Spring Turkey 2015: Part I

This past Spring turkey season of 2015 was really exciting. I had harvested a few turkeys by now and really wanted to improve my calling and work on scouting to become a better hunter. 

I am very grateful to have permission to hunt on several properties, including new permission the the field right beside our house. The benefit of this is when I work until 4 I can still make it home in time to get out for an evening hunt. 

Matt has never shot a Tom so the season started with hopes for him to harvest a turkey. We went out several times together even to the point where we called a beautiful Tom in only to get spooked and leave out of range. A Sunday morning after a long week Matt invited me to go out with him hunting on his dad's property. I decided to stay home and of course he had 3 jakes come into the decoys that morning and harvested his bird.

I was disappointed to miss his hunt and knew from then on I would make time to go even if I had a long week. 

We made plans to hunt an evening at Wing-Ding's where I shot both my Toms in 2014. Matt was coming with me this time and set up in a treestand with the camera. We have never filmed a hunt before and we're just doing it for fun, but thankfully it all worked out.

I set up in a ground blind with my compound bow. I really wanted to take a bird with my bow as this is something I have never done before. I used a wooden box call and immediately received and a response from a gobbler. I called soft and then more aggressively and had a beautiful Jake come in full strut to a Jake and Hen set up by Avian-X decoys. Zink's decoys are so lifelike even the turkeys cannot tell if they are real or not. I came to fill draw at 15 yards and burried the pin into the butt of his wing. My arrow took off and immediately the Turkey was not going anywhere. When hunting you want a clean kill and bow hunting turkeys is especially challenging. He flopped around for longer than I would have liked and although I made a good shot it took a bit of time for my bird to die. I am proud to harvest my first Turkey with a bow I have decided due to the difficulty a shotgun will be my number one weapon for turkey hunting from here on out. I will leave my bow for deer season. 

Here is a photo of my with my first Turkey taken with a compound bow. 

Deer Hunting 2014

Well the 2015 hunting season has officially started for turkey and I realized I haven't even posted about the end of deer season 2014.

Deer season in our area isn't like it was several years back. I have only been out hunting for two deer seasons and Matt has told me things are a lot different. He use to go out and see 30 deer a night, several mature bucks and usually ended the season with a tag filled. Times have changed and the deer population has decreased. I spent the entire 2014 season only seeing 3 deer. And I was out several days per week between October 1 and December 31. 

During rifle season I finally saw my first deer. A small young buck came in to me about 15 yards from the stand. I put my scope on him and considered taking this buck, but decided I would pass. He was probably a yearling and although it would have been perfectly legal to put a tag on this young buck - I still had a month and a half to hunt. I really hoped to harvest my first deer with a compound bow and I also felt strange pulling a trigger on such a young buck, especially since there aren't many mature bucks in our area anymore. I thought I would try my luck a little longer. Although we really needed some meat the season was not over yet.

Rifle season came and went, we never seen another deer. Mike our neighbour had seen a few does and did not have an antler less deer tag. No one in our hunting group had tagged a deer around home yet. We had trail camera pictures of different bucks. A large mature buck was coming to a stand set at Matt's Dads but only at midnight. Some of our other stands had 2 different bucks a 6 point and 8 point. The 6 had been coming in daylight and we were hoping to see this buck. There was also a doe often coming who had no fawns with her in any of the pictures. She was a large doe and we assumed her fawns had been taken early on by coyotes.

The day after rifle season I was sitting in a stand with my bow. A large buck came out in another field about 100 yards away. Just my luck, I thought. Rifle is now over and the big buck decided to show in daylight. This was a mature buck I could tell by his size and I used a few different calls to see if I could get him to come in my way. But no luck. As quick as he came out he walked straight across there field into some cedar trees behind me all out of bow range. I was still very excited. This was my first encounter during my two years of hunting with a mature buck. He would have made any hunter proud to have taken him. Although I never got a shot or seen him again I felt lucky to even have the chance since there are so few deer in our area.

The weeks went on and December rolled around. Matt had seen that single doe several times and even got some neat videos on his xcell camera. He only had a buck tag so could not take the doe, but I had a doe tag so if she kept coming I knew I may have the chance to get my first deer. He went out one night into the stand and one of the 6 point bucks came out. This was Matts first season shooting a compound and we still have many things to learn. As he drew he felt he could not get a long enough draw sitting in the tree to release the arrow properly because when he finally released he shot over his back. We realize we need to be more specific of our  setup this year and test them out more. Also as many of you would know drawing a bow in -30 is completely different than early season. Especially when you are wearing layers on layers of clothes and your fingers and feet are numb. Matt felt disappointed it has been 3 years since he harvested a deer and this ended up being his only chance of the season. However we can only learn from these experiences and hopefully grow to be better hunters because of it.

On December 21, I finally had my chance. I set up in the treestand where the bucks and doe had been coming in daylight. Mike was set up in his stand in another field and Matt elsewhere. I waited quietly on a very cold afternoon with my compound bow and multiple heat accessories I had received as an early Christmas present from Matt's parents. If you are a smaller woman or if you have children you know what it is like to get cold the second you step out of the truck. A hand warmer and heated jacket has made bow hunting in a tree stand a million times more comfortable and I am very lucky to have these items to take out with me. After about an hour of keeping warm I heard snow crunching from behind me. I thought to myself that is way too loud to be a squirrel. So I waited. About 50 yards behind me and to the west the single doe had stepped out. I grabbed my bow and got into position hoping she would come in to shooting range. I am a beginner bow hunter and am most comfortable shooting up to 25 yards, ideally a shot 20 or closer is best for me. It felt like forever as this doe back tracked behind my stand, right into my wind direction. I don't know how I didn't get busted. But she came back to her path and slowly made her way into shooting range. I knew she was around 16 yards and set my pin on her drew slowly and concentrated on my shot. I released the arrow. A clean miss. It went right under her and she jumped back - startled. She took a few steps forward. I knew I was going to get another shot and I reached for another arrow. I put the range finder on her, 23 yards it read. Maybe I had misjudged the first shot (another lesson: always check with the range finder even if you previously scoped out the distances) I set my pin behind her shoulder and pushed the pin into my target, releasing my second arrow. Thwack. That sound I have heard all year practicing finally came to reality. She started to run fast! About 20 yards from my shot I saw my lumenok fall out of her other side. Yes, I thought. I made a good shot. She kept running west and I heard crashing in the cedars. I lost view of her once she hit the brush, but I heard a lot of smashing and thought she must be going down. I climbed down from the treestand and immediately called Matt. Then I instantly started to panic. There wasn't a ton of blood where I first shot her. I thought I must have shot too far back. Doubting myself even after I watched the arrow land. Thinking Matts phone died I walked up to my arrow and sat. I am not experienced enough to track a deer on my own and since there was so little blood I didn't want to mess anything up. I texted Darcy, Matts Dad. I told him my arrow was blood soaked, but wasn't sure if it was a good shot. He asked if the arrow smelled (incase I shot her in the guts) It did not and he told me to wait for Matt that the would help me track the deer. Matt came driving in right where the deer had ran out. I told him I heard her go in the cedars that she left towards the bush. Mike soon followed and we had a tough tracking job. Turned out the fourwheeler drove over some blood spots and once Mike finally found blood on a tree we had found the trail. And the more we followed the more blood poured out of her. She took a loop into the open field and back into the cedars. I was right. I had heard her crashing. Once we got to a spot on the cedars with a ton of blood, Mike thought we should wait an hour just incase the shot was not good, that we don't push the deer further into the bush. We went to Matts parents and had a bite and Darcy recommended we didn't leave her too long because the coyotes would soon be out and she may not be there when we got back. We returned and right behind the cedars where we left the trail she was laying down. We had a look at her and I made a good shot it went through one lung and exited just behind the other. Matt said she was probably down right away. She was only 75 yards from the tree stand and I could not be more happy with my first deer. I harvested her with a bow and it was a feeling that can't be explained. My deer fed several of us as she was the only one harvested at home in 2014. We are still eating her meat and I could not feel more proud to be hunting. She turned out to be a dry doe which was good. I did not want to take a doe with fawns due to the deer population. She was a very big doe and a great first trophy. 

Fall Turkey 2014

This year of hunting has been really good to me so far. I have filled every tag I have purchased and hope my good fortune continues throughout deer season.

Fall turkey hunting is much different than Spring. Some hunters cut it out all together due to bowhunting season being open for deer. However, since I have started hunting I have always enjoyed going after turkeys. The same place where I tagged my first Tom in the Spring had 4 males coming regularly. There were also a lot of hens, but I really had my hopes on hunting another Tom. 

There's a turnip food plot planted for the deer between the woods where the turkeys spend most of their time and a field where they come and feed. Luckily for me, the blind was already set up on the turnips and as long as I could catch the turkeys crossing the woods to the filed I knew I had a good chance of tagging another wild turkey. I went out on this hunt by myself because Matt (my boyfriend) wanted to go hunting for deer. With the turnips planted I had high hopes that if a turkey didn't show maybe a deer would before dark. The first half hour of my hunt was pretty uneventful. Turkeys don't make a lot of noise in the Fall and the Toms are no longer chasing the hens around, so it can be pretty quiet. By figuring out the traveling paths of the birds you really increase your chances for success. I was hunting a small area versus a large field which made things a lot easier for me. 

After the first 30 minutes had passed I noticed a turkey in the woods. I put my binoculars on the turkey to see if it was a hen and it looked like it had a beard, but it was very hard to tell. The turkey was cleaning it's feathers. I had a hen decoy set out about 15 yards from my blind and began to do some soft calling to see if it would peek the birds attention. It looked up and noticed my calls, but immediately went back to cleaning it's feathers. I probably sat there staring at that bird for another 15 minutes when I heard noise in front of the blind. A hen came running across the turnips from the field and went in the woods. Suddenly, I noticed the male get up from cleaning it's feathers and start walking through the woods. I lost sight of him but noticed another bird or two followed behind him which I could not see earlier. 

I waited and began giving soft calls hoping they would soon cross to the field to feed. I waited probably another 20 minutes when finally 4 beautiful red headed turkeys came out of the woods. 2 Toms and 2 Jakes with silky dark feathers and shining red heads. My heart had started pounding faster and faster and I remembered why Fall turkey hunting can be so exciting. The two Toms stared into the blind at me and dropped their heads again walking towards my hen decoy. I chose the Tom I wanted to take and shot. He flew up in the air so I shot again. He dropped and the other birds took off flying.

I later realized I forgot to adjust the choke on my gun after goose hunting in the morning. My first shot hit high, but not as good as I would have liked. Thankfully, I hit him dead on with the second shot. I called Matt and was very excited. I got very nervous during the shot of this hunt, which I never had previously. I think it is because this was my first harvest on my own.

My second Tom of 2014 weighed 20.5 lbs with a 9 1/4 inch beard and 1 inch spurs. The cool thing about this turkey is it has 4 shorter feathers in the middle of it's tail. I later read if a turkey is attacked by a predator the feathers may not grow back fully or at least they hadn't before I hunted him. 

It was an exciting hunt and I am very grateful to Wing-ding for letting me harvest 2 amazing trophies in his fields this year. I now hope deer hunting will be good to me and will soon tag my first buck with my bow. I drew a doe tag this year, so by late season I hope to earn my first deer. 

I rattled in my first buck last night - a little fork horn, on the last evening of rifle in my area. I passed on him, but am hoping to see more deer in late bow season. Good luck to everyone hunting deer this season and thanks for reading my story. 

Summer Hunting

Although hunting season doesn't start for another month and a half, it doesn't mean we haven't started hunting. By now Matt and I have had our trail cams up for a couple months. We have checked them 3 times and last night received some really nice pictures that has me slowly getting the itch for Bow Season.

We have quite a few smaller bucks at the area Matt wanted to scout. Multiple daylight photos of them and the bucks seem to be coming steady. 

I was pretty excited to see this photo of this larger buck that Matt and I believe to be the same buck we have photos of from the past two seasons. We are hoping to pattern where they are coming from and to capture more daylight photos. This way we can figure out if it is for sure the same buck. 

Nothing is cuter than a fawn with spots and her Mom. 

Trying to strategize for October this early can be difficult, but with this many photos of deer in velvet I am pretty sure that we're on the right track. My strategy for early Bow Season is to hunt near a water hole hoping bucks will be traveling in to drink. There are a lot of paths and tracks, but just having this early on is hard to tell if the bucks will still be there come October. I set out another trail camera so hopefully we will have some photos in another 3 weeks. September will be spent hanging my stand, which I would like to sit untouched for the month and hopefully we will have a good idea about deer patterns so Matt and I can finally fill a tag this year. 

Both Matt & I drew doe tags this year. He hunts up North at the Hunting Camp for two weeks of rifle, so for home he only has buck tag, but I drew a doe tag for our region and will consider shooting a doe at the end of season if no luck has come our way. 

Summer can be filled with a lot of hunting activities and most importantly getting our bows sited so that if we do get the opportunity to shoot a deer we will be ready. Matt and I need to go down to South Nation Archery soon and start shooting everyday. 

Hopefully everyone is enjoying this Summer and getting as excited for the next hunting season as we are. 

Spring Turkey 2014: Part III

Matt was back from Toronto and we decided to try some more hunting at Darcy's. His Dad had them pick up a Jake decoy from Bass Pro while up there for my to try. He agreed that the Tom decoy may have been scaring him off. 

We decided to sit out in the open on a sand hill with a bit of brush coverage. There is a path they tend to walk on so we set the decoys right across from it. We called and saw a hen early on. She crossed right in front of us probably 5 yards away without any idea we were there. We called some more and there was no gobbling from anywhere. All of a sudden, I saw red out of the corner of my eye and poked Matt. The tom had just come out where the hen came from. We sat quiet and Matt called a little bit. He looked towards the hen but was uninterested and left in the opposite direction. After that we had no luck and turkey hunting was coming close to an end.

My last chance to go hunting was May 30, the night before end of season. I finished work and had to work early in the morning. I didn't really feel like going out, but I wanted to spend some time with Matt, so texted him to see if he wanted to go back out. He asked me where. All season I spent hunting at Darcy's but his good friend Roger (Wing-Ding), said I could hunt at his property. I told Matt we should try Wing-Ding's. I had hunted there in the Fall and he told us some Toms and a Jake were out in the fields when he was discing his fields. Matt agreed and we were headed to Wing-Ding's for my final hunt of the season.

We had an old box call that Wing-Ding had left in the blind and a mouth call. His son had shot a Tom earlier in the season at the same spot. The grass was high where we were hunting but the field was all turned up from discing. We put our decoys out right in the dirt in a sunny spot across from the blind. Matt was tired too, he was resting beside me in the blind. I started calling with my mouth call. It was maybe a half hour and we heard a gobble really close by. Matt was excited when he heard it and started to call more with the box call. He gobbled back. It was to the right of me and I had a lot of bush concealing the blind we were sitting in, I couldn't even see the hen decoy well from where I was sitting. We decided to stop calling to see if he made himself visible. Matt said he could see him and he locked on to the decoys and was beginning to come in. I got my gun ready, safety off, and a really nice Tom came charging in full-strut. He passed the hen decoy and did a lap around the Jake. He circled him like he was ready to beat the decoy to the ground. It reminded me of something I've seen on Wild TV. I waited for him to clear the decoy and face towards me and as soon as he was just about the kick the Jake decoy I shot him and laid him out flat. It was a good shot and I finally got my first turkey. Matt was just as excited as I was and I couldn't believe after all the hard work I put out this Spring it finally happened. 

Once we knew he was good and dead I approached my trophy and couldn't be more happy with my first Turkey and first animal I have successfully harvested. 

My first Ontario Tom weighed 20.5 lbs with a 8.5 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs.

Definitely a great first trophy.

Thanks to Darcy, Matt, Cory and Wing-Ding

 Benelli, Zink Avianx Decoys, Primos and Badlands Packs for making my Spring Turkey hunt.

Spring Turkey 2014: Part II

I have put a lot of time and effort into tagging a turkey this Spring. I have hunted Darcy's field hard. When Matt was away for work I went out a lot on my own. We moved the blind to a location where the birds were constantly crossing and left it there for several days for them to adapt to it. Several things I have learned after many close encounters. 

The first thing I noticed is that it is really hard to split the Tom up from the hens once he finds them. Almost immediately after hearing that gobble in the morning and him entering the field, he locates the hens and is stuck to them like glue the entire time. The Jake was different. He didn't really care about the other turkeys. Sometimes he would go near them, but majority of the time I saw him on his own or feeding with deer, which I found funny. 

The second thing I noticed is the hens don't care about the decoys. Only one crazy hen put a show on for me where she ran across the field almost in a zig-zag motion. She ended up nesting in sand right next to my hen decoy and sunbathing. She drew the other hens in on this particular hunt. The Jake was with the Tom and approaching my decoys. This is the closest I came to shooting a Tom at Darcy's field. I almost had him come in, but he was cautious of my Tom decoy. I think he was a little intimidated by it. Him and the Jake began crossing and was coming into range. As my luck goes weather changed and it began to downpour rain as soon as they started to move. Instead of continuing into shooting range the ran off where they came from and I lost any chance I had. After this hunt I decided that was it and it was time to put the Tom decoy away. 


I completed a few hunts with just a hen and I called the Tom in close a few times, but he never quite made it to range. One early morning just after sunrise I had a Jake gobble back at me. It was really exciting he was responding to me really well and I saw him come out from the far side of the field. He was probably 500 yards away and he heard me and came running. I had my safety off and gun ready, but he came around the side of my blind. I had the windows up (of course!), but tried to stand and sneak to see if I could open the window and get a shot. He was still on the move and ended up behind the blind. Later he came back out from the left of my blind and still never gave me a shot. 

After this hunt I figured I was finished. I knew I just came as close as I would to getting a shot at a bird and all I could do was hope that Matt would shoot one this Spring so one of us would fill a tag. 

Spring Turkey 2014: Part I

This Spring Turkey hunt was the most challenging hunting I have experienced since beginning the sport. Tons of turkeys have been coming to Darcy's field over the last few months and we knew there were several Toms and some Jakes in the area. With the scouting finished, I knew we would have a good chance of tagging a turkey, but after opening night I knew right away it would not be as easy as I hoped.

First night out was pretty exciting. Matt and I sat in a blind we had set up at Darcy's. There isn't a lot of coverage in the field so a ground blind works really well for us. It was pretty windy and we had a Tom decoy set up and a hen. The wind was so bad it blew the Tom over so Matt decided to try sneak out and set the decoy up before any birds entered the field. Of course as soon as he leaves the blind a Jake appears straight across in the bushes. Matt was busted and he ran away. I figured that was all we would see for the night.

Soon after some hens came out and were feeding, we watched them with no sign of any beards. After calling for awhile longer we finally heard a gobble. A Tom came out and headed for the hens. These turkeys were about 75 yards from our decoys. The Jake appeared again a little scared of the Tom he didn't get too close to the hens. Matt got a neat video where you can see the Tom kick the Jake out of his way. We tried to call the birds in, but there was no separating them and the hens definitely weren't interested in our decoys. That was it for our first night of Spring Turkey hunting in Ontario.