NEBRASKA BOWHUNT
by Robert Hoague

Day 1 Nebraska  - Bowhunting For The Merriam's

Afternoon - Here They Come!
We saw more gobblers in our area during the morning and Fred and I decided to split up to increase our chances of getting one. The main travel routs were higher up the hill than we were also and at the bottom of the hill in the adjacent pasture. We took a break and got a second blind. 

Fred set his blind in the adjacent pasture. Meanwhile I moved the other blind up the hill and 14 yards from an open gate. Fred had an additional hen decoy and I set it up where it could be seen if birds came over the ridge or up the hill. You can see the decoy as well as the open gate in the picture below. The decoy is not nearly as good a taxidermy job as Cally Morris's Hazel Creek hen decoy but it should do the job.

At 12:40 I glassed two gobblers in the tall pine trees on the hill to my right. I yelped at them with the Billy Yargus diaphragm call and they responded right away and ducked under the fence at the bottom of the hill and entered the same area where I was.

They were quite a bit below me as they walked to the fence I was set up near. They ducked under a high spot in the barbed wire. I clucked and cut at them.

Bingo! They turned left and briskly walked uphill. The second longbeard had a noticeably larger body and a longer beard. When the lead gobbler was almost to the gate I got its picture. I had already range findered the fence post on the left of the pic as 14 yards (Nikon Monarch Laser 800). 

I got a second pic as stepped into the space where the gate was open.

He was worked up --  even his face was fire red.  I expected him to stop and look at the nearby decoy and possibly go to it. 

He kept on walking!

His larger companion was coming on fast. I needed to get out of the Sony mode and into the BowTech mode fast. I did ... and pulled it back to full draw. The Tom was already in the open space and I dropped the top green fiber optic pin on my sight (Spot-Hawg "Right On") above the legs, and up a little, and a bit forward. 

There is no other sound like an arrow hitting solidly on a wild turkey and I heard it now. Its wings flailed audibly as it ran a short distance and the sound stopped. In a few minutes I walked to the open gate and looked up the hill. The longbeard was laying 15 steps from me.

EQUIPMENT COMMENTS:

• The new Tribute from BowTech Archery did the job for me on this 24 pound Merriam's longbeard. This bow is the smoothest drawing bow I've ever shot. Set at 62 pounds it packs a big wallop. It is easy to draw sitting down or on your knees and at 31 1/2 inch axle to axle it is very maneuverable and you don't have to worry about bumping it on the roof of the blind. The innovative BowTech Binary Cam System is the heart of this bows great bowhunting performance.
• I used the 1 3/4 inch expandable 3 blade Razor Tip from Grim Reaper Broadheads . It is a tough and super accurate broadhead that shoots exactly like my field points. The big cut it makes put this heavy longbeard down in 15 yards.
• The call that brought the gobblers out of the woods and up the hill to me was the Billy Yargus Sting Team diaphragm from Woodhaven Custom Calls. It sounds like a hen turkey to me and and obviously it did to the gobblers too.
• When I set up my new bow I sighted in a Spot-Hogg"Real Deal" bowsight. This swell bowsight is very easy to sight in. It has a turn knob for up and down and a turn knob for left and right. This method is way better than the usual "slide the pins around" and allen wrench method. Bright pins, easy to sight in, and tough as nails, that is the Spot-Hogg Real Deal. 
• The Venom Peep Sight System. is a staple in my archery set up,  It's transparent blue color and perfectly shaped and sized eye hole make this peep ideal for bowhunting situations. And the unique tether hook up lines it up right every time.
• Before I left for the first turkey hunt I fletched my arrows with the easy to use, fast fletching carbon fletcher from Arizona Rim E-Z Fletch that applies 3 feathers at a time. 
• Since I expected to do a lot of walking in hilly terrain on the rest of the turkey hunts I got the "Vail" Gore Tex Waterproof Hiker from Wolverine. I've only had them a week and found them to be quick to break in. They kept my socks and feet dry and gave me particularly good traction in the mud on the Nebraska farm.
• My binoculars were the Monarch ATB 10 power from NIKON. The rangefinder was Nikon's Monarch Laser 800.
• The Razor Tip broadheads were on Gold Tip 400 arrows with EZY-Eye yellow wraps fletched with bright yellow feathers from Gateway Feathers. 
• I used Jim Fletcher Archery's string loop release, the Flathead.