Spring turkey help

[fadetoblack188]

Well I am pretty excited to spring turkey hunt this year.

I hunted turkey once in the fall for a day with no luck.

Unfortunitly I don't have private property or much scouting time available where I will be hunting in the spring. I no there are turkey In the area where I am going in green county.

Am i wasting my time setting out a decoy and trying to call one in, in the spring? Or do you need to 100 percent find the roost and hunt that way?

I've heard the calling isn't so effective in the fall. Any tips would help. Thanks guys

[deerpassion]

Spring is prime time for decoying and will be most receptive to calls... Not wasting ur time at all! My advice since you don't have much time to scout is get in the woods about the general area u wanna hunt just before first light and wait for a gobble on the roost as it gets light, then close the distance as best you can without bumping him , probly about 100 yds n set up decoy n kill em..

[jjb4900]

just setting up blindly and hoping you can call one in from a couple hundred yards away is tough and frustrating at times....if they get with hens in that couple hundred yards it's tough but not impossible....find them with a locator call and get as close as possible, and most importantly, don't give up too early...I've had many hen up right off the bat and stop gobbling, but by 9 or 10 a.m. they are back on the prowl.

[fadetoblack188]

Thanks guys, it was alittle frustrating in fall but I hear spring your odds are slightly better.

What's a good locator call?

[grampy]

If you are in the area you are hunting the evening before the hunt, try owl hoots to hear where they are roosting. All the better if you can find more than one place where you can get a fix on multiple birds fot the next morning.

If going in blind in the morning, try setting up in a field edge or hedgerow, close to higher ground. Wait to hear first gobbles from the roost. Then move carefully to within 75 yards or so and set the decoys. Call softly till you get a response. Do not over call! He will know where you are just give him some soft clucks and purrs if he's coming to you.

Sometimes running and gunning will work later in the morning after the first hens leave for their nests. This can be both exciting and frustrating. But that's turkey hunting! Try to shock gobble them or use a crow or peacock call to locate a tom. It seems like more often than not in recent years they just won't gobble as much as they did years ago. So listen close, if you only hear one gobble move to him quickly and set up.

Sometimes, if you can tag along with someone who is more experienced it will help cut the learning curve quite a bit.

[alloutdoors]

Turkeys will gobble at just about any loud sudden noise. I typically carry a crow call, owl hooter, and also a woodpecker/peacock call. One farm I hunt the turkeys gobble at the neighbors geese a lot so I bring a goose call with me there.

 

Decoys can be very effective but try not to over use them. Go after them in the woods and try to call one in, you will make a lot of mistakes but you will learn a lot more that way than if one just runs in to your decoy. I'm not saying you should never use them, just don't let them become a crutch.

[reeltime]

there are some good pointers throughout the turkey hunting forum, as well as above. 

 

if you are going in blind get there early, especially if your on state land, I doubt you will receive common courtesy of turkey hunters where if they see your vehicle they move on. 

 

I am in the woods well before first light, especially in area's I have not roosted a bird, turkey's do not see well in the dark but if its getting light or a bright moonlit night they may see you.   its not uncommon for me to be setting against a tree 1-2 hours before daylight.  its even more imperative that you get in early during the early part of the season when the foliage is not fully out.  while yes its nice to get set up close to a bird it takes some experience to know how far a bird is taking into account wind, foliage, terrain, and which way he is facing.  its safer to keep a little distance than to try and sneak in closer and bump him. If other hunters are in the area its also putting yourself in a potentially dangerous situation because another person may already be set up, getting all worked up because a birds gobbling close by, its low light and they see movement and shoot.

 

 

you can use decoys if you choose, if you are on public lands I would strongly caution using a gobbler or jake decoy.  if you do set up with decoys do so defensively, what I mean is set up against a large tree where its visible so you can see another hunter approaching.

do you need decoys to kill birds? absolutely not, after several instances of people stalking my hen decoy in the spring a good number of years ago I put them away and haven't used a decoy in close to if not over 15 years and I certainly don't have a problem killing birds.

I do know that decoys can spook birds, yes they will work on the right birds but they may also cost you a bird. As I have told folks before, if you don't use a decoy you know its not going to cost you a bird. 

 

Older mature birds, and especially public land heavily pressured birds are to me the funnest birds to hunt. While sometimes you get an old mature bird in the right circumstance to come in limb to gun, most times its a chess game requiring multiple days and or multiple set ups to seal the deal.  There are a number of tricks to utilize to try and convince a gobbler that you are a real turkey, like scratching in the leaves, flydowns, etc.  all the tools and tricks you have can at times help in the right situation.

 

its hard to try and convey help before a situation even begins to unfold, experience teaches you how to take a birds temperature and how to pursue the hunt from that point. some birds want to be hammered with calling while others want very subtle calling. Turkeys have an unbelievable ability to pinpoint where sound is coming from, words of wisdom from an experienced turkey hunter many years ago to me,, make one call the bird knows what hill your on, second call he knows with in a hundred yards, third call he will come visit you at your tree..... in my younger days I thought it was bogus wisdom, after 35+ years of chasing these birds i realized a long time ago my grandfather was right once again. I can not even begin to tell you how many birds I have killed with less than 5 series of calls.

 

  You do not need to call like your on a turkey calling competition stage, there may be times where you need to pour it on, again what they want is determined when you understand what they want( by taking their temperament temperature) Also if you get a bird going and then he falls silent keep your eyes moving as he may be sneaking in quiet, this is especially common when dealing with a satellite gobbler.  a number of things can cause a bird to go silent,  he got intercepted by a live hen, he got bumped by someone trying to stalk him, another predator tried to ambush him ( coyote, fisher, fox ) he could of came to an obstruction ( I have called birds across a stream, up hill, down hill, over pasture fences and a host of other things, but  have also seen them hang up and not walk around a big log laying on the ground) or he may have gotten to a vantage point where he could look over the area and saw you move.  I dissect every close encounter to see if it was something I did or if it was an outside interference issue, sometimes its just chalked up as turkeys being turkeys. 

 

good luck this spring, hopefully you can get out at least a few times before the season.  if you do and hear birds or better yet locate them keep that info to yourself... people prey on locations and especially cyber scouters. 

 

google denny gulvas turkey hunting and get some of his video's they provide a wealth of information, its a good starting point but nothing teaches better than experience.

 

Lee

 

Edited February 12, 2015 by reeltime

[growalot]

Right there is some great advise...

Let me say that even with little time to scout...at least try to drive by some of the areas you may want to hunt just at daylight with the window down and a week or 2 before season....I say this because that is the only time I hear birds in our area sounding off...See we are high pressure...as I'm sure the public land is...they go quite after the first day of the season.

Also don't get too upset when you hear a bird a couple of hundred yards away and get him to commit...just to find out you were calling for someone else when their gun goes off....it's happened to me a few times and I hunt private property we own...neighbors love me . When hunting hill sides without open fields near........ they tend to drop down on the highest spot and head to water if hens aren't very near...if they have a fairly open flight they can glide down hill (to water) then slowly make their way back up hill...just what I personally have observed on our hill side lands. don't get too antsy on wanting to move....if you got a responce he can take some time getting to you.....Have fun this spring  and be safe....

[LI OUTDOORSMAN]

I always say you aint turkey hunting untill you hear a bird gobble...other than that your just sitting in the woods.....

[fadetoblack188]

Alright is it may yet.. All this talk has me going

[jjb4900]

the last two Turkey I got were killed between 11:00 & 12:00.........don't give up too early.

[fishuntrapper]

_{where are you located?}

[fadetoblack188]

I am located on Long Island, but I will be staying at Uncles place in greene county. Near windham mountain.

[fadetoblack188]

Just ordered a flextone owl locator call. Sounded good on you tube

[fadetoblack188]

Picked up a new shotgun, supernova with steady grip. Ordering a choke

Tonight. Can't wait comming soon.

[ATbuckhunter]

You putting any sights on it?

[fadetoblack188]

I want to , just indecisive on which one. Figured I might just use factory sights for now.

[fadetoblack188]

Unless I can find sights that don't need a sight in, such as a red dot or singing for now. Not sure if I can make the run out easy to sight it in

[alloutdoors]

It doesn't matter if you put sights on it or not, you need to shoot the gun. There is no guarantee that point of aim with the bead will match point of impact any more than any other type of sight.

[fadetoblack188]

Yeah I was thinking I need to shoot it regairdless going to make the trip out east

[jjb4900]

Yeah I was thinking I need to shoot it regairdless going to make the trip out east

have you selected a Turkey load yet?

[ATbuckhunter]

You'll need to pattern the gun anyway so why not invest in some sights. You don't have to get a red dot. I have seen quite a few sights that are like rifle sights like a peep sight or the dead ringer sights.

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[fadetoblack188]

I got hevi shot 3 1/2 number 6. Thinking about picking up long beards to

[Skillet]

I've never put sights or a scope on my turkey gun, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. But I've always liked using the bead sight. Like they've been saying, you gotta shoot it no matter what, but don't feel disadvantaged if you decide to just shoot with the beads.

[WhitetailAddict11]

Don't get a red dot man, those things look great on the Outdoor Channel but suck in the real world. They are tough to see around when your down on your gun and looking for a bird that's close but out of view, if you walk up on a tom and have to shoot quick you have to turn it on first (he'll be gone by then), not to mention, shotguns take a beating in the turkey woods, so if you knock your sights off it could cost you a bird, i.e. It's a b**** to crawl with a red dot on your fun. Oh and don't forget about your heavy breathing fogging it to all hell when a bird flys down into your lap at first light in a crisp morning. Stick with open sights man, they're the ticket for spring turkey hunting.