Turkey Hunting with Archery

[Rippinlip]

Any tips?

This will be my 2nd year chasing them with archery equipment.

I am planning to go the last 2 seasons like I did last time.

The birds were tough to get to respond.

I do have 2 ground blinds to use.

Are they better to get set-up now and let them get use to it?

Do you try to set them up as a run-n-gun approach?

Is my Rage 2 blade a ok head for Turkeys or is it a little over kill?

How much calling does a person do?

[DonBo]

Loaded questions-every one. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to turkeys. A dozen responses will get you a dozen different opinions.

Birds generally are tough to get to come to call during the later seasons, sometimes. Sometimes they come running. Best advice? Let them tell you what they want to hear. If they are very closed lip, you should be too. Call soft and spareingly. Are they pretty vocal? You should be too.

I believe blinds are invaluable to an archery turkey hunter. Can a guy get by without one? Absolutely, but it is MUCH harder. You do not need to put them out ahead of time. You can put them right out in the middle of a field if that's where you're seeing them, and that's probably your best best, set up where they are, not where you hope you can call them to. Scouting is the only way to determine where they will be at certain times of the day.

Decoys really help for archery hunting-IF they will come to them. Often, later in the season I may just use one hen. Sometimes a hen and a jake work. Sometimes they want nothing to do with them. Again, let them tell you what they want. If the first bird to see your dekes runs away, pull them. IF they respond to decoys, your job just got much easier. Set the decoys at 10 yards and hope they come right in you lap. I will ALWAYS start with decoys. Have your dekes facing you, as a responding tom will want to get in the face of that hen. That puts him right in your face as well.

You Rage heads will work great with turkeys. I always recommend a large diameter mechanical. I prefer three blades, but that's just me. Hit them high with your Rage and you should be able to recover your bird in short order.

Good luck!

[Code-Man]

I used my Rage 3 blades I had laying around. Did amazing job on the bird but he was only 4-5 yards away. We had private ground and scouted the property big time and found two spots they were focusing in on and we set up blinds way early when we located those two spots. I put cameras out around those two spots and the night before i hunted I checked the cameras and one had 30 pictures/videos the other had around 300. So I got out in the morning and wouldn't you know it the other spot is where they all showed up. I only had a jake decoy and was able to call mine in to me and was a blast. Good luck. We'll be trying this again and seeing what happens on our second attempt.

[Powerstroke]

If you have two then I say set up one blind in a "go-to spot" and then use the other one for new spots. Turkeys could care less about blinds.

Birds are typically tough to get response from late in the season. The best thing is to do some scouting and try to intercept them in a travel corridor or near roosting spots.

[rbs]

I totally agree with everything said. But I REALLY agree with the travel corridor on the late season hunts. You should be able to pattern them very easy that last 2 time periods. Look for pinch points when you are scouting them. It works awesome when they won't "come in" to a call. Good Luck!

[water rat]

I love bowhunting for turkey's,Liek said above ,you could put a blind up In the middle of a sod field and the birds wont care!! In past years I have had some hard times getting the birds to come close enough,when birds see your decoy they strut 100 yards out,If this happens try not using decoys...seems like when they cant see a hen they keep looking!

[sticknstring]

Late-season can be a tough hunt if you're hunting pressured birds. If you're able to scout in advance, find areas where the birds like to frequent and setup the blind and be patient. Call sparingly. Lets the birds dictate whether you use decoys or not. In my experience, birds will shy away from them that time of year. I hope it works out this time around for you. It can be challenging but very rewarding when it all comes together.

[FISH AWAY]

When archery hunting turkeys do you have to apply for a tag or can you buy one over the counter?

[DonBo]

It is over-the-counter for the final full two weeks of the season. Anything earlier and you need to apply in the general drawing. Those tags are only good for the specific 5 day season you are drawn for.

[Code-Man]

I've been scouting for turkeys on our land and up till about 10 days ago I didn't have a turkey. I finally had 2 come through and now in the past week I've been having 5-10 come through. Granted that isn't much but that's just what that camera is catching. With all this snow I'm hoping it pushes things back and turkey season will be good that last two weeks of the season! I already have my blind set up but I'm on private property and hoping the birds come on through!