Spring Turkey Season is Done!

Well today it actually made it to 75 degrees in Iowa! Yee Haw is all I can say; it felt so good to go around in shorts and a tee shirt!

My Turkey season in 2008 ended on May 5th, I had a really nice 24-pound tom come in at 6:50 am and I got to put my Mathews, Muzzy, and Gold Tip Connection to work. It was a great hunt and the Turkey fell right at the decoys.

What a great feeling having Turkey Breast in the freezer! Over all I had 4 archery shots this year and they all were good clean kills.  I tell you ever since I learned were to aim, on a Turkey I have taken 19 birds home with my Mathews!

Shoot placement is critical on Turkey and you do not need a special broad head. I use the same Muzzy heads I do for all my hunting. I use a 100-grain MX3. This way I know what the broad head is going to do in all conditions.

Plus I do not need to use so special arrows, or have to assemble heads in the field cause they wont fit in my quiver.

Now as I say this, always use what you have the most confidence in. That will always give you an edge in the woods. When it comes to bow hunting, a lot of the success is having faith in your gear.

Here is a great chart that I got from the NWTF, and it shows you 3 great shot placements on a Turkey.

1. Front shot- this is a great shot right above the beard. This is going to hit the vitals and put that turkey down really fast. I have shot 3 birds there, and they only went 20 yards tops. My last bird drooped in its tracks!

2. Broad Side in the high feather line straight up the legs, this is my favorite shot, I get a pass through here and you are right in the vital pocket of the bird! Many birds taken here on the TV show and they go down really quick!

3. Texas heart shot- Take this shot if they are strutting away from you, they do not go far on this shot. I call it the excuse me shot; you have to feel for the bird a little on this one!

Now let talk about dealing with Taxidermist on hunt locations! I just got back from my Florida Trip and I got an invoice from a Taxidermist in Alberta that I will not name. I meet this gentleman at a bear hunt in Alberta at a great camp two years ago.

I ended up taking a nice little bear, and I asked about doing a bear rug for me so I did not have to bring the bear back on the plane.

He explained it would run $700.00 for the rug and skull, and shipping. Well when I opened the invoice the bill was now around $1100.00! I sat down and looked over the bill , he was charging for bugging the skull, tax and over $300.00 in shipping.

That is not what I agreed too. The Taxidermist I use in Iowa, always gives the bear Skull to you , that is in the price of the mount or Rug.

The shipping didnt sound right to me so, I called UPS and asked what would a 50 pound box from my house to where he is in Alberta cost to ship. The rep came back and stated it was only $110.00 for general ground 3-5 days.

The was telling me the shipping brought the deal to over $450.00 more than I agreed too. I sent him a note back saying that I called UPS and from my house to where he is in Alberta was only $110.00, why did he want over $400.00.

I never got a call back till a shipping broker called me and stated he wanted to make arrangements for the $1100.00. I told him at that time, about the agreement and I was not going to pay almost $1200.00, because that is not what I agreed too. He told me the gentleman could sell it and get his expenses back, I said that is fine.

This week I got a call from the Gentelman, and he wanted to know when I was going to send him a check? I told him I had issues with the bill, like I told his shipping guy that called. I told him that the bill was not what he told me it was going to be.

I explained that I only agreed for him to do the job to save me time at the airport and customs, and that if he told me at bear camp , it would be around $1100.00, I would have brought the bear back with me at that time.

He didn’t care about that, I did offer to pay the $700.00. And you know something I would have even paid the $110.00 for the UPS shipping, but when I stated I would not pay the full amount he wanted.

He started threatening that he would call my sponsors, and tell them about this. And file a report with the Ranger in that area for not getting my bear?

I told him to go ahead, most of them knew already. I called a lot of them and asked "did this ever happen to you?

I told him to keep the bear at the at point and I called the Game Warden in that area just to make sure there was no issue. The Game warded was very nice, and stated the I was fine and I did everything by the book.

I had done my job, legally buying my tag, harvesting and tagging the bear at Camp, by the way the outfitter was with me when I shot the bear. I knew I was in the right , but I wanted to double check. This was just a vail threat to get me to pay more money.

In 23 years of Bowhunting I have never had this happen, I should have gotten the agreement in writing before I left; I trusted what I was told. That will never happen agian I will always get an order in writing.

So my advice to you is do not let this happen to you! Get everything in writing before you leave an area or your trophey. I am not going to get my bear now, which is my choice, but I am not going to be held up either!

I hope you have a great season, and I hear the crappie calling as we speak, time to pick my Quantum ultra light and get some fish!

 Till next time keep those arrows Flying!

Outdoors Dan Young……..