Turkey Irony

[PAHunter]

I went on my first official hunt with a selfbow.  In morning I heard gobbler and hens but only ended up with 7 cows staring at me from 10 feet away and refusing to leave.  Why is there not a cow season!  That was followed by a new spot and being suprised at the sound of a gobbler taking off 20 feet to my left, ya a big one.  So I was pretty beat up after my first day of primitive turkey hunting.  I went to the 3d range to practice and after my first shot a hen flew up from about 10 feet away and perched in a tree almost directly above me.  Though it slightly added insult to injury I had to laugh as the hen sat and watched me shoot, content she had nothing to worry about.    I'll be back at it on Wednesday!  God I love and hate this stuff.    

[chasing crow]

 Strange things are the norm with turkey hunting. Just keep at it and enjoy the Ride!

[Adam]

Turkeys are good at doing things like that.  One of life's great mysteries to me is why I see dozens of deer at 20 yards while turkey hunting and turkeys while I'm deer hunting, but I rarely see the animal I'm after that day.

[JW_Halverson]

Strange things are the norm with turkey hunting.

Hey!  I resemble that remark! 

Just remember when you step into the turkey woods you are not in the middle of the Bermuda Onion!  ...or something like that!

[soy]

It is amazing how those turkeys will make a turkey out of you that is part of the fun...gobble gobble

[JW_Halverson]

Ever dissected a turkey's skull?  The brain case has room for half a shelled pecan...and a small one at that. 

Think long and hard about that. 

Now think about how many times that little brain has outsmarted not only you, but every other predator out there in the woods because they ALL like to eat turkeys.  Day after day, and for that matter, there are nite predators so it's also nite after nite!  The mere fact that we do kill a few from time to time is really amazing.  You gotta hand it to these birds, they are more than a match for us.  Thank goodness they have a poor sense of smell or we'd never get 'em!

When the sight of a gobbler coming to full strut fails to take away my breath it's time to call the morticians, cuz I'm dead and gone. 

[crooketarrow]

  After 21 years of hunting gobbler with a self bow. I'VE KILLED 15 WOUNDED A COUPLE AND MISSED WELL TO MANY. Here's a couple things might help you out. If you set up decoys where there's cows. After a few mins they'll lose interest. But if they see you and the decoys I just go get mine. They wont leave.  COWS AND TURKEY DON'T MIX I uselly don't hunt turkeys IN COW PASTURES when there around. Cows naturally go to turkeys for some reason. And turkey stay away from them.
   Tukeys don't reason they live through instint. If you use a call yesrerday he dont say hey I heard that same call testerday. I've call gobblers up to blinds and messed up missed or what ever and called the same gobbler up and killed them the next day. Not just once up a couple dofferent times.
  This is the hard one because you've seen and been taught to set up this way. It's totally different with a gun. Set up with your back to the gobbleing gobbler. This dose 2 things it alows the bird to go by you alowing you a much better chance to draw after he's gone by you. I like to use bottle necks or call him down a tote road where you can set up close to where he go by you.
  Second if you can see him he can see you there no way you can draw on a gobbler comeing to you. I'VE TRYED AND TRYED IT DON'T WORK. Unless he go's behind something. And most people don't teach thereselfs to instintive shoot where they have to hold full draw for the turkey to clear something.
  I just keep with it and no matter how bad it gets I keep going back.

[JW_Halverson]

  I just keep with it and no matter how bad it gets I keep going back.

I've hunted with our local Regional Director for the National Wild Turkey Federation.  His philosophy is pretty much the same.  He says, "It's a game of numbers."  You gotta put in the time in the woods, see one good set-up after another fail, have a couple of screw-ups pay off, and hopefully learn a few tricks in the meanwhile. 

But win or lose, any turkey that answers me (gobbler, jake, or hen) is a check in the win column!