First crossbow turkey

[grouse]

Wednesday morning I drove up to the farm to mow and (hopefully) hunt. After mowing in a rush I got out to one of my stands about 5:00 PM. The stand I was in is a tripod stand in the southeast corner of a field of standing corn. In late August I mowed a path between the crop field and the woods ( I have a 60" mower on my tractor). Sometime around 5:30 I started hearing soft turkey clucks nearby in the dense thicket behind me. I have had this happen many times and the turkeys never come out where I can get a shot. To my surprise, at about 5:50 a turkey stepped out neat a spot I had previously ranged at 30 yards. The bird was walking nearly straight away from me in the path I had mowed. I put the 30 yd. triangle of my scope high in the middle of her back and sent BE Executioner with an X-Act on its way. She was probably 35 yards away when I shot and I watched the lumenok disappear right where I aimed. She staggered a few feet into the brush and I couldn't see her anymore.

I got down to go look for her and found feathers and my illuminated arrow right away. The border of the woods right there is a dense stand of stinging nettle about 3 ft. high. She had made it about 10 feet and I found her right away. The arrow had grazed and shredded the right side of her spine and came out exactly between the two breast halves damaging almost no meat. That was the third X-Act I have fired and they have accounted for quick kills on two deer and one turkey. I'm very happy with them.

This morning I didn't break my 40 yard maximum range shot rule, and I'm kicking myself. I had a really big buck standing broadside just beyond the spot I previously measured at 40 yards and it was a wide open shot. He stood there for a few seconds and then made a right turn and walked out of range. Every time I have shot my 350 or my Axiom at a target from 50 yards, I have hit the bullseye. I could have easily made that shot. He's still there along with a few other nice bucks I've seen so maybe I'll get one of them later.

[Hatchet]

Congratulations Grouse on your first crossbow turkey.
So far this turkey season I had em at 40yds but they were on the move and i couldn't connect. Gonna keep trying.
Good luck with the rest of your season.
Hatchet

[janesy]

Thanks for the great story, congrats!

I've only ever taken 1 bird with a bow and it cost me nearly $90 the Broadhead is still stuck in the tree today.

[HD Archer]

Congratulations on your bird!

[xcaliber]

Congrats!!

[mr meat]

Congrats on the turkey

[longbow joe]

Great story grouse and l hope it's your first of many turkeys.
I found the xact to be very deadly also killing many deer and turkeys.

[DuckHunt]

Congrats on the archery turkey. I'm still struggling for my first. So far I've only harvested a few feathers.

[XB I GO]

Great! I didn’t know it was Turkey season anywhere….

[Al in Mi]

Michigan's opened the 15th, runs till Nov 14th. I usually pick up a tag just in case something strolls by.

[Hatchet]

Great! I didn’t know it was Turkey season anywhere….

XB our season in Maine opened on Sept 20. In my area there are so many turkeys we are allowed 5 birds during the fall season either sex. It's tough getting close to em in the fall. Best bet is a hunting recently harvested agricultural fields where there is some grain or corn left behind by the equipment.
Take care
Hatchet

[gerald strine]

Congratulations on your harvest , turkeys with a x bow are fun.
My last turkey I harvested I turned into a stew it was wonderful.
Put deboned breast, thighes ect into crockpot, 2 jars gravy, cup water, carrots, potatoes, onion,celery, spices and slow cooked until it fell apart.
Wonderful stuff.

[flinthead]

Congrats!! Wish we had a fall season.

[grouse]

My initial post may have implied that this is my first turkey. It's my first crossbow turkey but far from my first overall. I killed my first turkey in the mid 1970s and have killed at least 35 - 40 birds overall. Like Gerald Strine mentioned in his post, I skin turkeys and cut them up somewhat like a chicken. I then grab a fillet knife and carefully remove the breast meat meat from the bones. The breast meat can then be used in a variety of ways. The legs, thighs and wings are best cooked slowly and for a long time or else they are very tough (especially the legs). The meat can then be pulled from the bones and tendons and used in stew, soup or whatever. Some people throw the legs and thighs away. This is a sin, they're delicious if cooked properly.

[ihunt]

Congrats on the gobbler, wish you luck on getting that BIG buck.