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TURKEY TURKEY TURKEY

Other tips only call enough to get him interested then sit quiet. Once he is interested he will gobble to find you if you go quiet and this will give away his position as he comes in.

One thing I learned hunting birds in timber is they like to circle around where the sound is coming from before commiting completely. Been busted a lot of times by a bird who started in front of me but worked around.

Make sure you talk the language correctly. Understand what each vocalazation means to a turkey and you use the right volume depending on the scenario.... not a lot of turkeys Yelp 5 times every 15 min for the same spot and In the same cadence.

I can go on and on....
 
Decoy placement matters... always put the hen facing away and the Jake facing toward you those are the business ends of each and you want him to be between you and them for a shot. Also spacing decoys to close look unnatural have enough room 6-7 feet so he can also maneuver in between. These little things help a lot
 
Another trick I use is when hunting roads or long narrow streches (shotgun shooting wide) is I’ll place my decoy 20-30 yards past me down the road and sit perpendicular to the road and let the decoy keep the toms attention as he works past me. Killed some toms at real close ranges (10 yards and less) by using this trick. He never had a clue I was there :)
 
Like this ...... keep the tricks/tips coming.

I like sleeping in and hit the woods for the 9:30 - 11:00 am gobble time.
I don't use a turkey call to locate but I will use an owl or coyote howler.
If no birds are gobbling, I start looking for fresh gobbler tracks. When fresh sign is found I sitdown and call softly off and on for about 5 min. or so then do a hard loud cut then I go silent for :30 - :45 min. Be listening for a gobble, drumming and scratching.
Killed my best big woods, public land bird this way. I set my decoy up like @Anobody mentioned and I shot a 22.2#, 1-5/8"spurred, 3 beard timber chicken. Heard the drum behind me, he past me and a huge beech tree blocked his head. At that time, I shouldered the winchester. He was then stung by shot at 10 yards.
 
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A few tips that apply to NC public, but may or may not be the case elsewhere. You do not always have to go in and hunt them off the roost early, most times you will only be messed up by other hunters. It can pay off to sleep in and arrive late, say 9-10am, when other guys on their way out and giving up. When you hear gobbling in midmorning and midday, you are much more likely to call them in when the hens have been bred and they are alone and lonely. For late afternoons and evenings, setup on fields, they will come by quiet most times. For our lands, the hotter the temp, the better fields are in the late afternoons for whatever reason.

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Bwhana said:
A few tips that apply to NC public, but may or may not be the case elsewhere. You do not always have to go in and hunt them off the roost early, most times you will only be messed up by other hunters. It can pay off to sleep in and arrive late, say 9-10am, when other guys on their way out and giving up. When you hear gobbling in midmorning and midday, you are much more likely to call them in when the hens have been bred and they are alone and lonely. For late afternoons and evenings, setup on fields, they will come by quiet most times. For our lands, the hotter the temp, the better fields are in the late afternoons for whatever reason.

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A lot of truth in this statement. Roost birds are fun to listen but can be difficult to kill. I’ve also had good success both here in Missouri and back home as a youth in West Virginia hunting birds mid day. I mentioned in the shedding the light podcast the other day if I can find a social area near roosting. I use dusting areas in or near food and roost I’ll hunt birds off the limb. But more times than not your better served to get in between where he roosts and where he wants to strut for the day To kill early am birds.

I’ll say it before and I’ll say it again it all boils down to scouting and knowing where he wants to be. You can’t kill a bird where he isn’t and you ll be hard pressed to call him into somewhere he doesn’t want to go.
 
For hill hunters always put yourself on equal ground or above the bird. It’s difficult to call birds down hills. I believe it’s a safety matter for them and any turkey hunter who has hunted birds in hills knows as a bird works up a hill it slow and steady and a lot of hunts boil down to seeing his head come up over the rise and you have to shoot him before he pegs you. This is wear sitting still and being ultra alert really pays off.
 
If you bust a group of birds, the game ain't over, try to watch which way the bearded one runs/flies. Move in that direction and give him :45 to an hour. Use some lost calling, kee kee. Sit still and call every 2 to 5 min. Works good
 
Talk to me about scouting. When, what you are doing and why and what to do if you don’t have sign but you saw a ****load of them in deer season LOL


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kelly.jayp said:
Talk to me about scouting. When, what you are doing and why and what to do if you don’t have sign but you saw a ****load of them in deer season LOL


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I like to try to find the roosting trees by all the turkey crap on the ground. They tend to roost in the same trees a lot. Other than that I try to hit em with w w hoot 30 mins before day break and try to locate them. Then set up on them. I do not have luck setting up below them. By me they usually roost on ridges


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kelly.jayp said:
Talk to me about scouting. When, what you are doing and why and what to do if you don’t have sign but you saw a ****load of them in deer season LOL


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First sit place
Show up before day break and listen. Have a good vantage point with good binoculars. See where they fly down to. Do this as many days in a row as you can. They usually roost close to the same tree but you need to know.
On one day I will Bust them up see where they fly too. If your not the first person there on the opening morning you need to know a secondary spot for when hunter one busts them up. On another day Until lunchish I will try to follow from a distance looking for midday hang outs and looking for dust bowls and scratch places. You already know where they will be headed that evening

Find a second first sit place. In case there’s more hunters than birds in spot one. I usually have enough spots picked out I have a hard time picking a spot so hunters dictate where I go in if they beat me to a spot.

Wash rinse repeat until I’m confident I have a place to go.


I don’t use anything but a call and a shotgun.
I hunt a lot with Adrian and Jonathan both are fantastic at calling birds.

Lastly I’m sure you will get better advice than mine but it has worked for me for many years.


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I’ve been turkey hunting on and off for 15 years without any success with a gun. My friends told me I was crazy last year when I said I was gonna get it done with my bow. And I did. First turkey ever. With the bow at 10 yards. I should stop now but my new addiction isn’t gonna let me. It will probably take another 15 years to kill another one but I love bowhunting!!!


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kelly.jayp said:
Talk to me about scouting. When, what you are doing and why and what to do if you don’t have sign but you saw a ****load of them in deer season LOL


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Turkeys move alot before they claim a territory. Groups of gobblers fight for dominance and the bigger older bird does not always win. A group of Jakes can beat down a larger bird and move him out or even shut his gobble down to 0.

"J" shaped droppings are made by the male turkey and "round blobs" are the hens.

Tracks, gobbler has the long toe in the middle and hens are pretty much the same length. If you find a long toe track with scuff marks on each side of his tracks, (looks like he is walking between railroad tracks with bends and twist) thats a tom that has been strutting.

Don't shoot a bird on or to close to the roost tree, it seems to ruin that roost area.

Turkeys are not scared of shallow water, they eat tadpoles, worms, pin oak acorns in the swamps

Shotgun---Aim at the neck (pattern will cover more kill area)


Logging roads, Cutovers, fields (hate field birds), open terrain in timber are all good places to glass and hunt during and after a storm.

Nothing works better at making a gobble roll than "THUNDER"

Find sctatching, this means they HAVE BEEN THERE but where have they gone.

Always be listening for turkey sounds, not just vocal either. Scratching, walking, wings flapping

I'll try to think of more to share but we are headed out the door to start our trip to Disney in Orlando.
 
kelly.jayp said:
Talk to me about scouting. When, what you are doing and why and what to do if you don’t have sign but you saw a ****load of them in deer season LOL


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I scout both in season and pre. Going into the season it’s good to find the birds strutting areas( these stay pretty consistent) going around mid morning with a locator call will tell you areas he his frequenting. You key off on these areas for mid morning hunts or use them as a destination hunt without hunting him off the limb. In season I watch for what they are eating. Like deer turkeys can shift patterns based on food. Also want to make note of water sources. While a tom won’t eat much during the spring HE HAS TO DRINK WATER so again knowing where they are getting drinks can pay off. Tracks will tell you these things or if you have a Saturday to kill before season follow the flock for a few hours. Just keep a distance and use your ears or binos for long range scouting
 
Been huntin turkeys with a bow over 30 yrs. only had a couple yrs where I didn’t score. I hunt from a double bull blind for 2 reasons. 1 it conceals movement from 2 people which I almost always go with cuz I can’t carry everything alone. I’m filming and that adds a lot to carry. Too much stuff for one old dog to schlep into the woods. Some times “ I call it the second rut” can be the best of the day. The Toms get with the females at first light and then then hens move to the nest. Around 9 am in my area it can get pretty wild.Ill try to attach my first ever turkey on video link here.
 
Drslyr said:
Been huntin turkeys with a bow over 30 yrs. only had a couple yrs where I didn’t score. I hunt from a double bull blind for 2 reasons. 1 it conceals movement from 2 people which I almost always go with cuz I can’t carry everything alone. I’m filming and that adds a lot to carry. Too much stuff for one old dog to schlep into the woods. Some times “ I call it the second rut” can be the best of the day. The Toms get with the females at first light and then then hens move to the nest. Around 9 am in my area it can get pretty wild.Ill try to attach my first ever turkey on video link here.
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The bird in the pic above was killed from a blind.. was able to set the blind the day before near a swampy area where they roost
 
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