We headed to the 205 ranch outside of Poth (an hour SE of San Antonio) last weekend for a spring turkey hunt. We went once before for hogs and had a great time so we were excited about going back. It was a little windy but otherwise we had very nice weather all weekend. We sat in the stands Friday afternoon/evening to see what might come by. I saw several hens and around 6, a very nice tom came by with his harem.
We were back at it early the next morning for some opening day action. I didn't have to wait long! I could hear gobblers in 3 or 4 directions and sure enough, one came by but didn't stick around long enough for a shot. About a half an hour later, 11 hens came in to the feeder and shortly thereafter, 2 very nice gobblers joined them. I was shooting my recurve so I had to wait for a less than 20 yard shot. After 10 or 11 hours (ok...maybe 10 minutes but who keeps track of the time when a gobbler is strutting around in front of you) a long bearded tom fed to a point 17 or 18 yards right in front of me.
Here he is before he fed back toward me:
When he turned his head to keep an eye on everyone else, I drew, got my anchor points, and released. Perfect hit! But not very much penetration. He ran around in 3 or 4 wobbly circles until he got the arrow out and slowly walked off straight away from me into some thick brush. The other gobbler looked like he was ready to attack the one I shot so I readied another arrow. By the time I was ready to shoot, he was beyond my personal range. I waited a few minute then checked my arrow...
YES!!!! It looked like a slam dunk! Long story short - I looked for over an hour and followed a blood trail for about 50 yards then poof - no more blood. We searched every ticket in every direction for a quarter of a mile but never found him. I was very disappointed and I hope he makes a full recovery. I took another shot that afternoon at a jake but the tip of my upper limb hit the ceiling of the blind with a loud clang as I released and I missed a chip shot low.
John called us on the way home to see how our hunt went and when he heard that we were going home empty handed, even though I had taken 2 shots, he insisted we come back for another try at no charge. What a great gesture! We will be going back as soon as our schedules allow!
For the record, if I had been shooting my Mathews, I am fairly confident I could have easily taken 3, possibly 4 gobblers. If you want some great turkey/hog action for $100 per day, give John a call at ( 830 )391-0964.
We were back at it early the next morning for some opening day action. I didn't have to wait long! I could hear gobblers in 3 or 4 directions and sure enough, one came by but didn't stick around long enough for a shot. About a half an hour later, 11 hens came in to the feeder and shortly thereafter, 2 very nice gobblers joined them. I was shooting my recurve so I had to wait for a less than 20 yard shot. After 10 or 11 hours (ok...maybe 10 minutes but who keeps track of the time when a gobbler is strutting around in front of you) a long bearded tom fed to a point 17 or 18 yards right in front of me.
Here he is before he fed back toward me:
When he turned his head to keep an eye on everyone else, I drew, got my anchor points, and released. Perfect hit! But not very much penetration. He ran around in 3 or 4 wobbly circles until he got the arrow out and slowly walked off straight away from me into some thick brush. The other gobbler looked like he was ready to attack the one I shot so I readied another arrow. By the time I was ready to shoot, he was beyond my personal range. I waited a few minute then checked my arrow...
YES!!!! It looked like a slam dunk! Long story short - I looked for over an hour and followed a blood trail for about 50 yards then poof - no more blood. We searched every ticket in every direction for a quarter of a mile but never found him. I was very disappointed and I hope he makes a full recovery. I took another shot that afternoon at a jake but the tip of my upper limb hit the ceiling of the blind with a loud clang as I released and I missed a chip shot low.
John called us on the way home to see how our hunt went and when he heard that we were going home empty handed, even though I had taken 2 shots, he insisted we come back for another try at no charge. What a great gesture! We will be going back as soon as our schedules allow!
For the record, if I had been shooting my Mathews, I am fairly confident I could have easily taken 3, possibly 4 gobblers. If you want some great turkey/hog action for $100 per day, give John a call at ( 830 )391-0964.
Comment