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Turkey calls and whitetails deer

kidneystones_3000

kidneystones_3000

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2019
Messages
293
I did some research on YouTube and the internet, that deer feel safer when turkeys are near. Some hunters use fall Turkey calls while walking towards their hunting spot. I was watching on YouTube video zack from the hunting public used a Turkey call he was stalking deer from the ground and it worked(the deer didn't come the Turkey call but the deer felt safe which enabled him to get a shot off).

This January I plan on doing spot and stalk whitetails slash scouting. For me it's always been hard just see deer after gun season so want to be more aggressive this year( I hunt 100% public land near a big city).

Here's my question I was thinking about getting a Turkey decoy mounted to my bow
When I am doing spot and stalk, Turkey season is over so it will be more safe.

It's very unconventional but It might give me a extra time shoot a deer, I would be wearing my ghillie suit. The Turkey decoys that mount to your bow would be very mobile way compared to a deer decoy. Let me know what you think.
 
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There was an article by (I think) Monty Browning in either Trad Bowhunter or PBS about using turkey decoys as "confidence" decoys when deer hunting. He said it worked well, even in the tree.
Wish I could remember more details about where I read that article.
 
I hunt 100% public land and I read that some hunters use fall Turkey calls while walking towards thier hunting spots. I will start doing that January and next year.
 
Issue for me is majority of the accidents with firearms and other persons getting shot is while turkey hunting. A few shotgun turkey hunters (or poachers) will shoot at any bush that sounds like a turkey apparently. I do not want to sound like a turkey while not wearing any blaze orange ever when on Public. But I have heard/read it's a good strategy.

I've been able to sneak up on does and bucks bedded as close as 20 yards using a broom stick and walking like a deer (make a cheh-cheh, cheh-cheh, sound versue cheh, cheh, cheh). It takes some practice, but I move slow and pause ever few steps to pretend I'm a feeding deer. I also walk on deer trails and will grunt very lightly with my mouth when I get close to bedding. I've had some instances where the deer didn't even wake up and I had to cough to get them alert.
 
Turkey season ends this coming Sunday and the county I am hunting i can hunt until the end of January so it be safe. I just feel it's going to very difficult to grunt buck or doe in from experience. I tried using a montana doe decoy grunting last year several times it didn't work.
 
I go bowhuntng its been a long time since I went gun hunting. I would not try that during gun deer season. In certain situations it would unsafe forsure.
 
I don't grunt to call them in, just reassure them im a deer. Bucks and does both grunt. Does grunt very low and soft/quiet to their fawns. And holy cow those kidney stones are huge haha!
 
The turkey call is being used like a "cover scent". If you walk slow and with a non-human cadence, like the previous person mentioned the deer still hear you, but a cluck or yelp makes the deer dismiss the sound. Poachers are everywhere, private and public land. Setting up a confidence decoy is one thing, walking with a turkey decoy on your bow is completely different. Just because it is bow season doesn't mean a poacher is using a bow.
 
Your exactly right on what you said I seen work that way and think it helps calling when getting near your hunting spot or stalking them. I do agree thier risk involved with poachers dan Infalt said he almost got shot from a poacher because he didn't use a flashlight walking in the dark to his hunting spot. If I do decide to use it would at a hunting spot wear you have cross water which very few hunters do especially in January it does get hunted but very lightly. You difently have smart when (after Turkey season) and where do it.
 
I've done this for years in the fall, especially when still hunting or trying to move in on a setup with a lot of dry leaves which makes a quiet access impossible. You don't just walk in yelping like a turkey though. You also have to walk like a turkey and once in awhile scratch like a turkey trying to overturn the leaf litter to find acorns and such. The small talk is the best like the putts, purrs, clucks and whipper ~wills. I always try to sneak in first but if I suspect deer are bedding nearby and I know I will not be able to close the distance to my setup location quietly, I will pull out the turkey call for sure. I usually have a diaphragm call in my mouth anyway in the fall during the combined bow and fall turkey season. It also doubles as a great predator call at the end of your set up if you haven't seen any deer.
 
woodsdog2 said:
...... You also have to walk like a turkey and once in awhile scratch like a turkey trying to overturn the leaf litter to find acorns and such......
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This is one more reason that carrying a judo arrow is a must. You can use the arrow to make those leaf noises that sound like a light animal, rather than a 200 pound predator. You can sound like a turkey scratching or squirrels going crazy. Noise is not bad, it's the type of noise that's important. There is definitely a "harder" sound when a human steps on dry leaves, compared to a 15 pound turkey in dry leaves. That light, fluffy leaf noise is not alarming to game, but the hard crunch of a boot is. I don't think there's anything as noisy as a flock of turkeys feeding through, but it's a "soft sound" on the leaves, not that hard crunch of a human. The human probably has a lower decibel rating but there's just something wrong about the sound of a boot on a full bed of dry leaves. Scratch aside the upper layer of those leaves and you won't sound like a human walking.
And if it's a preset that you intend on hunting a few more times, you'll semi-clear an entrance path. Each time you return, you can dress-up the entrance. After a few hunts, you'll have an almost silent approach.
 
JakeFromVirginia said:
Issue for me is majority of the accidents with firearms and other persons getting shot is while turkey hunting. A few shotgun turkey hunters (or poachers) will shoot at any bush that sounds like a turkey apparently. I do not want to sound like a turkey while not wearing any blaze orange ever when on Public. But I have heard/read it's a good strategy.

I've been able to sneak up on does and bucks bedded as close as 20 yards using a broom stick and walking like a deer (make a cheh-cheh, cheh-cheh, sound versue cheh, cheh, cheh). It takes some practice, but I move slow and pause ever few steps to pretend I'm a feeding deer. I also walk on deer trails and will grunt very lightly with my mouth when I get close to bedding. I've had some instances where the deer didn't even wake up and I had to cough to get them alert.
Click to expand...
This is a great trick and i use it too when there is no chance of being quiet. I walked up on a decent buck a few years ago doing that. I walked through low beech saplings and couldnt see 20 yds in front of me. When i came out i saw a big bodied deer standing behind a tree about 30 yds away. The head was hidden but it looked big so i raised my bow up,that's when it bolted out of there and it was a nice buck.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
This is one more reason that carrying a judo arrow is a must. You can use the arrow to make those leaf noises that sound like a light animal, rather than a 200 pound predator. You can sound like a turkey scratching or squirrels going crazy. Noise is not bad, it's the type of noise that's important. There is definitely a "harder" sound when a human steps on dry leaves, compared to a 15 pound turkey in dry leaves. That light, fluffy leaf noise is not alarming to game, but the hard crunch of a boot is. I don't think there's anything as noisy as a flock of turkeys feeding through, but it's a "soft sound" on the leaves, not that hard crunch of a human. The human probably has a lower decibel rating but there's just something wrong about the sound of a boot on a full bed of dry leaves. Scratch aside the upper layer of those leaves and you won't sound like a human walking.
And if it's a preset that you intend on hunting a few more times, you'll semi-clear an entrance path. Each time you return, you can dress-up the entrance. After a few hunts, you'll have an almost silent approach.
Click to expand...

so you use the arrow and judo head as a walking stick ie?
 
I’ve used my turkey call most of my hunts this year for getting in or out depending on time and location. Worked well for sneaking in close to bedding. Like mentioned above you still have to walk like a turkey. Every 10-20 yards or so I would stop and scratch like a turkey then move on. Always soft “puts” on the call and about the same level of noise as I make walking to not draw any extra attention to myself. Numerous times walking in I have had close encounters with deer and many times I set up on bedding or in bedding and have had deer come out or seen them in the bedding I was hunting but out of range. In Louisiana there isn’t a fall turkey season so I don’t worry about other hunters but I was a little more cautious when I hunted in PA but still used it to move bc of the high number of turkeys around me almost daily.
I also walked like a squirrel to get to my spot that I shot my 120” 9 point this year. He was bedded 60 yards from my tree. I forgot to take my turkey call out of my pack so when I heard rustling in the bedding I started hopping to the tree I wanted to set up in. 1 step, 3 quick steps, 2 steps & some tinyleaf raking. Even scratched tree bark to sound like squirrels chasing each other. Started climbing and got 2 stick sets up and he walked down the hill past me. Shot him from about 10’ up in a slow frantic. This is another tactic I began using the rest of the season.
It’s the first year I’ve tried stuff like this to change my sound getting in and saw deer almost 3 out of 4 hunts and all on public so I will always do it from now on if I can’t get in quiet.
 
JakeFromVirginia said:
so you use the arrow and judo head as a walking stick ie?
Click to expand...
Not exactly like a walking stick, more like a rake to soften the crunch of dry leaves.
Also good to flick away small branches and twigs when there just isn’t a clear spot to step. Nothing worse that snapping twigs underfoot.
Plus. I can shoot a judo or stowe it in my quiver. Can't do that with a walking stick.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
 
I always use the turkey call trick when walking in to my areas and you would be surprised at how many more deer I see when using it as opposed to when I wasn't using it! But the decoy approach is a little to dangerous IMO! If everyone obeyed the laws maybe then but too many people who will shoot anything that walks and out of season! Plus with things going the way they are in this world there is probably gonna be alot more people hunting for food cause they can't afford to buy it or can't find any so then seasons won't matter at all!!! And also the walking like deer or squirrels and scratching in the leaves like a turkey works really well also so combining the 2 should work really, really well just be safe fellas!!!
 
I have thought about carrying my turkey reaper with me while still hunting. Would be curious to see if it works for deer too.
 
I read this some where .. I think it was in one of Gene Wensel's books. I've tried it and it's worked a few times. I'll take a small branch maybe 3/8 inch in diameter that has all the little branches on the end. I break it off long enough so I can drag it behind me while I walk. The branch ruffles the leaves as you walk and covers the sound of your foot steps. It's more of a continuous noise instead of step, step, step.. Try it next time your walking in the woods and you'll see what I mean.
 
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