Turkey hunters wanting to fool a big tom have a better chance if they tramp into the woods with a shotgun than with a stick and a string. The reason: Scattergun deadeyes who chamber heavy loads of chilled 4s can waylay gobblers at up to 40 yards, maybe a little farther, whereas turkey-hunting archers generally are limited to 25 paces or fewer.
The subject arises because the other day I was at a neighborhood bow shop slinging arrows down range, sometimes hitting the target. My preference is to hunt turkeys with a bow, and I was sharpening my eye in advance of doing just that in coming days.
Last year, Minnesota turkey hunters who went afield armed with bows had about a 15 percent chance of success. Those odds were about half those of hunters who toted shotguns. But 15 percent isn't bad, in my estimation, and anyway a morning passed in a pop-up blind no matter the firepower is a reward unto itself. So this year, as in past years, when turkey hunting, I'll nock an arrow and roll the dice.
Mark Puariea was at the bow shop as well, not preparing to chase turkeys, but instead basking in the glory of a hunt already concluded. Puariea lives in Stillwater, or near there, and last week on the second day of the season rose before sunrise to do something he had never done before: hunt turkeys.
"My landlord owns some property, and he said that if I wanted, I could hunt his land," Puariea said. "So I bought myself a slate call, practiced a little, and went turkey hunting."
Puariea is an expert archer. Yet there's a difference between being a whiz-bang bowman and an experienced turkey chaser. On their worst mornings, these birds can fool even Mensa prodigies. So novice turkey hunters armed only with bows have little chance of success.
"Did you see any turkeys?" I asked.
"I was in my blind about a quarter to 6," Puariea said. "I started scratching on the slate call, just as I practiced, and pretty soon I heard gobbling in the distance. Actually, there was quite a bit of gobbling, and about 80 yards away, I could see some turkeys but I couldn't identify them. It was fun, but nothing came close enough for a shot, so later that morning I left."
