I had the great pleasure to go archery hunting for an Eastern turkey with Jay Gregory, owner and host of his own hunting show on the Outdoor Channel, called "The Wild Outdoors". We hunted one of his favorite leases in Southeastern Nebraska.
In Utah, I have harvested several turkeys with my shotgun both Rios, Merriams and Rio crosses. Hunting in Nebraska would be a first for me. I would be hunting Easterns for the very first time and with a Bow. Eastern, Rio and Merrian turkeys have their own distinct colors on their backs and tails. Easterns have darker brown tails, Rios are lighter brown and Merriams have white tails.
I would not be using my Matthews bow, I had to use a PSE bow with Rage broad heads due to Jay's show sponsorships. I practiced with the PSE prior to the hunt.
Jay loves to hunt turkeys with two Double Bull Blinds set up together for multiple camera angles. He is an excellent caller and understands turkey behavior and how to properly use turkey decoys. Along with standing decoys, we would be using a new prototype of a wounded bird flopping on the ground. It would be controlled with a string back to our blind. It worked awesome that weekend. It didn't take me very long to get my first turkey. It all happened the first hour of our first sit.
We set up the blinds hoping to catch some toms in the evening working their way back to their roosts. Jay gobbled and we heard a tom drum right behind us. We peeked out the back window and sure enough he was coming our way. I pulled down my black mask and got ready for some action.
He came off a little hill drumming and in full strut. I will always remember him jumping up 3ft. onto a tree trunk that was bent over sideways across a small creek. He was a giant bird in body mass. As he was in full strut facing me with the sun setting, it was postcard type material. Each iridescent feather was in its perfect place. The colors were vivid and beautiful. I should know about turkey's and turkey feathers, I have taxidermy mounted many different turkeys over the years. This was a great tom with a super thick 10" beard.
We let him strut for the camera. He jumped off and walked, out of strut, right past our tom and hen decoy. He was beginning to walk away, so I drew my bow. Jay stopped him with a call and I shot him at 20 yards. We bailed out of the blind and made sure he was down for good. It was a lot more fun to hunt from a blind with a bow.
Some other things I will remember about this hunt; We got caught in a terrible rain storm riding on a Bad Boy Buggy back to the truck and trailer. I don't think I have ever been so wet, so fast! I remember the rain was warm but pouring out of the sky. No wonder their corn is 10ft tall! Later that same night, we had a Tornado warning and every one was outside their hotel room looking towards the sky. This was new for me, so I was kind of scared. Luckily it blew over but IL and IW had some touch down. The next day, we got the buggy stuck in a bog. I also will remember how the Eastern owls hoot, they almost scream. Toms in the hollows gobble like no other. You can actually feel the vibrations when they gobble that close to you.
It was a great experience, one I will always remember. It was a lot of fun!
