Given your location, what you know about your birds (pressure, travel patterns, food, etc), and your experiences, what chance (percentage) would you say you have of tagging one with a bow and NO blind? I don't necessarily me out in the wide open. Assume you can use the terrain to aid in your setup, but that's it. Have you done it? How many times? If not, is it likely given where you hunt?
I know it can be done, my friend Matt Bressler did it last year. He attributed it to a smooth, easy to draw bow, a setup providing enough cover, and a little luck.
Assuming I have done my homwork and know where those birds want to be, Ill say my chances of getting it done with a Bow and no blind are 75%. when I say no blind im talking about a pop up type blind. I have killed birds out of blinds made from nothing but cedar or pine branches, I have used a dead blow down tree that was proping its self off the ground but needed trimed and had pine branches behind me to shadow it in. I have settled in an inpression from a rootwad where the tree had blown over and built up edge with dead brush and have also just stood back in the small thick pines 15 yards off an old strip mine haul road and killed a bird. I have took 5 birds now in 4 years since switching to bow after retiring the ole shotgun. I also use and always carry a portable HS shield blind and have another one similar but higher Ill use behind me for a backdrop. Three keys for me are: 1. Be where the birds want to be 2. Most of my setups have alot of small pine trees and I can draw when the birds are behind them. this is planned into my setups. 3. I like to use a decoy that has a moving fan, via string and real wings attached.
The first turkey I ever bow killed, I was kneeling on the ground next to a tree. I'm still not sure how I did it. I called 2 mature gobblers in and I guess they were so focused on my decoy they didn't see me. At one point, one of them was only 5 feet away. It was pretty sweet. Could I do it again? Yeah. But with my Matrix, why try??
"Legitimate" chance? 10% If I was looking for the best odds, I wouldn't use a bow. I would use a blind. And, I definitely wouldn't shoot a recurve.
Crick, how quickly can those blinds be setup? I'm looking at the H.S. website, and their 12" APG blind looks interesting.
Here in Michigan big woods not farm land I am 1 out of 4 years so 25%.. Doing it with a gun 100% and does not even intrest me any more!!Walt
Because we have a limited number of trees of any size suitable for roosting, and turkeys use the same roosts that they have used for many many years, it is not hard to find the turkeys and know where to set up for a good chance of a shot while at the same time not getting too close to the roost as to disrupt their daily patterns. We are allowed to hunt AM and PM and I have had as much if not more success in the PM as opposed to the AM by setting up in a pop up blind on major travel routes to/from the roost. With a little calling and coaxing, it is pretty easy to go get one within 10 yards of a pop up blind. Not too hard to shoot with a bow. I have killed my share this way. Give me 3 days in our country and I can almost guarantee you a bow turkey if you can shoot at all. However, without the pop up.......and I have spent considerable time pursuing this way as well, and have nada to show for my efforts. Between our fairly open terrain, my limited ability, and the superior awareness of the turkeys, I'd say the percent success rate would be less than 5%.
This will be my first year going this route...big woods, steep ridges, and no blind. ...ought to be exciting...just what I'm looking for.
