Everything turkey...

[jhg]

I've got a LOT to learn about turkey hunting.

Tell us your hunt story and what it taught you about bow hunting these birds. In the mean time I'll do my part and read everything in the archives.

Thanks

Joshua, turkey rookie.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

The most important tool for turkey hunting aside from the weapons used, what type of call, or even your camo......the most valuable tool above all else that you can build your arsenal around is Scouting.

Get out well before the season opener and scout, pattern the birds, and know the flock you will be hunting. In the spring season you will be focusing on gobbler groups/roost sites, and feeding/strutting areas. Many people think all you have to do is spend a bunch of money on a fancy call and the best camo around, then run the ridge tops to get a turkey. While that does work in some cases, knowing your local turkey population, their roost sites, and strutting areas will put more birds in your bag than any other tactic. You have to be in between where they are and where they are going. You will know if you set up in the wrong spot because they will answer your calls with every breath as they get further and further away until you can't hear them any longer.

Turkeys aren't smart like most misconceptions, they are actually quite stupid, otherwise why would they walk right up to a plastic or foam decoy out in the middle of an open field with a big camo blob (blind) sitting right next to them?

They have the most accute senses of just about anything you will encounter next to a coyote.....good thing turkeys can't smell or we would never kill one.
They also have very little curiosity of the unknown. One false move and they are gone so fast it's like they were never there. Their keen eyesight and hearing are what makes them so challenging to persue.

Learn their roosting areas.....feeding/strutting areas......and their travel route to and from those 2 areas, then set up in a good ambush point somewhere in between and you will get your bird. The calls, camo, blinds, and decoys are optional if you do your homework. Spend as much time in their habitat well before the season opens, but do so without bumping them off their roosts or calling to them because you may run them out before you get a crack at them. Just keep your distance and learn their habits.

One last thing, if your state allows you to hunt at least until 1pm, I suggest that you take advantage of that. Gobblers may return to the area where they were roosted around mid day, especially if you called to them and they answered you. After they have courted all the available hens for the morning, they will often come back to where they heard the  "One"  that wouldn't follow them...that's You. Be there and wait them out.    

That's the best advice I can possibly give and it's how I get my gobblers every spring.

[jhg]

Awesome Chris! Thank you.

Joshua

[Oliverstacy]

I HATE TURKEYS!!!

I have 3 holes in my DB netting to remind me of that fact!  I'd have 4 holes but the netting was up for one of my 4 misses.

Maybe this year!

Josh

[crotch horn]

In heavily hunted areas the less calling the better. Turkeys who get called to but not killed eventually get the idea. Hunting with a partner is a plus for toms that hang up. The shooter bring 20-30 yards closer to the birds than the caller. Good luck & remember, being lucky is just as good as knowing what you are doing. Great advice btw. The biggest part of success is knowing where the turkeys want to be & getting there first.

[Osage61]

Semo_Hunter; that was some of the best, and easiest advice I've read or heard for turkey hunting       . I like the bit about camo etc being optional if we do our homework. Couldn't agree more. I liked how you explained the scouting part: where are the birds and where are they going? Thanks for posting       .

[wollelybugger]

Get the Primo's videos and practice their calling. They will show you how to set up and call if you watch them. Primo' true double mouth  call is a good one for a beginner.

[j_haus]

A good blind is worth every penny!(imho) The biggest thing to remember about a turkey is that from the time they are an egg to the day they die every predator in the woods is trying to eat them. If something doesn't look right they are gone in a hurry.  The difference between deer and turkeys is simple.  A deer will look at a hunter in the woods and think he's a stump, a turkey will look at a stump and think it's a hunter.  Getting a turkey with a stick and string is tough, but I love every minute of it!

[wapiti792]

I am writing a story about turkies right now...but here's what I know: THEY ARE EVIL! They dodge arrows like the Matrix, they walk all over you and give you perfect shots then they duck and dance around the arrow, run just out of range, then strut. Well that's what happened last year...twice. But they are fun, and if you are lucky enough to have a bunch of birds around, you are getting one of the funnest hunts on the planet  

[j_haus]

Turkey hunting:  90% luck 10% skill  100%fun!    

[beauleyse]

Turkey hunting is about being where the birds want to be...I have 5 pieces of property I am allowed to hunt every year, after the land owners have their birds... So that means on an average year I have to watch between 7 and 15 birds that I call in, die before I ever get to pick up my bow and try for one myself....That was 4 years ago and I'm still allowed to hunt under these rules for free so I guess I'm doing something right.... When I started chasing these birds I began to read everything I can and could on turkey's This is what I have learned....First Learn their habits in general...Like in south Georgia area I hunt birds that are either in the woody bottoms or fields so I have a plan for birds in the woods and a plan for birds in fields...Birds in the fields pitch down in the edge of the woods and walk into the fields...Most wood birds pitch down into clearings inside of the woods i.e. food plots, logging road, or natural openings....I then use my knowledge and apply it to how the bird is acting on that day... Second learn to yelp and cut to gain a response, but you really need to learn to cluck and purr very well, these are the calls that will ease the tension and bring that big old tom in...I carry a dozen calls just because you never know what is going to strike them...If your starting out buy a box call, a slate call with glass and with slate, buy a diaphragm in single or double reed.... Also buy a hoot howl, and a crow call...I have 5 different locator calls just because I feel that they are the most important because if you don't narrow down a general location of the bird all the above is almost useless.... Practice with these calls ALOT!!!!! If I hunt in a blind I don't use a decoy most of the time because I want the turkey to think the hen is behind me so he will hopefully commit to within a comfortable bow range if he hangs up....If you on the ground without a blind using a deke is a must so his focus is off of you so you can draw...If your just starting though I agree with the above a good blind is what you need...
So before the season comes in go out and just listen at day light and sun set to find out where the birds are roosting most birds around here are pretty patternable...After a few days of seeing where they roost you now can start deciding where they go throughout the morning and you now have a general idea of where to set up the morning of your hunt... the rest is saying the right thing at the right time....Which honestly comes with practice and trial and error because its a chess game each time because you are making a tom do an un natural thing....

Here are a few birds I called in and the happy landowners are posing with their shot birds...
This sport takes practice and patience but nothing beats a gobbling bird at 20 yards!!!!

no images wider than 640, please

[j_haus]

One thing I have also noticed with turkeys is where you're hunting and what species.  Hunting easterns in GA with my brother in the big pine forests is a lot different than hunting them here in IA.  The country here is a lot more small woodlots and open field hunting and getting close can be tough.  The merriams we hunt in NE act totally different than the easterns in IA.  I don't call a lot in IA, but in NE the birds are extremely vocal and I am almost calling continuously to get them to come in. Being able to "read" the birds and how they are reacting is important and only comes with time and practice.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Your welcome Jhg and Osage, do your homework and you can turn that 90% luck 10% skill into better than 50/50 success rate.
My 2 biggest gobblers to date were taken without ever touching a call. A good blind, a love triangle with 2 hens and a jake decoy spread, and being in the right place at the right time from a month of scouting and glassing from afar is all it took. The big ol tom just waddled right on in spitting, strutting, and drumming the whole way.
I was just about to shake myself out of my camo bibs before the shot was offered.
Now that's excitement!  

[Roy Steele]

Patince,scout your birds so you can use your number 1 tactic get in front of your gobbler. I f your already where he wants to go. Your calling just went from bad to great.

[Carpdaddy]

Good advice from all. I am a newbie at hunting those rascals, this past season being my first. I have taken many deer with both longbows and recurves but Turkeys I am 0 for 3. Got three shots last spring out of a blind, close enough to look like a good shot but three misses! So my best advice would be to practice shooting from a blind or what ever postion you will be hunting from. Then practice some more! Like I need to do.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

It took me years of frustration to understand that you are never going to make a turkey go where it doesn't want to go. Sure the calling helps, but if they have a certain destination in mind when their feet hit the ground, no amount of calling will convince them otherwise. The only thing you can do is get in front of them by backing out and hoofing it around them in a large circle and then set up where you "hope" they are headed.

Like Roy stated, if your in the right area or set up in one of their travel routes your calling can be less than perfect and still be effective.
Get some decoys if you plan to be sitting still in a certain spot, or in a blind. I've had toms come in silent just because they saw the decoys and I didn't even have to call....just sit still and watch until they gave me a shot.
I use a trio of 2 hens and a jake, something about a jake that has a pair of hens tied up just drives a mature gobbler nuts! When he comes in he will be mad and ready to whip some tail. I've had my jake decoy thumped several times before I was able to get the shot off.

[hitman]

Stay put. They know where you are at and will investigate where your calls come from. I used to run all over the place and so many times they would gobble where I had just left from.

[Hogcoots]

To be a good turkey hunter you must put your time in and learn.  My experience is that this time of year, it is not uncommon to find groups of hens and groups of toms.  As breeding season gets closer, these groups will disperse and stake out areas for strutting and nesting.  Hens typically go to toms when the gobbling starts. I don't care how good your calling is, it will not beat the real thing.  Once that hen gets to the tom he will not leave her to pursue your calls. Listen to those hens though, as it is not a bad strategy to mimic the calls of a hen. You can cut her off and yelp over her in an effort to make her mad. I have had hens get so mad at my calling thinking that another hen is crowding her space and competing with her that they come charging in bringing a tom trotting right behind them.

Once the hens begin nesting, they will leave the toms in mid to late morning to head to their nests.  This is the time that he will be the most vulnerable as he "gets lonely" and will be very receptive to your calling. When he responds and he gets within your sight, do not overcall.  They have an uncanny ability to pinpoint the location of the call.  If there is no hen where they think that there should be, they get very wary.  Once they commit to your calling and it is obvious that they are heading your way, the best thing to do is shut up and get ready.  A new hunter generally has a tendency to call too much and call too loudly.  Remember, listen to the hens and make the same sounds that they make.  They generally don't walk through the woods screaming their heads off.  They make a wide variety of yelps, clucks, cuts, and purrs. Remember, put your time in and keep listening and learning.  Patience is not just a virture in turkey hunting...it is a requirement.

[BTW]

location, location, location! .....So scouting is important. Figure out where they like to hang out, especially if you'll be in a blind.  Sometimes it comes down to an exact bench or meadow where a gobbler likes to show off. If they're "henned up", then be where the hens are. Something like bucks and does during the rut.  Some gobblers will get on a specific travel routine. Setup appropriately.  Learn how to call half decent and get a "feel" for what mood they're in and call accordingly. One day you'll be wondering why in the heck am I chasing these crazy birds. And the next, boom!, it all comes together. Good luck.

[Ray Lyon]

Run and gun as preached in the turkey magazines/video's is not as condusive to bow hunting do to the movement needed to get a shot off. It is fun though.

The first response you received is probably the one that will help you get a bird. I'd just add one trick to that and that's once you find those key areas, consider putting up a blind and BEING PATIENT.  The bird I'm holding in my avitar was taken about 10:30 in the morning.  I had birds roosted within a hundred yards, but nothing worked first thing (gobbles all around me)  I was hunting private land and had out a "flock"
of decoys which included a standing jake, breeding jake and hen and two standing hens. A pair of wandering 6" beard teenagers finally got bored and came trotting in to the setup at 17 yards.

 Bottom line, do your homework, set up for the long haul and be patient (and call sparingly at most). Be careful with jake setups even on private land. MI seasons are mixed bag of shotgun and bow hunters.