Cutting and Running with a bow
Cutting and Running is the most aggressive turkey hunting tactics
used by a hunter. This tactics has been thought to be too aggressive
for bow hunting. This is a fairly simple tactic for hunting turkeys.
A hunter will use a shock call to make the turkey gobble. When
the turkey gobbles the hunter runs to cut the distance between him
and the bird then the hunter will setup fast. Most of the time you
want to get within a hundred yards of the turkey. The hunter must
move fast, setup fast and be quite. This has been thought as
mostly a gun hunting tactic.
We are going to break this myth.
Turkey hunters that hunt with a bow have thought that this tactic
will not work with archer equipment. Most bow hunters will
setup in one spot and hope that a turkey will come by. I have
killed many turkeys this way but when the turkeys are not around;
this method can be very frustrating. The reason that most bow
hunters find cutting and running hard with a bow is the fact that we
have a lot more equipment to setup.
The blind is the most limiting piece of equipment that is used by
archery hunters. A blind can weigh between 15 to 25 pounds. It
can take between five to ten minutes to setup. There is also
the amount of room that is needed for the blind. All these
facts have made aggressive hunting for turkeys with a bow very
unlikely.
When hunting more aggressively you may have to cut the amount of
equipment you carry. I cut the chair and only have two arrows
in my quiver. I will only have two slate calls with different
strikers. Carrying two slate calls with 5 to 8 strikers can
make any call that a turkey hunter needs with out having to carrying
five or more calls.
Before the season starts you have to do a couple things to better
prepare yourself for the season. First you have to know the
area that you are hunting very well. You are always looking
for different turkey sign like roosting, feeding areas and other
indications that turkeys are in the area. What I look for is areas
that I can setup in if I hear a gobble. I have walked though the
woods setup my blind this will see what problems to look out
for. You have to know how much room you need to setting up the
blind. You don't want to move in on a bird and end up having
problems setup the blind.
Hunting turkeys with a bow is a lot harder then using a gun. I
have been told many times that it is impossible to kill a turkey
with a bow. I feel that the biggest problem with shooting a bird is
shooting out of a blind.
First you are shooting though mesh windows that can interfere
with the flight of the arrow.
The blind is dark and this can make seeing your pins hard
especially at first light. A blind will limited the shots that you
have. The bird has to
stand right in front of the blind to shot it. The last problem is
that the blind will hide a lot of moment but when the bird is
directly in front they can see right into the blind.
All these things can make killing a turkey out of a blind
hard.
These problems can be easily overcome but you have to be prepared
when the bird gobbles. When picking a spot you want to think
about where the bird is going to be when it is time to shoot.
You want clear shooting lanes that are at lest 20 yards long.
When moving in on the bird you don’t want to move in too close.
I have always said it is better to be further away then to
move in to close. When setting up the blind you don’t want the sun
in you face. This will
only light up the inside of the blind.
You want the sun in the back of the blind.
When shooting a turkey with a bow in most cases you are not aiming
for the head. You want to hit the turkey in the body.
The vitals are just before the wings. Hitting the bird in the
wing or legs will put it down. What is needed is a sharp broad head.
I use the same ones that I use for deer.
Killing a turkey with a bow is very possible.
There is a lot more work but there is noting like shooting a
turkey with a bow. If
you think about what you need and don’t need it can be a lot of fun.
Good luck
Sean
www.bowarrowhunting.com
