Thanksgiving and turkeys go together like well, bread and butter. I seldom think of Thanksgiving that my mind doesn’t conjure up a plate full of roasted turkey setting atop a plate full of cornbread dressing with, of course, a generous helping of cranberries atop!
About the beginning of deer season each year, I begin plotting a plan to add a wild turkey to the big domestic bird that graces our table. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I could get away with serving only wild turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The family is too large and I would have to harvest four wild birds to feed everyone. I do good to take one early in the season each fall but a wild turkey for Thanksgiving is always my goal!
Some years I am successful in taking a gobbler or hen (yes, hens are legal in many counties in the fall season) and other years I have to be content with that ‘store bought’ bird.
Hunting fall turkey is always a big challenge for me, after all its deer season and who wants to spook that mossy horned old buck by shooting at a turkey! Turkey hunting in the fall is more like deer hunting, it’s a sit-and-wait proposition and for me it’s usually from a pop-up ground blind set within 25 yards of a corn feeder, armed with my compound bow.
I love the challenge of getting close to the birds and taking one with an arrow which really is not all that hard when hunting from a ground blind. If I am hunting on a lease with other gun hunters, I’m not spooking deer with this method as I would be if hunting with a shotgun.
There are hunters that find a flock of turkey, spook them and then attempt to call the birds back in. I’ve tried this method but once spooked, I’ve never seen the turkey again. No, I’m a sit-and-wait fall turkey hunter and if hunting in a county where hens are legal, I have no qualms about setting my bowsight on a fat hen. Actually, I prefer taking a hen or two and leaving those gobblers for the spring season.
I’m planning to join some good friends up near Nocona at their lease near the Red River this month and remove a surplus hen or two with my bow. The guys tell me their lease is overrun with turkey and with any luck, I’ll be able to take a couple of birds. I do a good bit of my archery deer hunting from one of the new see-through pop-up blinds which I’ve found to be very helpful. The hunter can see out perfectly but it’s impossible to see inside when looking from the outside.
I would never set up a ground the same day I hunt deer. I prefer to set them up several days before I plan to hunt. This gives deer time to adjust to the new addition to their landscape. But turkey are different, I’ve set camo ground blinds 20 yards from a corn feeder and killed turkey from it the same day. Turkey are much less spooky about new additions to their feeding areas. I think turkeys consider the blind just another fallen tree or piece of brush. It’s common to watch a flock of turkey approach the feeder, stop and give it a quick look over and then begin feeding.
The trick when hunting a flock of turkey at such close range is getting the bow drawn. With their Xray vision, turkey are quick to pick up on the slightest movement. I usually draw my bow low in the blind as soon as I see the birds approaching and move it up to shooting position and wait until they settle down feeding. Thank goodness for the eighty percent let off of today’s modern compound bows. At full draw I’m only pulling about 13 pounds and this is doable for even an old man (me) for the minute or two it takes for the birds to get into shooting position.
There are those that refuse to hunt around a corn feeder for deer or turkey and that’s perfectly fine with me, to each his or her own. But my goal is to put a tag on a turkey and to do so with my bow which is challenging but completely doable. I’ve told friends that I have killed a lot of turkey through the years with a bow and watch their eyebrows raise in question. I guess they assume I am out covering the countryside on foot, attempting to sneak up on a flock of turkey! When I explain to them that I am hunting from an enclosed blind close to a feeder where the birds will eventually show up for the golden kernels, they usually get the picture.
Another reason my plan works during rifle season is the fact turkey often show up throughout the day at a feeder with a timer that throws corn at preset intervals. Deer are usually the first to arrive at a feeder in the morning and by mid-morning which is prime time for turkey flocks to arrive, deer have often hit the feeder and worked their way back into the brush to bed down. I’ve killed the majority of my turkey with a bow during the middle part of the day, while most rifle deer hunters are back at camp eating lunch and possibly taking a nap.
Several times, I’ve been able to shoot one turkey, have the flock jump in the air, startled as though a limb had fallen from a tree and quickly settle down and begin picking corn off the ground again. I once actually arrowed the second bird within a minute of shooting the first. Most experienced hunters that have killed turkey with a bow have watched the targeted bird flop around and see the others, especially gobblers attack the downed bird.
Before you think Ole’ Luke has devised a foolproof plan that always provides the making of a big Thanksgiving dinner, know that killing a wild turkey, hen or gobbler, with an arrow is never a “given”. I’ve spent lots of time sitting in a blind watching a feeder hoping for a shot at a bird that never showed but I’ve also put lots of wild turkey on the table through my many years in the turkey woods.
Join Luke and his good friend Larry Weishuhn aka “Mr. Whitetail”, on November 8, 10:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. at the Dash For Cash Pawn Show 133 Hall St. in Seagoville, Texas for the Fall Celebration of the Outdoors. Free barbeque and a chance to visit with Larry and Luke as well as several outdoor fishing and hunting guides. For more information call 972-287-3121.
Contact outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org
