like he'd moved...he was out of the tree, but still up in the woods.

I call and he doesn't answer, but then gobbles about 30sec. later...he sounded a little closer...

Maybe five minutes go by and I call softly one more time, but he doesn't answer....the silent approach?

Ten minutes later I look up into the orchard and there he is!  

I know he can see the decoys and he starts to slowly but surely start down the hill...I grab my camera...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040367faithgob.JPG)

This it what he's seeing...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040369faithgob.JPG)

:campfire:

:campfire:

:campfire:     :archer2:

:bigsmyl:     :bigsmyl:    :wavey:

I put the camera away and take Miss faith out the in-ground bowholder that keeps her upright and at-the-ready...

Before I know it, he's right at the decoys, standing stone still...but right behind the jake...I can't shoot....yet....

I have tension on the string, a lot of tension...

This is about to happen...I'm holding Miss Faith, using arrows and quiver given to me by a dear friend, and I was shooting the last of my Chris Surtees VPA broadheads(last years that I used to kill 3 turkeys, and 3 deer is going into the St. Jude action along with the arrows that were used along the way).

This was going to be very special in so many ways....he walked 2 very slow steps and is now at about 10yds, quartering away.....

This is where the first of the "twists" in this story happen....

What happened next was something I thought about keeping out of the story...it's almost embarrassing to tell, but it's a part of the story and I'm committed to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth...

I'm a guy that takes a lot of pride in his shooting, and my ability to make good on opportunities when given. I mean I'm not the best shot in the world, but I'm not bad.  But I'll be the first to admit, even though I've killed a lot of turkeys with my bow....THEY SHAKE ME UP WORSE THAN ANY OTHER CRITTER WALKING!!!!!!

This is going to happen right here and now....there's no doubt in my mind that I'm about to hammer this gobbler....I draw....release.....and watch my arrow go right under him!!!

I was dumbfounded!

But he just jumped up and took a few steps and stopped.  I quickly knocked another arrow and draw as he's standing about 12-13yds away....draw and shoot right below him again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He jumps up again, and trots out of sight....I lean Miss Faith up against the front of the blind...bend over in my chair, put my head between my hands and start to beat myself up for blowing such an opportunity!!! I just couldn't believe it!!!!

This went on for about 15seconds, I lift my head up and look out of the blind over by where he disappeared and see a red head through the apple tree branches!!!!!  He was coming back!!!!

I reached for Miss Faith, knock the last arrow in my quiver. Of course no time to attach the string.

He's further away now and very much on alert. He looks like he wants to come to the decoys, but is kinda keeping his distance...he's at about 18yds.

I knew I had to make this one count!  Three shots is way more than I deserved in this situation, but here was opportunity #3 right in front of me!

I draw and pick a spot and drill him!!  But I could tell right away penetration was iffy!

If I'd missed my spot it wasn't much!

He flipped over and flopped for a second, righted
himself, and as he started to run off with a wing hanging, I noticed the arrow flip into the air....he was out of sight, over the hill in a second!

Even though I knew I'd hit him good, him leaving the arrow  at the spot of the hit concerned me.  

I only waited about a minute and got out to check the arrow.  As I got closer I could see it was missing some of the bh end...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040370faithgob.JPG)

And the end was soaked in blood...more good news...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040371faithgob.JPG)

There was dirt in the nock, so it was apparent that he'd landed on it and broke it off.  After comparing it to another shaft(after I'd found the first 2) I knew I had "enough" penetration.
 
I knew in my gut, he couldn't have gone far, but I had no string to follow, and no blood either.  I waited a half hour and started looking.

First I tried one direction for about 100yds...nothing...

Second direction....again nothing....

So I go back to where my arrow lay and decide that I'd walk straight away down a row of trees. I could look both up and downhill. I was really starting to get a little down. But I was very far from giving up....I just knew in my heart he wasn't far....

I walked about 80yds and as I turned to look to my left this is what I saw....
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040372faithgob.JPG)

I had in fact made a good hit...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040374faithgob.JPG)
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040375faithgob.JPG)

He was stiff when I found him and looked as if he'd died running...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040378faithgob.JPG)

The VPA had made it out the other side...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040380faithgob.JPG)

3x is a charm Curt!  Awesome story.

I reached over and picked him up....I thought..."wow, he's small and light"....just figured he was run down from chasing the ladies....

•    (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040386faithgob.JPG)
•    (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040387faithgob.JPG)
•    (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040395faithgob.JPG)

Nicely done Curt, some of the best shots in the world miss sometimes.  I'm just glad you made good on the third.  Did you lose the broadhead?  You might need a metal detector to find it.  I know what those heads mean to ya.  Congrats again on a fine bird.

Bh was inside the gobbler....but it wasn't Chis' bh...I'd missed the first shot with that one!


More than half of his beard had broken off making it look very thin...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040388faithgob.JPG)

Typical 2yr. old, 3/4" spurs...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040390faithgob.JPG)

Beard was 8 1/2"..
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040391faithgob.JPG)

Special bow...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040395faithgob.JPG)

Time to fill out tag #1...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040399faithgob.JPG)

This story isn't over, another "twist" yet to come...more tomorrow......


•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040400faithgob.JPG)

You're a turkey killin' machine Brother. Congrats!

congratts!  :thumbsup:  
 boy i sure wish i could get a second and third shot on turkeys.

Great job Guru!

You tell a great story Curt, and always have great photos.  One thing I really like about your posts is that you always put space in the material, and it so easy to read.  Congratulations!     :clapper:

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

:archer:

Excellent story and pictures Curt, congrats!
-Jay

Congratulations! Great take along - as usual!
Glenn

Good job Bud. I knew you would gaff one purty fast.RC

Nothung like getting a text from a pal early in the morning  :)  Congrats again Bud!!!  :thumbsup:

Congrats, Curt!

Bisch

Awesome curt Congrats!

I'll be back for more.

With all do respect.....

with all the action Faith has had, shouldn't she be called Mrs. Faith by now    :dunno:      :nono:      :p

Congrats........

:clapper:    :clapper:

Congrats great bird and story Curt.That's a good looking place were your hunting.

:clapper:   Curt, I knew you would get it done...Congrats!!

Nice job Curt,glad he gave you another chance.That is one sweet bow.

:thumbsup:

Awesome!!  Nothing like a cup of coffee and and turkey story from Curt!!

:thumbsup:

Nice bird Curt. That fletching reminds me of a dude in south carolina.

Great story story Curt!   Keep it coming....   :clapper:

Congrats Curt.   You have an amazing ability to take us all along with you on your hunts.  Thanks for sharing this great hunt with us.

Wow what a hunt. Congratulations!!! You sure worked your butt off for that one.

Congrats Curt!

Awesome hunt! Congrats

Great story Curt. The birds on my dad's place always seem to gobble late. Drives me crazy.

Congrats Curt. Way cool with Miss Faith. Very cool hunt  :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Gotta love when the highs and lows of a hunt end on a high note. Way to hang tough and make that final shot count.

Congrats Curt! Looking forward to the other "twist"    :campfire:

Beautiful bird GURU! Once again you get it done and take us along in the process. He had a desire to die and picked the wrong dude to give 3 chances to. If it were me he'd been safe!   :p

The sign of a true hunter is over coming the adversity placed before him. You did just that. Awesome hunt My Friend.

Awesome story

Great story and pics .... congrats Curt

very nice Curt , congrats   :thumbsup:    :clapper:

I've been waiting for this one. Great job as usual Curt!

Way to go Curt!!

Great story telling and pics as always. Looking forward to the rest.

Well done!

Cool stuff  :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

you are killin me!!!!!!!! Congratulations on a great bird

Congratulations Buddy and great story telling as usual!

Very cool!!

Thanks for the kind words fellas, always worth the time and effort sharing pix and stories with the "Gang"!


Ok...where was I.... ahhh the next "twist" to this story....

After getting home and eating a good breakfast I grabbed my camera like I always do when I'm about to breakdown a turkey.

So,  I check out the entrance side and see the 1 1/4" VPA had broken the radius, ulna, and the humorous bone of the folded wing on the way in..
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040403faithgob.JPG)

And entered right behind the ball joint of the wing...
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040404faithgob.JPG)

Although the BH was completely inside the bird when I first found it, it was apparent by the small hole on the exit side that the BH had come partially out the far side....but in its retreat had worked back inside...
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040406faithgob.JPG)

Next I weighed it...".hmmmm, just over 13#'s"..."awful light for a 2yr old gobbler".

Around here they are usually 18-20#'s...again just figured he was a ladies man and was running ragged...

I flipped it on its back to start to open up the skin on the breast and feel I something hard and seemingly out of place inside the skin on the breast.  I kinda shrug it off at first thinking it was just something stiffened up.

What I found after opening the skin was totally unexpected......
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040407faithgob.JPG)
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040408faithgob.JPG)
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040409faithgob.JPG)

It was very firm, but not rock hard...and as you saw in the pix, even the "normal" side of the breast was very thin and flat.

I knew right away this wasn't a bird I would eat, and decided to take a ride to our DEC regional office that's about 20mins away in New Paltz.
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040411faithgob.JPG)

While waiting for the biologist to come out and examine the gobbler....I got to looking close and saw this....
•   (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040412faithgob.JPG)

Yes, he'd been shot with a shotgun last year as a jake!

More in a bit.....

Great Story as always Curt!!!  So that explains the blown off beard.  Man is it green up there.  Good luck with tag #2

Don't stop now.......

:notworthy:     :notworthy:    :clapper:    :clapper:  Thanks for sharing Curt Congrats Again! TD.

Great story, with a surprising twist autopsy.  Even bringing in a special forensics team.

Pretty neat, congrats.

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!   :eek:    :eek:    :eek:    :eek:

Neat story!!    :thumbsup:

My first thought is a youth hunt. Kids always seem to want to take body shots.

Sitting on ready....for the rest of the story....   :campfire:    :coffee:

......another eason I wanted to bring the bird to the DEC office is to see if they would deem him "unfit for human consumption". If so, I would be given another tag to get something "hopefully" edible.

I'd done this about 15yds ago with a gobbler I shot with a shotgun. He'd acted normal, gobbling and strutting his way in. But when I went to pick him up it was apparent he'd tangled at some point with something....he had a big greenish festering wound on his,wingbutt/breast area....and it smelled foul!     They gave me another tag....

When the biologist came out he looked the bird over and I showed him the lead shot. Explained I'd killed it with my bow and showed him the beard I'd already cut off before my discovery.

After examining it all he came to the conclusion that I already had....this "lump" was caused by his encounter with a shotgun some time back in his life. This was no wound from anytime recent, everything was neat and healed over except for this giant "lump" that was leftover.

He without a doubt deemed him unfit, and offered to give me another tag for that reason....but there was now a catch....I would have to turn over the entire bird to him...every part, including the tail, beard, and spurs!

No way!!  This bird meant way too much to me to even think about giving him up for the possibility of shooting an extra bird....no way!

Besides I still have another tag to fill...

So I went home and got back to taking it apart...

Here's the entrance side, you can see the end of my GT trad shaft...

•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040416faithgob.JPG)
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040417faithgob.JPG)

As far as the beard goes...... when turkeys have an off-colored area like thatUsually reddinsh to yellow), it's from a stressful time in their life....the result is a hard brittle area. They usually eventually break at the point of the damage.......looks like his was damaged enough that only part of it grew longer.

Exit side...the tip of my 1 1/4" VPA 3 blade...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040421faithgob.JPG)

Again the bh, and another lead pellet that was right by the ball joint of the wing...
•  (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040422faithgob.JPG)

Wow......Great story and hunt Curt.  Good for you for keeping the bird too, and for all the right reasons too.  Great job!

David

Wow pretty amazing and one tough turkey!

A lot of folks still talk about trying to hit the "wingbutt" on turkeys. A lot of us have gotten away from doing so for good reason. One is penetration.  A hit directly on this joint will cause major problems with your arrow getting in far enough to do any damage. But the additional problem is that there is hardly anything there to hit on a broadside bird...

This hit a bit further forward than I like to hit them, but as seen by this pic, it was still behind the wingbutt, both entrance and exit....
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040422faithgob.JPG)

The result was a shot that barely, I mean barely nicked the front of the lungs.....the reason this bird dies quickly was because the big broadhead when through the neck/breast junction where all the Carotid artery, Jugular vein,trachea enters the body just in front of the heart and lungs...note all the coagulated blood that settled up in the front of the chest cavity...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040423faithgob.JPG)


The broadhead after extraction...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040427faithgob.JPG)


Now,  the million dollar question...."what exactly was inside the "lump"?

What I found was unexpected, well at least the color of it.....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040413faithgob.JPG)

Best I could figure it was some kind of blood sack that formed from the shotgun blast it took, the bleeding obviously was pretty bad, and his body just never absorbed it as it would a smaller injury...
•     (http://www.tradgang.com/upload/curt/P1040428faithgob.JPG)

It was firm, and fairly dry but not powdery dry or mushy wet either.....it smelled bad, but not horrible.

Obviously it was taxing on his body...he was only 13+ pounds. Looks like he was lucky we had such a mild winter.

So once again it seems I've killed another "wierd" critter, not sure why, but I seem to do that a lot....but.... how boring would this story have been had he been "just another gobbler"        :campfire:

Curt as always great story and pics.Thanks for sharing.

True, very true Curt.  Very interesting and thanks for sharing with us.   :thumbsup:

Thanks for sharing Curt. Great story and pics.

Wow amazing how a body recovers from such things. Cool stuff Curt.

Attta Boy Curt!!   :clapper:

Well done Curt.......Informative as always  :thumbsup:

Way to go Curt. Very interesting!  :clapper:

Wow buddy! That's a bird your going to remember for sure.   :bigsmyl:  

Congrats my friend for the pics and story and good luck to you and Cade on the next one.   :archer2:  

Tracy

Awesome story and pics as always, thanks for sharing, J   :thumbsup:

Awesome bud! You do hunt in NY and that state is full of Wierd Critters!!!
Congrats again!

That is a funky Bird.lol.Those kind come with lots of memories though.I kinda figured the glob to be yellow and almost fluid maybe.RC

That was one tough bird!!

congrats and thanks for the story and pics.

QuoteOriginally posted by RC:
That is a funky Bird.lol.Those kind come with lots of memories though.I kinda figured the glob to be yellow and almost fluid maybe.RC

Those were exactly my thoughts Robert. I had it in my head it was some kind of old puss sack, and expected it to be yellow/brownish.

Which it very well could be, but with it being almost black, I just figure it's an old blood sack.

Some of my friends are busting my chops about it being "a mercy killing"..."that's why he kept letting you shoot"..."it just took more shots than it should have"  

What are friends for...   :nono:

Good story!!

Crazy...

I wasn't expecting a big black ball! Good story and thanks for sharing it with us!

Congrats on a great hunt with Miss Faith!

What a beautiful bow!

Some might call that a mercy killing but I would argue that the bird was guided to you for other reasons.

It was no longer useful as sustenance per se, but it has been used to bring attention (and hopefully support) to the wonderful work at St. Judes!  

Thank you for sharing!  I just checked out Miss Faith on the St Judes site.  That bow looks like a smoker!

QuoteOriginally posted by Mike Gerardi:
My first thought is a youth hunt. Kids always seem to want to take body shots.

:dunno:

Regardless of the teasing you got, the fact you put this animal down is a very good thing.

I'm impressed that you chose to not accept another tag when you'd have had to give up all the goodies.

Intriguing story of how nature allows it's bounty to take a lickin and keep on tickin.

I'm also impressed with how easily you seem to disect that sucker, but then being a taxidermist, I guess you learn or quit being one huh? Neat!

My buds are just busting my chops about the "mercy killin'"...although seemingly unhealthy on the inside and undersized....this guy didn't act a bit like their was a thing "wrong" with him.

He gobbled, strutted, and acted like he wanted a piece of my jake deke....well.... until the arrows started flying    :archer2:

No shame in that kill Curt, we all know how tough it is to get a bird with trad gear. Congratulations   :thumbsup:

Great story and pics as well.Congratulations.

I would expect no less from My buds LOL. Good story.

Make sure you get a chance on the st judes hunt . Don

Congrats!!

wow that was unexpected!!!!!! great story!!!

Thanks guys    :thumbsup:  

---

:dunno:   What exactly is this supposed to mean Jim?