Basic turkey tactic share

[turkeyfeathers]

Care to share some tips / secrets or are you taking them to the grave ?! 

I’ll post a couple.  

Henned up Tom / pizz off the lead hen   She yelps 3x you Yelp 4. She may get mad at the knew bitch in town and drag ole Tom with her. 

Trying for a double and one person tips one over. Noise won’t spook them.  Don’t move. Maybe throw fighting purrs at the other toms whose comrad just got shot. 

I mentioned earlier I had a Tom in range but hens too close to shoot. He meandered off with the ladies.  Anyone ever have luck calling from the same spot and calling him back the same day ? 

Birds in close and you can’t call as hell peg you , scratch leaves behind you to mimick content feeding. Soft purrs around the side of your leg will deaden sound and location. 

Thiughts on roosted gobblers   Sometimes I like to be the first hen on the ground so I’ll call a little bit at him after a fly down call and bang my knee with my hat to replicate the wings. Most times I’ll let him hit the ground before calling. 

This replicate a Bill post ? 

I’m no turkey expert by any means. 

Luck 

[Otto]

Keep posting TF and others, just learned a few things right there.  

[Pygmy]

If a gobbler is gobbling his a** off and suddenly goes silent, it usually means one of two things...he has either gobbled in a hen (which dramatically reduces your chances of killing him) or he is COMING.... It is time to get your gun ready, be still and  start watching intently...

[turkeyfeathers]

Thoughts on shooting them in strut ? I personally will give them a verbal putt.  Guns shouldered and I’m on him. He’ll be like oh crap and come out of strut and stick his head up   Therefore giving you a bigger target and you won’t be pushing feathers through his breasts like if you whack him strutting.  And crunchies hurt my teeth too. 

[Buckmaster7600]

My best tactic that I can share so far this year is carry a friggin shotgun! I’d be tagged out and back to fishing if I wasn’t so damn bull headed and would put this bow away!

My best advice that I have learned over the years is be aggressive. Don’t ever be afraid to go after them! Yes you will bump some and frig up some hunts but you will kill more birds by being aggressive and it doesn’t leave anything to you to dwell on after the fact. Hitting a pop fly is always better than watching strike 3!


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[mowin]

All of the above.   

Plus other things.   There's no one tactic that works every time.  The challenge is to figure out which one to use, and hope you chose correctly.  

[Buckmaster7600]

My best tactic that I can share so far this year is carry a friggin shotgun! I’d be tagged out and back to fishing if I wasn’t so damn bull headed and would put this bow away!

My best advice that I have learned over the years is be aggressive. Don’t ever be afraid to go after them! Yes you will bump some and frig up some hunts but you will kill more birds by being aggressive and it doesn’t leave anything to you to dwell on after the fact. Hitting a pop fly is always better than watching strike 3!


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[turkeyfeathers]

12 minutes ago, mowin said:

All of the above.   

Plus other things.   There's no one tactic that works every time.  The challenge is to figure out which one to use, and hope you chose correctly.  

Any bird can be killed.  Just gotta catch him on his off day. That maybe only 2 days of 31   Give him what he wants to hear and when.  

[grampy]

Based on my performance yesterday, any advice I give, can be thrown out the window! hehehe. Some good stuff here from others though!

[Gencountyzeek]

Question, when one is gobbling on roost how close do u try to get. This a.m. i was probably 100 yards away but i spooked a group of 8 deer when i was putting the hen decoy out. They mustve spooked him because next gobble i heard was 150 yards to my left. I will also add it was light out...its hard waking up to chase a bird.

[mlammerhirt]

If you hear one gobbling on the roost?? Do you immediately close the gap or sit tight and call?

Hunt a bigger private property now and my buddy and I may try some run and gun if not successful sitting this weekend.

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[Robhuntandfish]

you guys have given me something to try ..... the fly down cackle???? had to google that and listen to it .  I think opening day i must have sounded like Roseanne singing the national anthem cause he hit the ground and it was radio silence.  My calls didnt even really get a response.  I did just a few clucks when he was gobbling on the roost just to let him know i was there as it started getting light out. Then called after 6am to hear crickets. Cant get any closer without getting busted for sure.  Gonna try a different angle on them this weekend.  

I have had the best luck in the past with the loudest calling.  And as others have said pissing off the hen and she comes out followed by the gobbler.  Or just one lone gobbler coming to the call.   Have had a few times a group of hens/toms just walk by and ignore my decoys at 80 yards.  I can never seem to figure what the trigger is to bring them over. Guess like TF said 2 out of 31 days it might happen. 

[Uncle Nicky]

This is for the newer guys...Wait until the first tweety bird sounds off, then just give a few QUIET pops & putts. Once you have a gobbler respond, PUT YOUR CALL AWAY and fight every urge you have to call back. That gobbler knows where you are. Wait until he hits the ground before you start calling. There is NO upside to having a calling contest with a gobbler who is still roosted.

Another tip..when you are scouting, don't try calling a bird in with a hen call. You are only going to educate them faster.

Finally..don't use a crow call in the dark or a owl call at light. You might get a bird to shock gobble, but they know what sounds are appropriate at what time of day. Plus, any experienced hunter sitting in the woods will be snickering at you...

Edited May 3, 2018 by Uncle Nicky

[turkeyfeathers]

8 hours ago, Gencountyzeek said:

Question, when one is gobbling on roost how close do u try to get. This a.m. i was probably 100 yards away but i spooked a group of 8 deer when i was putting the hen decoy out. They mustve spooked him because next gobble i heard was 150 yards to my left. I will also add it was light out...its hard waking up to chase a bird.

Foliage cover is huge on how close you get. I got nabbed walking in yesterday like I said. Zero tree tops , almost full moon. Recipe for them seeing you. 100 yards imo is perfect. Hopefully they pitch down into your lap. Set your dekes on a field edge for them to see. Dekes should be in your gun range from you. So 30-35 yards.   

[Doewhacker]

Best advice I can give is to scout, learn where they roost, where the fly down, where they go after fly down, where they go after 830. 

There are no one size fits all approaches because every bird is different and even then they change by day sometimes. 

Also do not over call and just let them come to you. 

[mowin]

Well I kinda agree with only a few calls while he on roost.  At this time of year, in my area anyway, once the hens hit the ground, the tom is going to pitch down towards them. If your not near those hens or where they want to head, it's going to be tuff getting him in.  

I've often gotten a tom fired up while on roost and had him pitch down before the hens did.  Terrain plays a big roll. If he thinks he should be able to see the hen from where he roosted, he's staying put. 

Now I'm not saying it's a go to tactic every time, but if the same bird hits the ground with hens a couple days in a row, I've got nothing to loose the next day with this tactic.  

Calling to the boss hen to piss her off in hopes she comes looking and brings the tom with her occasionally works. Sometimes she'll brake from the group and come looking all by herself. Had that happen to.  

 

[turkeyfeathers]

Welcome back Bill 

[turkeyfeathers]

4 minutes ago, Bill Schmidt said:

Learn something from one day and use it for the next. And keep going out. I am 0 for 9 days so far. 6 days in NJ and 3 here in NY.  I need to finally buy the book-- The Tenth Legion  where Author Tom Kelly compares Turkey Hunters to the famous Roman Legion as far as shear stick to it determination.  I hope to break this slump soon...

If turkey hunting was easy I wouldn’t do it 

[mowin]

27 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

If turkey hunting was easy I wouldn’t do it 

Plus it's fun... 

[dbHunterNY]

if you get busted have your buddy go to where the turkey was to check out what your setup looks like. certain things might make you stand out that you wouldn't think of or realize.

glass fields or open valleys or be on the move calling during late mornings. with our late season toms are usually henned up but loud and looking for more once they go to nest. don't expect them to change course much but just get ahead of them.

birds just like anything else take the path of least resistance. they fly and everything else but don't expect them not to hang up from anything more than large mud puddle.

use terrain (knolls, ridge tops, etc.) or cover as a visual barrier to setup so birds have to come into your setup blind and then assess the situation.

if you get a tom to answer but he continues onto where ever he's headed early AM there's a reason but he knows you're there. at least go back to that area late morning if you still haven't flopped one.

just because one flops doesn't mean it can't get back up and run off. keep gun ready and with you. ever see a hunter run after a turkey that got a second wind? it's hilarious.

[Otto]

12 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Set your dekes on a field edge for them to see. Dekes should be in your gun range from you. So 30-35 yards.   

One thing I was told regarding deke setup - also set them off to the side - not directly in front of you from where you thing the turkey will come in from. You want his attention on the dekes and not you.   Still easy to get busted, but it tips the odds a little.  

And yes, welcome back Bill Schmidt. 

[turkeyfeathers]

7 minutes ago, Otto said:

One thing I was told regarding deke setup - also set them off to the side - not directly in front of you from where you thing the turkey will come in from. You want his attention on the dekes and not you.   Still easy to get busted, but it tips the odds a little.  

And yes, welcome back Bill Schmidt. 

I’ll put them in front of me but facing other direction. 

[Otto]

Facing away from you? Or towards you?

[turkeyfeathers]

8 minutes ago, Otto said:

Facing away from you? Or towards you?

Away but usually to the side.   Jake about 5-6 feet behind hen.  

[Doewhacker]

9 minutes ago, Otto said:

Facing away from you? Or towards you?

I do towards me so he has to come between me and the deek, if facing away sometimes they will stop and strut waiting for the hen to come over. 

I often do off to the side but it depends on the set.