Run and Gun Nebraska Turkey Hunting

Our good friend Ben Guttormson had a great hunt in Nebraska in 2016. He hunted with a traditional bow made by RER and the Heads Up Turkey Decoy. Ben used the Gadget Adaptor to attach the bow mount to his bow. Here is Ben's story.

Author:Ben Guttormson

The spring of 2016 found me traveling to Nebraska with my recurve to try and put a tag on my first turkey with traditional archery equipment.  I would be hunting with two good friends and concentrating my efforts on feedlots as the birds were still in a late-winter pattern. We arrived realizing spring was a little ahead of schedule and the birds had already broken up from most of the feedlots. Spots that once had 200 or more birds the week before now only with a handful. At the advice of our local friend, we decided to stick it out on the feedlots; he assured us we would have opportunities however, in my personal opinion, one of most boring things in the world to do is sit in a turkey blind when there's no turkeys around.

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In order to bag a bird, we would need to change our tactics drastically to a run-and-gun approach. The guy that we were hunting with was granted permission on several farms with plenty of ground for us to hunt. After our second morning sit on a feedlot with no action, I talked to my friend explaining that I wanted to get more aggressive with a different approach. He basically laughed in my face and said, "how are you going to run-and-gun turkeys with a recurve?!"

At this point I had to bite my tongue. I couldn't say what I wanted to say and we'll just leave it at that. Eventually, he pulled out the plat book and showed me the property boundaries for the farms we could hunt. By 10:30 that morning, I was on my way out to look for a bird I could put the HUD to work on.  I didn't take me long; I found a long beard with a couple hens working up a small coulee.

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I worked up to the top end of the coulee and used a couple small cedars to peek over the edge. The birds were all still unaware of my presence and were at about 45 yards and headed right for me. The tom was the last in the group and when his hens were behind a small roll in the hill I slid out from around the cedar with the decoy attached to my bow. The bird immediately went into strut and gobbled a couple times. I waited for him to make a move and after 15 seconds of strutting back and forth, he dropped into half strut and started running right at me.  The whole time I had my HUD in front of me. The bird ran straight for me until he reached four yards where he veered left at the last minute and went back into full strut.  My recurve was already at my anchor point by this time. As he slowed, I was able to put a good shot on him.  Nothing felt better than getting back to camp and showing my bird to my friend that had doubted the run-and-gun approach with the HUD.

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Over the next couple of days, I continued to stun my friend by using the decoy on two more birds. The first, I utilized the decoy to get in front of the tom and his hens and waited him out. This bird, like the first, charged at me but at six yards he figured out I wasn't the intruder he thought I was. Sadly, I missed him as he was leaving.  On the last bird I was able to sneak to within 25 yards using the terrain and shadowed him using the decoy until I was able to get a shot off.

Without the HUD decoy, this trip probably would have been dismal. Never again, will I leave this useful tool at home regardless of hunting with my compound or my traditional set up.

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Kansas Turkey Hunting On Limited Time

First set up of the year screen capture Click to enlarge

I vaguely remember the 2016 Kansas turkey season. Heads Up Decoy was heading towards uncharted water with new vendors on the horizon. Meeting their demands was an unknown. I would have to be efficient.

Some early season attempts to help my 8 year old son bag his first bird were feudal. His desire to hunt exceeded his physical ability, but sometimes in order to make them understand...they have to fail. I am not in a rush to get my son to killing animals. I hope he has an entire life ahead of him chasing birds and big game. When we mutually agreed that he was still a ways out from shooting a bird, it was time for me to pick up the bow.

Heads Up Turkey Decoy shown with Bow Mount

Mother Nature always has Her role in hunting. I was fortunate to find a prime day to head out for the afternoon dance. I rolled up to a spot that has produced so many times for me. No birds were visible, but I knew they were around. I grabbed my video camera, ContourHD hat cam, bow, and decoy and slipped into a nice pocket under a cedar tree in a prime location. I organized and fiddled with my equipment making little attempt at concealing my movement only to look up to see birds closing in on my location. 2 big toms and a handful of hens.

I fired up the cameras and slid the Heads Up Turkey Decoy in the Bow Mount. After a few soft hen calls, the birds were nearing bow range. The hens were leading the flock with the toms, in typical fashion, dragging up the rear. I had hoped the 2 would gang up on their intruder, but instead they angled off their direct path. The toms hung out strutting some 25 yards away while the hens continued their course now inside of 10 yards. Adjusting to the toms, I shifted my weight only to annoy a nearby hen. Her warning putts made me anxious, so I drew my bow thinking this was as good as it's going to get. When the arrow skipped low in the dirt, I thought to myself, first set up of the year...to good to be true.

Simulating a tom coming in and out of strut

One or two other attempts over the next couple of weeks fell short with no encounters. The month of May was here and no tags punched. We were blessed with a gorgeous early May afternoon. I set all my priorities aside and headed to the field. I was going to try another tactic. There was a pretty good breeze from the south, nothing out of the ordinary, but rather than run the decoy from the bow, I was going to stake it into the ground in front of me and navigate from behind.


It was warm so I expected the birds would be in the shade before they started their late afternoon stroll towards roost. As luck would have it, I spotted 2 lone toms under a cottonwood soaking up the shade. I hid the truck and positioned myself just inside the property line. I was going to call these two jokers out of the creek bottom, across a plowed field, over the road, and under the fence where I had permission to hunt. I've had better sets ups. As improbable as it looks, I felt my chances were good.

Set up using the ground stake

Once set up with the decoy easily seen from the far edge of the plowed field, I let out a series of yelps from a new call I purchased from Phelps Game Calls. The Rippin Red. I liked it...and apparently so did the toms. After a few short moments, I spotted the pair on the edge of the field. I picked up the Heads Up in my hand and simulated a tom turkey going in and out of strut. I also moved it side to side. There were coming.

As I "worked" the birds across the plowed field, the closer they came the harder it was to track them. Looking through the tail fan on the decoy or under it, I was able to pick up glimpses of red heads bobbing along. The birds where crossing the road. At the edge of the fence, some 5 steps away the birds angle to my right. They were point blank...but in the road. I had to wait for them to cross under the fence. Dropping their heads and bodies to slip under the fence less than 10 yards away, I came to full draw. Seeing some movement the birds continued on their angled course to my right. I was able to spot a good beard on one of the birds and as soon as he cleared into my shooting lane, I thumped him. The arrow hit solid and the bird flapped down the fence line. I pursued. I gave the bird one more arrow just for insurance. It wasn't needed. I observed a substantial blood trail leading back to my decoy and camera.

Full Draw On the bird I shot

I continue to be thankful for the effectiveness of the Heads Up Tom Turkey Decoy. It is much more efficient than I. From the time I left the truck to the time I put my hands on the bird was about 15 minutes. When time is limited, I still have the confidence that I will be successful. I don't need to rely on spot on scouting and patterns. I just need to see birds. Once I see them, I can take the hunt to them. In this case, I had to rely on some good calling and movement of the decoy to lure these birds from a perfectly safe place into my death trap.

Bird pictured with all the essential equipment