Midwest hunt picture heavy
Turkey
On very short notice we decided to visit relatives in Nebraska. Archery turkey season was simply a coincidence. Thanks to a very generous offer from a fellow hunter here on bowsite, I gained access to a few hundred acres of private property.
After becoming familiar with the property boundaries with help from yet another generous bowhunter, I made plans for my first hunt.
About 30 minutes into the first set-up I had birds gobbling and headed my way. I love hunting turkeys and don't generally pass young birds but when four jakes showed up I decided to sit back and watch. I was 4500 miles from home and wanted to enjoy my first hunt in the midwest.
I had planned on filming each hunt but forgot part of my tripod the first day. My camera was buried deep in my pack and I didn't even think about taking it out until these jakes came in for a second time. Finally, I was able to snap a few pictures when they showed up for a third pass.
The jake herd stayed in the area for over an hour but eventually wandered off. Not long after they walked away I heard a very different gobble, this bird was alone and approaching in a hurry. I was excited to see my first Nebraska Tom, the shot was 9 yards and he didn't go far.
The weather deteriorated quickly and I decided not to make the 2 hour (each way) drive again for almost a week. I checked out a public land spot closer to home but the weather had the birds shut down.
I finally couldn't take it any longer and drove down early one morning in the rain. I set up in the dark and was happy to hear the birds gobbling from a nearby roost. I was about to witness an amazing morning of turkey hunting.
I passed a total of 7 jakes that morning, several of them came in multiple times. No long beards showed up but it was a great morning.
I did see a few longbeards mid morning in another spot and took note for my next hunt the following morning.
The weather finally broke clear and cold. The wind chill was in the upper 20's and while not extremely cold for the area, I was freezing. Too much time in Hawaii!
I was in the blind three hours before I heard my first gobble (not counting the gobbling from the roost in the dark). The birds were close and I barely had time to pick up my bow and turn on my video camera when three big toms showed up at 10 yards.
The blurry spot at the top of his beard is my arrow in flight, I would have shot his beard off if my arrow was 1/2" to the right!
My bird traveled 25 yards and was down for the count. The other two Toms didn't attack him initially but did remain in the area.
His double bearded buddy eventually launched an attack. He was in bow range for at least 20 minutes and while it is legal to shoot multiple birds on the same day in NE, I really wanted my 5 year old daughter to witness a hunt so I passed one of the biggest turkeys I've ever seen.
When the feathers started flying I chased the other birds away and recovered my biggest turkey to date.
23.3 pounds 10 1/4" beard 1 9/16" spurs
Awesome and congrats!!!!! Love the photos! Getting me fired up for tmrw mornings hunt.
The weather finally cooperated and I decided to take my daughter on an afternoon hunt. This was another property and we were again blessed by the generosity of others. My daughter was super excited and almost had to sit on her hands to prevent constant calling. Not long into the hunt I heard a bird drumming behind the blind and heard him fly across the creek and land directly behind us.
It took about 15 minutes of sexy hen talk to get him past a long row of dead falls but as soon as he laid eyes on the DSD decoys he was committed. He closed the last 40 yards running at full strut.
This was his position at the shot, only 8 yards from my chair in the blind. My daughter did a great job remaining motionless as she stood on her chair.
It was really special sharing something I love so much with my daughter.
Only 5 years ago, she sure has grown!
Love it when sharp stix post his stories cuz you just know it's gonna be worth reading. Good stuff buddy
This was the set-up from turkey #2. Basically the same on each hunt. I usually have my jake decoy facing the blind but a very stiff wind had other plans that morning. My decoys were 6-8 yards from the front of the blind on each hunt. This was my first time using DSD decoys and I can say they are every bit as effective as stuffed decoys I've used in the past. That DSD jake works great!
This was also my first experience with the Rhino XP-1 blind. It's easy to set-up and proved very effective. I can't think of any negatives.
A huge THANK YOU is in order for those that made this hunt possible. You know who you are and I'm very grateful for your generosity to a complete stranger. Thanks to you my 10th spring turkey season was amazingly successful and I made memories with my oldest child that will last forever.
Andrew will we see the footage some day? Looks great!
I've honestly never created a youtube account, the footage makes some great home videos though!
Thanks for the kind words.
We took some time to do a little mushroom hunting. It was a little early but we managed to find a few.
They can be hard to find for rookies like us!
That is one proud mushroom hunter! Nicely done!
Mark
I thought I was going to read a hunt about myself! ;-)
Congrats and great pics!
Great story and glad you enjoyed it. It really is a special place. Now we just need to hook up on the big island for some Axis.
Thanks for sharing and congratulations on some fine birds. Great photos.
Thanks for sharing. Love seeing these. My season here in Pa is still 2 weeks away.
Thanks for sharing very nice!
A special hunt with special people. Great job with story and pictures.
My best, Paul
AWESOME hunt & story. Best of all you got to share it with your daughter. and 1 9/16 hook wow. Forrest
Great story and great pics, Thanks for posting!!!
Great photos and great birds! Congratulations!
What an awesome thread! Congrats to you both!
Tell your your daughter, my wife loves her boots, too:>)
Nice pictures and congrats on the turkey!
Brett, thanks again! And yes, lets make an island hunt happen.
t-roy, those boots are getting a lot of compliments! I guess I'll just let my little girl do all the shopping from now on. I was trying to get her to buy a camo pair!
Very cool....her smile says it all!
Fun, and like that her boots match her nails, too.
A buddy's daughter said she'd dress in camo for their hunt...and she showed up in leopard-print clothing. It worked!
...and always remind her she can be a girly-girl and a proud predator, too.
My daughter's closet always had fancy dresses, tops, fancy jeans and more pairs of shoes than I needed to know about,...but also hangers of Realtree camo and Lacrosse boots.
This young woman - not my daughter - seems to do well in both worlds.
Two year old, three year old, BOONER!
I'm not sure how old turkeys can get in the wild, especially the birds that endure those cold Nebraska winters BRRRRRR. These are the biggest spurs I've personally seen.
1 1/2" and 1 9/16"
Agreed writer, I have no problem helping her paint her nails before the hunt!
I found a new favorite way to cook wild turkey! I'm sure some of you are already familiar with this recipe. It was on the NWTF web site for a while; Wild turkey white chili.
Congratulations on a great family adventure! By the beaming smiles I would have thought your little hunting buddy shot that turkey, great job making it fun for her.
Great trip and awesome success. Looks like I need some friends in Nebraska:)
Awesome trip!! Love those HUGE spurs!
Congrats!...any thread that has "pic heavy" I open. The pictures are great.
GR Heads Up Decoy
sureshot, she'll be pushing ole dad out of the way and flinging her own arrows before I know it. She wants to shoot one herself but she's not quite there. We're making her a spur necklace this weekend!
Great hunt, great memories and love the pics!!
Awesome thread Andrew and a great hunt! Congrats on the birds, the one is dandy for sure. There's nothing quite like having your daughter out in the woods with you, glad you were able to enjoy it together!
Thanks for sharing Congrats!
Awesome thread! Congrats to you and your daughter.
We spent our Saturday making turkey spur jewelry!
That is a great Thread. Thanks for sharing. Our kids grow up really fast, but they never forget these specials times..nice boots!
She gets more comments on those boots!! They do grow up fast, my next little hunting buddy is almost five months old.
Congrats on the birds! Great thread!
Very well done! Thanks for sharing.
Great stuff! Thanks for sharing
