Tips tricks and helpful hints

[going4it]

Just looking for any  information that people would like to share. Been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos but I’m sure there’s lots to learn from others on the board. 

[monstermoose78]

What’s your biggest question 

[minky]

How easy is it to over call? 

 

[Borch]

Most guys try to call like the pros on the turkey hunting videos.  In many cases this will be over calling.  Remember, they are sponsored by call companies and they want the birds coming in fired up for the camera.

 

Sometimes light purring and leaf scratching is as much as they will take.  Otherwise getting a tom fired up from a distance and then put the calls down works well frequently.   He will find you.  The more a tom gobbles the higher likelihood a real hen will swing by and take him for a walk away from you.  That's the way nature works.

[DonBo]

Every situation, every bird is different.  You have to see what they like on any given day.  Their mood may even change hour to hour. Some like it loud and often, some prefer the much less vocal approach. 

 

Same with calls. One day they may go nuts for your box call and totally ignore it the next, having preference for the slate, or diaphragm.

 

[Cheetah]

This has been an active forum over the years, so if you scroll back through older threads you should see plenty of reports and information posted.

 

If you are hunting a farm or some place that has lots of turkeys, you can get away with lots of mistakes and still shoot a bird.    Public land is very different, and in my experience the complete opposite of what you see in videos/tv/internet...

 

The best advice I can give is to first put yourself in a place where there are birds you can hunt.  If you don't see any fresh turkey sign, hear calling or gobbling from roost in the early morning, or see birds in the fields, they aren't going to magically appear just because you walked out and put up some decoys.   

 

If you have not shot a turkey before, don't be picky.  There is nothing wrong with using a shotgun and shooting a jake vs a mature gobbler, spurs don't matter, beard length doesn't matter.  Shoot a legal bird and be happy, then think about what you learned and maybe be more picky next time now that you have actually figured out how to kill a wild turkey.   Later on you can decide if you want to make it more difficult on yourself by using archery equipment, limiting the ranges you will shoot out to, waiting for specific birds, only shooting birds that come to decoys, etc.  

[Archerysniper]

Pattern the birds and find out where they spend their time. If I see them working the same spot in a field day after day I set my blind up right on that spot. 

[paceman]

Yes Archerysniper hit the nail on the head. Turkeys are usually creatures of habit. Find a good pattern and your chances of success greatly improve. Right now I am very frustrated as with all this snow we have plus the additional foot were supposed to get this weekend I find it very difficult to pattern them. Really hard for me to get back to where I think they are....

[Scoot]

Paceman, I'm in the same boat. I find that where the birds are at the beginning of April tells me just about nothing here unless it's a very early spring. They will disperse over the next week or two with decent weather. It makes scouting pretty worthless for me right now. Kind of annoying because I'm getting itchy...

[BRULEDRIFTER]

On 3/26/2018 at 11:23 PM, minky said:

How easy is it to over call? 

 

 

Very! I'm far from an expert, so this is not gospel, but.....

 

I've hunted turkeys a handful of times, learning as I go. Had plenty of close calls, but could never seal the deal, aside from a jake I made a move on and manged to get. Then last year I hunted with a friend who is very experienced in turkey hunting, he was essentially my guide.  We put birds to bed, and we're back on them first thing in the morning. I never once pulled out one of my calls.  

 

Granted this was one time, and one bird, but we brought him in over 300 yds away. What stood out the most to me was how little and softly he called to him. The whole time I waited, I was wishing I had a call on me because I wanted to rip some loud yelps to really get him going again because I was doubting my buddy's strategy and wasn't sure the bird was going to come in to our spread. Sure enough though, he came closer and closer.  He'd stop and strut a bit and rip some gobbles and my buddy would maybe throw a soft putt and purr at it, at most. He brought that tom in on a string and we were done within an hour of my first morning.  As soon as I laid that bird down, I learned a valuable lesson... of all those close calls I've had with toms in past years, the biggest reason I never sealed the deal was I called WAY too much! 

 

When you've got a hot tom, all you want to do is hear him gobble back at every call you make, and when he does, it makes you want to keep going and going because it's such a rush.  Maybe there are times where that is the key, but I think once you have his attention, the best strategy is to shut up and let him work his way to you. Maybe give him a soft yelp, putt, purr or something occasionally to remind him you're still there, but restraining yourself from over calling is big in sealing the deal.

 

Dang, now I'm really pumped to chase some birds!!!   

[rundrave]

On 3/23/2018 at 8:15 PM, going4it said:

Just looking for any  information that people would like to share.

 

Patience has killed a lot of turkeys. And I don't seem to have enough of it yet lol. I have harvested some Jakes but never a big Tom.

 

I am still waiting for that plan to come together where I am actually able to call in a big Tom to take but it never works out. I have come so close so many times but I always end up just out of position or the bird doesn't provide a good or close enough shot.

 

I also just love spot and stalking to much and have a tough time sitting still for to long. Did I mention that thing about patience?

 

I am the guy that hunts a huge public area, and hikes up and down hills for days and and hardly ever see or hear a bird. But will see flock of 30 next to the highway as I head back home. One of these years my luck will turn.

[rkhinrichs]

Scouting is huge. Right now is hard because the birds are in there winter flocks. 

 

Most all of my spots I have permission on are absent of birds. I bet if you walked them you would not even find a single track. 

 

During April and May I mark down which fields hold birds. And the follow year ask for permission. 

 

When I’m hunting, I move property to property and wait till I get a hot tom and then make me move.