Catskill Turkey Hunt

[Mint]

Opening day was on Sunday May 1st so I decided to drive up on Saturday afternoon. I would be hunting in the Catskill mountains and this year I would be bringing my bow and my double bull blind.

Last year I took a nice tom with the shotgun so I wanted to give the recurve a shot this year to see if I could get it done. I would be hunting pressured public land so I knew it wouldn't be easy and I had a pretty good hike in with the blind.

The weather was suppose to be crappy but I was going no matter what. Back in January I lost my good friend Richie to a heart attack. Richie loved turkey hunting and we planned on hunting again this year.  

Saturday morning was drizzling as I drove to the spot and then started the hike in. I found the spot I wanted to hunt that I had marked last year with my GPS, nice open woods with some cover behind me. Got the double bull set up and waited for the woods to wake up. Hearing the rain on the blind made me think of Richie and smile. Richie hated the rain and wouldn't hunt in it no matter what. He always said he spent a year in Vietnam in the rain and swore he would never be outside in it again if he had a choice.

I didn't hear a thing, no tree gobbles at all. The rain lit up and since it was plenty light out now since it was 7:00am I decided to call. I said a prayer for Richie to send a bird my way and hit the box call. A gobble thundered from about two hundred yards away. I hit the box call again, got another goggle and then I shut up. The tom was on my right but I couldn't see him. After about 15 minutes I hit the call again and he gobbled from my left about two hundred yards away still on private property. I had put out my new avian x jake and hen my wife had got for me for my b day.  I was set up on a little hill so Iknew the tom would see my decoys from pretty far away if he just looked. The tom was on the bottom of the hill so I figured he might just come up to me. I shut up again and waited. About twenty minutes later just when I was about to call again I looked to my left and the tom was about 60 yards away in full strut. He had seen my decoys and was coming in.

I had studied the shot placement thread with Curt's post about where to aim so I knew where I wanted to hit him if given the chance. I wanted a broadside shot and was going to wait for that opportunity if I could.

He came right in and went for the jake, I waited until he got on the right side of the jake, aimed high and shot thru the mesh of the blind. The arrow was sticking out his other side as he ran down hill and flopped over after 30 yards. I was already out of the blind and by the time I got to him he flopped one more time and stopped. I had just gotten my first eastern with a bow!

I thanked God and Richie for sending me the tom and for being a great friend to me. I've lost some real good friends over the years and I always think about them a lot when hunting. Today was no different.

I used my palmer recurve 47#, Heritage 150's with 50gr brass insert and 160gr 4 Blade Palmer Extreme Cut broadheads that left a hole in him you cannot believe.

The tom was 18lbs, 8 1/2 inch beard and one inch spurs.

[acedoc]

Great write up. Thanks for sharing!

[CoachBGriff]

Nice!

These turkey stories are getting me all kinds of fired up!

Thanks for sharing and congrats!

[wapiti792]

Yeahhhhhh man!!! That is so cool. Congrats on the bird. You are ruined now  

[elkhunter-27]

Congratulations!  

Congrats!

Bisch

[glenbo]

Nice Tom Mint. Congratulations!

[Tom]

Good bird and great shot, sorry about losing your friend. Seems the older we get we lose more and more friends.

[Sean B]

Awesome!!  We're you hunting "the Spot??"  Congratulations!!

[Warden609]

Great story and shot!! Congrats

[Possum Head]

Well done. Congrats

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Congrats Jeff!  Sorry to hear about your friend, Great Tom!

[Mint]

Thanks guys I appreciate it about my tom and my friend Richie.


Hey Sean,

No not the spot you told me about. I went there on Saturday to see if I could roost some birds but no luck so I went to some public land by Walton and got lucky. I'll be trying the "spot" this weekend though, again in the rain. When is the NY sun going to come out?

[maineac]

Exceptional!!  Congratulations!!!

[BRONZ]

Great story....especially with the admiration for your friends and your faith.

[wooddamon1]

   

[awry]

Congrats and Great Story!

[Carcajou]

You just accomplished a rare feat, slaying an Eastern with a Trad bow. Congrats.

[vintage-bears]

Bravo!!!
Great tribute

[riser]

Congrats.  

What part of the Catskills did you hunt?

Our family used to rifle deer hunt on the south side of the Pepacton Reservoir from the late 1960's through the early 1980's, between Margaretsville and Downsville.

Pretty part of the state, but a lot of upstate NY is  too.