Spring Turkey Hunting- Anyone?

[PEARL DRUMS]

I live for it. I take a week off EVERY year to chase turkeys with a self bow. I dont use blinds, but I do use a decoy here and there. Its easier to get a poke at a turkey with a bow and no blind that one might think. Of course the ground your hunting can make or break that deal. I hunt thick farmland fence rows and woods with lots of hiding spots.

J-dub I say a prayer every turkey hunting morning becasue I dont have to worry about wind for once! But I still find myself checking the wind as I stalk.....some habits are hard to break.

[Sidewinder]

I'll be chasing my first turkey this year. We have quite a few around here too so it should be fun. I could probabely sit in my front door and take one as they like to parade by the porch every morning and evening before they roost about 100yds from the house, but then again thats not very sporting so I will move to the end of the pasture and set up a ground blind in the cedars to the south.   Danny

[IsaacW]

I dont use blinds, but I do use a decoy here and there. Its easier to get a poke at a turkey with a bow and no blind that one might think. Of course the ground your hunting can make or break that deal. I hunt thick farmland fence rows and woods with lots of hiding spots.

I am a pretty aggressive, move around turkey hunter.  I am thinking about stickbow this year for turkeys and with this moving, I would rather not use a blind.  Any other thoughts and suggestions for archery turkeys w/o a blind??

[JW_Halverson]

I dont use blinds, but I do use a decoy here and there. Its easier to get a poke at a turkey with a bow and no blind that one might think. Of course the ground your hunting can make or break that deal. I hunt thick farmland fence rows and woods with lots of hiding spots.

I am a pretty aggressive, move around turkey hunter.  I am thinking about stickbow this year for turkeys and with this moving, I would rather not use a blind.  Any other thoughts and suggestions for archery turkeys w/o a blind??

Wait for a single gobbler, let him walk past you, pray he goes into full strut and then fire an arrow up the tailpipe!  In full strut all the feathers in the fan point to the heart of the kill zone.   About the only time you can move is when his view is blocked by his fan. Good Luck!

[PAHunter]

Man I flippin hate turkeys!!!!  Ironically I shot my first gobbler with a bow last season while I was deer hunting.  It was the same day I got my buck.  Funny because my brother was turkey hunting all week and came up empty handed.  Anyway I'm considering taking out my 2nd selfbow and seeing what happens,  should make it interesting. 

[PEARL DRUMS]

I dont use blinds, but I do use a decoy here and there. Its easier to get a poke at a turkey with a bow and no blind that one might think. Of course the ground your hunting can make or break that deal. I hunt thick farmland fence rows and woods with lots of hiding spots.

I am a pretty aggressive, move around turkey hunter.  I am thinking about stickbow this year for turkeys and with this moving, I would rather not use a blind.  Any other thoughts and suggestions for archery turkeys w/o a blind??

ALWAYS have your next hiding spot picked out ahead of time. I get on birds, find a good spot to hide and draw my bow. Then I immediatley start looking for my next hiding spot if a I need to make a hurried exit. Just stay ahead of the game is what Im saying. I drew on a bird at 6 feet last year. The arrow never REALLY left my string so I didnt technically miss. I was sitting behind a triple trunk tree. The bird came to call and  drew when his head went behind my hiding tree, he popped out and I released. WHACK one blade of my broadhead caught the bark on the tree that was hidning me and stopped my arrow half way to brace..............otherwise dead bird at 6 feet.

[beetlebailey1977]

Oh yes I will be chasing them......I always am.  Love to hunt turkeys.

This is one I got last year.


And these are two from last year........one of them was with the one I killed.....I didnt shoot him because I didnt want to be greedy.
Also my brother got his first bird one hour before I killed mine.  We were hunting together.

[youngbowyer]

I'm considering hunting them with a selfbow. Still debating that or going out with my neighbor and his shotgun. What poundage do you recommend for turkeys?

[beetlebailey1977]

Yep I have not shot one with a bow yet......I would suggest shooting what you hunt deer with, and the closer the shot the better.  I plan to hunt just with a bow this year.

[PEARL DRUMS]

No less than 45# at 10-12 yards is my opinion. I have shot a few with 55# bows at 10 yards and barely poked out the other side. They did a get a free ride in my truck though! Turkeys arent mega tough like we are lead to believe. They are just light in physical weight. When your arrow makes contact and tries to transfer stored energy to a 20# bird it pushes the animal rather than push the broadhead through. When that same arrow hits a 150# deer it pushes through and lays on the other side....hopefully.

[youngbowyer]

I'm thinking a 50 pound bend in the handle recurve bow...?

[JW_Halverson]

I'm thinking a 50 pound bend in the handle recurve bow...?

With turkeys being so sensitive to motion, I would agree with youngbowyer...shorter limbs, plenty heavy enough to punch that arrow thru the wingbutts.  Kill 'em, smoke 'em, love 'em.

Nothing like wild turkey on the table!

[mullet]

I got mine a few years ago with a #60 osage, coral point on a bamboo arrow at ten yards. The arrow didn't even slow down, made a passthru and flew another twenty yards. I was in a pop up blind.

[crooketarrow]

  It's not as hard as you think to draw and shoot gobblers or bucks. I kill and miss gobblers everyyear. American indains did'nt have any special powers. And have you ever seen there bows,arrows and heads. I would'nt even since one of there heads down range. No they just did one simple thing. My granddad killed 312 gobblers in 92 spings and he set up the same way on most. He hunted all over the south every year as well as 1 or 2 northern states and all his old turkey buddy hunted this way for the most part.
   This works on bucks as well as gobblers. JUST SET UP WHERE THEY HAVE TO WALK PAST YOU. Gobbler and bucks seam to know behind them is safe and if you let them walk past you where your out of there perferable vision. There just alot easer to draw on. You can take your time. The main reason most instintive shots are missed.
 I defies all the vidios you see on TV. pic's. in mags and what you've read. They have to have the gobbler in front of them. For the camers. I do a complete turn around and set up with my back to the gobbler. Where he has to walk past you. Plus remember if you can see him he can see you. And you can't out set a gobbler thats came looking for your calls. Nor can you out draw a gobbler thats in front of you if he dos'nt walk behing something. Believe me I've tried dozzens of times.
   Plus with gobblers you uselly don't have hang ups because your calling sounds are going away. Makeing it seam your father than you really are. Also calls make away from gobblers you can't hear the misstakes as well as a gobbler your calling straight to you.
  I set up on mature bucks the same way as gobblers. I can tell you that your % of shots will go way up. I've killed 36 bucks unteen does 15 gobblers with a selfbow. Not counting all the shot gun kills of gobblers 31 all most all were let walk by me. Buck kills with a rifle dosn't matter much. Since you can reach out and touch them.

[Youngboyer2(billyf)]

I got my jr bowhunting liscense last year and called in a hen that I couldn't shoot and watched her walk all ofer me, hopefully I'll hav better luck this year