NEBRASKA BOWHUNT
by Robert Hoague

Day 1 Nebraska  - Bowhunting For The Merriam's

Afternoon - Continued
We finished taking pics of my longbeard at 1:18. There was plenty of hunting left in this day. Fred's extra (dilapidated) taxidermy decoy had feathers sticking up on the rear and its tail had come loose so I wrapped some chord around the feathers to hold them down and poked the tail back on. It looked better.

Then I used my gobbler for a decoy! I laid it on a branch to give it extra height and propped its neck up with a "Y" shapped stick. I moved the stick around until the head looked right.

Here are the two decoys. Not bad for improvising, eh.

I stepped back into the blind and in nine minutes I saw a turkey shape 200 yards away in a cut corn field. I glassed it with my binoculars (Nikon 10x42), a nice gobbler. I took out my Woodhaven aluminum slate because I needed the sound to reach out extra far. Right away, the gobbler left the corn field, crossed part of the farm yard, and walked in my direction. I Took a pic of it at an open gate at the bottom of my hill. 

Instead of coming up to me it walked to my right. I switched to a mouth call (Woodhaven Copperhead) so my hands would be free. It looked like I might be able to take pictures and possibly get a shot too. 

At the next uphill fence, which was only 45 yards away, it walked up the hill. He ducked under the fence and when I range findered him it read 24.5 yards (Nikon Laser 500, you can operate them with one hand, they are neet). This is the last pic I took, he is a few steps closer not and walking behind a cedar. Before I could shoot I had to pull the blinds window down, I did it.

I thought I did it smooth enough that he didn't see me. But apparently he did because he walked back to the fence and into the pine trees. He wasn't spooked or he would have ran, but he didn't like what he saw.

At 3:44 I saw a gobbler at the edge of the picked corn field. I called at him with the Woodhaven aluminum slate. He puffed up and strutted my way.

Another gobbler joined the strutter and they showed off at the bottom of my hill. They kept walking back and forth. With my attention focused on the two gobblers I didn't realize that more gobblers had arrived. Poof, a whle bunch of turkey fans went up across the fence at the bottom of the hill. 

I laid some Woodhaven aluminum to them and they got fired up, strutting, spitting, drumming and gobbling. (Later on Fred could see the whole thing from his blind and later on he told me he counted 13 longbeards in the group.) I cut and yelped excitedly to keep them sturred up.

Three of them walked to the uphill fence to my left and started up the hill toward me.

But a Merriam's gobbler simply came straight up the hill. Some others fell in behind them.

And I saw what I wanted -- the tail feathers and markings of an Eastern wild turkey gobbler. (This area of Nebraska has both Merriam's and Easterns.)  When the gobblers noticed the decoys they adjusted their course to go to them. I kept my eye on the Eastern and set down my camera and gave my BowTech a quick check. I didn't want anything unexpected to happen now.

My arrow was in the rest and all was well. Ten yards from the decoys the gobblers stopped and milled around. I found the Eastern and drew. Once again, I heard the arrow hit a gobbler in the vitals (Grim Reaper Razor Tip broadhead).

Some of the birds backed up a little and a couple started walking down hill. The Eastern looked giddy and walked oddly ,,, toward the gobblers who were leaving. I had all the main trees range findered in and when he was in front of a 21 yard tree I aimed a second arrow and pulled the trigger. He dropped.

Although the second shot was not necessary it was the right thing to do. So far this Spring I have an Osceola, a Merriam's and an Eastern. It's possible that I could get a Grand Slam this Spring.

Life is good in the turkey woods today.

I joined Fred in his blind and he hunted until daylight began to fade. The wind got up and blew hard the last two hours and it got cold. 

EQUIPMENT COMMENTS:

• The hero of this hunt was call that brought the gobblers out of the far away corn field and up my the hill into shooting range, the Woodhaven Aluminum Slate from Woodhaven Custom Calls. Thirteen longbeard Toms gathered and strutted and gobbled to the sound of this call. It was a show to remember. And once they started moving they all came right to me, without hanging up. I took the first strutter's picture at 3:44 and at 3:49 I digitized the Eastern coming up the hill. The whole scenario happened in 5 minutes.
• Twice in the same afternoon the Tribute from BowTech Archery has put my arrows in the vitals of longbeards. The Tribute has exceptional qualities that make it a superior hunting bow. It's the smoothest drawing bow I've ever pulled back into the stops. It is fast and hits hard. The innovative BowTech Binary Cam System is the heart of this bows great bowhunting performance.
• The 1 3/4 inch expandable 3 blade Razor Tip from Grim Reaper Broadheads is all good. It's a tough and super accurate broadhead that groups right with my field points. The big cut the Razor Tip makes put this longbeard down in 22 yards. So far, all my shots have been pass throughs.
• The Spot-Hogg "Real Deal" bowsight is a swell sight. I've never used a bowsight that was so easy and fast to sight in. It has a turn knob for up and down and a turn knob for left and right. This beats the heck out of the painful "slide the pins around" and allen wrench them down (over and over) method. And once you have it sighted everything locks down tight. Bright pins, easy to sight in, and tough as nails, that is the Spot-Hogg Real Deal. 
• I believe the Venom Peep Sight System is a the best peep sight for bowhunters. The color and design guide it to your eye and gives you super pin visibility. The unique tether hook up lines the Venum peep up right every time. The tether is not made from rubber (which rots in a couple of years). Instead it is an aerospace material that will last for many years. Also the tether is a transparent color, I like it better than black.
• Before leaving for the first turkey hunt I fletched arrows with the easy to use, fast fletching carbon fletcher from Arizona Rim E-Z Fletch (it 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 ordered the "Vail" Gore Tex Waterproof Hiker from Wolverine. Although they are only a week old as of this hunt they are well broken in and comfortable. They are keeping my socks and feet dry and gave me particularly good traction in the mud on the Nebraska farm we where are hunting.
• Binoculars are a big help when you're turkey hunting and the NIKON Monarch ATB 10 power binoculars are serving me well this season. A super feature is the eye adjustment for each eye, you just turn it so it's right and it stays put -- there is no more adjusting to see clearly out of both eyes. The Monarch Laser 800 is a dandy, it operates with one hand and by getting the yardages of trees and landmarks and establishing the limits of your shooting range let me know when the longbeard was in range.
• 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, as always it made a smooth release.