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Triple Double Grand Slam Bowhunt
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BOWHUNT
FOR THE RIO GRANDE
Missouri Turkey Hunt:
Day
1 | Day 2 | Day
3 | Hunt Review |
Bowhunt With Rick Philippi:
Day
1 | Rick's Hunt | Fred's
Grand Slam }
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At Rick's Ranch
Second Day
Afternoon Hunt
At 3:00 Rick and I walked
down the steep banks of the river. The water was lower than our first trip
here and we crossed without wading on a sand bar high spot. I snapped Rick's
picture as he walked up the opposite bank on the way to the field we hunted
on the first trip (when Fred Lutger was
with me).
We put the decoy in the
field 8 yards from the blind. This blind is the original Double Bull blind.
At 4:45 we heard a gobble
on the opposite side of the river. We both made some yelps but we didn't
hear any answering gobbles. I handed Rick my Woodhaven slate and he clucked
on it.
Gobble !!!
Our Tom liked it. Originally
the gobbler was at least 300 yards from us and now every time Rick clucked
the sound was closer. Apparently he was using the same trail and sand bar
that we did to come across the river because he blasted a thunderous gobble
from that area. I made a slit in the horizontal mesh window and peaked
through it. In a few seconds I saw his red head come into view. I whispered
to Rick that I saw him.
Rick clucked softer and
stopped calling. The stage was set.
Poking out of the front of
this gobbler was a 10 to 11 inch beard and a fat, pot belly. He walked
perpendicular to us which put some trees and brush between us -- meaning
he could not see our decoy.
When he cleared the obstructions
he continued into the field. When his side vision picked up the taxidermy
jake decoy he reacted instantly. He blew up the size of a house and set
a new course to run this upstart out of his area.
He was on Rick's side of
the blind and Rick kept track of his approach through a slit in the mesh.
Rick pointed to the back corner of the blind and whispered very softly,
"He's 8 yards.
We heard the gobbler spitting
ad drumming and I drew as he walked into my shooting window. The big longbeard
went right to the Hazel Creek jake and I zoned everything out but the bright
green pin end of my Kingsway sight and the gobbler's kill zone.
I pulled the trigger on my
release.
Something didn't sound right.
Or look right. The gobbler hurried away from the decoy and I quickly nocked
another arrow. But now the gobbler was too far for a second shot. It kept
on walking.
We waited 10 minutes and
Rick stepped out to get my arrow. Part of one wing feather was laying on
the ground. We examined the arrow. The broadhead had nothing on it. The
shaft, nothing. The fletching, nothing. There was nothing on it anywhere.
"Look at your nock?!" Rick
said. The nock was broken.
VIDEO: Here is a
video of Rick Philippi telling you about this gobbler and our hunt.
We waited until roost time
and returned to camp. Then we packed up and began the drives to our respective
homes. I remember shooting at a deer in Illinois years ago and my arrow
sort of floated out and landed a few yards from the deer. The nock had
broken then, too.
You don't always get a home
run. But the memory of that big gobbler stepping out of the creek and strutting
up to the decoy, along with the look on Rick Philippi's face when he said
it was 8 yards away, made it a memorable day in the turkey woods in my
book.
To This Morning's Hunt and the Day 1
Hunt. GO...
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