yoderjac
5 year old buck +
. I got in the stand about 1530 and made a few soft turkey calls about 1600. About 1650 I saw hens heading into the field. I was hoping gobblers would follow again, but no such luck. One of the hens had a beard. Some biologists think bearded hens make good moms and are productive, so I wasn't going to shoot it. Then I noticed that 2 of the 6 hens in the group had hens. Since I've never shot a bearded hen, I decided to take it.
She was 22 yards when I released the arrow. It looked like a good hit. The birds all jumped and she ran a few yards into the pines and stopped. She was clearly hit. The other birds stayed in the field and went on alert. After a bit, the other birds started to follow her. When one go close, she came a few steps toward them where I could see her. She stood there with her wing puffed out. The bird coming toward her did not like it and its hackles stood up. It turned and walked away. All the birds were clucking.
I figured the bird would just die there, so I just watched her. I considered taking another shot but there was some brush in the way and it would have been a long shot, so I just watched her with binos. At one point, when I put the binos down for a minute, I lost her. The FLIR told me she was still there, she had just laid down. The other birds were back in the field and another one approached her again and she stood up. It turned and left. She just stood there but was much more visible. She laid down and I thought that was the end, but no such luck. After a while, and the other birds were gone and she stood back up. She slowly started moving away one hop at a time. I'm sure a leg was broken as well at this point.
It was getting late, and I was worried that if she got out of sight and didn't die by dark, I would not recover her. So, I decided to try to get close enough for a follow up shot. She was way too deep in the pines and brush for me to shoot from the blind.
As I crossed the field, I saw her start frantically hopping away over the next hill. It was open in the thinned pines so I decided to circle around the hill, as I did, I get one more glimpse of her hopping away. At that point, I decided to try to run her down. She ran down into a thick creek bottom and got stuck in a mud hole. I was only 7 yards when I took the follow up shot. I missed. She was in thick brush, so I presume the arrow was deflected. She went deeper in the brush and I could not get in. I went around the mud hole and could still see her in the brush. I took a final follow up shot with my last arrow. It went in the butt and she died, but I could not follow her into the brush pile. I ended up circling around to the other side where I could reach in and grab her. The arrow that went up her but broke her neck. It was tough to pull out of her.
I then went back around to get the first follow-up arrow. It had buried in a root under ground and would not budge. I took the bird and headed back to the field. I looked where she had first been laying to see where she threw the arrow but could not find it. I went back to the field and found a few feathers at the impact site. I then looked back at the blind to find the arrow path. Sure enough, it was a pass through. It was such a shallow angle, I could not see it from the blind even with the luminated nock.
She weighed 10 lbs 6 oz and had a thin but 8 1/2" beard. The initial shot was good and there was a hole in her chest and she had a broken leg. She would have eventually died, but I would not have recovered her had I not followed her.
Thanks,
Jack
She was 22 yards when I released the arrow. It looked like a good hit. The birds all jumped and she ran a few yards into the pines and stopped. She was clearly hit. The other birds stayed in the field and went on alert. After a bit, the other birds started to follow her. When one go close, she came a few steps toward them where I could see her. She stood there with her wing puffed out. The bird coming toward her did not like it and its hackles stood up. It turned and walked away. All the birds were clucking.
I figured the bird would just die there, so I just watched her. I considered taking another shot but there was some brush in the way and it would have been a long shot, so I just watched her with binos. At one point, when I put the binos down for a minute, I lost her. The FLIR told me she was still there, she had just laid down. The other birds were back in the field and another one approached her again and she stood up. It turned and left. She just stood there but was much more visible. She laid down and I thought that was the end, but no such luck. After a while, and the other birds were gone and she stood back up. She slowly started moving away one hop at a time. I'm sure a leg was broken as well at this point.
It was getting late, and I was worried that if she got out of sight and didn't die by dark, I would not recover her. So, I decided to try to get close enough for a follow up shot. She was way too deep in the pines and brush for me to shoot from the blind.
As I crossed the field, I saw her start frantically hopping away over the next hill. It was open in the thinned pines so I decided to circle around the hill, as I did, I get one more glimpse of her hopping away. At that point, I decided to try to run her down. She ran down into a thick creek bottom and got stuck in a mud hole. I was only 7 yards when I took the follow up shot. I missed. She was in thick brush, so I presume the arrow was deflected. She went deeper in the brush and I could not get in. I went around the mud hole and could still see her in the brush. I took a final follow up shot with my last arrow. It went in the butt and she died, but I could not follow her into the brush pile. I ended up circling around to the other side where I could reach in and grab her. The arrow that went up her but broke her neck. It was tough to pull out of her.
I then went back around to get the first follow-up arrow. It had buried in a root under ground and would not budge. I took the bird and headed back to the field. I looked where she had first been laying to see where she threw the arrow but could not find it. I went back to the field and found a few feathers at the impact site. I then looked back at the blind to find the arrow path. Sure enough, it was a pass through. It was such a shallow angle, I could not see it from the blind even with the luminated nock.
She weighed 10 lbs 6 oz and had a thin but 8 1/2" beard. The initial shot was good and there was a hole in her chest and she had a broken leg. She would have eventually died, but I would not have recovered her had I not followed her.
Thanks,
Jack
