Thwack!!! Fear the Beard... 11/13/10

Had the day off and a great invite to do a little turkey killin'. Dragged Melissa out of bed at 3:30am and picked up Chucke at 4:30am and we were off to O2B's "game preserve." Got up there and we were off. I was pretty stoked while we were walking in to the killing fields in the early morning light. But as we approached, we saw that the birds had already  come down from the roost. Not a good sign. Oh well... we still pressed on trying not to spook the birds. I set up with Melissa. Chucke set up a little ambush on his own. And Alan circled around to push the birds. After about 30 minutes... the plan was coming together. I saw some birds coming towards me and Melissa. I set her up for the shot. We let some birds go down towards Chucke so he could get in the action then... THWACK!!! Melissa let an arrow fly and... missed. She took a 7yd shot at a walking turkey and missed by what looked like... 7yds. She was way too excited. This was her first hunt and first time doing anything with a bow. Except shooting paper targets. Not as easy as you thought huh Babe. Her response... "I thought that they would stay still for me. But they kept on moving..." Helloooo... welcome to hunting babe. After that, the birds were spooked and didn't want to come our way anymore. Not long after that, I hear some commotion from where the birds were coming from. I peek out and see Alan picking up a bird that he shot. It landed about 10yds from where Melissa and I were hiding out. The morning hunt was less than an hour old and we had a bird in the bag.

We regroup and plan our next mission. Chucke and Alan were going off to another field and Melissa and I were looped around by a little creek. In the distance, in can see little head popping up and down in the grass. I figure we might get a chance at one of these guys. So, we start to put the sneak on them. I don't know where they went but, they didn't fly out and we didn't see them at all. We met up again with Chucke and he nailed a bird. He picked it off at 60 yards. DAMNNNNNNN!!! He's a killer but, I'll let him fill in the blanks on his kill.

Melissa an I watched over an open field where birds were using but we didn't get any shots off. We decided to loop back to the little creek. Walking up, I saw a bird walking away from us. He wasn't in any kind of a hurry so I knew it didn't know we were on it's tail. It never stopped walking for more than a few seconds to peck the ground here and there. I set up and sight in on my prey. I guessed 50 but made a mistake. The bird was still walking away and I should've used my 60 pin and let the bird walk into it. I let an arrow fly and it went just under it's leg. Missed...Oh well... that's how it goes. My first shot at a turkey with a bow and I missed. But, it was a long shot and I'm no Chucke. I find my arrow and we keep on the hunt. A little while later, Melissa and I spot some birds walking towards us. They were a ways off though. We took cover in some blackberry bushes and waited. And waited... and waited. I peak out to see if there were still coming and they were. Spying on them through the brush, I could see that there was a huge tom in the group. There were a few nice birds in the bunch but I wanted the big boy. I drew back and waited... and waited. I got tired holding draw so I backed off to take a peak at them. They stopped to feed. After a minute or two... they continued on their way to us. I draw back and wait... again. This time, they keep coming. One bird... two bird... the big boy is next. But, the first bird made me as I moved to acquire my target. It stops and turns so I take a shot at my best target... bird number one. THWACK!!! I let an arrow fly at 20yds and I hit it... the bird flops around and then takes flight. SHIT!!! There it goes with my arrow stuck in him. We walk up a bit to see if we can get another shot off at another bird and to see where my birds came down. All the birds were scattered so we decide to look for my wounded bird. A few minutes go by and a lady calls me in. I jump a fence and plow through some blackberry vines to talk to her. She tells me that a turkey is hiding out in a field by a fence post. I introduce myself to her and thank her for the intel. I made my way to it and wouldn't you know it... It pops up with my arrow stuck in him. I draw back to take another whack at him but I saw that it was in bad shape. So, I chased him down and cornered him under a tree. I'm going in for some hand to hand combat. No contest... I pounced and quickly submitted him with nice little move I likek to call the "twist and crack." My first turkey.... ever.

My bird was a hefty guy... weighed in at about 19lbs on the boga. Had a very nice fan and was sporting a 9 1/4" foo man choo... Not bad for my first bird. It was a very good day. Thank you Alan for the killer invite. I had a blast and I hope to repay the favor someday.

Good times, great friends....

Freddie

So Freddie IS alive.
I can tell you have had a lot of pent up reporting in ya.
Nice job!!!!

Sorry for being so long winded guys. It's been a while since I've done anything out there and I'm just pretty excited to be able to tell my tale.

Freddie

Congrats to all of you......  Now lets see some pics and here the other stories.
Stuart

saw the pics in facebook - nice work killas

Fantastic pilgrims!

I had no doubt you guys were going to fling arrows, and connect.
Nice write-up Freddie. Nice big bird too!
I took one shot over the weekend and I over-shot it. Not many birds where I went.
Sixty yards Chuck? I can barely see a turkey at that distance.
Melissa, big congrats on your first!
Allen, your bird looks kinda small...

Just in time for the holiday, eh?
Beautiful birds, congrats all around!

...and I dug the write up Freddie, not long winded at all-you just built tension until the end!

Awesome!!! 

I have been practicing.

That's pretty bad ass.  Congrats to you all.

Sixty yards Chuck? I can barely see a turkey at that distance.

Yup... I almost couldn't believe it either, but I did it.  

Actually, I missed a closer shot at some turkeys running by me earlier, so I waited awhile and more birds showed up in the field across from me.  I could barely out their heads bobbing in the weeds.  I used my rangefinder but the reading kept switching back and forth from 60 to 70 yds because of the grass, so I picked out a bird, used my 60 pin, and let an arrow fly.  In the glare of the sunlight, I watched my arrow sail and connect.  The bird hobbled as it tried to run away with the others, but it didn't go far.  It keeled over about 5 yards from where it was hit.  The arrow passed through the vitals just between the breast and thigh -- a perfectly placed shot.  All of my practice shooting at small balloons at 60 yards finally paid off.

A perfect shot at 60 yards....  That is pretty crazy.

Musta been arrow #1.

Freddie, here's a pic of a mount that would look good with your nice fan and beard.

Way to go guys!  Freddie... nice tom!  ChuckE... nice shot!  Allen... nice teamwork!