Atchman2
Well-Known Member
Okay my bad luck is sorta over. 
My friend John Sloan and I arrived about the same time in Denver. He was flying in from Charleston, SC and of course me from Knoxville. It took us about two hours to "really" get on the way because of luggage, rental car, munchies, and the fact that we had to go to Gander Mountain. John figured out the same as me that it is far cheaper just to buy new gear than to ship it back and forth! We can leave the equipment at my brother in law's house and use it the next time we come out to hunt. So John bought a new ground blind, complete with chairs. He also bought an inexpensive archery target so he could verify his bow and to help me sight in my new crossbow.
It took us about four hours to drive to my wife's hometown of Herndon, KS. We arrived at about 5 PM and instead of going straight to see my family, we scouted for turkeys before it got dark. Sure enough we went to our "honey hole' first and it was LOADED with turkeys! Though we scouted out a few other spots, none were as good as the spot we had reserved. Eventually we went over to see my brother in law Kyle Grafel and his wonderful wife. They fed us roast beast and we sat around telling stories and having a blast.
During the night though, my mother in law fell and broke her shoulder! I didn't know why Kyle was up so many times, I just thought I had overslept. In fact he drove her and my father in law, Don, to Kearney, Nebraska to have surgery on her shoulder! John and I didn't learn about it until the next day.
By 6:15 we were in the blind. You could hear turkeys all around us. John did a great job of picking a location for our blind. ALL the turkeys flew down into the middle of the field and then crossed the road and left us! We expected this because they did the same thing last year. John placed our blind on their travel route for when they start returning to their roosting area. Sure enough around 10 they started to trickle back. We were fortunate as there was a single gobbler, not part of a "mob" of gobblers that approached our blind. John put the first arrow in him at 8 yards. Then he shot three more times! He was working on a Grand Slam, so he wanted to be sure he got his bird. It was flipping and flopping so much he thought it would get away. I told him he made a good shot because I saw the video. No matter he anchored it with a lung shot at about 20 yards as it flopped again. This time it didn't move. 
John and his Rio Grande turkey. It had a 9" beard and 1 3/8" spurs. Not a huge bird, but after getting skunked last year we weren't about to let a gobbler walk!
Now to my story:
It was FAR cheaper to buy a new crossbow than to ship mine back and forth. Instead of a compound crossbow, I opted for a less expensive recurve. After all I'm hunting birds, not elk or moose. THe 65 FPE of energy is more than enough to kill a turkey or even a deer at under 30 yards. It was also quieter and WAY lighter to tote around.
John helped me put it together. The instructions were clear as mud. After assembling it in only took two shots to get it "on paper" and by four shots it was zeroed. I decided to do a group test and I almost did the "Robin Hood" to my new arrows. I was more than satisfied.
The new bow is a Barnett Buck Commander Recurve. It came with three arrows (all I needed), a red dot scope, and some practice heads. I brought my cocking rope with me, but I could easily chocolate chip cookie it as long as I had gloves on to prevent rope burn. It is FAR quieter than my other crossbow and about half the weight. I did buy some extra arrows with a gift card I had, but I really didn't need them, it is just nice to have them.
That morning I was the video guy for John's hunt. I managed to capture his shot on video which I'll post to Youtube soon. After John shot his bird, we looked for his arrows and then finally went to Atwood, KS for lunch. There is a GREAT store there that has the best broiled chicken! We stuffed ourselves on chicken, and then headed back to hunt some more. As we returned we saw numerous turkeys and two of the mangiest coyotes you've ever seen! They had NO fur at all! If they were closer I would have shot them with my crossbow, but they were just too far. If I get done hunting in the morning I'm going to take my .223 and my predator calls over and try and bag a couple of coyotes.
So I was up for the evening hunt. We moved the blind near the roosting area. We thought we had made a mistake and in fact we started to leave before we came to our senses. Turkeys flooded in around us. I couldn't see any of the "real" gobblers because of where I was sitting. As I looked forward though the decoys were charged by 7 Jakes. After watching them for about 15 minutes, John turned to me and said, "Have you ever shot a Rio turkey?". Of course I said no. He said, "Go ahead and shoot one then!". I aimed at one that wasn't in line with some others in case of a pass through. John was coaching me to "aim high". I took his advice and lined up a shot at its spine. The arrow hit perfectly! The bird flopped once, went 10 feet and died. The arrow had cut a 2" hole through it heart and lungs! YES! Sure it was a Jake, but I couldn't have been happier. Once it got dark, we left the blind and collected the bird.
I took it back to my brother in law's house. We ate supper, and then after calling my wife I went out and dressed the turkey. We still have two tags to fill and I'm up to get a "real" turkey tomorrow. I was just so happy to have the bad luck of the last few years off my back. Though it was a Jake, it was my first Rio Grande turkey!
My friend John Sloan and I arrived about the same time in Denver. He was flying in from Charleston, SC and of course me from Knoxville. It took us about two hours to "really" get on the way because of luggage, rental car, munchies, and the fact that we had to go to Gander Mountain. John figured out the same as me that it is far cheaper just to buy new gear than to ship it back and forth! We can leave the equipment at my brother in law's house and use it the next time we come out to hunt. So John bought a new ground blind, complete with chairs. He also bought an inexpensive archery target so he could verify his bow and to help me sight in my new crossbow.
It took us about four hours to drive to my wife's hometown of Herndon, KS. We arrived at about 5 PM and instead of going straight to see my family, we scouted for turkeys before it got dark. Sure enough we went to our "honey hole' first and it was LOADED with turkeys! Though we scouted out a few other spots, none were as good as the spot we had reserved. Eventually we went over to see my brother in law Kyle Grafel and his wonderful wife. They fed us roast beast and we sat around telling stories and having a blast.
During the night though, my mother in law fell and broke her shoulder! I didn't know why Kyle was up so many times, I just thought I had overslept. In fact he drove her and my father in law, Don, to Kearney, Nebraska to have surgery on her shoulder! John and I didn't learn about it until the next day.
By 6:15 we were in the blind. You could hear turkeys all around us. John did a great job of picking a location for our blind. ALL the turkeys flew down into the middle of the field and then crossed the road and left us! We expected this because they did the same thing last year. John placed our blind on their travel route for when they start returning to their roosting area. Sure enough around 10 they started to trickle back. We were fortunate as there was a single gobbler, not part of a "mob" of gobblers that approached our blind. John put the first arrow in him at 8 yards. Then he shot three more times!
He was working on a Grand Slam, so he wanted to be sure he got his bird. It was flipping and flopping so much he thought it would get away. I told him he made a good shot because I saw the video. No matter he anchored it with a lung shot at about 20 yards as it flopped again. This time it didn't move. 
John and his Rio Grande turkey. It had a 9" beard and 1 3/8" spurs. Not a huge bird, but after getting skunked last year we weren't about to let a gobbler walk!
Now to my story:
It was FAR cheaper to buy a new crossbow than to ship mine back and forth. Instead of a compound crossbow, I opted for a less expensive recurve. After all I'm hunting birds, not elk or moose. THe 65 FPE of energy is more than enough to kill a turkey or even a deer at under 30 yards. It was also quieter and WAY lighter to tote around.
John helped me put it together. The instructions were clear as mud.
After assembling it in only took two shots to get it "on paper" and by four shots it was zeroed. I decided to do a group test and I almost did the "Robin Hood" to my new arrows. I was more than satisfied. The new bow is a Barnett Buck Commander Recurve. It came with three arrows (all I needed), a red dot scope, and some practice heads. I brought my cocking rope with me, but I could easily chocolate chip cookie it as long as I had gloves on to prevent rope burn. It is FAR quieter than my other crossbow and about half the weight. I did buy some extra arrows with a gift card I had, but I really didn't need them, it is just nice to have them.
That morning I was the video guy for John's hunt. I managed to capture his shot on video which I'll post to Youtube soon. After John shot his bird, we looked for his arrows and then finally went to Atwood, KS for lunch. There is a GREAT store there that has the best broiled chicken! We stuffed ourselves on chicken, and then headed back to hunt some more. As we returned we saw numerous turkeys and two of the mangiest coyotes you've ever seen! They had NO fur at all! If they were closer I would have shot them with my crossbow, but they were just too far. If I get done hunting in the morning I'm going to take my .223 and my predator calls over and try and bag a couple of coyotes.
So I was up for the evening hunt. We moved the blind near the roosting area. We thought we had made a mistake and in fact we started to leave before we came to our senses. Turkeys flooded in around us. I couldn't see any of the "real" gobblers because of where I was sitting. As I looked forward though the decoys were charged by 7 Jakes. After watching them for about 15 minutes, John turned to me and said, "Have you ever shot a Rio turkey?". Of course I said no. He said, "Go ahead and shoot one then!". I aimed at one that wasn't in line with some others in case of a pass through. John was coaching me to "aim high". I took his advice and lined up a shot at its spine. The arrow hit perfectly! The bird flopped once, went 10 feet and died. The arrow had cut a 2" hole through it heart and lungs! YES! Sure it was a Jake, but I couldn't have been happier. Once it got dark, we left the blind and collected the bird.
I took it back to my brother in law's house. We ate supper, and then after calling my wife I went out and dressed the turkey. We still have two tags to fill and I'm up to get a "real" turkey tomorrow. I was just so happy to have the bad luck of the last few years off my back. Though it was a Jake, it was my first Rio Grande turkey!
