Well, another spring turkey season here in Texas has come and
gone. In my part of the north Texas woods, it was the first
time in seven years that it did not rain on opening weekend
Friday and/or Saturday. It did rain like crazy starting
mid-morning Sunday and for the rest of the day!
I
hope your spring season was as successful as mine. I had the
privilege of calling in yet another gobbler for a friend of
mine who had never harvested a "Spring King" before! I was
also fortunate enough to harvest another mature tom who was
sporting my "personal best" longest spurs. But, sad to say,
these two stories are both for an upcoming article! And on a
personal note, my wife and I celebrated the birth of our third
son - Chase Douglas - in late April! Hopefully, in the
future, with three sons, I will always have somebody around to
"tote the heavy stuff" for me
In
Part II of "A Turkey Hunting Primer", I would like to cover
hunting and calling techniques, setups, and hunting
accessories that most everybody should carry around the woods.
Hunting Techniques - For
me, the hardest part of spring turkey hunting is not really
hunting at all. It's in the morning when I have no idea where
to start hunting. Like many of us, I work full time and do
not have the extra time to properly scout for roosted birds.
I have had the luxury of being on the same hunting lease for
about ten years. So, I have a pretty good idea from year to
year where our birds are gonna hang out. But, sometimes our
birds just don't cooperate. They must get together at night
and pick new hiding spots.
My
normal, hectic, pre-dawn, opening weekend routine (when I'm
hunting by myself) is to jump in my truck at least an hour or
so before daylight and head out to the middle of our lease. I
will usually sit on the tailgate of my truck until the first
gobbles float out of the woods. I then try and sneak to
within 75 to 150 yards of where I think the bird is roosted.
Of course, the distance that I can safely close on the roost
tree is completely dictated by light conditions and terrain.
The darker/cloudier the sky is and the more wooded it is, will
allow me to close to within 50 to 125 yards. If the woods are
sparse and/or a full moon with clear skies is occurring, then
I may only get to within 150 to 300 yards.
If I
am guiding two or three hunters, my usual tactic is to head to
known strutting/feeding areas and then try and locate some
roosted birds. When we locate one, we then move in and try
and find enough "cover" for all of us to hide in. Sometimes,
this can be tough to do. More than once, while doing some
last minute chores like trimming shooting lanes or positioning
decoys, we have been "busted" by sharp-eyed birds.
Turkeys have exceptional eyesight and have to survive
by spotting predators in the woods. A large, man-sized shape
lumbering through the early morning woods is bound to attract
some attention! You have use the surrounding terrain to try
and get as close as you can without being spotted. Your best
bet is to move quietly and slowly and to not try and get too
close to a roosted bird.
Let's
say that your initial "sneak-in" has worked and you have found
a suitable spot to call from. What do you do next...
Calling Techniques - This
is where the real fun begins! After you have
found the "perfect" tree, bush, or boulder (in the dark!),
arranged all your gear, positioned your decoys, trimmed all
your shooting lanes, set up the video camera, pulled on your
camo face veil and gloves, got situated on the ground, dug
cactus or thorny vines out of your bottom, and finally jacked
a shell into the chamber of your favorite "turkey slayer",
you're now ready to start calling!
Of
course, that is, if the whole turkey world hasn't seen you and
the sun hasn't been up for over two hours! I usually carry
more gear into the woods than the "Lewis and Clark"
expeditions! The "Nina, Pinta, and Santa Marie" don't have
nothing on me when it comes to supplies!
Let's
assume that all has gone well. After getting situated, I
usually don't do anything but sit very still and let the
nearby woods settle back down. I will generally try and use
an owl hoot locator call next. Locator calls will often cause
the toms to shock gobble. This will help pinpoint your
intended bird and will sometimes alert you to other close-by
toms. Depending on how close you were able to get to the
"intended victim" will direct your calling sequence.
If
you are able to close to within 50 to 100 yards, very soft
tree yelps are your starting point. But, use caution here! I
can't stress enough how good a turkey's eyesight is. If you
are within 100 yards, minimal movement is critical.
Hopefully, you can use a diaphragm call to keep movements very
limited. If you are using a box or slate call, you must
shield your movement behind your body or nature's vegetation.
The
tree yelps you produce should be soft and intoxicating. The
yelps should be telling the roosted gobbler that there's "a
new girl in town and she wants some loving"! If the tom
gobbles right back or cuts you off in the middle of your
yelps, shut up and sit real still. The old boy knows your
close and he will more than likely come by for a "look-see" in
the near future. If the gobbler you heard before you set up
doesn't respond or takes several minutes to respond, then you
may have gotten too close and he knows something is up. In
that case, shut up and sit real still. You may not have been
seen by a silent, subordinate gobbler who will drop by later
after fly down. Plus, it's getting too late in the morning to
relocate without being seen. You will need to sit tight and
listen for the birds to fly down. Then, you can begin to try
some more aggressive yelping, clucks, feeding purrs, etc...
If my
setup is in the 125 yard and over range, I generally try to
start out with some fly down cackles (after using some locator
calls). I slap my thigh with my hand or hat (while
cackling!) loudly and rapidly trying to sound like a hen whose
wings are flapping. Use of a diaphragm call during this type
of calling sequence is almost a must! If your hunting with a
buddy, one person can call and one person can flap like mad.
One
important thing to remember is to not call too much. Pay
attention and listen to the "real" turkeys in the woods. Try
and mimic their calling rhythm and cadence. Real turkeys
don't yelp 30 or 40 times in a row. I once heard a hen yelp
27 times in a row. I actually thought it was another hunter
until she walked out in front of me and yelped 23 more times!
That was the noisiest hen that I've ever heard. She was the
exception rather than the rule. The normal "real" hen yelp
sequence is generally 5 to 11 yelps in a row. They seem
to always yelp in odd numbers? I don't know why, but they
do. There are lots of good calling tapes that can really help
with your different calls and calling sequences.
Once
you have a big old tom headed in your direction, have your gun
up and pointed in the direction that you expect him to show up
at. Waiting until the gobbler is in sight and then trying to
raise and shoulder your weapon can be futile. Even if you
haven't heard any gobbles in a while - BE READY. Silent,
sneaky toms are always afoot. Try and always have your weapon
up on one knee and leveled out while calling or glassing.
With
shotgun at the ready and a tom approaching, little movement
and minimal calling is the ticket. Many, many toms are lost
by hunters calling too much and the toms gobbling back too
much. Nearby hens are always there to "steal your man away"!
You have to remember that your goal is to harvest or
photograph the tom. Having him gobble his silly head off is
fun, but dangerous!
In
nature, a tom turkey only gobbles to show dominance or to
attract hens. The gobbler usually stands around gobbling and
the hens come to him. In hunting, you are trying to reverse
nature's way. You are the hen standing still and you are
trying to make the tom come to you. If the tom continues to
gobble non-stop, he is attracting other hens. And hens are
the enemy! They will save the gobbler nearly every time from
your camera or gun! When a gobbler is 100 yards away and he
hears you, but sees a real hen in the woods, what do you think
he's gonna do? Well, go for the real deal of course! Nine
times out of ten, the hen will lead the tom away while he
continues to gobble at your frantic calls.
Very
frustrating, but very true. So, if your tom is moving in your
direction, call sparingly and only to keep him interested.
You do not want him to gobble too much. Or else those
lovesick hens may steal him away!
Your
tom is still approaching and no evil hens are in the area.
Your gun is in the ready position and your calling sparingly.
You know your gun's range and it's patterning. Your sights
are locked on target. All seems to be right in the world.
Enjoy these precious few times as something is bound to go
very wrong, very soon!
Setups - Decoys or no
decoys? Sit on the ground or hide in a blind? Mossy Oak or
Real Tree? Ginger or Maryann? These are just a few of the
decisions that today's turkey hunters must face. I have had
very good luck at times with decoys. This last spring, I
didn't use a decoy and was involved with three harvests.
Decoys seem to me to work best with jakes and subordinate
toms. Jakes haven't usually been shot at and missed around
decoys yet, so they are generally fairly bold around decoys.
Subordinate toms are usually beat down by the dominate toms
and will try and breed whenever they can sneak away from the
big boss. The dominate toms usually have hens around them, so
they won't come to the decoys unless the hens head towards the
decoys. Toms virtually always follow where the hens go.
When
calling to dominate toms, the best decoy setup for me to use
is two or three hens and one Jake. I will position one hen on
the ground with the Jake in a mating position above her. I
always place the Jake facing me and no closer than 25 to 30
yards away. Toms mostly approach other toms from the front and
hens from the rear. If the gobbler that you are hunting
circles to face your Jake decoy, you don't want your
Jake/hen pair to be too close.
Place
the breeding pair in an area that will allow you the clearest
shot. I then try and place the other two hen decoys at 45
degree angles from me at about 12 to 15 yards. That way, if
the incoming tom hangs up at 25 to 30 yards, you will still
have a reasonable 35 to 45 yard shot.
Remember, you want your decoys to be seen. Set up on field
edges, the open sides of hills, clear cuts for electrical
right-of-ways, old logging roads (preferably unused!), etc...
When
afternoon hunting by myself, I usually only take one hen decoy
with me. If the real hens have gone to lay eggs and/or nest,
then the toms are probably lonely. One pretty little hen
decoy is more than enough to lure them in. You don't need for
the tom to mount your hen decoy or to attack your Jake decoy.
You just need for the old boss to be interested enough to come
in to your shotgun's effective range.
Hunting Accessories - As
with any and all sports and activities, there are tons of
gadgets and all types of gear for turkey hunting. Whatever
you decide to carry, it should fit your hunting style, likely
weather conditions, and your pocketbook. I have inventoried
my turkey vest and discovered so much stuff in it that I don't
know how it all got in there? Or why I even carry it?
A
sampling of my turkey vest contents: 6 knives (WHY???), 3
pens (smart!) hunting license (of course!), half roll of
electrical tape (for attaching my harvest tag), 2 emergency
rain parkas in the original packaging that have never been
opened and they are at least 5 years old???, 4 mini
flashlights?, 3 pairs of camo gloves and 4 camo head nets, a
pair of ratcheting pruning shears and small limb saw (smart!),
at least a dozen diaphragm calls, 2 box calls (in gallon size
zip-lock bags - smart!), 3 slate calls, 6 different locator
calls, 4 extra slate strikers, slate/box call repair kit,
small gun cleaning kit, 5 extra shotgun shells, compass (real
smart!), hunter orange flag (came with my vest, but is not
required in Texas), multiple decoy stakes, wristwatch,
notepad, liter bottle of water, very old trail mix and
breakfast bars, and various dead bugs, spiders, leaves, and
tree bark.
Needless to say, I have serious issues! But, as the Boy Scout
motto says, "Be prepared".
