I had a great season of bowhunting turkeys this year thanks to some willing birds and several good Bowsite buddys. Thought I'd do a quick write up and share some pics and videos.
Opening day in Iowa is always the second Monday of April and this year that was the 8th. I keep an eye on the weather forecast and if it looks nice, I'll take the first 2 days of season off of work. This year looked to be great and as it turned out, it was a perfect opening morning.
I was hunting a small 40 acre piece of river bottom I'd just got permission on from a good friend last year. Not long after fly down there was a tom and a dozen hens in the neighboring landowners green field. They were working my way and when they got close enough, I started some calling getting the lead couple of hens attention. They eventually came over to my side of the fence bringing the rest of the hens with them and I was surrounded. The tom was satisfied to stay at the edge of the green field strutting away.
Earlier, when the flock was still in the field, another tom had come in to join the party but he stayed off to the side and never got close to the other tom. I assumed he was a subordinate. I had lost sight of him but figured he had to be somewhere close.
After several minutes of the turkey party buzzing around my blind but with the tom still in the neighboring field, the other tom suddenly appeared right in front of my window and strutted right into the DSD jake. He got spun around almost directly away from me when I sent my arrow where the sun don't shine. He piled up in a few yards. The rest of the group had no clue but eventually wandered off and I collected my prize.
Now I had to wait and save my other Iowa tag for a hunt with my good buddy Troy (t-roy) Westrum who had invited me out to hunt his farm(s) the weekend of the 20th. Almost a 2 week wait! I was Jonesin' bad by the time I headed west for the 2 hr drive to Troy's.
I got there Friday afternoon and got caught up with Troy and his wife, Teresa. Teresa had already gotten her shotgun bird and Troy had filled both his archery tags. We would be hunting the next morning to try and fill my tag.
Saturday morning weather sucked. Cold wind out of the north and we were sitting on the edge of one of Troy's plots in his hay bale blind with wind blowing right in the front windows. We barely heard any tree gobbles and never did see a bird all morning. We went through 2 canisters of LP in the little buddy heater trying to stay warm. Not an ideal turkey morning but we got plenty of bullshitting done.
We spent the rest of the day moving treestands around. Troy's farm(s) is a whitetail/turkey hunter's paradise. I don't care what Treeman says.
Sunday morning weather was perfect...light wind, clear skies. We headed to a blind just a short hike from behind the house. We heard some good tree gobbling and it wasn't long after fly down we had a couple different groups of jakes come in for a visit.
Finally, we had a gobbler coming in from behind us. He had circled around the small food plot behind us and was now off to our left about 50 yards, behind some deadfall, strutting his stuff but not coming in. Dammit!
After a few minutes of trying to get this guy to break loose and come in we hear another gobble off to our right. Pretty soon, we hear drumming and here he comes strutting all the way!
He got right up to jake when my shot broke and for some reason I hit a little low even though Troy had just told me not to mess it up just before the bird was in range. Thanks coach.
But that's why we shoot big mechs and I got low in the vitals and took out a leg. When they can't fly, they gonna die. Luckily, Troy has been getting himself into mountain goat shape and he was able to quickly unzip the blind without pulling a hammy so I could run the bird down.
Such a great weekend of turkey hunting, talking whitetails, drinking some beers, lots of laughs, and Teresa cooking some killer food. Truly thankful to call them friends.
Monday morning I was headed west again for a six hour drive to the sandhills of Nebraska. In 2015, I did my first ever out of state turkey hunt in Nebraska. It was also my first hunt with a couple of Bowsiters, Mark (Bowfreak) Hall and Will (otcWill) Towle. Mark also brought his daughter, Riley. We had started up in Chadron area but all the birds were still grouped up and on private. Will had some car issues (it blew up on the way there) and had to head home early so Mark and I ended up going down to SW Nebraska where we found a good pile of birds and I brought home three of them.
This time I would be hunting some private at the invitation of Harlin (Beav) Welch and man, I was stoked! Unfortunately, Harlin had a work conference he had to attend for most of the time I was going to be there but he opened up his cabin for me and turned me loose on his farm for some out-of-this-world turkey hunting.
Troy's wife has a big ol' double bearded tom from Oklahoma mounted in their home and her first bird this year has a double beard as well. Teresa likes to rub it in just a little bit since Troy's never killed a multi-bearded tom.
I didn't mean to dis Troy's handshake here but I had just picked up the broadhead he unscrewed from my arrow he pulled out from the bird.
I arrived at THE cabin mid-afternoon. This place has a lot of Bowsiter history and I literally had goosebumps pulling in. I didn't really think about hunting that evening but got my stuff unpacked, read Harlin's note, then decided to take a walk around to some of the spots he mentioned. I ran into one big gobbler on my walk then hopped into my truck and took it back to a hayfield on the north end of the property.
I guess these are hybrid Merriam's/Easterns and they are gorgeous!
I guess these are hybrid Merriam's/Easterns and they are gorgeous!
Sneaking up to the edge of the field, I saw 3 toms working the east edge just feeding along. Oh, hell, I'm hunting tonight! I had everything I needed except my decoys. I went back to the cabin, threw the dekes in and headed back out.
The field was clear of birds when I got back so I set up on a little knob on the west side along some thick cedars. There were turks back in the field on the east side after I got the blind set up so I crawled out in front as far as I could without being seen to set up the decoys. Damn sand burrs were like crawling on cactus needles!
Back in the blind and started calling every 10-15 min. After about an hour, I hear gobbles to the north in the cedars and pines. They were getting closer and answering every call now. Eventually, a group of hens popped out about 40 yards north of me and made a beeline to the lower end of the field. Shortly after, 3 toms popped out and with the hens out of their sight, they immediately locked on to my decoys.
I got ready and 2 of them come strutting right into the jake and start pushing him around. I waited until one was in the clear then sent an arrow through his chest while he faced me. He staggered off to my left and I had to pop open a window to see where he went. He was about 20 yards out now and hurtin but still standing so I launched another arrow. He piled up against the fence. Only here a few hours and already had one down! I texted Beav right away and he was stoked!
The next morning, I set up just south of the cabin where Beav suggested and took out his full mounted tom. lol Shortly after fly down a pile of turks were headed my way from the neighbors cattle yard. Holy crap a PILE of jakes. Like 22 of them!
They hung around for a while doing jake stuff and eventually wandered off. An hour or so later and they had circled back. They just clucked a lot at the big tom deke but never came in and roughed him up. No toms seen that morning or afternoon.
That evening, Jim (Murph) Murphy invited me to his place for a big ol' bone-in ribeye, fried potatoes, and a couple beers. He lives only about 20 minutes away from THE cabin. It was great to meet Jim, his gf Libs, and all the dogs. We talked bowhunting and geeked out on archery stuff. Hopefully, get to do some shooting with him at TAC one of these years. I'm sure he'll kick my ass cuz I'm old and shit but maybe I can learn something.
The next morning I was back at the north field only this time down in the lower part where it seemed all the turks liked to feed. I had a jake and 3 hens come in early to visit the decoys but was pretty slow all morning with them just feeding around along with a couple other hens that showed up later.
I saw one lone gobbler late morning on the other side of the field but he had no interest in my calling or the decoys. I planned to stay until at least noon then head back for some hot food and a nap. My eyelids were getting heavy by about a quarter till noon so I was just going to get my nap in early and in the blind.
I had just dozed off when I woke up to some clucks outside the blind. I figured a hen probably but peeked out and there were 5 of the biggest jakes I'd ever seen. Little jake beards poking out but, damn, these are just too big for jakes! They were surrounding the DSD jake, then stomped it and started wandering away. I started looking real hard at their legs and sure as hell, they had spurs. Dammit, these were all toms!
I'm trying to get my crap together, purring and clucking trying to get them to come back in. I range the closest bird and he's 35 yards. A bit of a poke on a turkey but felt I could make it. Pulled back, put the 30 pin a touch high, keep pulling, keep pulling, the shot breaks. Dammit...pulled it left and just got feathers!
The whole group moves off to my left, I'm moving crap out of the way, opening windows, calling to get them to stop, trying to get a range. This was turning into a rodeo and my cheese was melting. They were about to get behind a finger of brush and I had to lean hard to get a 30ish yard shot out of one of the side windows at the last bird in the clear. I shanked that one, too. What an idiot!
Now they were all around the corner of brush but still hanging around. I started calling really aggressively and they were hammering gobbles at every sound. Murph had told me you can't over-call to these birds and I had nothing to lose at this point. So I was throwing everything at them and they were getting even more fired up. One of them broke into strut and started moving my way again. Yep, full fan, they are for sure toms!
This bird comes around the corner and in the clear. I get a good range on him right at 30 yards and he's just standing, looking. I tell myself to settle the f_ck down and make a good shot. Pull, pull, pull, shot breaks and I hammer him perfect! He runs back around the corner and I see him pile up. All the other toms still gobbling at everything.
Thursday evening I met Harlin, his wife Kara, and his buddy, Tom, in town for dinner. I love small town bar and grills. Good food, good people. Murph showed up, too. After dinner and couple beers, Beav, Tom, and I headed back to THE cabin and met some more of Harlin's buddys for a dart tournament. Looks like I'm going to be leaving Nebraska with a hangover. oofda! Man, it was worth it. The stories, the laughs....my kinda people.
Harlin would be taking Tom out hunting in the morning and I would be heading for the South Dakota Black Hills. It was a drizzly, wet day and hunting was slow for the boys but Harlin kept me updated and I think it was the next day or the day after that Tom got his number 234th bird! Congrats to Tom!
Can't thank Harlin enough for his generosity in opening up his cabin, THE cabin, and his property for me. It will be an unforgettable hunting memory for me! Dude is as good as they come.
Harlin had told me there was a group of toms out there that had short, jake beards and they all hung out together. He thought they were all 2-year-olds. They sure were fun with the non-stop gobbling. Thankfully, they were stupid, too! My kind of birds.
The one on the far right. It’s actually probably one of the longest of that group of birds. A couple of them had the little shaving brush beards poking straight out just like a Jake.
I was headed west again to meet up with my good buddy, Justin (Brotsky) Broughton. We had hunted together in the Black Hills of South Dakota last year and both tagged out on jakes. We were going to be hunting the same area again. This year, I had 2 tags and a jake was definitely on the menu for one of them but I really wanted a mature tom. These are pure Merriam's out here and, I think, the prettiest of all the sub-species. Justin had already filled 2 of his 3 resident tags with big, mature eastern birds from an area near his Sioux Falls home.
We met at a motel about an hour from our hunt area on Friday evening. The Black Hills season opened Saturday and we would be hunting public land along with all the other gun hunters. This hunt was going to be a little tougher but, man, I LOVE this area. Last time I was here, we saw elk, muleys, whiteys, and sheep. Lots of room to roam and just enough birds to keep you on your toes.
We get to our hunting area opening morning right on time and start hiking in. Cool, clear, and calm winds....perfect! Only problem is we didn't hear a single damn gobble. We hike around some more, crow calling, turkey calling. Nothin! Time to move.
We jump back in the trucks and head over to set up camp. I see a few birds from the road and a little further, there's a big strutter with a flock of hens in a field on some walk-in property. Justin is already parked and putting on a stalk. There may have been a few 50 and 60 yard bombs launched and shortly after that, 3 shotgun blasts from an unseen hunter. Justin comes back with his tail between his legs and we make a plan to keep hunting for the morning to see if we can get on the birds I saw earlier. We make a long hike up and around to sort of the vicinity of where I saw the birds and set up.
We ended up calling in a hen and a little later, a lone jake. He hung up at about 20 yards just standing there and I thought he would come on in to the dekes but instead circled around us never offering a good shot after that. He seemed a little intimidated. Probably because he was solo.
Back to camp for some food, a Busch Latte, and a quick nap. The afternoon plan was to split up to cover more ground and look for birds.
I headed up the big ridge we were on that morning but went the opposite direction once on top. Sign is nearly impossible to see unless you've got a dusty, sandy, or muddy spot and birds could be anywhere. I found a likely looking spot that looked greener than the rest of the area and had some nice openings with short green grass. I set up my old T2 and decided to sit and call until 7 pm then start hiking around until dark listening for gobbles.
It was 10 minutes till 7 and I made my last calling sequence before packing up. I look to my left and about a hundred yards out, I see big black birds. Pull up the glass....jakes...4 of them. Good enough. Delicious. A few soft yelps, the heads come up and they're on their way. Damn jakes never seem to stop moving when they get in the decoys and I had to wait to try and get one singled out. Finally had one in the clear, he hesitated for a moment and the arrow was on the way. Chaos ensued, he tried to run off but kept falling over. He finally came to a stop and all his buddys pile on.
Long hike back to the truck and I pulled into camp right at dusk. Got my bird taken care of while Brotsky was telling me about the herd of elk bedded behind camp and the flock of turkeys he bumped a little further down the drainage. We know where we're going to be in the morning and it turned out to be epic!
Great thread Nick, loved getting to meet you and so happy to see that your turkey tour went so well… Your a killer no doubt .. I’d share a camp with you any day ..
The next morning felt much warmer with some cloud cover and light winds. Temps in the 40's. We take off hiking right out of camp. Probably less than a half mile, it's getting light out, and we start hearing gobbles. I think we figured at least 3 different toms and kind of spread out. My hearing pretty much sucks so I'm relying on Justin to pinpoint birds. We dropped down a little and found a good spot to set up on a nice flat with a good view all around but still enough cover the birds should feel comfortable. We feel like we're in the middle of the action. Justin is up to bat since he found these birds and I killed yesterday anyway. We could have split up again but it's way more fun sharing a blind.
It got kind of quiet after fly down as usual and Justin would hit his loud-ass slate every 10 minutes or so. Suddenly, we get a gobble. Up above us and he seems fired up! He's gobbling and answering calls, getting closer, moving left to right as he's coming down the ridge but we can't see him yet. Then Justin spots him down on the flat we're on about 75 yards away off to our right. I can't see him right away because of some brush blocking my view but soon got eyes on him. He's strutting like a stud.
He's strutting back and forth and seems content to stay where he is...about 60 yards out now. TSS range. We're not sure if he can see the dekes or not. Dammit! Hope he's not going hang up! Video below.
Then it happens. We get a gift from God. A couple of yelps right next to the blind and 3 hens come strolling right into our little decoy spread. We know what's gonna happen next. I'll let the video in the next post tell the rest of the story... Caution...F-bombs.
Man, what a hunt! Things just could not have worked out better and I could not be happier for Justin! That arrow zipped throught the bird so fast, stem to stern, the tom didn't even know what happened and came back to fight. Unbelievable!
Welp, we had the afternoon and another full day to hunt so I was hoping for some similar action. Unfortunately, things got pretty tough. We hit a new area the next day and it was loaded with morning gobbles with lots of sign but we couldn't get a damn thing to come in. Still a great time and learned some new area to keep in mind for next year.
I can't say thank you enough to all the Bowsite buddys that helped make this trip possible. Can't wait to do it again!
Fantastic recap, Nick! Super fun to get to share in a part of it, as well as all of the ball busting and play by play via our group texts. Congrats again, on a terrific season, buddy!
What an awesome Turkey tour Nick! Enjoyed sharing a Turkey blind, some fun hunting, some Fireball, and some more amazing memories with you again this spring. See you at TAC in June!