Game: Eastern Wild Turkey
Weapon: Mathews Z7, Armor Tech Sight, QAD Rest, Bernie's Control Freak Stabilizer, Easton Axis Arrows with nocturnal nocks and G5 Stryker broadheads and Woodhaven Mouth Calls
Date/Location: April 2, 2011 - Crawford County, Kansas

For most of us, spring can be the time of year when balancing a lot of tasks can be extremely critical…after all; turkey season is right around the corner. Preparation for this years hunt actually began on February 18th as my wife and I were headed to Kansas for the birthday party of one of our nieces. Trying to be organized and plan ahead for the busy spring, this trip would also be the time to deliver all the blinds, decoys, chairs, bow holders, etc. I knew the next time I was in Kansas it would be turkey season.

As planned, I had remembered everything I had intended to deliver to Kansas. I must admit, I’m very fortunate to be able to hunt deer and turkey in Missouri and Kansas. Part of the fun associated with hunting out of state is being able to refer to my brother Brian as “the guide”. Just as dad and I try to ensure everything is in order for Brian when he comes home to hunt, Brian does the same for our Kansas hunts.

Now, let’s fast forward to the second day of Kansas archery season. As the alarm went off at 4:30 I was convinced that this was going to be a great day of turkey hunting…temperatures were perfect with hardly any wind forecasted for the day. As it seems normal for us, the first day of a new hunting season is always filled with last minute details we had overlooked the night before. After finally deciding we were ready to leave the house, we quickly arrived at my hunting spot. I grabbed my gear and off I went. Even though the weather was supposed to be awesome today…30’s to start with highs in the 60’s…it quickly became evident that Kansas received a lot of rain just a few days before.

After splashing through the low spots, I finally made my way to the blind set up in the north east corner of a bean stubble field. This spot was very familiar to me as it was the exact location I killed my bird almost a year ago. After getting all my gear in the blind and setting up the decoys, it was now time to…well, sit and wait…the most important skill needed to turkey hunt. After listening to the coyotes announce their presence and the rest of nature start to wake up the first turkey finally cut loose. No need to be concerned about him since he had to be over 300 yards away. Over the next 3 hours, every bird I heard…which in total was between 10-12…must have been within a stone’s throw of the first one.

Now I’ve hunted here before. I know the woods I am facing to the east is a great place for birds to roost…and if you’ve ever hunted Kansas before, you know that it can be difficult at times to find enough trees in one area for a turkey to call home. But nothing…I never heard a bird close enough that I thought they could hear me. But I was patient. I threw out a very attractive sounding assembly call every 15 minutes or so.

Convinced I was going to stick it out in this blind until lunch, I had to resort to Facebook on my Blackberry to occasionally entertain me. As I was about ready to give the mouth call another try, I noticed a shiny black object coming thru the woods. What’s this? He never made a sound. Without any warning this bird suddenly appeared within bow range. As you can imagine, since I had no warning I wasn’t completely prepared to release an arrow. After some minimal shifting around in the blind, I felt I was finally ready. However, the silent tom had decided it was time to move on. In order to get his attention and bring him back into the range I wanted, I threw some clucks and purrs at him. As rarely happens in turkey hunting, he turned and came back into range…it worked!

I’ve hunted turkeys for 30 years. But, until now, all the birds I have harvested have been with a shotgun…I was still waiting to connect via the bow and arrow. As the bird turned broadside and worked from right to left, I drew my Z7 and gapped my 20 and 30 yard pins…I had him pegged right at 25 yards. As I hooked my finger over the trigger and started my back tension in motion, the arrow released and I heard it hit something hard…all I could think was “please tell me it was the turkey”. I soon saw the turkey take a couple quick steps and began to flop on the ground. Before I could catch my breath, my first bow kill turkey lay still. At straight up 10:00 on April 2, I had accomplished a goal that I had pursued for numerous years. .

Dwayne Norton