2014 First Jake

Bowhunter57 · May 17, 2014, 05:48 AM

The hens that kept hanging around brought me a tom (jake), this morning. I never called once and give the credit to the decoys...a jake and two hens, that I've been using all season.

I was set up on the edge of a freshly planted field (yesterday) with my jake and two hen decoys, at 18 yards. A hen popped out of the woods about 80 yards west of me with a jake in tow...along with 2 other hens. The first hen flopped down at 50 yards and started rolling around dusting herself. The jake stopped with her and I thought that was as close as they were going to get.

Then the jake took another look at the decoys and came over to take a closer look at the jake decoy. When he was about 10 feet from the jake decoy, I settled the fiber optic sight on the base of his neck and squeezed the trigger. At the blast of the muzzle the jake went down hard and never moved. I expected the hens to bust out of there, but they stood their ground, started clucking and walked over to see what the problem was with the jake.

I unzipped the blind door, stepped out and started clucking and yelping at the hens. I couldn't believe my eyes, as they walked over to me, still clucking and yelping back and forth with my calls. They walked to 8 yards of me, as I stood next to my ground blind and then they walked on into the woods. Amazing!

Bowhunter57

jeager106 · May 17, 2014, 10:28 AM

Congrats!
My only turkey was taken with a bow years ago.
I arrowed the thing but it ran off a short way & hid under a bush.
Thinking it ded I reached under the bush, grabbed a foot, pulled it out upon which the very much alive and ticked off turkey beat my brains out!
I finally rung its neck and had it for dinner.
Best bird I ever ate.

Unlicensed Dremel · May 17, 2014, 08:25 PM

Very nice. Congrats.

cnimrod · May 17, 2014, 10:05 PM

Good hunt - what fun - dying to get out here in NY

bamaranger · May 22, 2014, 02:44 AM

I wondered when we would start hearing from the guys N. of the Mason Dixon regards gobbler hunting?

I shoot jakes too!

Congrats to you and hope your season is all you want from it.

bamaranger · May 22, 2014, 02:48 AM

Oh yeah.

It has been my distinct experience that any bird that collapses and does not flop, can be very much still alive and real trouble if it regains its feet or you grab it and try and hang on!

Be wary of any bird that just buckles and lays there! Get to it quick and be ready to shoot again!

May 17, 2014, 05:48 AM	#1
Bowhunter57 Senior Member Join Date: July 23, 2002 Location: N.W. Ohio Posts: 301	2014 First Jake The hens that kept hanging around brought me a tom (jake), this morning. I never called once and give the credit to the decoys...a jake and two hens, that I've been using all season. I was set up on the edge of a freshly planted field (yesterday) with my jake and two hen decoys, at 18 yards. A hen popped out of the woods about 80 yards west of me with a jake in tow...along with 2 other hens. The first hen flopped down at 50 yards and started rolling around dusting herself. The jake stopped with her and I thought that was as close as they were going to get. Then the jake took another look at the decoys and came over to take a closer look at the jake decoy. When he was about 10 feet from the jake decoy, I settled the fiber optic sight on the base of his neck and squeezed the trigger. At the blast of the muzzle the jake went down hard and never moved. I expected the hens to bust out of there, but they stood their ground, started clucking and walked over to see what the problem was with the jake. I unzipped the blind door, stepped out and started clucking and yelping at the hens. I couldn't believe my eyes, as they walked over to me, still clucking and yelping back and forth with my calls. They walked to 8 yards of me, as I stood next to my ground blind and then they walked on into the woods. Amazing! Bowhunter57 __________________ If God didn't want us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them out of meat.

May 22, 2014, 02:44 AM	#5
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,308	ah ha! I wondered when we would start hearing from the guys N. of the Mason Dixon regards gobbler hunting? I shoot jakes too! Congrats to you and hope your season is all you want from it.

May 22, 2014, 02:48 AM	#6
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,308	watch out!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah. It has been my distinct experience that any bird that collapses and does not flop, can be very much still alive and real trouble if it regains its feet or you grab it and try and hang on! Be wary of any bird that just buckles and lays there! Get to it quick and be ready to shoot again!

May 17, 2014, 10:28 AM	#2
jeager106 Junior member Join Date: November 24, 2006 Location: N.E. Oh. Posts: 527	Congrats! My only turkey was taken with a bow years ago. I arrowed the thing but it ran off a short way & hid under a bush. Thinking it ded I reached under the bush, grabbed a foot, pulled it out upon which the very much alive and ticked off turkey beat my brains out! I finally rung its neck and had it for dinner. Best bird I ever ate.

May 17, 2014, 08:25 PM	#3
Unlicensed Dremel Junior member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Location: Flathead Valley, MT Posts: 2,187	Very nice. Congrats.

May 17, 2014, 10:05 PM	#4
cnimrod Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2009 Location: NJ/NY Posts: 152	Good hunt - what fun - dying to get out here in NY