Your Turkey Gear

[bowhntineverythingnh03743]

I have gone after turkeys for the last year with traditional tackle. Right now I am shooting a Bezaleel Bow Works cougar recurve 55# @ 28. I have found that hunting turkeys is always better with a ground blind tent. I just picked up a new Barronet Blind which is 80 inches tall. It was reasonably priced at $150.

Last year on opening day I watched as four big toms strutted around in a corn field with three hens for about two hours. Finally I was able to call a two year old tom away from the ladies with my Jake Mobile decoy with a real jake fan. A single hen out in front of him was all that was needed to bring this boy in hot. I grabbed my recurve and waited with a white knuckle grip. I was shaking so bad as he came in. He strutted right up to my decoy and started to jump and spurred it only ten yards away from my blind. I concentrated on the spot I wanted my arrow to hit. Drawing my arrow back I released and... SWOOSH!!! My arrow blew right through the feathers on the back of the bird. He jumped and walked off putting. Didn't connect that day but that was a successful hunt in my eyes.

On another note... if you have a black backed blind.... where black shirt and black face paint.... you will be invisible to the game.    Justin (New Hampshire)

This year I hope to go with my own osage self bow... enough with the lam bows

[lowell]

I'm looking forward to season too...but my season is 1 month after my knee replacement which is this Friday.
 
 I have my blind set up just 60 yards from my shop and hope I can make it to it to hunt in a month. Turkeys  seem to travel through, past the blind this time of year!!

  I set a Pretty Boy decoy just maybe 3-5 yards in front of blind with a hen off to the side ( as in picture)

  I also tie a string onto the tom decoy so I can add some movement to make a tom feel like coming in for a fight!!

 I have used to same short osage for the past couple years as it needs to be short to be able to shoot from blind. 

    Good luck all!!

[Cacatch]

Awesome Lowell !!  That's how you do it. I may have to borrow your string idea. What size blind is that? And how long is that Osage bow? Looks pretty short, like maybe 48 or 50". Nice looking turkey, hope you do it again this year!

CP

[lowell]

Thanks Cacatch, 

 The bow is 53" NTN 

 Not sure of the blind size .  It's just a cheapy Ameristep Doghouse which is not the largest available but just bought another on sale for $49.

[Cacatch]

Awesome, heck yeah. Did you have to practice a lot shooting out of the window to get used to it?

[lowell]

I didn't practice out the window much.. didn't seem to give me trouble. I sit on an extra pad or 2 to get me a little higher so I can shoot out more easily out the window. I do open it all the way so I have room to shoot through it. I don't shoot through the screen. 

 I wear dark or black closes and the turkeys don't seem to every get spooked by my movements.  And I only have the front window open and just "peak holes " out the other windows.

[Cacatch]

Right on. How long in anticipation did you have it up? I know you need to have it out a while so the turkeys get used to it.

[sailordad]

man i cant believe it took me this long to find this thread 
i would post pics of my turkey gear
however the server probably doesnt have enough memory
i have thousands of $$ worth of gear
i take my buzzard chasing very very serious
i have been known to take two weeks of vacation to chase them for the 2 week bow season
blinds are awesome,99% of my hunting is done from a blind,i have 2 i set(double bull matrix, and the double bull dark horse) up and leave sit and a portable net blind
one i want to get rid of so i can get a new one

dont let the window mesh worry you any
shoot thru mesh is very nice,not to mention it keeps ya hid and allows for alot of movement on your part
i got busted this last spring in my blind with tthe mesh up,tom was looking dead in on me(im in all black)
had my bow in hand and didnt dare try and draw
but i do recomend praciticing your shot from in the blind,both window mesh up and down
plus put your gear in there like you would if your hunting,it will show how much romm you have to work with in a hunting situation
ive tried many differant blinds,and trust me.you get what you pay for
what might work for hunting deer with a gun may not work as well for turkeys,especially with a bow
not to mention turkeys realy dont care for blinds that flap or reflect light
a dark interior is a must and always dress to match the interior of the blind
you wear camo in the woods,black in the blind 
heck im working on another black bow for me to hunt with from mine this year

pat as far a decoys go
put them where you want to shoot the tom
if ypu want to shoot him at 20 yds,put them there
if you want to shoot him at 5 yds,put them there
i like to face the hen away from,as ol tom is gonna wanna climb up her from behind and give a nice spine shot
the jake,if i am using one, i either face towards me or 90* to the side
tom is gonna want to come face to face with the jake,so this way you either get a broadside shot(not my fav) or another spine shot
i too like the movement on decoys.last year i kept one staked right next to the blind
i would reach out under the blind and move it
the wife thought it was cool as owl poop to see the tom react like he did
dont over call when turkey hunting,you got to call like a turkey(not that you have to sound exactly like one but it does help)

well enough of my ramblings,but you started it when you talked turkey 
if i was helpfull,im glad
if you have had enough of my ramblings just say so
i could talk turkeys hunting with anyone for days on end 

[lowell]

I usually put the blind out for a couple weeks in advance but have also put the blind out the morning of the hunt and killed a turkey.  I don't want the blind in the farmers field if I think there is a chance he is going to start working the ground!!

 I'm with you sailordad....I like them turkeys!!!

[Pat B]

Thanks for the decoy info Lowel and Tim.  I'll be setting my blind out soon and it is at least a month before our season.

[Cacatch]

Heck no Sailordad, I'll take as much rambling as you'd like to give. That's what this thread is for, those of us who get perhaps unreasonably excited around turkey season and it's all we can think about. When turkey season is in I even find myself not thinking about making another bow. Turkey's are quickly becomming my favorite animal to hunt and I haven't even killed one yet, or even got a shot!

You say you are wanting to get rid of a "net blind"? What is that exactly? All mesh?

CP

[mullet]

Pat, I had the hen decoy facing the blind and the two Jake decoys facing the back of the hen. All three of them were set about ten feet from the blind. I knew that seven gobblers had been coming in and beating up and running the jakes off in this flock for a few days. They did that morning also and then made a Bee line for the two decoys when I clucked.

[sailordad]

cacatch, i want to get rid of my dark horse

a net blind is just a quick set blind
its just camo netting on four telescopic stakes
it takes about 10 seconds to set up
and youj ust sit behind it
its maybe waist tall at most

i use this when i am out scouting and need quick cover


i know season is getting close here
i had my first turkey hutning dream of the season last night
i get so stoked for chasing buzzards
i dream of hunting them every year(actuall dreams at night)
this will go on right up untill i start hunting,maybe once ow twice a week

i have noticed the winter flocks are breaking up
havent seen ol' tom chasing around the hens yet,or heard a gobble
but its comiing,oh ya its coming '
wont be long now
them ol' boys are gonn be so horned up and stupid
well stupid for the first week of the season,they educate real fast around here
the easterns up here are a tuff ol' bird to fool for more than 2-3 weekd in the season
then they get the jitters bad

i do mostly bowhunting them.we have a lottery system.
but we can buy over the counter bow tags if you dont get drawn in the lottery
downside is,bow season is the last two weeks (out of 8 weeks) of regular gun season
so by time i hunt,every fool witha shotgun and a turkey call has been out there educating them
one year by time i got to bow hunt.
the turkeys had it so bad that they would turn and run at the sight of a decoy,a blind,the sound of a call
and i hunt private land
down side is the land owner is realy nice nad lets everyone who asks to hunt


i wouldnt worry about presetting the blind
turkeys dont care,they aint like deer when it comes to blinds
the key is to not let your self be seen inside it
dont silhouette yourself
always,and i cant stressthis enough,always keep all windows and gaps behind you completly closed

if your in a blind you can even get away with talking
if a turkey hears you but cant see you they get curious
the wife and i had them walk up to the blind when we having a normal voice tone conversation
its the sight of you, a predator,that makes them run
if they dont see you,they arent afraid of you
done get me wrong,they aint gonna come running and wait toi get petted
but you have a much better chance if they hear you and not see you
than you do having them see you and not hear you

their eye sight is incredible
its said they can see the blink of a human eye at 100yds
i know for a fact they can see you in a black blind even if your wearing black
i got busted last spring this way
i was in my blind by 4:30 am,sat untill 1:05 pm and hadnt seen or heard a thing
opened the mesh window and climbed out to do some scounting
didnt get 1.5 steps from the blind when i seen two toms coming down the tree line and the were coing fast
they cover about 150 yds in the time it took me to jump thru the window and grab my bow and nock and arrow
i am still in my black cloths
but the black cloths arent the exact same shade of black as the interior of the blind
the boss tom came in to 13 yds,stood straight behind my decoy with just his head poking over it
looked straight in my blind at me for about 30 seconds
i know he seen the differnce in color of blacks and got spooked
one loud "POP]"(why people call it a put i dont know) and he and his little budd were gone like the road runner
and me sitting ther feeling like ol'wiley coyote


well see now here i go rambling again 

[Cacatch]

I love it. There is much for me to learn in your rambles. I didn't realize that about them hearing you but not seeing you. I will keep that it mind. I know they are super spaz about seing movement. Man, they are way too good at that. When they look at you head on, it's like they can see into your soul and read your thoughts. Damn turkeys. But like you said out of season they are dummer than owl poopie. And don't care about anything. I've had to slow down and even stop on the road before to avoid hitting a hen and her chicks.

My 4 year old boy told me yesterday he wants to go turkey hunting "real bad" and I tried to explain to him that season is not in yet, but it breaks his heart. So we will go out tomorrow morning in what will be "hunting" for him, and "scouting" for me. I'm not going to take my bow just in case we call one in, he would expect me to shoot it if I have my bow with me. I'll tell him I'm just there to work the call for him, so that he can shoot the turkey with his 15lb, 30" TTT hickory bow      He also says he wants to hunt deer at the same time so we'll have to try to take a nice buck with it too.

CP

[John K]

Good luck CP ! If you can figure out where the Turkeys want to go and set up in between them it helps alot.

Here was my set up last year, i'll be in the same spot April 20th ! 
http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,19323.0.html