“Let’s Talk Turkey:  Part 2”  

By Gary Ramsey, Published in the Adirondack Express on May 20, 2008

 

Let’s face it, you can't just walk into the woods start calling and expect a Tom to run right in. It just doesn’t work that way. First, when trying to attract a Tom by reproducing hen sounds, we are attempting to “reverse” nature.  In the turkey world, a Tom gobbles and the hen comes. Second, wild turkeys are very skittish. They have to be. Their only defense against predators is to run or fly. Being a large bird, they need space and time to take off -- they can't just ascend into the air like small birds. Mother nature has given them excellent eye sight and hearing so they have plenty of time to get away.  Too much movement or noise easily sends them several hundred yards away.  Fortunately, there are ways to but the odds in your favor and successfully harvest a wild turkey. 

Do your homework prior to opening day.  Look for signs, roosts and listen for gobbling in the pre-dawn morning.  Pattern the birds in your hunting area.  Look for set up locations above or at least the same level of the birds.  Normally turkeys will not come down hill to a call.  Set up in a level, open, flat area -- make it easy for the gobbler to approach your calls.  Use decoys to give that willing Tom a reason to come your way.  And remember, it’s always easier to call a gobbler to where he wants to go versus the way you think he should go.  Set up against a tree on a little rise when possible, the extra elevation will help you identify an approaching bird sooner.

Patience (staying put, not over calling and keeping movement and noise to a minimum)  will bag more turkeys than any amount of fancy calling.  Scratch the leaves while calling, there’s more to “turkey sounds” than just calling.  Read the bird and give him what he wants.  If he gobbles and cuts you off every time, be more aggressive with your calling.  If he delay gobbles or only gobbles every other or third time, back off.  If you see him coming in fast, shut up and let him come.  Carry 2 to 3 locator calls and 4 to 6 regular calls, turkeys will respond to different calls on different days.  If you mess up while calling, don’t worry about it.  Hens hit sour notes all the time.  As long as he continues to answer, even if only occasionally, sit tight.  He thinks you’re a hen and may break your way at any time.

If you are using a “Jake” (small Tom) decoy, face him toward you at about 15 paces.  The real Tom will often “face off” at the Jake, putting his back to you for a shot.   After the shot, never jump up and run after the turkey, you will not be in a position to get off a second shot if needed. 

Keep a positive attitude, there isn’t a turkey in the woods that can’t be taken!  Their spring range is usually around 300 acres so there is almost always at least one turkey within range of your calls.  Keeping that in mind will boost your confidence and success rate.

There are no absolutes in turkey hunting because turkeys do what turkeys do!  But there are basic strategies you can use.

Lone roosted Tom:

If you don’t see hens with him, don’t call until he pitches down.  Calling while he is still on the limb will keep him there longer.  He will gobble and keep looking under his roost for a hen to appear.  Let him come down and begin with some soft clucks and purrs.  As far as he knows, you’re the only game in town and he might come your way.  A good “non-call” to use here would be scratching in the leaves. Turkeys make a very specific scratching sound.  They tend to scratch with one foot, then scratch twice with the other foot and then scratch again with the first food.  It sounds like this: scratch -- scratch, scratch -- scratch.  After your first calls, “read the bird” and give him what he wants, but don’t over call.  Doing so may hang him up as he expects you (the hen) to come to him.

Tom roosted with hens:

Start calling at day break while the birds are still on the roost.  Cluck, yelp and simulate a fly down cackle.  You want to get your hat in the ring.  Rarely do hens call a lot on the roost so don‘t over call.  The appropriate call is to softly cluck and yelp once or twice with the “fly down cackle” as the most aggressive calling.  If the hens fly down first they will yelp softly.  Start calling and cut them off in an attempt to aggravate them into coming over to see who you are.  This is a 50/50 proposition.  Sometimes the dominant hen will come over to investigate who is in “her” territory and sometimes she will lead the group away from you!  If she comes, she will bring the big boy with her.  If the Tom flies down first, give a few soft cutts followed by a few soft yelps and then “see what he wants.”  If he’s coming, shut up and let him come.

Tom(s) together with hens:

The fly down has occurred and the birds have moved away from you.  Think back to your preseason scouting, where are they going?  Change you location, without being detected, to get in their path, and set up again.  The use of binoculars and available cover is the key to moving in on the birds.  Don’t try to get closer than 100 yards, you will surely spook them.  Rarely can you call a Tom away from a group of hens.  Your goal is to get along their course of travel and get the hens, with Tom in tow, to investigate your calls.

The Reward:

There’s nothing like sitting in the woods well before dawn on a frosty morning and hearing the roosted flock wake up.  First a quiet gobble, then a soft tree yelp, then, all of a sudden, two, three or maybe even four tree gobbles.  Good, you’re in a right spot.  You cluck, purr and softly yelp on your box call.  A few minutes later, they begin flying down, one, then another, and another and another.  You call some more and a Tom answers with a resounding gobble, gobble, gobble.  Your heart begins to pound as a second Tom joins in.  The hens begin to yelp.  As they yelp, you cut them off.  A Tom sounds off again, only closer, much closer!  You see one, no two, now three heads bobbing toward you.  You remain perfectly quiet and still.  GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE, there he is!  No, he really can’t hear your heat beating.  He turns, you put your gun up, you take a deep breath, he turns back and you gently squeeze the trigger.  It just doesn’t get any better than that!