Author:
Jerod Fink
The last weekend of the turkey season here in WI got here much faster than I thought! My parents were right when they said that time moves much faster as you get older, I can’t believe another spring of chasing gobbling birds is over.
The weather was tough this year, as many turkey hunters in the Midwest can attest. Snow, rain, wind, freezing temps were all present through much of our seasons this year. As a matter of fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of nice days we had to actually hunt birds over the last six weeks. I took feathers off a bird the first season with my Hoyt, and had to wait until the last season (six weeks later) to have another chance at a bird.
Since we were planning an intense bowfishing weekend (which was hampered by muddy water, but we still managed to get quite a few in the boat) I knew turkey hunting time would be limited. This being the case, I was toting the ole 870 Flamethrower instead of the Hoyt. To be honest, it felt really odd as I haven’t had a gun in my hand chasing turkeys in over five years. Despite the odd feeling, I couldn’t help but feel I had a leg up. As somebody once told me, “There is nothing deadlier than a bow hunter with a gun in their hands”!
We woke up at noon on Saturday, May 21st after getting home at 6 AM from bowfishing. Of course, like the previous 6 weeks it was raining cats and dogs. Around 3 PM it quit raining and we went to one of our old standby spots where spotting turkeys is almost a given. However, this farm gets a ton of pressure and calling them into range is often an exercise in futility. Lo and behold, there was a bird exactly where many had met their demise in the past out walking around to get out of the dripping wet woods.
A quick plan was devised, and I started walking in his direction hoping to get in position to call him up a small, brushy hill into a waiting load of 3 1/2″ #5′s. It was now hot and humid, and I was sweating like crazy on my short hike. After hustling up the hill to a certain spot, I slowed down and entered hunting mode. Hearing a soft putt to my left, I looked and there was the bird beginning to bust out of the woods. In the short amount of time he was out of site, he walked right to where I wanted to call him too (my hunch was right).
A quick blast from the Remington and it was over, 5 minutes after it started. Having spent over 45 hours in a blind this year bow hunting birds, and 5 minutes with a shotgun in my hand got it done. Bittersweet? A little bit I guess. But the crockpot barbecued turkey breast tonight made me forget all about it…
Author:
Jerod Fink
On a recent hike in the Grand Canyon with Wilderness Athlete, I was able to use my GoPro video camera to get up close and personal with some resident wildlife!
Author:
Jake Oravetz
It is now the week before Thanksgiving and a good majority of bowhunters have probably hung up there gear for the year either because they filled their tag or they have had enough for the year. This can be a real tough time to hunt for several reasons across the midwest, your deer could be getting a lot of pressure from too much activity in the woods (ex. people cutting wood for the winter, firearms season or just people out enjoying the few last days before the snow flies ) regardless of what kind of pressure it really doesn’t matter to the whitetail any pressure is enough to drive them to hiding and to become nocturnal. Read the rest of this entry »
Author:
Jake Oravetz
You will have to excuse the delayed second part of this article, I was going to sit down and start writing some things down when I got called to leave town for a few weeks for work. Oh well better now than during the hunting season!
I think I speak for all of us at Back 40 when I say none of us would feel real confident if we walked into the woods or sage country without knowing our equipment was dead on. It is very surprising to me the number of so called bow hunters that I have talked to that think it’s funny that they don’t “dust” off the old bow until the day or maybe the day before the season opens. This is about the least responsible Read the rest of this entry »
Author:
Jake Oravetz
As most hardcore hunters our season starts when it is still hot and most average guys aren’t even thinking about deer season yet. As I write this I am well aware that our arrow slinging brothers to the west are already in pursuit of a trophy blacktail in the hills of California.
We here at Back 40 have exactly a month and two weeks before we head to the badlands for Mulies and whitetails, every year there is a ton of planning and excitement that goes into this hunt and I thought it would be neat to make a several part article on what we are doing to get ready to the countdown.
As with most western hunts, the working out factor never really stops. We are either snow shoeing in the winter or hitting the pavement and the gym in the summer. Being in good shape can make or break your hunt. Working construction full time can make it tough to have the motivation and time to want to work out after work, but knowing what the hills have in store for you out west can keep just about anyone motivated. The way I look at it is this if I can just run a mile or two and hit the weights for a hard 40 minutes every other night that is better than coming home and sitting on the couch. I would love to be able to have a set schedule for a hard work out regimen but having a familiy to keep happy that doesn’t really work out.
Stay tuned to next week when we talk about our shooting sessions and what we do to get ready for some tough western shooting.
The last weekend of the turkey season here in WI got here much faster than I thought! My parents were right when they said that time moves much faster as you get older, I can’t believe another spring of chasing gobbling birds is over.