DNR Women in the Outdoors Mentored Archery Hunt

[DonBo]

For the second year in a row, I helped to mentor this WITO archery hunt. I met a few of these women as they took the Bowhunter Ed Class sponsored by Chilakoot Bowhunters. Several also attended a 3D shoot later, also hoster at Chilakoot.

The hunt takes place at Cedar Creek Scientific Area, a 7,000 acre U of M facility west of North Branch. This is the fourth year for the hunt and as of yet, no birds had been taken. This is the only turkey hunt allowed on the property and no guns are allowed at any time.

We were allowed to scout and set up late Friday afternoon and hunt till sunset. We went to an area new to me, but the land manager said they recently burned it and it has greened up nicely.

My hunter, KZ, has had quite a bit of hunting experience, but never turkeys, and this would be her first bowhunt.

We set the blind at about 6:30 that evening. I set the decoys and explained why I set them the way I did. We then went over all the different calls I carried and what they could do and how to use them in different situations. She was there to learn and asked a lot of very good questions. Then we actually used a box and a slate call. She also made some calls to get the feel of them.

Just a couple minutes later we hear a gobble! The way her eyes lit up was priceless. I made another call and the response way instant. I looked out my side of the blind and there he was about 200 yards away, full strut. He was on the way. I told her that he can see the decoys and I won't call again unless needed.

He kept coming and eventually went into a dip in the field so we couldn't see him. I told her that when he showed again he'd be close. We heard another gobble...in the woods behind us. Drat, he left the field. I hit my glass call hard and he trippled gobbled and popped right back into the field.

He's coming close to the edge on my side. KZ can't see him, so I keep her informed. "He's coming. He's close. Less that 20 yards. Get your bow, Hook up the release. Turn a bit this way" OMG, there he is. 10 yards full strut. "DRAW" He stops right in front of my jake decoy. 8 yards. "SHOOT" The arrow's gone. The bird is down. Just that quick. It's still not 7:00. From first call to punched tag, probably 20 minutes.

WTG KZ!

Next question is: "What do we do now for the rest of the weekend?" She says: "I didn't get much time to learn anything. Can we still go out and just watch?" Absolutely!

The rest of the weekend, though not quite as exciting as Friday, was pretty entertaining. We dodged lots of rain, saw lots of birds and heard plenty of gobbling. I hope she and the rest of the women hunters learned enough to be able to go out on their own.

Only one other hunter this weekend had a shot, but pretty much all of them had birds close. It was a great time for me and I hope to continue doing this hunt for years to come.

[Borch]

Way cool Don!

Congrats KZ!

You got a beautiful bird there.

[Archerysniper]

Congrats is and don. That area isn't new to me,you need to stop educating all the birds I hunt.

[hugonian1]

Well done DonBo and KZ.

Way to end your season on such a high note.

[klee]

Hey, that's me...lol..I thought you looked familiar when I saw you on the first day but I wasn't sure it was here that I had seen you. It was from this HSOforum. Thank you thank you Don for sharing your wealth of information with me. This has been a great experience for me and I really appreciate you taking the time to volunteer for these things. I know a "thanks" isn't enough, but I do greatly appreciate it. I'm glad I had the chance to experience and participate in this great event with everyone. I will never forget my first turkey hunt. I hope one day I can return the favor and become a mentor to other women and kids with this program. Thanks again Don!!!

[DonBo]

Klee, that's awesome you're a member here. Too bad didn't pick up on that over the weekend. Looks like we both fish a lot of the same waters too.

Congrats again on the great bird. It was my pleasure to hunt with you.

[klee]

DonBo, it crossed my mind but I didn't want to ask because I could be wrong. You looked different from your pictures. I forgot my camera but thanks for taking these awesome pictures. I will have them to look back at next year and many more years to come.

[sticknstring]

Great shot klee! Sounds like you guys had a great time in the turkey woods - congrats to the both of you!

[Hoyt4]

Congrats Klee. Nice pictures and now sounds like you are going to be hooked for future seasons.

Nice work Don on helping out and being a mentor.

[IlliniWalli]

great job and big congrats to both of you!

[Archerysniper]

You should have been wearing your Hso hoodie Don

[klee]

Thanks guys. I am totally addicted now. I could see how much passion Don had in Turkey's, bow hunting, and educating others about both.

[bassphish2005]

Turkey hunting is purely addictive-once you experienced it ,you will be hooked for life. And it couldn't hurt that you scored a bird your first season---way to go!