Shot By a Recurve, and 9 Other Crazy Turkey Hunting Tales

If you turkey hunt long enough, you’re bound to see something a little crazy. Photo by Christopher J Barger.

One mid-morning, I was sitting in a pasture when a gobbler sounded off, not far away. It was windy and rainy, but he was hot, answering nearly every call I made. I hoped he’d cruise right to my decoys and put on a show. Instead, he hung up, just within range, but I was hoping he’d come closer. I watched and waited, and then caught some dark movement to my right. I thought maybe it was another gobbler coming — but instead it was a huge Wisconsin black bear.

Due to the rolling terrain, the bear could not see the gobbler, nor could the gobbler see the bear. And neither animal knew I existed. But the bear was headed straight toward the turkey, and I knew the bird would spook upon seeing it. I shouldered my gun and took the shot, just as the turkey saw the bear and bolted. The bird dropped dead.

Of course, I expected the 12-gauge blast to send the bear scurrying to the next county, but it didn’t. Instead, when I unzipped the blind and got out, I was shocked to see the bear standing over my flopping turkey! Shotgun in hand, I ran at the bear and yelled, “Get out of here!” Fortunately, it fled and didn’t steal my gobbler.

Compared to sheep hunting in the Rocky Mountains or brown bear hunting on Alaska’s coast, turkey hunting might seem like one of North America’s more vanilla pursuits. But we talked to a bunch of folks who’ve had turkey hunts take some crazy turns, from bobcat attacks to incoming peacocks. Read on and enjoy a few of the craziest turkey hunting stories we’ve ever heard.

BEWARE OF BOBCATS, AND RACCOONS TOO

Realtree scribe and turkey expert Brian Lovett was hunting near Cheyenne, Oklahoma, on April 6, 2019. After unsuccessfully working some gobblers, Lovett circled to a small strip of timber near a ranch road, sitting against a wide oak and hoping to intercept the turkeys that evening as they made their way to the roost.

About 45 minutes into his hunt, Lovett ran a pot call and then turned his head slightly. “Suddenly, I felt a heavy blow to my head,” he said. “It felt like someone had grabbed me from behind and was violently shoving my head down into my chest.”

DON’T MISS: How to Skin a Snapping Turtle with an Air Compressor

After about five seconds, Lovett reared his neck back, stopping the attack. He looked up and noticed a bobcat fleeing into the clearing to his right. He suspected the cat had crept up into the tree above him and dropped straight down onto his head. Fortunately, one small scratch and a ball cap full of cat hair were the only battle scars. “Still, to this day, my medical chart mentions being attacked by a bobcat,” Lovett said. He was concerned about having his skin broken by the cat and a potential infection, and so he sought medical attention just in case.

Crazy as Brian Lovett’s bobcat story is, retired guide Jack Canady’s is even crazier. A few years ago, Canady hit up a Kentucky property he knew well. Across the creek were some gobbling turkeys, and he watched them pitch down. He positioned himself along the creek and occasionally offered a cluck to keep the vocal birds coming. His shotgun was beside him, and he planned to raise it as soon as the hens passed through a bulldozed spot just across the creek.

Nobody plans on having their neck broken by a bobcat when they step into the turkey woods, but that is exactly what happened to Jack Canady a few springs ago. Photo courtesy of Jack Canady.

Canady suddenly heard noises that sounded like a squirrel scurrying through the leaves. Though only about 15 seconds from killing one of the gobblers, the noise piqued the hunter’s curiosity. Slowly, he turned his head and saw a bobcat that had lunged into the air, its front paws stretched out. On impact, the bobcat’s arms wrapped around the startled hunter’s neck.

“He had my neck bent hard to the left,” Canady said. “I hollered loudly. When I threw my arms up in defense, my elbow hit his chest between his front legs. He came off of me and slung himself back around and jarred my head the other way. Then, he trotted off.”

DON’T MISS: How to Plan a DIY Western Big Game Hunt

A shaken-up Canady didn’t realize how badly he was hurt. He removed his face mask and noticed he was bloody from gashes on his nose and ear. He sat there for about 30 minutes. When he stood upright, he didn’t know where he was, where his truck was, or anything. He opened onX Hunt and noticed his truck on the map. Heading for the pick-up, he realized things weren’t right as he tried to cross a fence.

After sleeping that night, Canady woke the following morning and told his wife that something was wrong. X-rays later revealed that his neck was broken in two places. With medical attention and time, Canady fortunately recovered from the injuries and is back in the turkey woods.

Wisconsin’s Tom Duke was able to get the drop on his attacker, but only just in time. Duke was hunting a private parcel that had been productive for him in the past. It was late in the season, and the mid-May temps were soaring, so Duke welcomed the prospect of sitting in the shade of some hardwoods while trying to coax in a turkey.

It isn’t odd to encounter a raccoon while turkey hunting, but how many hunters can say that they had to shoot one in self defense? Illustration by Magic Studio.

After calling periodically for about an hour, movement about 40 yards away caught his attention. But it wasn’t the gobbler he was hoping for; instead, it was a raccoon ambling from left to right. Suddenly, the coon turned 90 degrees, walking straight toward Duke, who said the animal seemed to be unaware of his presence. He intended to remain quiet and let it go by, but the critter just kept coming.

“Not wanting to spook any turkeys,” Duke said, “I made a hissing/growling sound to alert the coon. That stopped it mid-stride, and it looked up at me. I decided to shoo it away by slowly waving my camouflaged hand. That triggered something, and the coon bolted right at me!”

With his shotgun across his lap, Duke rolled to his right, swung the shotgun toward the animal, and fired just as it leapt at his face. The coon fell dead less than a foot from where he had been just a moment before. His hand was bloody from the recoil, but otherwise he was unscathed.

TURKEY HUNTING IS FOR THE BIRDS

Coyotes are known to attack decoys, but how many hunters can say they’ve had an eagle take a swipe at them? Realtree pro-staffer Tim Andrus had it happen twice in one day. Andrus had just begun working a bird when a bald eagle flew in and knocked over one of his decoys 15 yards away. “It scared the crap out of me,” he said. Andrus slid out of his blind and reset his decoy, then got back in the blind. He noticed that the eagle was perched in a tree top 300 yards away, and suddenly a juvenile eagle flew in and attacked the decoys, too.

Realtree pro-staffer Tim Andrus was filming a turkey hunt when two eagles made swipes at his decoys. Photo courtesy of Tim Andrus.

Gobblers might duck and run from eagles, but most hunters know they’ll gobble at crow calls. Maybe it’s because crows annoy them. Joe Schultz was hunting with his father, and also a good friend, Jerry Perron. They were set up near a roosted Wisconsin gobbler, and the bird was about 75 yards across a marsh clearing and very visible in a lone black ash tree. Schultz said, “As dawn’s light revealed the morning, a crow flew in and landed on a branch within inches of the now very visible jake turkey.”

Check Out Our Latest Camo Pattern: Realtree APX

The crow proceeded to caw almost directly into the jake’s ear, just far enough away that the jake couldn't peck him. The torment lasted several minutes. With each caw, the irritated jake emitted a scratchy gobble. Finally, after about 100 caws and gobbles, the crow took off. The jake flew down and joined four others, and Schultz ended the morning by filling a tag.

Sometimes, a peacock call can get a gobbler to sound off, too. But good turkey calling just might pull in a peacock as well. Realtree author Michael Pendley and his wife, Cheryl, were hunting from a blind this past spring, overlooking an open hillside dotted with timber on a friend’s farm. Gobbling action had been good on the roost, but had gone quiet after fly down. Still, the Pendleys were hanging patiently and calling on occasion.

This wild peacock came right in to Realtree author Michael Pendley’s turkey calls one day. Photo courtesy of Michael Pendley.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing squeal erupted right behind the blind. “Instantly, a blue and white peacock came out and beelined for our lone hen decoy,” Pendley said. “Clearly, he was smitten. He danced and shimmied all around the decoy. I kept expecting a full tail fan, but a half raise and dance was the best he could muster. The peacock walked around our decoy for the next 20 minutes before finally getting bored and wandering back down the trail he came in on.”

Pendley texted the landowner some photos. The landowner replied, “Oh yeah, he’s been here for over a year now, just living and roosting with the turkeys. We aren’t sure where he came from.”

The Pendleys hunted the farm a few subsequent times and heard the peacock’s cry each trip. Pendley said the sound is a great locator call.

6-YEAR-OLD-KID TRIES TO WRESTLE A TURKEY

My sister, Clair Marshall, was hunting in South Dakota, accompanied by her young daughter, Timber. They positioned their blind against a row of hay bales one afternoon and plugged the decoys in close by. Four jakes soon came in.

“A while later,” Clair said, “I heard some voices to my left, but I didn’t know where they were coming from.” Suddenly, a young boy, about 6 years old, jumped off the hay bales from behind the blind and attacked the jake decoy, bending it over to the ground.

Next, the boy yelled, “Ah! They’re fake!!” When he turned around, he finally realized the blind was there and locked eyes with my sister. He took off running. The boy was probably the landowner’s son and hadn’t known that someone was hunting. “The landowner hasn’t said anything, and I’m not about to bring it up,” Clair said of the weird occurrence.

FREAK MINI GOBBLER

Ben Bearshield of Winchester Deadly Passion and his buddy Charles Rigdon have been hunting together for about 20 years. One drizzly morning in South Dakota in 2012, they were driving around their hunting area and spotted turkeys in a field. One was strutting, so the hunt was on.

After looping around to a wooded draw that leads to the field, the hunters closed the distance. They put out some decoys, tucked into a plum thicket, and did minimal calling since the turkeys were naturally heading their way.

Hunters Ben Bearshield and Charles Rigdon were hunting South Dakota in 2012 when Rigdon doubled on two adult gobblers, one being only about half the size of the other. Photo courtesy of Ben Bearshield.

A big tom came right to the jake decoy, and Rigdon anchored it. Soon after, Bearshield noticed that another tom was sprinting in. “He was kicking the crap out of the decoy and knocked it over,” Bearshield said. “Charles had two tags, so he took that tom, too.”

After collecting the birds, Bearshield and Rigdon realized that the second bird, though it had a beard and spurs, was tiny. “We started laughing about it,” Bearshield said. “Our scale wasn’t working, but we figured the turkey to be about 11 pounds. Most gobblers in the area weigh 18-20 pounds. To this day, Charles regrets not having his mini tom mounted.”

OFF THE TURKEY AND INTO THE CAMERAMAN’S LEG

Just when you thought you’d heard it all: An anonymous hunter was filming from one blind while his buddy hunted from another. Their goal was to capture a slow-motion turkey bow-kill. The hunter was armed with a recurve bow and a two-blade broadhead.

Around sunrise, a large flock of birds came charging through. After a couple dozen hens passed by, a tom strutted right between the two blinds. Once the bird cleared the space between the blinds by several yards, the trad hunter let an arrow fly.

“I heard the bow go off, then a loud clatter by my feet,” said the videographer. “I figured the arrow must’ve gone through or deflected and hit some gravel. Turns out, it hit the turkey, deflected, passed cleanly between the camera tripod legs, punched through my blind, and buried into my shin. Strangely, I didn’t feel a thing — I just heard the impact."

An arrow shot from a recurve bow struck a gobbler and then veered off course, the broadhead lodging in the cameraman’s leg.

The hunters called an ambulance to avoid further damage by trying to remove the broadhead. Paramedics wrapped and stabilized the leg, then cut the back half of the arrow off before hauling the wounded hunter to the hospital. Turkey bits and feathers were washed from the wound before it was sanitized and stitched up.

By the way, they tagged the gobbler, and the cameraman was back in the woods the following week to film again.