HUNTING ARTICLES Georgia Long Beards with a Bow Written by Matthew Adcock The sky was dark as the sun began its lengthy crawl into the sky. I quickly walked down an old fencerow headed for the next big bottom where I knew there had been a big gobbler roosting. I needed to be position to hear him once it was light enough for him to start gobbling. I was about 50 yards from the edge of the bottom when the gobbler almost knocked my hat off with an early morning gobble. I stopped quickly in a frozen panic. The tom was only 75 yards away and I was in open pines with little cover between us. My mind was racing a thousand miles an hour about what I should do to try to arrow this bird. I thought of every possible situation and decided that I needed to get some distance between us. I put my decoy down where I stood and slowly backed up. Because of the open pines, I did not have many options for concealment so I decided to get behind a row of trees and rely on my 3-D leafy suit to make me look like a bush. I slowly sat down, knocked an arrow and waited. After a series of gobbles that made hair on the back of my neck stand up, I gave several soft tree yelps. That gobbler double gobbled and another gobbler 50 yards to my left gobbled. In between their competitive gobbles, I was smiling from ear to ear. I had walked to within 75 yards of two roosted gobblers and neither saw me or knew I was there. As soon as there was light enough to see, the second gobbler pitched out of the tree into the bottom. He hit the ground less than 50 yards from me and began an immediate march to my hen decoy. I had not set up for a bird approaching in that direction, so I rotated my body to prepare for a shot. The row of pines that was going to help break up my outline was now only a couple scattered trees between the anxious gobbler and me. As the gobbler entered the pine stand, I came to full draw. The bird was only 25 yards away and I prepared for a shot. Out of nowhere, I heard the worst noise a bow hunter hunting turkeys can hear, a putt. The bird turned and walked directly away from me towards the other gobbler. I was busted. Not even the soft calls from my Scott's Cutter could bring that nervous tom back. This bow hunter learned a lesson that day; bow-hunting turkeys is never easy. This hunt happened several years ago when I was very inexperienced at bow hunting turkeys. I had 18 gobblers within 35 yards that year and only took one bird home with me. Since then, I decided to take a crash course on bow hunting turkeys. I call it, Turkey Hunting 101, Indian Style. I called up my good friend Tim Knight to give me some pointers on bow hunting the best eyes in the woods. After several seminars, hunting trips as a camera operator, and a lot of question and answer sessions, I was ready for the final exam. Here is what I learned. A bow hunter's equipment is one of the most important factors in successfully taking long beards with a bow. When I say equipment, I am referring to your turkey vest and your bow and arrow set up. There are hundreds of turkey vests on the market, but if you are serious about taking a tom with your bow, only two vests come to mind, the Gobbler Lounge from Little Big Horn and the Bucklick Creek vest now owned by Red Head. Both of these vests have backrests and allow a bow hunter to sit anywhere, like in a ditch, a briar bed, behind a tree, or in a honeysuckle thicket. This allows a hunter to set up in a more concealed manner, and concealment for a bow hunter is everything. The art of turkey hunting with a bow is concealment. You can use a commercially built blind to bow hunt turkeys, but you often lose mobility that is often required to kill these Easterns in Georgia. It does not matter what kind of bow you shoot, as long as you can hit where you aim. A kill zone on a turkey is small and accuracy is extremely important. I highly recommend turning the poundage of you bow down for several reasons. The first is to allow you to draw as slowly and smoothly as possible. My bow is set for 53 pounds this year and I will draw straight back to my face. The second reason for shooting with lower poundage is to decrease arrow penetration. It is much better to keep your arrow in the bird than to have a pass through shot. An arrow stuck in the bird will often keep him from flying if you did not break a wing upon impact. If a turkey can fly, they can cover some ground very quickly and recovery is often very difficult. I am going to be using a new product of the market this year designed for hunting turkeys. It is called the Gobbler Guillotine and is made by Arrow Dynamic Solutions. It is a four inch fixed broadhead designed for shooting turkeys in the head or neck region. That is not a typo. It is four inches wide. That roughly gives you a 13-inch by 4-inch kill zone compared to a softball sized kill zone when shooting regular broadheads. For more info on these new broadheads, go to www.arrow-dynamic-solutions.com. One piece of equipment that any bow hunter hunting turkeys cannot do without is an archery bipod. A bipod holds the bow upright and in the shooting position. This is very important because it decreases movement. Of all of the accessories you put on your bow, the only one that helps you get a shot at a turkey is a bipod. The other accessories just help you once you get a shot. I think so much of a bipod that I designed and manufactured one for other turkey hunters. It is called the Vertical Advantage and can be seen at www.bowonlyoutdoors.com. Although your equipment is important for bow hunting turkeys, I believe your set up is even more critical. I usually try to set up with a gobbler decoy facing me about 17 yards off my right shoulder (I am left-handed). Right-handed shooters will set their decoy straight off their left shoulder. Did you notice that I said "gobbler" decoy? A gobbler decoy is much more effective than a hen decoy for several reasons. When a gobbler hears you call, he already knows a hen is in the area. When he sees another gobbler, he thinks that gobbler might be trying to breed "his" hens. Most birds will not stand for that. The often come in running and ready to fight. With their attention on the decoy, that gives you a chance to draw your bow. The gobbler will often see you draw, but if it is smooth and steady draw, his attention will often go back to the decoy. When setting up in mature hardwoods, it is often good to get behind a big tree or have several big trees between you and your decoy. Once the tom goes behind one of these trees, it gives you a chance to draw your bow without the turkey seeing you. When setting up, look for places to hide in, like behind mounds of dirt, in a ditch or beside a fallen tree. The better you are at hiding or staying concealed the more effective you will be at shooting turkeys with a bow. But sometimes, you do not have a perfect set up when chasing turkeys through the woods. Here is where Tim's experience helped me more than anything did, camouflage. Make sure you wear a 3-D leafy suit, a full head net, and gloves. You need to look as much like a bush as possible and that includes your bow. Your bow should always remain between you and the turkey to help break up your outline. Attach plastic ivy to the limbs and side of your bow and make sure you clump it up on your drawing arm side to help block the movement of drawing your bow. Also, use some of the top of your hat. At close ranges, a turkey can silhouette the top of your head and the ivy prevents that from occurring. I use a product called Sneaky Leafs on my hat and they work great. Also, make sure your do not wear a billed hat, like a baseball hat. Turkeys can see it move so if you do wear one, turn it around backwards. The key to camouflage is to blend in with your environment. If you are sitting in pine straw, pull some pine straw up and put it over your legs. Do the same if you are sitting in leaves. This helps conceal half of your body. With a 3-D leafy suit and plastic ivy on your hat and bow, you should look like a bush. Turkeys see bushes blowing in the wind all the time and do not perceive them as a threat. That is your goal, blend in and not be considered a threat. Turkey hunting with a bow is the most challenging hunting in North America. Several years ago after killing everything I wanted to kill with a rifle, I decided I wanted to hunt for the challenge and not just to kill something. Have you gotten to that point in your hunting career? Bow hunting turkeys is as good as it gets. Grab a bow and start hunting them now. One thing is for sure, you will never kill a turkey with your bow if you always carry a shotgun. Originally published in Georgias Outdoor Adventures, April 2004. | |
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