Renewed Confidence Results in Overdue Longbow Turkey Harvest

Affiliate Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.

As a guy who loves traditional archery equipment, I like to shoot both recurves and longbows. But I’m honest enough with myself to know I shoot a recurve better than I shoot a longbow.

I practice with my longbow every year and often get myself pumped up to hunt with it, but almost every year, right before hunting season, I lose confidence in my shooting and end up grabbing my recurve. I just feel so much more comfortable and confident with my recurve that I almost always chicken out. I did use a longbow almost 15 years ago to shoot an antelope and made a great shot, but I went back to the recurve and could just never get my longbow confidence back.

This past spring was no different. I had a trip planned to hunt Florida and was so excited to take my longbow to try and not only get my first turkey with a longbow but to make it an Osceola. I was also hoping to take my first hog with a longbow, as I have taken a lot of Osceolas and hogs in the past with my recurve. So, I was excited to switch it up.

I was shooting a Bear Ausable longbow with 500 Easton Legacy arrows tipped with the new Wasp CBW broadheads I had helped design. This is the same arrow I shoot out of my recurve. The problem was, I would have great days shooting the longbow, but once in a while a bad release would cause a flyer. I’m not used to my recurve being that sensitive, but I also wasn’t grouping as well as I wanted. So, consistent with my past decisions, at the last minute I chickened out and took my recurve. I had a great trip and shot a beautiful Osceola and a hog. I had fun, but I was a little disappointed in myself.

When I got home to Colorado, I started shooting my longbow again and realized I was pushing it trying to make the same arrow work for two bows. The 500 was overspined for the longbow. When I switched to the 600-spine Legacys, my groups came together, and the odd flyer was now only an inch or two out of the group, not 6-7 inches. With my confidence back, I started shooting the longbow more. As I became more efficient, I decided to go after a turkey with my longbow.

I had been busy guiding turkey hunters in Colorado, but when I had a break between some clients, I decided to go out with it. It felt more balanced without a quiver, so I was really bare bones. In fact, while fine-tuning the 600 arrows, I had just tied on some dental floss to act as a nocking point indicator. Since it was working and the arrows were flying great, I didn’t even want to add the brass nock set I would usually crimp on after tuning. If I missed a shot at a turkey, I didn’t want any excuses. I set up a Cabela’s Specialist XL pop-up blind, because it’s huge and had plenty of head space for my longbow. It also had room for two comfortable chairs, a camera on a tripod and Lauren, who was going to film the hunt for me.

We settled into the blind, and I had just let out a few yelps when a flock of jakes started coming at my decoys. I was so excited, I had to keep telling myself to pick a spot. The birds were on us quickly; I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Had a gobbler come in first, I would have shot at it, but since a flock of jakes turned up first, I was going to shoot at one of them. I resisted the urge to flock shoot them and waited until one gave me the shot angle I wanted. For me, that is broadside, quartering away or straight away. The jake I was locked on finally turned. I drew and shot quickly, and the arrow struck the bird in the chest. He flipped over, walked about 10 yards and dropped. Another jake attacked him, and then, to add insult to a fatal injury, he mounted him!

I was more than a little excited with my first longbow turkey, and now I want to take an elk with it. Every time I shoot a longbow, it gives me even more appreciation and admiration for those who are dedicated longbow shooters and consistently take all kinds of animals with them. I am not as good with it as I am with my recurve, and my range has definitely decreased, with 20 yards being my maximum. Since the best part of bowhunting to me is getting close, when I go hunting with the longbow, I just have to get a little closer, which is part of the fun.

You can watch my turkey hunt on MOTV’s Just Shot digital series, and it will be on Everything Eichler on Sportsman Channel this fall. Good luck with whatever bow you hunt with this year. If I don’t chicken out, I hopefully will have an elk story to share soon!

---