More fun with the crossbow

[coyote101]

I'm headed to St. Louis in the morning for Thanksgiving. I wanted to hunt today, but I didn't want to have to deal with a deer before leaving town so I decided to take the crossbow back to the turkey honey hole to try for another turkey. I got to the blind, had the decoys set up and was waiting for the sun to come up by 5:45. As it got lighter I could see half a dozen turkeys in the trees about forty to fifty yards in front of me. They hadn't made any noise as I was setting out the decoys so I hoped I wasn't busted. As the sun began to rise turkeys started talking and I did my best to imitate them. A short time later they started to fly down in the woods in front of me and I knew they didn't know I was there. These were gobblers and a couple of them were headed for my decoys. One of them gave me a clear shot right at twenty yards and I let him have it. I knew it was a solid hit, he ran about sixty yards and went down. His buddys didn't cut him any slack, he hadn't much more than hit the ground and they were on him. They jumped on him and pecked the crap out of him for about half an hour. They were strutting and carrying on, really putting on a show, I guess they were establishing the new pecking order. In a little while the flock of hens showed up and started  feeding. I stayed in the blind and enjoyed the show for about an hour. I finally got out, collected up my bird, took a few pictures and went to the house.   

Hero shot




Three turkeys have been taken from this blind so far this season


That is my jake decoy to the left of all those hens. He is set right at twenty yards.


I almost forgot......here's your sign.


Click to watch a couple minutes of video as the turkeys passed a few yards in front of my blind:


Pat

[HuntnCarve]

Way to go Pat!  You are knee deep in turkeys down there.  I'm jealous.  I'm going to try to see if I can connect with one in up state PA this Friday/Saturday.  The season is still open up there.  Saw one last year, but had left the rifle in the truck as I walked out along a woodline not figuring on seeing anything.  There he was bold as brass feeding in a picked over corn field at about 200 yards.  Time I got back to the truck and grabbed the rifle, he was long gone.    We certainly don't have near the turkeys that you do, and are only allowed one (either sex) in the Fall.  And a gobbler in the Spring season.
You are making it look easy. 

Dave

[coyote101]

Dave,

We can take four in the fall; two during the archery season and two during the shotgun season. Archery equipment can be used during shotgun season. Only one may have a beard longer than three inches and hens are legal. We can only take one a day and rifles are not legal for turkeys in Kentucky. As you can tell this little block of woods is absolutely full of turkeys and it is not unusual to see flocks of sixty to seventy crossing the fields in the evening as they go to roost. We have another week of shotgun season coming up in December so I still have a chance for another hen. If you want to come on down we'll get out there and slay a couple. 

Pat 

[Todd Rahm]

You need a new neighbor?  Good stuff!! I suprised they didn't see ya moving around!

[coyote101]

I suprised they didn't see ya moving around!

I am too Todd. I was being as still as I could while still operating the camera, but they were very close and I was wearing that blaze orange because it's gun deer season.  I tried to stay as far back in the blind as possible, but that is a big hole I had opened up to shoot the crossbow. I took alot of video this morning but just put up that short clip because those gobblers were in it and were so close.

Pat

[HuntnCarve]

I can remember my first trip up to my neighbor Chips hunting camp back in '94 in Sullivan County PA.  It was the middle of the Fall season, and we had snow on the ground.  We had just climbed one side of the hill in front of his cabin.  As I stood there catching my breath, I looked across the valley to the side of the hill behind his cabin...There were about a hundred turkeys strung out feeding in the corn stubble!  Only time I've ever seen that many together.  Chips about had a stroke when I let him look through my scope at the sight. I ended up running back across the valley, breaking up the flock.  I then sat down and called one in while I waited for Chips (he was 65 at that time, and had already had a heart attack a few years earlier) to make his way over.  My tag filled, I then called one in for him.  Chips is 82 now and still talks about that day. As the years passed we started seeing less and less turkeys?  Changing habitat, local hunting pressure, poor hatches?  We don't know what happened to them these past years? 
I hope your hot spot stays forever productive.  They are a grand birds for sure!

Dave 

[KySongDog]

I don't think wearing blaze orange inside your blind is going to keep you from getting shot by those red neck deer hunters down your way, Pat!      

You sure do have a honey hole down there.   

[Hawks Feather]

Sounds like you have a turkey problem in your area.  Lucky for everyone there that you are taking care of the problem.   

Jerry

[FinsnFur]

Man, thats funny as heck how close they got to that blind with you twirlin that camera around.
I found myself biting my tongue to keep from yelling something at the monitor to see if I could spook em.

[shaddragger]

  WOOHOO you are SMOKIN 'em this fall Pat!!