SPRINGTIME TURKEY HUNTING

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Spring turkey hunting is that awesome fan display, the excitement of toms gobbling and fighting, then tagging those gobblers.


Zach and Ed's toms


                                          

For those of you who pack everything but the kitchen sink, you may add rocks and a sense of humor to your arsenal. A turkey hunter for many years, I have a few successes and failures. And as much as we may grumble, it's very true what my husband says about the failures, "that's why it's called hunting". He also laughed, asking me if I offered advice that you throw rocks at uncooperative birds as a last ditch effort to kill one! That's his sense of humor..

When you're turkey hunting, you best leave your ego at home. Because after a week of not bagging a bird, saying 'we hunted hard' really makes no sense. I have to ask what the hell is 'hunting hard' or how is it suppose to be easy? It's not hard hunting for turkeys when you're just sitting in a ground blind or riding in an ATV rather than walking a mile like most folks really do.They just say it on TV to make you have the urge watch their hunt. TV gamers edit out stumbling and walking through mud, swearing , throw in some rock 'n roll music to add excitement. Actually, after stomping thru open stubble fields and tangled weeds, your breathing sounds louder than crunching through dry corn stalks. But that doesn't sell hunting gear. What is difficult is sitting on solid ground as your behind gets numb, bugs buzz in your face for several minutes, not moving a muscle with a shotgun raised as a tom ambles slowly into your view or not -- eighty yards away. He just struts and mills around, refusing to meander closer than sixty yards. 

If you're in a blind it's easy to move your legs, but how about the old-school way, which is more likely? Sitting under a big tree with bramble bush thorns sticking into your side, make some room by pushing your gun butt and elbow into the sticker bush so you can get a shot at that stupid bird. Hopefully you have a sexy hen call in your mouth to lure it closer. Good luck. Seriously. It can get downright tense and shit can happen bullet fast too.

Whoever says, 'I just hunt for the enjoyment' is a bit full of crap -- with a big bird in the bag -- of course they do. That only happens on 'The Sportsman Channel'.  It's enough to make a preacher swear just a tad. Anyone can hunt turkeys if willing to walk muddy fields, be quiet, endure mosquitos, sit dead-still, and adapt to the situation the birds and weather throw at you. Remember outdoors, nature rules. More than once I found out the hard way, my ego did no good against those wily darn birds, hence going home with a tag still in my pocket. Nowdays it's an app unchecked.

There are plenty of hunting excursions when you'll come home empty-handed, tired, asking what the hell?  'WhadidIdo wrong?'  Nothing or maybe everything.

We don't always come back home with a 'tagged' bird in the truck bed.
  • SCOUT
Turkey hunting especially is rarely like the TV shows promise. Essentially it takes lots of preparation, learning from mistakes, and paying attention to ol' Mamma Nature and good walking boots. You'll need lots of stamina because turkeys will ultimately be in the farthest back forty, so far from public access you'll stomp through mud and field to field, creek to creek to find them. In spring, expect by the second week of season they'll stop gobbling. Every week, they'll become more on the alert of human intrusion. You'll have to scout them out, walking deeper and farther, maybe a mile into the fields and timber. So grab a snack, a water bottle and start walkin'. Yep, they're out there somewhere.
      

roosting tree

Knowing where the turkeys roost sure helps assure the promise of shooting a bird as soon as they fly down.  Some mornings will start off being in the right place at the right time -- it's a crapshoot...

Look for the tallest trees: especially Cottonwoods and Sycamores, Pin Oak,Walnut, Hackberry and Pine.  A tell-tale sign of turkeys is whitened bird poo droppings and shed brown and white feathers lying on the ground, triangular foot tracks in the mud and you know you're in the right spot if you find turkey dusting spots.
   
breast feather

  • GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES
  • KNOW THE WEATHER
  • FALL BIRDS FLOCK UP
  • SPRING GOBBLERS ARE UNPREDICTABLE

turkey dusting spots

a handmade pill bottle call
            
      A YouTube video by Real Tree Outdoors has several situations that will open your eyes about calling in birds. Remember it's key to call gently to the hens; where they go, the toms will follow. It's cool to bring birds in with primitive calls or make something so primal like the wingbone call my husband made from one of my birds (above). I've since gotten better at realistic sounds but turkeys don't notice if you kinda suck at it or not. Achieving more of a rhythm with it is more conducive to their response than exact replication. Using the mouth call in the back of the throat takes practice to avoid the gag reflex. The plastic piece inside your mouth enables you to make more realistic vocals to coax birds within shooting range without your hands being occupied. Obviously, then you can focus on shooting without moving your hands. I know one dude who's mastered calling with no call, using only his own mouth.
      this 23 lb'er shot from this tree

       After my husband made me a wingbone call from this tom I killed in 2013(similar to the one above). I religiously keep it in my pack nowadays... it's special. We all have that sentimental trinket or call tucked in a breast pocket for good luck.  

      Calling is done by holding the wingbone call in one hand, cupped as shown and the other hand in a loose "C" shape on the bottom of the call, throwing its sound into the open direction.  I'm still working on my calling technique.
      I was just tickled pink and surprised, first because my husband is so adept at primitive crafts and also when nearby turkeys responded the following spring with their own calls even with my amateur calling. Though the birds never came in to give me a shot, it was exciting enough.

      Read some great tips in the National Wild Turkey Federation magazine, online or buy the magazine.  You'll find info like did you know turkeys love to roost near water?  

      SEARCH FOR TURKEY
      TURKEYS AT URICH
      THE ITHACA GOBBLERhunting spring gobblers

      External turkey hunting links: 
      https://www.facebook.com/wildturkeyreport/app_190322544333196

      EnjoyandSafe hunting

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