Category: Turkey Hunting

It’s true work gets in the way of turkey season! Sometimes there is no way around it. It can be nearly impossible to take off every morning to enjoy a hunt. What should the approach be to turkey season when you have limited days to fill tags?

Opening day, you just can’t resist going out! There is something magical about opening morning that gets you out of bed and in the woods. If you are like me and cannot resist, then hunt. But when you do scout very intently. What you learn then will be used later. Take notice of the exact locations where birds are roosting. After fly down, remember which ways they travel and what they are traveling to. Opening morning birds can be tough to kill. Longbeards usually have hens with them. The gobbler may simply follow the flock, gobbling every so often. After you have the first day jitters worked out and the scouting report, stay out of the woods.

Here in Missouri our season is only three weeks long. With a few vacation days remaining I’d wait for late into week two or even week three to take off again. Gobblers will most likely be breeding hens for some time. When time is limited don’t waste it calling to henned up gobblers. Let them breed their hens. Then they will begin searching for hens. This is the time when gobblers become more responsive to the call. By this time many hens are out searching to find a location to nest or sitting on their nest already. This makes for lonely, responsive gobblers.

Your opening day scouting report can help determine where the birds are roosting. You know the general area of where to start your hunt. Once that bird sounds off, you also have a good idea of where they are likely to travel to. Setup and let the show come to you! Plan your days in the turkey woods accordingly. Learn early, then get in and hunt when the odds are more in your favor. Don’t let minimal vacation days stop you from filling your tags!

Chasing longbeards,

Matt

Watch this episode as the young guns have the Winchesters in hand! Success, struggles, and smiles during this turkey hunting action.

Rae takes advantage of our pre-season scouting technique. Watch it pay off within the first half hour of Missouri’s youth season.

Pro Staff members Heath and Lindsey Martin take out a youth hunter in Arkansas. Gracie Pate stays persistent and tags her first tom ever!

Young Trace Harker is set on tagging a longbeard. He hunts hard and has a great encounter. See if his hunt unfolds as planned.

This Week’s Blog: Matt explains how to properly get setup on a gobbler. This will help you tag more toms this turkey season!

Tip of the Week:

When that gobbler hangs up, add some jake yelps to your calling sequence. This may make him jealous enough to close the distance.

You hear a bird on the roost and you start to close in on his location. Immediately you think where can I setup? How close can I get? You want to be close enough to peak the gobbler’s interest but not risk spooking him.

A strutting tom works a narrow ridge on a small clover plot.

After hearing a bird on the roost there are some general rules that I follow as I setup. First off, I map out the gobblers route to me. I imagine how he would make his way to me. The gobbler will work in using the terrain to his advantage. From here I make my first move. This may mean circling completely around the gobbler.

After doing my best to predict the route he may take, I determine where I want to setup along that route. I look for visibility, but cover as well. I want to have a shot opportunity but I do not want to be sitting in the wide open. I also do not like to setup close to the edge of a ridge. These places are great ambush points for predators. A turkey coming into the call will likely circle you or hang up if he is forced into this situation. Each setup I ensure visibility, cover, and room for the bird to work in as he finishes.

I look for all of the factors above to be about 200 yards away from the roost tree. Getting in to tight to the roost tree limits the gobbler’s approach to you. If you crowd him on the roost he is more likely to circle you. Another reason to stay further back is that if you need to move your setup, you have the room to do so. Your setup should not handcuff yourself nor the turkey.

The 200 yard mark allows my soft tree yelps at first light to carry to the roost tree. I simply let the gobbler know where I am. From that point on my other calls will hopefully convince him to come. The bird has the terrain to his advantage and room to work in while I have visibility and cover. If I can coax him within range of a Long Beard XR round, this usually means I punch a tag.

Chasing longbeards together,

Matt

Hunting a bird right off the roost can be tough! Naturally, they wait for the hens to come to their roost tree. Hunters try to reverse this and entice a gobbler to come to them. If you’ve experienced this you may wonder, is the hunt over after a gobbler flies down and gets with hens? How do I remain successful when I don’t harvest a gobbler off the roost?

These lonely gobblers make prime candidates to chase during a late morning hunt!

The hunt is not over, unless your honey-do list is long. If you can remain patient your chances of success increase. Once a gobbler has flown down and met his hens, do your best to keep him gobbling. This isn’t to call him in. It’s simply to keep tabs on his location. Turkeys can cover a lot of ground quickly. Using a crow call (watch a short video of calling here) during this time of the hunt works well. As the season progresses and hens are bred, they will begin to search for nesting locations. Hens may fly down and congregate with other turkeys but then soon leave. This means gobblers are left alone. A lonely gobbler is a good gobbler to have in your turkey woods.

Keeping the gobbler vocal allows you to make the appropriate setup once his hens have left. Toms may begin to gobble on their own once this occurs. They are lonely making this is your time to strike! Gobblers are already on their feet and searching for the hens to accompany them.

To put the odds further in your favor, your setup should be very approachable. Do not force that gobbler to walk down a hill or through a tight pinch point. If you do, he will most likely circle behind you or hang-up out of range. Instead make his approach a safe one. This may mean getting your boots moving to circle behind him. Get to where the terrain allows him to close the distance safely. Even though this bird wants to be with a hen, he wants to survive. You’ve been patient all morning; take the extra time to get setup correctly.

Hunting longbeards mid-morning can be extremely successful. Do not give up on the gobbler if you don’t bag him at first light. Stay persistent and keep him gobbling. Waiting a turkey out until he is lonely is often a recipe for success.

Chasing longbeards together,

Matt

Bowhunting big flocks! Watch as Adam takes the Prime to Nebraska to open his turkey season! Birds were talking but will they close the distance?

Decoying tips! Be prepared for what the spring turkey woods may throw at you. Different turkey hunting scenarios require different decoying strategies. Learn how we use decoys to get longbeards into the kill zone. Conventional and unconventional methods revealed.

Tip of the Week:

Test your soil’s temperature! What does it read at 9:00 am?

If it says 60 degrees, it’s time to plant soybeans!

Shopping for turkey calls can be overwhelming. Stores have shelves packed with different turkey calls. Many calls swear to produce a unique sound. These various calls mimic the vocalizations that turkeys make. What they do not mimic are the other noises turkeys frequently produce.

Whether turkeys are flocked up or alone, they can be noisy in the woods. Scratching through leaves, flogging one another, and beating wings. While hunting, replicating these sounds adds another lifelike measure to your turkey hunting setups. These sounds are what turkeys are familiar with hearing.

During each turkey hunting setup, I put my back against a tree and lay my calls out around me. I grab a mouth call, then my friction call, and lastly my turkey wing! Yes, I carry a turkey wing in my vest. This “call” is placed on the ground within reach. When calling to a bird on the roost, I will use a wing to resemble the sound of a turkey flying down. I simply beat the wing against my leg a few times, pause, and then smack the leaves on the ground. This sequence communicates a turkey has flown off the roost, sailed, and then landed on the ground. Replicating this sound increases the realism of your setup.

Even after fly down I keep the wing handy. Turkeys do not stay still once they fly down. To resemble the sound of turkeys walking, I use the wing to scratch in the leaves. This allows me to stay in communication with a gobbler in between actual calling sequences. A longbeard expects to hear turkeys in the leaves as he approaches. If a gobbler begins to hang-up out of range, I don’t call. I scratch in the leaves. This is to reassure him that turkeys are here without making a turkey vocalization.

Lastly I carry a wing with me to create a fighting scenario. Turkeys establish pecking orders (watch GrowingDeer episode 328 here) in late winter. Pecking orders are challenged during the breeding season. These fights are generally loud and get turkeys to investigate. Fights among hens include aggressive fighting purrs and flogging. A last ditch effort is to create a fight. I purr aggressively on a mouth call and use a wing to replicate a fight. Simply purring aggressively may do the trick but beating wings takes this scene to the next level.

Don’t fall for some of the game call gimmicks. Save a wing, replicate what happens in nature on a daily basis. Using a wing can increase your odds of success in the spring woods. Remember wings are free with the harvest of any turkey! Draw that gobbler into range!

Chasing longbeards,

Matt

It is opening morning and the turkeys are still flocked up. Despite this, you get setup on a bird gobbling hard on the roost. You have high expectations until a few hens begin calling in the distance. The gobbler pitches off the roost right to them. He sounds off a time or two as the flock makes their way to an open field.

Perfect early season situation to fan or reap a gobbler.

What is your next move? Calling him away from the hens is out of the question. The field is flat as a pancake. You could pack it in and come back another day. But there is something special about punching a tag on opening day! Having a big arsenal during turkey season is critical to staying successful! Fanning or reaping may be the answer!

Throughout late winter, both gobblers and hens establish pecking orders. Turkeys have distinct social ranks throughout the flock. They sort out these roles by pecking, spurring, flogging, and chasing one another. This very behavior is what can turn the hunting scenario described above into a success – if you have the right gear.

Dominate gobblers do not take challenges well. They know where they rank! Any other gobbler who threatens them or their hens will be challenged. A fanning or strutting decoy, like the Fanatic from Montana Decoy, works wonders during these situations. This decoy is designed to hide the hunter as you stalk to a flock of turkeys across open terrain. Using a large strutting decoy suggests a challenge to the dominant bird. Usually resulting in a change of behavior! The longbeard may charge in looking for a fight.

Stalking across open terrain IS possible! Just be ready for a charge.

Now that bird from opening morning is approachable. Even more important, he is harvestable! A note of caution! Before taking on this approach safety must be understood. Know your surroundings! Are there any other hunters in the area? You will need to know this before getting behind a strutting decoy. This technique is intense but works in the appropriate circumstances.

This spring don’t let a flock of hens or open terrain stop you from closing the distance on a longbeard. Check your surroundings and go after him! Be ready for some up close and personal action.

Chasing longbeards together,

Matt

As season approaches for us here in the Midwest we are talking turkey tactics. We have already been out a few times listening for gobblers on the roost. These pre-season scouting trips give us an idea of where birds are roosting. This may change as season progresses, but until then, we start planning our tactics to intercept the birds. One thing that remains pretty consistent is how we communicate with birds while they are on the roost. Some folks say to never call to a gobbler while he is on the roost, while others call a lot! Where do you draw the line?

Try using these calling techniques to work gobblers into range.

Turkeys communicate with other birds on the roost 365 days a year. Turkeys use certain calls in specific sequences while on the roost. This sequence is exactly what we try to replicate when calling to a gobbler that is still on the roost. With our back against a tree and our Montana Decoys placed in front of us, the first turkey sound we make is a tree yelp! Tree yelps are soft notes intended to talk with other birds on limbs nearby. This call represents a “Hey! Good morning, I’m over here.” message. We may use this sequence a time or two before moving on to communicate another message! Next, we transition into a fly down cackle! As it gets lighter in the woods, you will here a more excited cutting sequence as birds fly off the limb. This call usually gets a good response from a gobbler. We may do this multiple times! As we call, we use a wing to make the sound of wings beating. This adds more realism to the setup. The gobbler now knows that multiple hens have hit the ground. Since turkeys are on the ground, the next process is to gather the flock. Assembly yelps are used to complete this message. This call is louder than the tree yelp. It broadcasts where the flock is to gather at. We follow up the gathering of the flock calls with soft clucks and purrs. These calls are calls of contentment. Clucks and purrs communicate safety as birds gather at your location. During this process we rake the leaves. This sounds like birds are feeding. Any sound, other than calling, that is natural in the turkey woods, we use! This makes our setup more realistic and enticing as he makes his final approach!

From the first call of the morning to when the Winchester sounds off, all calls communicate simple realistic messages to a gobbler. This natural calling technique leads many gobblers on their final approach each spring! May you be blessed with a productive spring listening not only to gobblers, but to the Creator as well!

Chasing longbeards together,

Matt

Food plots go beyond selecting a seed variety, planting, and hunting! Check out the technique we have found that attracts wildlife, improves their nutrition, and builds better soil! It’s a winner for everyone with food plots!

Are you day dreaming of strutting toms? You aren’t alone! Spring gobbler season is on our minds too! Pre-season scouting can be difficult with tough work schedules, but it can be done! Watch how we use RECONYX cameras to locate and scout birds before opening day.

Want to see these techniques first hand? Join us April 1st and 2nd for Spring Field Days where we’ll demonstrate our food plot and hunting techniques! There are LOTS of giveaways and great prizes!

Tip of the Week:

Are you ready?

This is a great time to get your Hook’s Calls out and fine tune your sound!

Now that turkey season has wrapped up here in Missouri, it’s time to get back to management projects! As we work to improve the habitat, the next generation of critters is being born and trying to survive and for some it can be very difficult.

We’ve had a very interesting spring so far. April came in dry, went out with a couple rainstorms, then May came in dumping rain. We’ve had a lot of rain, with even more rain coming this weekend. For turkey nests and poults this is troubling. There has been a lot of research studying the connection between hatch success rates with precipitation amounts. The higher amounts of rain we receive in May, the lower hatch rate and ultimately a lower population of turkeys.

The “wet hen theory” suggests that hen turkeys with wet feathers sitting on their nest release a higher amount of scent than a hen with dry feathers. Releasing more scent makes them more susceptible to predators, and even if they survive the predator encounter, there is a good chance the eggs won’t survive.

While planting my Eagle Seed soybeans, I’m happy to see the coming rainfalls, but as a turkey hunter I get a little uneasy knowing the potential harm for the turkeys.

Daydreaming of long beards and long spurs,

Adam