A Deerhunt In Progress - 2005

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December 24

AFTERNOON:
In the afternoon I saw the biggest buck yet. A cedar tree 14 yards away was between us and I couldn't get my camera to focus on him. But if I saw right he had a drop time on the left side. Ivory colored antlers, heavy ... and way out past his ears. We ain't ever had a buck on the property this big before.

MORNING: 
The trees should have been shaking from all the turkey voices sounding off at daylight. There were lots of them and they were loud. 

When they came off the roost and went east instead of north to the Ridge and me. When it was good light I pulled out my laptop and started working pictures from yesterdays hunt.

I started calling at 8:00 -- nothing to loose. I put on the Pro Ears and before long I heard far away answers.  They kept talking and I kept calling and working pics for nearly 2 hours. By that time their was turkey talk in every direction and the Pro Ears picked up soft putts getting closer in the direction of the river.

Some hens walked out behind a cedar tree 14 yards away. They came up the hill from the river, due south. Things were looking good.  I quietly set down my laptop and took the first picture. It was 9:59.

Some jakes high stepped their way onto the ridge top with the other turkeys. 

Another group of jakes came from the trees to the north side of the small opening.

More turkeys came -- up the hill, from the north as well as the west. The whole place was getting jammed with wild turkeys. 

I saw one longbeard in the quickly assembling group of turkeys and put my camera down and got my BowTech back to full draw. There were so many turkeys in front of the big Tom I couldn't shoot. He was moving around the perimeter of the turkeys and I had to let down.

A jake fight started and the longbeard ran into the mess. Other fights broke out between both hens and jakes. More turkeys came. I grabbed my camera and took some pics again. These jakes are watching as the gobbler with his tail partially fanned out is spuring the dickens out of a jake.

And the jake in the top left is a second away from pooping his friend in the head with its sharp beak. 

Finally, I saw several longbeards arrive. I hooked my release on the string loop as they raced to the jakes fighting right in front of my Double Bull. Heads were biting and pecking, legs were spurring ... and I drew on a big longbeard socking it to a jake.

But I couldn't get my pin on the fighting Tom.

Suddenly a longbeard stood up straight and tall (like the birds two pics up). He was only 6 ot 7 yards and I put my top pin between his legs and moved it up into his body to the vitals. And touched the trigger on my Flathead (Jim Fletcher release).

The arrow hit with that unmistakable dead turkey sound and it ran to my left. A bunch of birds moved away but not all of them. I grabbed the Sony and got a pic of this 2 year old gobbler walking past my arrow. 

My bird was down, I was certain, but I didn't want to spook the ones still here. So I waited until they left. 

Once outside the blind I saw feathers on the ground. They led my eye behind the blind. To the Tom 20 yards away.

Wild Turkeys had come from all directions. There had to be over 100 and it was chaos. Turkeys screaming and fighting. Running all over the place. When the longbeards charged in they showed the jakes what fighting is all about. It was awesome. 

EQUIPMENT COMMENTS:

BOWTECH Archery
I used the BowTech Patriot. It's a short bow with a single cam and once again it did the job in spades. This bow draws and shoots extremely quiet. So much so that the other turkeys never ran away, they just watched him leave. Accuracy is vital if you want a quick, lethal kill shot. And that's what I want. BowTech delivered it for me again this year.

Barrie Archery (Rocky Mountain Broadheads)
After the shot is made it's all up to the broadhead. I used the Snyper XP3 100 grain 3-blade expandable broadhead. Both the entry and exit wound were large cuts and the gobbler was down in seconds.

NIKON
All season long I've used the heck out of the Laser 800 Range Finder and 10x42 Monarch Binoculars. The Laser 800 is so light weight and compact you can hold it and take the yardages with one hand. I want close shots and knowing I'm shooting the yardage I want is a definite asset to my hunting. The Monarch 10x42 binoculars are super for looking for long beards in a flock of turkeys. The Monarch's focus sharp, fast and clear. I've used other 10 power binoculars and they were hard to hold steady, but these are rock steady. 

Double Bull Hunting Blinds
The MATRIX Ground Blind is so totally effective. I moved it under the low canopy of some scrub trees in their shadows and hunted it right away. Deer and turkey paid it no never mind.

Jim Fletcher Archery
The new Fletch Hunter Flathead with a Buckle Strap is a smooth, reliable release that gives you confidence that you can make the shot you need to make.

WOLVERINE Insulated Boots
It has been cold during December and I wore the Wolverine 1200 gram Thinsulate insulated 9" boots every day. They are much lighter than my old standby boots -- which I retired in favor of the Wolverine's. The first time I wore them was in Illinois, in freezing weather, up and down steep hills and high trees. I expected the worst instead was amazed at how they were comfortable from the first day out. These boots are as warm as they are comfortable.

PRO EARS /Ridgeline
The Pro Ears Predator model helped me out this morning. When I first called there was no response. But soon I heard some turkeys way off to the east. They weren't answering me but it let me know turkeys were still around. And it was so far away and so soft I would not have heard them otherwise. So I kept calling and I kept track of new birds as I picked them up in the Pro Ears. 

Woodhaven Custom Calls
The Doug Crabtree signature call was the star of today's hunt. I know you can get together a group of turkeys that have dispersed; but, truthfully, I wasn't sure you could call in ones that had already walked clean out of your area during the Fall. This call is loud or soft and makes all the right sounds.

Montana Black Gold
I used an ARCC Lite Sight that I've used in past seasons. It's proven itself to be tough, easy to adjust and accurate. The fiber optic pins are protected and are tough. I put the bright green, top pin where it should go and it went there. 

ARROWS
I fletched my own arrows with the Arizona E-Z Fletch from Arizona Rim. The shafts were the Maxima from Carbon Express and I used red EZE-Eye Wraps and 5 inch, red Gateway Feathers.

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