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 Well the time was right for the taking.  A group of birds were coming towards my blind nibbling on the bugs and corn situated just a scant 17 yards from my blind.  The video camera was rolling and things looked like they were going to happen.  I picked what I thought was the biggest bird in the group, drew my BowTech and took aim.  Before I knew it the arrow was on its way.

Myself and a group of my friends arrived a day prior to meet up with the ranch hand, Ben, at Brazos Archery Outfitters.  Ben welcomed us in, and after some initial dos and don’ts of the ranch and signing our waiver letters, he offered to let us hunt that evening for free.

I found these guys online at Texasbowhunters.com and after asking many questions I chose to book my first ever hunt with an outfitter.  The ranch is located in North Central Texas and is comprised of 5000 acres of leased land.  It is a working cattle ranch which was evident by the many cows roaming the place.  Its’ Northern and Eastern border is the Brazos River, which makes for some great habitat for the abundant wildlife that roams the place.  This was the first time many of us had ever been to an operation like this.  There are NO high fences here, just the cattle fences, which do nothing but stop the cows.

That first night found many of us trying to get our bearings and figure out which of the 10+ stands we wanted to go to.  Sean, Garry, and I went to the South Stands, while Dave and Todd went to the North side.  On our way to the stands Garry and I saw two long beards heading towards the blind I was planning on sitting in. I sat in my stand with high expectations of those two birds we saw earlier making there way towards me.  I had plenty of action as far as small birds, rabbits, and field mice, but no turkeys.  I got down a dark and headed to my meeting place with Garry.  When I got there I saw an arrow sticking up out of the bed of the truck.  Garry shot a big raccoon from the blind.  He also saw a long beard standing in front of his blind on the way in, but it spooked.

We picked Sean up and he too had seen a long beard, but no shot presented itself.  Dave and Todd had a little bit of action with Dave seeing a few hogs right at night.  Nobody else had any opportunities and anxiously awaited the next morning.

My alarm sounded at 0430 the next morning.  I woke everyone up and we made plans on where we needed to go for the morning.  I let everyone else decide where they wanted to go and then chose one that was left over.  I chose a different stand on the South side that morning with the advice from Ben.

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"My first Turkey with a Bow!"

I got into the blind by 0530 full aware that the sun wouldn’t be up for about another 45 minutes so I just sat there with excitement of what the day might bring.  At about 0600 I started hearing gobbles all around me.  The day hadn’t even begun and I had a feeling something good might happen.  Around 0700 a lone hen came in and began feeding around.  She didn’t stay long, but I was able to get some video before she departed.

At 0730 I hear some gobbling and decided to do some calling.  I would get and answer every once and awhile, but they didn’t seem like they wanted to commit.    Finally around 0800 I look up from writing in my journal and found that some birds snuck in from the front.  I turned my camera on and waited for a shot opportunity on one of the birds.  The opportunity came and I pulled my Allegiance back.

This brings me back to the shot I described in the beginning of this article.  At the shot and the bird dropped for a second and then flapped around in circle, making it another 15 yards before it piled up.  I couldn’t help but get excited after the shot and the wait to go and put my hands on my first every bow killed turkey was tough to handle.

I went after the bird and looked it over with much admiration.  These birds really do have a beauty all their own.  The bird was a young one. It had a four inch beard and about ½ in spurs.  It later weighed in at 12 lbs.  I had my first Rio Grande Turkey on the ground with a bow!    Not bad for my first mornings hunt. I had my “First Turkey Down!”

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