We got rained out for a couple of days and then the weather turned nice again. Our next turkey hunt outing was an afternoon one. First off we had to fish our Double Bull out of the wet area where we began out hunt — it was flooded there and retrievinf the blind looked … very unpromising.
The Duck gave it a shot on his 4-wheeler. Unexpectedly, it was actually easy to drive the 4-WD through the water to the blind and load it up. True, it was kind of a get-wet thing, but still easier than expedted.
After rescuing the blind Jim Mitchel drove ‘The Duck’ and I around and showed us some additional “turkey” areas. We picked one that had all the right things; close to a creek, not far from a pond, and within a hundred yards of a roust area (in the trees along the creek). We set our still-wet Double Bull up. stashed the decoys and 2 chairs inside, and went to lunch in Brownwood. At 3:00 pm we returned to hunt. I set up the video tripod and camera while the Duck put the decoys in place.
My jake decoy is is carved and cast by the NWTF’s world leading “Decorative Wild Turkey Maker” Dave Constantine from Durand, WI. Dave’s skills and craftmanship are famous throughout the world. I bought Dave’s Jake from Dakota Decoy Company.
In ten minutes Dave’s lifelike jake decoy pulled an admirer out from behind our blind and right to the decoy.
My bowhunting buddies real name is Don Beckwith and he is using a crossbow this year, A Barnett Crossbow Wildcat. His crossbow bolts are aptly named the “Executioner” and are made by Black Eagle Arrows. The business end of his 22″ bolts are armed with a Grim Reaper Broadheads Pro Series 3-blade Whitetail Special which have a true 2″ cut.
My Hen decoy is a Dave Smith Decoys hen. It has great posture and the painting is almost as realistic as Dave’s. It quickly drew in another real hen.
We saw several more hens and one fluffed itself out and picked it’s down feather areas. I videoed that and took a picture.
One of the things that’s important to do when you’re on video duty is to maintain a good watch on the area around you. It was a good thing I was doing that while I videoed the hen above.
To the right of the blind I saw a wild turkey, by itself, 100 yards away, and coming our way. I pointed towards it so the Duck would know we had a gobbler on the way.
I cut at the gobbler and he gobbled loudly and doubled his oncoming speed. I had the video camera zoomed in close on the hen and acted automatically, I swung the camera toward the oncoming gobbler. Not necessarily a good idea. But luck was with me and I landed right on him as he came around a nearby tree.
More to come. CONTINUED…
