&nb sp;                    Turkey Bow Slam
It was the fall of 2004 and the thought of a bow slam seemed like just a dream. Little did I know by the end of the 2006 spring season it would be complete. The best part about it I got to share the whole experience with my wife-camera woman Holly. Merriam The first place we hit was Gordon, Nebraska for a Merriam. We got to the outfitter a day early. He told us we could start hunting that evening due to the bad weather that was on its way. That afternoon we got into the birds pretty quickly and saw lots of them. We worked numerous birds but could not seal the deal. That night I was restless. I couldn’t get any sleep. All I was thinking of is all the birds we saw that day. I just knew the next day I would get a crack at one.

Saturday morning finally came and we headed out the door and we could have not asked for better weather. We walked a few hundred yards along the Niobrara River and waited until we heard the first gobble. It wasn’t long and we heard birds erupt across the river. Now was the time to setup our blind. We found a little clearing that just looked to be a perfect strut zone. We put the decoys out and it was game time. I made a couple of yelps and it wasn’t long. Here came a long beard flying across the river. It landed within 50 yards of our setup. We worked the bird for minutes that when 3 hens appeared. The hens started to walk the other way. I made a couple of yelps and the gobbler broke away. Here he was coming my way. I knew my moment of truth was near. He was only 10 yards away in full strut and still coming closer. I raised my bow and put my pin on him. I slowly squeezed my release finger and watched my arrow hit pay dirt. I shot him at about 7 yards and he fell motionless at 15 yards. There it was my first turkey with the bow. A Merriam with an 8 inch beard, 20 lbs 8 oz., and 7/8 inch spurs.

            &nb sp;                          Rio Grande
The next day we headed to Kansas for my Rio Grande. We arrived a day early and used that to our advantage. The first morning there we headed out to listen for some birds. Once again we heard numerous gobblers. Now all we had to do was setup the blind and wait for the next day. We arrived the next day to our blind and it wasn’t long before we heard the sounds of spring. Right at daybreak we had a mature tom fly down into our decoys. We could not get the camera on him right away and he eventually went on the other side of a barbed wire fence. He was still only 15 yards but because or of the barbed wire I didn’t want to risk a bad shot. As soon as we didn’t have any more birds in sight we moved our blind. Now we were hoping the fence wouldn’t be in our way. As the day went on we worked numerous gobblers but just couldn’t connect. Around 3:00 pm birds just appeared from everywhere. At one time we had 15 long beards in a field strutting. It was the most amazing thing I ever witnessed hunting. We had 4 of them come in but once again they circled from behind. We had them spitting and drumming within 2 yards of the blind. The only problem was it was the backside of the blind. Our luck finally changed we had 4 hens coming our way. Right behind them 2 long beards was following in full strut. It didn’t take them long and they were in shooting distance. I had a nice 15-yard shot and struck the tom perfect. Now my slam was half way complete with that Rio. He was 17.5 lbs 9 ¼ inch beard and 1 inch spurs.

            &nb sp;                      Eastern
The rest of the 2005 season we tried for an eastern in PA and NY. The first day of Pa season I called in a huge bird. He hung up at about 40 yards. I knew my limitations with the bow so I decided to pass on the shot. But I did have my muzzleloader shotgun with. After watching the bird a few more minutes I couldn’t resist. I knew at the time he would be the biggest gobbler I would have ever scored on, so I raised the gun and squeezed the trigger. All I could see was a big black cloud of smoke. After the smoke cleared I saw my tom flopping. He was 20 lbs, 10 5/8-inch beard and 1-¼ inch spurs. In the NWTF records he currently ranks #1 for a gobbler taken in PA with a muzzleloader. We got close a couple times in New York but could not close the deal. So I would have to wait for 2006 to get my Eastern and Osceola.
            &nb sp;                         Osceola
Before we new it the 2006 season was here. The last week of March we headed to Florida. We arrived a day early to look around and set the blind up. This ended up to be one of the quickest turkey hunt I was ever on. The first morning there we heard a few gobbles at daybreak. It wasn’t long and we had a hen check the decoys out. The hen stuck around a few minutes and then wondered away. About 15 minutes later we saw a tom about 150 yards away. Once he looked in our direction it was over. I never saw a turkey run into turkeys like him. He closed that distance in probably less than 30 seconds. He went right for the strutting Jake decoy. He flopped the tail feathers right off of the decoy. And all this was taking place at less then 5 yards of our blind. I watched him do his thing for a little bit while it all was being recorded. But now it was time to take him. I drew my Hoyt Trykon back and lot the pin right where it needed to be. I left the arrow go and once again it found its mark. The bird took about 5 steps and fell over. He was actually touching the blind when he fell over. That’s how close he was. The gobbler sported 10-inch beard 1-¼ spurs and weighed 20 lbs 2 oz. Three down and one to go.
            &nb sp;                         &nb sp; Eastern
The last bird I needed to complete my bow slam was the eastern. The first chance I would get would be in Missouri. So Holly and I headed to Any Season Outdoors with Bryan Gasper. We arrived a day before the season opened and checked some spots out. Once again we set the blind up so we didn’t have to do it the next morning. That evening Bryan showed us around and did we see lots of turkeys. The next morning we headed to our spot. It wasn’t long we heard some gobblers. The morning was looking pretty bright. The birds finally flew down so we started hitting some calls. It wasn’t long before we had a Jake come into investigate. He stuck around for a little while when all of a sudden he got nervous. Initially thought it was something in our setup he didn’t like. But I looked to my right and that when I saw a long beard strutting. He was coming our way. I knew we were going to get a chance. After 45 minutes of working our calls we got the bird to come into our decoys. He stared at the strutting tom decoy for a couple of minutes. Right when I thought he was going to face away I lifted my bow. The old wise tom busted me. I did manage to get a shot but I missed. I will admit that bird had me rattled. I was pretty bummed out I thought my slam would have to wait another year. It wasn’t long we heard some more gobbles. I would call every 15 minutes. After sitting patiently we could tell the one bird was getting closer. It wasn’t long and the bird appeared. He was about 70 yard away. I called he gobbled but he would not budge. This also went on for one half hour or so. I could tell the old wise tom was losing Interest. This is when Ii had to reach in my bag of tricks. I looked at Holly and said I needed your help. I told here to grab a slate call and yelp with it. This was her first experience calling to a gobbler. She kept yelping and I was yelping, clucking and purring. You could see the tome was getting fired up. It wasn’t long until the red headed long beard decided to come in. He marched right into the decoys and started strutting back and forth. He gave me a good clean 10-yard shot. We watched my arrow strike the sweet spot. That’s when it hit me that my dream was now a reality. Our journey was now complete thanks to a 20 lb 10oz. 10 5/8-inch beard and 7/8 inch spurred eastern.

The last couple of spring seasons have been amazing. It’s been an honor to conquer such a feat. According to the information on the NWTF records, I was the first PA hunter to complete the bow slam. To me that means a lot with all the great hunters that came from the keystone state. Now I have a new dream and that is to complete the royal and world slam with my bow in hand. I also want to thank my wife Holly for sharing these special hunts with me.