Confessions of a no killing 4th season turkey hunter. Suggestions welcome.

[howl]

If you have birds, especially private birds, you should be able to network to find someone to show you how to kill them. If you don't have that, get it.

If you can get to a place a gobbler will come to in his ordinary daily travel, and if he must come within about thirty yards to see your position in that location, and if you can convince a gobbler there is a hen present at your location by calling, and nothing like a hen or predator takes the gobbler's attention from you, then you'll probably get a shot. Putting all that together in the same instant is the difficulty. Keep your strategy simple. Try only one different tactic or call at a time as you learn.

And never, ever, give a gobbler the high ground.

[Lcmacd 58]

All great advice.... keep after it ....  the 1st is the hardest .....it will click and when it does , try and learn something new every trip

[Dazzler]

This morning got set up right at day break. On the slow walk in I heard no gobbles. When I sat down I heard one way off, possible across the river. Stayed out and finally a shock gobble from a plane passing overhead. Never gobbled at my call, so I just called softly every 20 minutes or so. No response. I felt my setup was good. All of a sudden two came up on my left like ninjas at 15 yards.

Started to figure out how to get my gun on them, but they were stretching that neck eyeballing my direction. Didn't look them in the eye or move. Waited for them to go behind a tree to make a move. Well they went behind and never showed up again. They went back down the hill. I heard a few clicks or putts and then gone. Not a fast walk just a 180 slow walk from whence they came.

So what should I have done?  I gave it about a minute and did some soft purr and cluck. Nothing.

Should I have swung for the fences and hoped for the best When they were at fifteen giving me the turkey eye? 

I'll be back in the morning to try again.

[ChesterCopperpot]

This morning got set up right at day break. On the slow walk in I heard no gobbles. When I sat down I heard one way off, possible across the river. Stayed out and finally a shock gobble from a plane passing overhead. Never gobbled at my call, so I just called softly every 20 minutes or so. No response. I felt my setup was good. All of a sudden two came up on my left like ninjas at 15 yards.

Started to figure out how to get my gun on them, but they were stretching that neck eyeballing my direction. Didn't look them in the eye or move. Waited for them to go behind a tree to make a move. Well they went behind and never showed up again. They went back down the hill. I heard a few clicks or putts and then gone. Not a fast walk just a 180 slow walk from whence they came.

So what should I have done?  I gave it about a minute and did some soft purr and cluck. Nothing.

Should I have swung for the fences and hoped for the best When they were at fifteen giving me the turkey eye? 

I'll be back in the morning to try again.

Sometimes that just happens, and, no, I don't think I'd have tried to swing and shoot if I thought I had another chance or another day to get on them again. 15yds is a hard distance to try to get away with any movement at all even if you think they're fully behind a tree. They just caught you. That happens. Happens more times than not.

Now, think about where they came from and what terrain they crossed to get to you. Use that to your advantage on the next hunt. Also, since they're grouped up like that, you might try some jake yelps mixed in with your hen talk. That presence of another male bird might get them to you. Congrats on the fun hunt. Birds at 15yds is a win. Stay at it. Like the colonel said, "We pay for every bird we kill and the coin we use is time."


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[Lcmacd 58]

I've read each post and everyone was well said .... but calling to a hen is awesome advice .... just mimic her .. itll show you where your calling needs to be tweaked and she will get upset and come looking for ya....hopefully
Time in the woods is invaluable.  I retired 3 years ago and I'm in the woods almost everyday a month before season. 

[Dazzler]

This morning got set up right at day break. On the slow walk in I heard no gobbles. When I sat down I heard one way off, possible across the river. Stayed out and finally a shock gobble from a plane passing overhead. Never gobbled at my call, so I just called softly every 20 minutes or so. No response. I felt my setup was good. All of a sudden two came up on my left like ninjas at 15 yards.

Started to figure out how to get my gun on them, but they were stretching that neck eyeballing my direction. Didn't look them in the eye or move. Waited for them to go behind a tree to make a move. Well they went behind and never showed up again. They went back down the hill. I heard a few clicks or putts and then gone. Not a fast walk just a 180 slow walk from whence they came.

So what should I have done?  I gave it about a minute and did some soft purr and cluck. Nothing.

Should I have swung for the fences and hoped for the best When they were at fifteen giving me the turkey eye? 

I'll be back in the morning to try again.

Sometimes that just happens, and, no, I don't think I'd have tried to swing and shoot if I thought I had another chance or another day to get on them again. 15yds is a hard distance to try to get away with any movement at all even if you think they're fully behind a tree. They just caught you. That happens. Happens more times than not.

Now, think about where they came from and what terrain they crossed to get to you. Use that to your advantage on the next hunt. Also, since they're grouped up like that, you might try some jake yelps mixed in with your hen talk. That presence of another male bird might get them to you. Congrats on the fun hunt. Birds at 15yds is a win. Stay at it. Like the colonel said, "We pay for every bird we kill and the coin we use is time."


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Do you think setting out a Jake or laying hen or both might help my situation?  In hindsight I always think it will.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Do you think setting out a Jake or laying hen or both might help my situation?  In hindsight I always think it will.

I don't hunt decoys at all. I just don't like them. So I'm not going to be much help here. If you've got terrain that would allow them to get within 15yds and pop up on you then you've got terrain to get it done without decoys. Whether they'd help or hurt, I honestly don't know. Some much more knowledgeable folks on here with regard to that style of hunting. Hopefully they'll chime in.


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[Dazzler]

Do you think setting out a Jake or laying hen or both might help my situation?  In hindsight I always think it will.

I don't hunt decoys at all. I just don't like them. So I'm not going to be much help here. If you've got terrain that would allow them to get within 15yds and pop up on you then you've got terrain to get it done without decoys. Whether they'd help or hurt, I honestly don't know. Some much more knowledgeable folks on here with regard to that style of hunting. Hopefully they'll chime in.


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I do t use them either, but I have the sad looking $10 foam ones from cabelas. Figured it might give them something to focus on when they pop their head up over the ridge  of course they might not like what they see.

[howl]

Pegging you, then walking behind a tree and turning dead away is SOP for a gobbler. Old buck deer will do it, too. May as well go for if you can do it in one swift move. If you decide to shoot at them on the flush ignore the body and go for the head. Missing into the body can turn into a rodeo and leave you disgusted with yourself.

It helps if you sit with the butt under your arm and the gun rested across your knee whenever you're set up.

[Marc]

The dominant hen will almost always get vocal if another "hen" starts talking loudly. Challenge her. She yelps, cut her off. She cuts, cut over her. She's used to her word being the final say so, and when that's challenged on occasion she'll come search out that mouthy hen to set her straight. If you can get that to happen that gobbler will almost always be in tow. Also had it where you piss her off and she gets loud but just pulls him off someplace else. That's always frustrating. Can happen either way, but if he's actively with that hen that's about the only shot you've got anyhow is to try your best to pull her in because he's not leaving her side.

If you're not real confident in your calling or what call to do when, just match her note for note. She yelps loud five times, you yelp loud five times. She cuts ten notes, you cut ten notes. One, you'll learn quick how it should sound. Two, that I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I mirroring is often exactly what will piss her off enough to come.

Great advice/well said...  I completely agree!

I would add, that gobbling birds in the morning let you know where they are and it is fun to hear, but outside of that there is no strategic advantage to hearing or making those birds gobble...  But I am far more interested in the hens, for reasons mentioned above.  As well as listening to the calls and cadence of different birds...  I am going to address that dominant bird right off, but later in the morning if that has not worked, I might access my memory banks and try and emmulate some of the other hens with their tones/pitch cadence as well.

Listening to those hens gives you an idea of the "feeling of the woods," and helps you learn what hen turkeys sound like.

I used to keep a "turkey log" describing the amount and enthusiasm of the gobbling, as well as the what sounds and when the hens were making them.  I no longer keep a log, but it did help me with my learning curve early one (I was blessed with hunting an area that had lots of turkeys and turkey sounds when I started).

[Dazzler]

It helps if you sit with the butt under your arm and the gun rested across your knee whenever you're set up.

10-4. That's one of the first lessons I learned. Got one of those gun rests that straps to your leg.

[roberthyman14]

Don't give up. Took me almost 10 season to finally kill 1.  I'm self taught, no youtube when I started.   Messed up a ton of hunts, missed a few birds and each trip was something learned.  Doesn't help that I hunt florida and these birds are tough to kill. 

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[Sir-diealot]

I started to hunt them around 95 or 96 and did not get one until 2019 because I was in a car accident and could not hunt 17 years, believe me even having to wait that long it was worth the wait.

[Dazzler]

After them again this morning about 30 minutes befor daylight. Heard a couple birds fly down. Not one gobble all morning. Decided to move around 945. As I stepped over a small hill/mound there was a turkey sitting on side of the road. He/she flew off. Couldn't Errol if there was a beard. All I saw was the backside. Light brown with a white layer. Doing some soft calls see if he/she comes back. Any tricks to determine sex from the backside. Seemed awfully large, so I'm leaning towards Tom.

[Sir-diealot]

After them again this morning about 30 minutes befor daylight. Heard a couple birds fly down. Not one gobble all morning. Decided to move around 945. As I stepped over a small hill/mound there was a turkey sitting on side of the road. He/she flew off. Couldn't Errol if there was a beard. All I saw was the backside. Light brown with a white layer. Doing some soft calls see if he/she comes back. Any tricks to determine sex from the backside. Seemed awfully large, so I'm leaning towards Tom.

I am going to offer a piece of advise that helped me get mine, when they are quiet stay where you are and only call maybe every 15 minutes to half hour, I waited half an hour and then all of a sudden they just started to open up. Which subspecies are you hunting?