Turkey Season is here. Strike one!

theoldarcher · Post by **theoldarcher** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:33 pm

I thought it was tough hunting with a bow for turkey but hunting with a crossbow is even tougher. Turkey season got underway here in Georgia this past Saturday and I am hunting with my Phoenix trying to take my first crossbow bird. I have successfully taken birds in the past with both my recurve and compound bows and while it wasn’t a chip shot I managed to take several with them.

I absolutely hate hunting out of a blind for the simple reason it restricts my vision and hearing and as old as I’m getting both my hearing and eyes need all the help they can get. I like to find a big old tree, nestle in all small and cozy, and call.

Yelping away on my slate call and holding a bow wasn’t very hard and after a while I never thought about it. However, for the life of me I can’t seem to hold my crossbow and use my slate. I have to lay my crossbow in my lap and call and of course as luck would have it the old gobbler sneaks in all quite and catch’s me off guard. So here I sit, crossbow in lap, old Mr. Gobbler less than 20 yards and no way to get it up to my shoulder to shoot without him turning inside out. Needless to say the Gobbler won that round.
I guess I will have to dig my blind out of mothballs and learn to like it.
Any bowhunter who says that crossbows give the user an unfair advantage over the traditional bow hunter has never tried hunting with a crossbow.

cdup · Post by **cdup** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:49 pm

Any bowhunter who says that crossbows give the user an unfair advantage over the traditional bow hunter has never tried hunting with a crossbow.

Only untill they hunt with one, they will never know! Good luck with the turkeys, you're get another chance.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:55 pm

It sounds like you are on the right track! I have to admit, I am terribly jealous that you are out there.. OK, maybe just a bit envious.

I like slate calls, I have no use for a box call and I can understand how hard of a balance it is to hold that bow and a call and make them both work flawlessly. I have resorted to using two calls, I use my slate for as long as I can, then when the pressure is on I rely on a mouth reed and/or a call that mounts to the bottom of my rail and operates from a string, so far it has been a great system and I have yet to retire a tag that wasn't attached to a bird.

Happy hunting! Good luck out there.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:18 pm

Better luck next time!

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:49 pm

I seen a crossbow holder made from copper piping it holds the bow at what ever height you need it out in front of you , it is kinda hard to decribe how to make it but im going to try , so with 1/2 inch copper pipe you come up from ground to a T then go both ways about 3 inches to another T at both ends then go out about 1 inch both ways on both ends to a 90 on all four corners then go up the height of your bow stockor so about a couple inches , then you pad the piping to hold your bow snug , then on the ground end you put a pointed rod that fits in the copper pipe and push it in the ground to hold it up sturdy and at what ever height you need it at . hope this helps guys , i hope you can make sence of it .

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:10 pm

For the holder you can also drill and pin the pipe that comes up from the ground so you can set it at different heights .

theoldarcher · Post by **theoldarcher** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:26 pm

It's about 7:30 p.m. here now. At 15 till 7 I was sitting on the front porch watching my flock of birds on the hillside feed to thier roosting site. As luck would have it they pass within 20 yards of a blow down on thier way to roost. I found some burlap blind material that I had forgot about having in the shed while looking for my popup this afternoon. Tomorrow well before roost time I am going to set up a make shift blind in the blow down and wait. I like the idea of a crossbow holder and will play with the making of one this weekend. If everything goes as planed (murphys law not withstanding) hopefully Old Tom will be in trouble tomorrow.

cdup · Post by **cdup** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:51 pm

xbowking wrote:I seen a crossbow holder made from copper piping it holds the bow at what ever height you need it out in front of you , it is kinda hard to decribe how to make it but im going to try , so with 1/2 inch copper pipe you come up from ground to a T then go both ways about 3 inches to another T at both ends then go out about 1 inch both ways on both ends to a 90 on all four corners then go up the height of your bow stockor so about a couple inches , then you pad the piping to hold your bow snug , then on the ground end you put a pointed rod that fits in the copper pipe and push it in the ground to hold it up sturdy and at what ever height you need it at . hope this helps guys , i hope you can make sence of it .

Sounds easy enough, but I would recommend 3/4" or 7/8" copper tubing. You could save on materials if you do away with the 90's and just bend the soft tubing into a short sweeping 90.JMHO. If you want I could solder something up and see if that is what you are describing.

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:16 pm

Im going to solder on up tomorrow night and i will post pics , i cold fitted one tonight and off the 2 "T" 's at each end you just go right to a 90 , the kind of 90's that are only flared on one end put the small end right into the T and that seems to fit the stock just right . i just might take some pics tonight .

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 10:55 pm

here is the crossbow holder , just add your lenght of pole you need to the ground , I hate dial up it only took me about an hour to get these 3 pics on here , hope they work , GEEEEEEZZZ im ready for bed.

MADMAX2 · Post by **MADMAX2** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:58 am

Looks good thanks for the pics,I will make one for tukey hunting and paint or wrap with camo tape.How are the turkeys doing up your way?I saw quite a few near Minden this winter.

Limbs and Sticks · Post by **Limbs and Sticks** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 10:48 am

Good job xbowking wrap with pipe insulation to make sure no noise looks good for any kind of hunting.

Wes

lscha · Post by **lscha** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:17 pm

Could this be done with PVC connections?

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:38 pm

lscha wrote:Could this be done with PVC connections?

Absolutely.

Personally, I prefer just to use an adjustable shooting stick for hand support ... but my hands are big enough that I can grasp the stick well with my bottom two fingers and hold a gun or a bow with my thumb, index and middle finger.

Whatever suits each of us best, I say!

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:25 pm

lscha wrote:Could this be done with PVC connections?

Yes you could use PVC , but the main support pole might have to be more rigid , just put the metal rod that you need to stick in the ground up inside the PVC farther , good idea Ischa. PVC is alot lighter than copper . cooool!!

Excalibur Crossbow Forum

Turkey Season is here. Strike one!

Turkey Season is here. Strike one!

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