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I have made my mark on the bowfishing world by shooting flying silver carp, sting rays, and huge alligator gar, but Kentucky and Barkley Lake offered something completely new…snapping turtles! I was in Kentucky competing in the Campbell’s Outdoor Bowfishing Challenge (for those of you who have never seen it on television it’s the sport of filming hunts and getting points based on ability to film and hunting or bowfishing abilities). After a week of scouting Kentucky and Barkley lakes trying to locate big fish in much the same way you would scout for a big buck, David Vowtow, Todd Witkowski, and I were itching to shoot something none of us had ever harvested. This led us on a new adventure in search of snapping turtles.
Unlike our home states of Texas and Wisconsin, snapping turtles are legal to harvest with a bow in Kentucky. So, on the last night before the challenge, Todd grabbed the camera and David and I grabbed our bows. Once we were on the water we fired up the generator and turned on our eleven 300 watt lights around the boat; the hunt was on.
Shooting snapping turtles might sound easy, but if it’s not executed properly you could wind up going home without a couple fingers. We used Shure-Shot fish points because they allowed the easiest removal while still keeping your hands plenty far away from the turtle’s powerful jaw. I recommend if you plan on trying this yourself to aim for only head shots, since this keeps the business end of the turtle under control when you are bringing them into the boat.
We weren’t in the water long when David spotted a snapper coming out from underneath a fallen limb. He waited for the turtle to clear the brush, and with one well placed arrow, we had our first turtle of the night. The next turtle we saw was swimming for all it was worth in about two feet of water. The prey’s head and neck stretched out from the water and I made a perfect shot. The third turtle we brought in was lying on the bottom resting when David and I both shot at the same time. Our arrows hit their marks and within seconds we had our third turtle in the boat.
We harvested three more turtles with our bows and then we switched to grabbing them with our hands. Hand grabbing a full-grown snapping turtle is not for the faint of heart and everything must go perfectly. First, you need to find a turtle in shallow water, and he must be swimming. Once a turtle is located one man lays down and hangs over the front of the boat while the other runs the trolling motor and chases the turtle (trust in your partner’s boat maneuvering skills is a must). As soon as the boat is in position close enough all you have to do is grab the turtle by the tail and hoist him into the boat.
At the end of the night David and I each had four snapping turtles around the thirty pound range. We eventually cleaned the turtles and had meat for turtle stew and fried turtle sandwiches, with enough left over to bring home for family and friends to try. It was a meal fit for a king, or at least for a bunch of redneck bowfishermen.
These turtles were definitely trophy worthy, so we pressure washed and dried the shells of the biggest ones in order to display them for any non-believers when we tell this story, or even better, Thanks to Todd’s great camera work, we have all of this on camera for everyone to enjoy. This is just another example of seizing a new opportunity because otherwise you may miss out on something as amazing as snapper turtle shooting.
