My Grand Driftless Turkey Adventure
Turkey
This year my plans were somewhat different than in years past. I didn't draw an early season Minnesota tag but I did draw a tag for Wisconsin's 3rd season. I was gonna turkey hunt in an area of Southwest Wisconsin called the driftless region. A part of Wisconsin that the glacier's didn't touch and void of glacial drift.
All my scouting was done on the internet via google maps and a great site the WI dnr has available.
This time I wanted to shoot a turkey with the bow without a blind. I did bring the double bull T5 just in case.
A lot of Amish folks call this place home and there were horse and buggies all over the place. I respected their privacy and dislike for being photographed. I did however capture just one picture.
For $15 bucks a night I set up camp in a pasture. The website I found called it a rustic campsite. It did have a well and also an outhouse. Perfect.
I was ready to start hunting but first needed a bite to eat. My last package of venison burger hit the spot.
Straight up as I forgot seasoning.
Today would mainly be a scouting day. At the first spot I had a coyote walk right up to me. It would have been a nice 20 yard shot but I wasn't sure if season was open. I gave it a yelp and it finally figured out what I was and bolted.
On to the next spot. I climbed a rather large hill and worked my way around an ag field. About half way around I spotted four hens feeding in a saddle. I managed to set up a deke and got situated by a tree. It didn't take much calling and the hens were checking out the newcomer. No tom to be found.
I've followed trkyslyr and joehunter's thread and got some great ideas as to how to set up without a blind. Each setup was gonna take some thought.
I spent the rest of the day checking out other spots that looked good on the map. I did a lot of walking and narrowed down the areas I would hunt.
I was pumped for day two. I called it an early night and hit the sleeping bag. Aside from the coyotes waking me up and the owl that kept hooting all was well.
You couldn't have been far from me. Heck I could have had a spot for you to sleep and maybe even hunt! Hopefully the rest of the story will show good success
bradbear, thanks - beautiful country and everyone was very friendly.
Day 2 - time to hunt.
First light brought three gobbles to my south and one to my north. I picked south after the three.
This was my first setup. I was pretty concealed and figured I would either draw before the bird got to the deke or after it was at deke and hopefully was pounding the jake or spinning for the lady.
The trio answered my calls but I could tell they were getting farther away. All was quiet except now the one to the north sounded off and he seemed to be closer. I should have went north.
The wind picked up and the tom that was gobbling to my north was getting farther away. He must have been with a dang hen. I figured I would move to the north and try to get in front of the bird.
I worked my way around the field and crossed over a ditch. I let out a crow call and got a response. He seemed about 100 yards away.
Time to set up. I crawled out a single hen to the edge of the field and tucked myself back in the wood five yards.
Now that I was set up I yelped a couple of times and waited. Sure enough about 200 yards away a tom came out of the woods and just stood there looking.
Yes natural hunting! Can't wait to hear and see more of this hunt!
With a diaphragm in my mouth I let out a couple more seductive yelps. The tom puffed up and started to head my way. Game on or at least that is what I thought.
The tom closed the distance to about 100 yards and stopped. I could tell he did not see my decoy and he was expecting to see a hen out in the field. At this time I gave him another call and got him to gobble. He puffed up once again and stood there on display.
Just as quick as he appeared, he lost interest and left. It was over for the day.
Check back tomorrow for Day 3 and a wild ending.
OK,
BNT
It's time for Day 3, please.
lol
Day 3 -
Normally a turkey gobbling on the roost is a good thing except when one oversleeps and misses their 4 a.m. wake up call. What I thought was a pleasant dream turned into a nightmare. The turkey gobbling in my dream quickly turned to reality. The tom was gobbling on the roost in the same pasture I was camping in. This bird was off limits as I did not have permission to hunt the pasture.
I scrambled to get ready. Frost covered my tent and getting my boots on was a little difficult. My feet were sore. I had a blister on my heel and each of my little toes had a blister on the end as well. My app on my phone showed I walked 33559 steps or 14.88 miles the first day and 25702 steps or 11.72 miles the second day. My trusty boots that served me well over the years were now shot. Time for a new pair.
BNT40, this is great! That is a lot of miles.
After a quick bite to eat and a cup of coffee I was in my car headed to where I had action the day before. I missed the morning gobbling on the roost but did manage to hear a few on the ground gobbling. I never did locate a hot bird to set up on. Time to move to a different spot that looked promising on day one.
This next spot was under open MFL managed forest law and open to public hunting. This spot also allows access to a chunk of state forest land.
I arrived at the spot and no cars were around. Good deal as I wouldn't want to head in if someone else was already hunting it.
I worked my way around the freshly planted field, crow calling off and on and also letting out a few excited yelps and cackles trying to get a response. I made sure I had someplace to tuck into or setup before letting out a hen call.
Now at the backside of the mfl land and overlooking the state land I sat down for a rest. Ahead of me was a valley. The terrain on either side of the field was steep and plunged down to the river bottom. I sat on a rock ledge and called off and on for about a half hour. Just before as I was about to find a way down the steep hill I let out another round of excited yelps. And, Gobble Gobble. Game on!
I wasn't sure from which direction it came. It sounded down below but it also sounded fairly close. If the bird was down in the valley I needed to get down there. If he was behind me from where I had just come through it would work out perfectly.
I called again and got a gobble. This time it was closer and I could tell it came from behind me.
Ears strained and one hears a gobble in the distant.
Game on for sure.
My best, Paul
Everyone knows what it's like at that moment when the pack is thrown off and the scramble is on to get the decoy out. I was carrying a single hen and wanted to get it set up. I have shot turkeys without a decoy out but never with a bow and especially without a blind. I wanted the tom to focus on something and I belly crawled the single hen back towards the field some 16 yards away from the spot I picked out.
Gotta get breakfast ready for family and get ready for church. Will continue later.
Here is my set up. Now I really have to go.
Awesome....a great "natural" adventure !
Mark
Great adventure so far!!
Keep it coming!
Look, you finish this thing and I'll go to church and pray enough for both of us.
Seriously?
The Bible says we're to be nice to our fellow man, not leave him dangling painfully in suspense! :-)
Writer on my way home. My wife is returning some things and my daughters are fighting in the vehicle.
Anyways I got that feeling things were about to happen.
Good thread.
I'd wager it turns out with a bird in the oven...about June. :)
Now with the decoy in place I settled in and ran through situations in my mind. The setup was perfect. I was standing behind a big white pine that had natural rock seats right next to it. No matter which way he came I could draw back and just slightly lean to my right for the shot.
About 10 minutes passed since I last heard him and I decided to call again. No answer.
The one thing one must have when working a turkey is patience. I waited and waited another 10 minutes. I couldn't take it so I let out a couple of purrs Nothing.
Did he leave or did a hen intercept him?
A couple of excited yelps and I got him to gobble. He was to the left of the decoy in the picture somewhere in the field. He was close as the gobble had that vibration to it. I still could not see him. But I knew it was just a matter of time.
I am not sure how much time passed but I purred again and I heard him spitting and drumming. He was close and this time it was to the right of the decoy. I strained my eyes and caught slight movement just behind the gooseberry bush behind the decoy. It was a fan. I finally had a visual on him.
I could tell he was strutting and was expecting the hen to come to him. He was 30 yards out. He walked away but was in full strut. The spitting and drumming continued.
I couple more purrs on my mouth call brought him back and this time he came closer. I could tell he was going to commit to the decoy. He now was within 20 yards and passed behind the decoy going to the left. As he went behind the tree to the left of the decoy I drew back and leaned slightly to the left.
The tom was still in full strut and I didn't get busted. So far so good. Every time he would do the spit and drum his entire body shook. What a sight.
The tom was now facing me in full strut and I put my 20 yard pin just above the beard in the "V". This was a picture of a tom from last year but wanted to show where my pin settled.
The tom was standing just to the left (my left) of the decoy where my finger is pointing. At the shot the tom crumpled and began thrashing around like crazy kicking itself closer to me.
I was ecstatic. Done deal? The bird was flopping around like crazy so I thought I better get on him.
Now here is where I am supposed to post my hero shot like this one from last year. Little did I know my adventure was not over. In fact it was just getting started
Just goes to show, dead turkeys will lie to you every time!
The good, the bad, the ugly, I share this story to hopefully help someone in this situation avoid the mistake I made.
Like Writer stated, "dead turkeys will lie to you every time!"
With bow in hand I started to run to the bird with the intention of stepping on it. I was about three feet away from it and it popped up and got on its feet. It took off towards the cliff I was back up against.
Primal instinct took over and I gave chase with all I had. I just about had it and I realized I was in dangerous territory. I was on the verge of going over. The tom itself now went over the cliff and I pulled back just in time.
At this point I felt totally dejected. What happened. I think at the shot the bird started to spin and I was off center just a bit. In hindsight I should have knocked an arrow and shot it again. I was sure the bird was dead though.
Now with the bird off the edge I looked at my phone and decided to give the bird some time to die. I was hopeful I would find it but where it went over was really tough terrain. It was steep, rocky and full of caverns.
As I made my way halfway down I found where the bird landed. Slowly I followed a few feathers and as I looked ahead I spotted the tom between two rocks. The tom looked like it was dead but it wasn't on its side. I ranged the tom at 30 yards and took the only shot I had. I made the shot and the bird flopped down into a crevice. It was now out of sight and I thought finally. It is done. I didn't see the tom come out the chute so I felt really good.
I got to the spot where I took the second shot and found blood.
I got down into the crevice expecting to find the bird and there wasn't anything there. I couldn't believe what was happening. From the time i shot it to where I stood looking into the rocks some two hours passed.
As I stood there thinking I saw what would answer my question as to where it went. There in-between the rocks was one of the many holes throughout the area. The tom I shot made a last ditch effort and crawled down into this hole.
I tried crawling into it a bit but it was too narrow and too dangerous to continue. I went back to camp and got my headlamp in hopes that I would be able to see down into this hole. The hole was deep and it disappeared into a deep cavern.
Just in case I missed something I spent the next couple of hours searching the surrounding area. No luck.
This was the first bird I ever lost and I felt really bad. I knew the bird died so I ended my hunt and punched my tag.
For those that followed along thank you.
Well, that was fun! Sorry you lost a bird but he will make a good meal for some critter, as Nature's cycle continues.
my best, Paul
Geez! Great hunt. Sorry you lost one. Thanks for the story
Thanks for the ride, sorry for your ending.
Just makes you respect, detest them that much more.
What kind of broadhead were you shooting.
You might get ahold of TBM. I'm sure he could call that dead turkey out of that cave for you, as long as you're not in Alabama.
Paul, yep nothing goes to waste.
I wish I would have had TBM on speed dial. lol I was using a 2" expandable, meat seeker. Amazing how tough a bird really is.
Brings back memories, years ago of my second tom in Missouri.
Shot this tom with the same 125 gr BH I have killed 600 lb elk with. This tom just flew away with the arrow sticking out both sides.
Two hours later, I found him under a brush pile still alive with the arrow still in him. When I cleared out some of the branches to reach him, he flew up into my face, jumped to the other side of the pile, ran and half flew 100 ft and tried to hide under another pile. I caught up with him and whacked him over the head with a Leatherman tool.
Upon farther investigation of the shot placement, the BH went through one side of the breast and then shattered the opposite thigh and leg. He was still able to jump up and fly away.
Yep, tough for sure.
My best, Paul
Thanks for story! I got the Bh choice, what about bow poundage and arrow weight? Just curious
Trkyslr, I am shooting 64 pounds with carbon express 350's or 7.86 grains per inch. The broadhead was 100 grains. Do you think a little heavier arrow setup would have performed better?
Paul I bet you just about tipped over when that thing flew up in your face. I probably would have gotten spurred pretty good had I jumped on mine.
I've hunted the 'Driftless Area' of southeast minnesota for the last 30 years. It's truly God's country. Turkey, deer, ramps, morels,and of course wild trout.
You gotta love it.
Great story, great adventure...."keep carbon in the air until the critter ain't moving!"
Mark
