Bow Hunting Hudson Valley Turkeys Part II

This article is the second part to bow hunting hudson valley turkeys.As with all articles on the hvs blog please feel to leave questions and or comments.If you have an experience you would like to share please feel free to post it in the blog.

Setup

Two essential aspects for archery hunting turkeys are portable ground blinds and decoys.You need to bring the birds in as close as possible and i recommend setting up for an 8-10 yard shot.This may sound too close to bring in a tom but with the combination of a good blind and realistic decoy set its actually easier than it sounds.Believe it or not when you are hunting turkeys this way it is very similar to the way you want to hunt whitetails.With the added task of setting up a blind and decoys “running and gunning” tactics that are done with shotgun become a lot harder and sometimes impossible to do.Look to harvest your bird near travel routes and preferred feeding and strutting areas.If you have a particular roosting area and you can setup your blind the day before your hunt it would be a good idea to do so.This will give you the ability to sneak in without spooking roosted birds.

Portable Ground Blinds

Wild turkeys have exceptional eye sight and hearing and can detect danger in a second but when it comes to recognizing ground blinds they are clueless.You can actually set up a blind in the middle of a field with a couple of decoys in front of it and they don’t even notice it.When drawing your bow inside a portable blind virtually all of your movement is hidden from the birds.Even reaching for calls or just plain stretching your legs will not be seen.Remember you are going to bring the birds in close so you need to be able to hide all movement.One other advantage to a blind is that when it is raining you can still hunt and be dry.

When choosing a portable ground blind look for one that is called a hub style blind.Primos makes a great selection of this style blind.These type of blinds setup in just seconds are very strong and collapse into the same shape each time. This is a plus because when you need to put it back into its carrying bag it will fit. Also look for blinds that have black material on the inside.The color black makes it very hard for birds to notice your outline. Another important feature to look for is large opening windows.To be able to shoot your bow comfortably and accurately you need to have large openings in the blind.Don’t forget a comfortable chair because when you are in a portable ground blind you don’t have to sit on the ground.

Decoys

There are many turkey decoys on the market and i know that turkey hunters have been successful with just about every combination in terms of make, type and number to use.To make things simple start out with a tom full strut and a submissive hen.The combination of this decoy set seems to drive the tom’s crazy.To make your decoys more realistic replace the fan that comes with the full strut tom with a real turkey fan.These are easy to make by removing the fan from the next tom that you shoot.A good tip that i learned this year is to take an old fishing reel and wrap the line several times around the body of the tom decoy.Pull out enough line to reach your blind and put the reel inside.When you want to give the decoy movement just pull or wind the line with the reel and the decoy will move making it look real.Always place the decoys facing the blind.Turkeys will always come in and try to get in front of the decoys to display their dominance.This will put the bird with its back to the blind giving you a great opportunity to draw your bow.Remember always place your decoy’s 8-10 yards from your blind.

Whats Next ?

Next month look for the third and final article on bow hunting hudson valley turkeys and i will cover broadheads and shot placement.