Turkey Tactics and Tips?

[1gutpile]

Hey JC I would love to call you in a bird ..Hit me up with a PM if you are interested..gut

[JC]

Some great little gems of wisdom here...thanks for sharing em guys!

Gut, PM sent.

[tnbuck]

JC, I,m new to the forum, and have never harvested a bird with trad gear. If my shooting is up to snuff this year I may try it. but one little trick I,ve used over the past 20 yrs chasing tom,s in South Cherokee is to make my initial setup 100-150 yrds, this gives me room for one last move. As everyone who has turkey hunted knows most of them will hang up just past where you want them, if they do I try to setup where I can move 25-30 yrds toward the bird, and when they hangup I make a quick move towards the bird using what I call a running cluck. You may bump a feew this way but it has payed off several times with birds I would still be waitng on! good luck tnbuck

[1gutpile]

JC alot of great advice here but in reality the best possible teacher is a bird..You will learn more from experience than anything else..One thing no one can give you recipes on is stuff like being able to tell if the bird is still on the roost or on the ground..how far he is by the sound of his gobble alot of factors play in that..he can be facing the opposite direction and sound farther off than he really is. He can be around a bend and sound farther..He can be in a field and sound farther.etc...When to move on a bird or when to stay put. When to call and when to shut up..all these are more or less learned from experience or if you got an experienced hunter with you it helps...Like I said I'll call you in a  bird just get up with me and its a done deal..If you got birds I'll call one in for ya...gut

[southernarcher]

Ok it sounds to me like you are fairly new to the spring fling.So here's some info that might help along with some of the other on the thread.

Scout!Before season,go out and listen in the am.This will give you a general idea of where some toms are roosted.Also, listen for hens.It is very helpful to know if the tom has hens roosted near by.Try and make a few trips out in the am,and listen to the birds.Once you think you know where he's roosted,wait until around noon and ease into the spot and try to figure out what's going on exactly where he's roosting,fly'n down,and where he's headed after flydown.This information will give you a little edge.
Look at all the fields and oak flats that are in the path of the birds.Look for tracks,droppins,scratchings,feathers,strutmarks,etc.I wouldn't recommend try'n to sneak in on the oak flats,but if they are in the fields,note the time.This will tell you if they are loafin in the timber,or if they are headed straight for the field.Try and watch the birds as many days as you can before the season opens.This information is a big help,especially if you aren't a skilled caller.Which you don't have to be to kill turkeys,a load of turkeys have been killed with nothing but woodsmanship.

Ok I've gotten long winded here so I'll bring it to a close.Man I love this stuff.  :D  

As far as how close to get to the roost,with the info above it will give you a little more room.Try and set up between the roost and the field as close as you feel comfortable getting.Try to get 100 yrds or so though,different situations warrant different  setups.

The scratching in the leaves is a secret weapon as well as the wing flappin.

Decoys early season jakes and hens are fine,but later in the season leave the jake home.Decoys work great,but every now and then a field bird will hang up out of range.Try and use the terrain to your advantage.

Ok see I got started again!    

Sorry for the long wind,I hope this helps!

[Guru]

How did we let this one slip away???

Up or downhill???

 My experience is that it doesn't really make much difference,called them both ways successfully.Birds will tend to stop and "look more" from higher ground.So if you're in open terrain,you better have something down there he wants to see....like a good decoy set up.If in more dense woods,he'll have to come down to see what he wants to see.

When calling uphill,benches really work well.Set up close enough to the edge so that when he comes up and is able to look around for the "hen" he hears,he'll be in range for a good bow shot..10-15yds.

If I had to pick one or the other,being I had equally good set ups...I'd pick making him come up to me............

[Shaun]

Scouting, if you can figure out where he wants to strut you are in. There is a field near me that is a strutting ground every year. The hat flapping wing fly down works great - no need for a special wing thing. I am going to borrow and try one of the new Pretty Boy gobbler decoys that you can put your own fan in or use the photo fan that comes with it. Should work good real early in the season when the gobblers are fighting and staking territories but not late season. Putting the jake decoy where you want to shoot has worked for me. My cousin (gun hunter) always goes out about mid morning instead of early to catch toms after the hens have gone to nest, but I like to watch and listen as the spring woods wakes up. And lastly - can you say double bull?

Gonna try Merriams in NE for the first time this spring. Love the white tipped fans. Hurry up April!

[Scotty E]

don't call to them on the roost cause the gobbler will think the hen will come to him and when she dosn't he knows somethings up. I use a crow locator call as soon as the sun gets up also using a friction call or a diaphram 3 reed for making cuts will stir up a gobble. After I get one to respond i get within 200 yds and i almost forgot dont head straight to the gobbler move off a little to one side then got toward him. After im set up i make somee agressice yelps and cuts to get a gobble if i get one i switch to softer calling which makes it sound like the hen is loosing interest which drives them crazy! don't forget a gobble is a bonus what you realy need to listen for while your setup is strutting! Good Luck and practice with your calls- Scott
Check out some resources on the web the nwtf has a good web site and there is some others that have turkey calls you can listen to.

[Guru]

Let's talk a little about decoys...........

[JC]

Yeah, describe yer decoy setup.

[Shaun]

Jake facing me at 8 yards, hen closer. Plan is the gobbler will face the jake and strutt. Had one strutt in front of the jake, but did not stop and spin, just walked on by. Arrowed him before he got passed the spot. Have not had one exactly follow the script yet, but gonna keep trying.

[cjones]

I set my decoys about the same as Shaun only a lil closer. I normaly have the hen at 4-5 yards out. Last season when the gobbler attacked my decoy he was on top of me. So close that when the arrow hit, the blood trail was all over the side of the blind.

[Pinelander]

Oh boy, oh boy... my favorite subject!

Lots of good stuff and all of it is true to turkey hunting. You guys done this a few times before, huh?

Calling during roost time is only one way... a few soft hen tree yelps, VERY softly. Just let him know there's a gal in the area. Sometimes I don't call at all before fly-down. It's amazing just how well they can hear and pinpoint sounds. If you're too close, it may be more detrimental than it's worth. Don't forget how sound travels, when he turns towards you on his roost limb, he will sound closer than when he turns away from you. Very important to be patient and listen to more than one series of gobbles to pinpoint location if you're runnin' and gunnin'.

At fly-down, I just use my gloved hands slapping against coveralls. And then a few yelps to see if there's any interest. All depends on how many hens are around, where they're headed, and what they're doing.

Got to get out there before season and watch (if you can get a high viewpoint) or at least listen as to where they go after fly-down. Knowing your hunting ground terrain is a MUST, so you can visualize in your mind just where they are. As the season progresses, you will notice defined patterns of certain birds going to the same place every morning... some have favorite strutting places where they begin each day, and these birds are usually the dominant ones.

Best to have at least two different calls... he might not care for one, but the other just might do the trick. I have found that extreme cutting soon after fly-down can work effectively (give enough time where you know most of the hens have had time to congregate, maybe 5-10 minutes). Use different calls to sound like many different hens. Most cases, if it doesn't work it's because they have plenty of hens nearby already.

If a bird goes off unexpectedly during mid-morning, I'll let him know I'm there and get him to respond a few times, then shut up and make him think it's time to get over here before he loses her. If you keep right on calling, he'll hang up most times. Best to stay shut up and make him find you. He may have been 200-400 yards away to begin with, but don't think he doesn't know EXACTLY where your call came from.

Then again, I've had mature toms sneak in (all crouched down, puffed-up a bit, no strutting or gobbling). Mature birds, but probably not one of the dominant ones. Don't let the wind keep you in bed, I've seen birds strutting out in open fields where their tails were catching wind like a sail and could hardly stand up straight.

Decoys... set 'em close, make sure there's a Jake in the group. I've had birds in late season get all over a Jake in the setup. Most times, they prefer to challenge the tom decoys before even thinking about approaching the hens. I've had them circle a decoy numerous times without getting spooked at all. Be patient and wait for the best shot, he'll stick around for awhile before figuring out those dekes are dumber than he is.

Our state doesn't allow turkey calling before the season opens... good idea, no reason to educate them before killing season rolls around.

STRING TRACKER... can't emphasize this enough. No matter what arrows or broadheads you're using, there is a good chance that turkey can cover a lot of ground before succumbing to even a great shot (except a head shot, which I think is a very low-percentage shot to take anyways). They can hide in little to nothing cover... the string is like Hansel and Gretel in reverse. Hit one last year a bit low, well... a lot low. Sliced his thighs, he got up off the ground and tucked that arrow up in there and flew off with it, string was just zipping out of that canister like a baitcast reel smokin'. Bird landed about 300 yards down the line and ducked into heavy cover. Would've never found that bird to finish him off if it wasn't for the string-tracker.

OK, I'm done now... good luck to all in your turkey hunting mis-adventures this spring.

These photos ought to get you guys riled up some... taken in Iowa on April 24th, 1983 with my Yashica 35mm before anyone ever heard of a digital camera, LOL. Titled "War Dance at Dawn" and "Gallant Gobblers".
 
 

 

[Guru]

This thread gets better all the time,that's why I can't let it die and keep bringing it to the top.

Dave,That post was loaded with great info!!

For my decoys a lot depends on the time of season.But most of the time it's three dekes.One
hen facing the blind at about 7-8yds with a jake deke about 10-12yds.I like to give them that spacing to allow him to cut between them to face off with the jake.99% of the time(my experience) the tom/jake will go right for the jake deke.For me too close to the blind makes them diffecult to get a shot sometimes.That's why I like about 10-12yds. I can't remember a time when a gobbler has gone to one of my hens without addressing the jake deke first.And usually I don't even let him reach the decoy.That damn "green light goes off when he's "close enough".

   


....note the string coming out of the window.....
pretty typical set up......

I'll usually put out a second hen off away from the hen/jake,to look like sort of an onlooker.I put her off in a spot I can shoot to(in case a gobbler goes to her first,but that's never happened),in a broadside position to where I think the gobbler is going to come from.

I also like to use a breeding set up with the hen under a mounting jake.This can be killer if ya catch a tom in the right mood.

I also like to limit the motion of my decoys so they don't spin wildly in the wind.With my Delta hen I really don't have this problem,she's tight on her stake.But with my Flambau hen and Feather Flex jake I like to put sticks in the ground,on each side of the tail portion of the decoys.This will still let them move and turn a little in the wind,but not spin wildly so as to look unnatural and tip off approaching birds. I'll usually only let them move about 90 degrees........In the pic,you can see the sticks by the jake decoy.It was very windy that day.sticks are tight.....

I'll be back with my thoughts on string trackers...

[Pinecone]

Do you guys use the shoot through mesh in your pop-up blinds or go without the mesh?  If you use the mesh, are there any problems with arrow flight?

Claudia

[Guru]

Claudia, No need to use the nets with turkeys.They don't spook from the "black hole effect" of the windows like deer,and other critters.

[Huntrdfk]

This is a great thread! Keep it coming, I'm loving this.  Claudia, I'm a neophyte when it comes to hunting turkeys, but last year I shot with the shoot through mesh on my blind and it did not affect my arrow flight.  I did practice shooting through the mesh before hunting though.  I know that a lot of guys take the mesh off, I'm sure they will chime in too.


David

[bayoubowman]

Be patient to move off of one location to quickly and don't call too much. A little goes a long way.  Gotta get the mood of the bird you are on.  Some like it hot, some all is required is a little scratch in the leaves.  Be aware of whats between you and the gobbler you are setting up on.  Creeks, thickets can cause em to hang up.  Did I say don't call too much.

[joel smith]

I like to use the Montana decoys and set the gobbler ten yards out with the edge toward me. Because this is a flat decoy, putting the edge toward me means any idiot that shoots my decoy will be shooting across in front of me instead of at me---been stalked (yeah, turkey stalkers ????) more than once, had my decoy shot before and had a neighbor shoot his son and father-in-law on our lease---so i'm pretty safety conscious when it comes to decoy use in gun seasons (which it always is during turkey season in Georgia).

Other than that, looks like the real experts have pretty well covered the main points. I'm still learning myself, looking for my tenth this year and i'm sure they'll teach me a few more tricks this spring.

I shoot the Zwickey Scorpios behind my broadheads (which will again be Muzzys or WWs) and that seems to work well---what kind of arrow setup are the rest of you guys using ?

[joel smith]

Oh yeah, thanks for the blind tips fellas, I don't normally hunt turkeys from a blind but my grandson'll be joining me this year so the DB's gonna get unfolded.