Best tactics/Set up

[silvestris]

My dear departed friend and I used to ponder why the gobblers would not come to this spot or that spot and we remained puzzled why they would not.  It definitely was not the calling.

[WV Flopper]

My tactics have stayed the same since I was a kid. Only real difference is 35 years and 120#s.

I "walk" and gun. I call to the turkey, checking his attitude and which side of the limb he woke up on before I go to far.

I don't own decoys and not a reaper.

Could be referred too as an elitist I guess. But, not good looking and my shape is round.

Why carry all that extra stuff? Your the one that requires it, not the turkey.

[Clif Owen]

Round IS a shape!
As a friend of mine likes to say.."I'm plumb. The bubble is in the middle"

[Dougas]

For two of my three turkeys, I set up near the roost trees in the dark morning. One was 54 yards from the roost tree because that is just how it worked out and the other was 120 yards or more. Just camo clothes, foam seat, shot gun and what I could carry in my coat and pants pockets. The first one was with other toms and hens, so I aggressively called to the hens and brought them in with the toms. The third one was alone and soft hen sounds brought him back to me. The second one I shot, I was late and they were feeding in among a herd of about 40 elk. It took a lot of cat and mouse maneuvers and finally was able to seal the deal with just the same outfit and gear as the other two minus the seat.

I have become a minimalist over the years. I usd to carry every gadget known to man stuffed into a vest and backpack. Now, if I can't carry it in my pockets on my clothing, I ain't carrying it.

[Gooserbat]

22 mag, but a 22-250 is effective on field birds.

[King Cobra]

With all due respect. My Best tactics/Set up change with every hunt... I don't use decoys or blinds.

[Kyle_Ott]

The best way to kill turkeys with considerable consistency is to get really close to turkeys.

Roosting birds and getting in tight (inside 70 yards of the roost) will facilitate opportunities you'll never get when you start the game at 100, 125 or 150 yards.  Hens and gobblers a like are far more inclined to engage and respond to the "phantom hen" when you're in extremely close proximity.

The same applies to turkeys on the ground during the post-roost hunt.  I hear a lot of guys start working turkeys at 125, 150 and 200 yards but most of the time, if you're truly skilled, you can use topography, wide trees and vegetation to sneak within 75-80 yards of a bird before introducing yourself.

Actual belly crawling with your face , belly and legs fully in contact with the ground is not something many turkey hunters have truly mastered.  I see a lot of folks crawl on all fours and all fours puts you 16-24" higher than a belly crawl does.  You'll put yourself in better position to kill turkeys if you crawl like tracer rounds are tracking inches over your head as opposed to the all 4 approach. 

Furthermore, vocabulary selection, the frequency and the volume of your calls will never be the same but most of the time when you're in tight it pays to start quiet and soft.  I've always believed you can't de-escalate a conversation with a gobbler once you've ratcheted it up and I firmly believe that is even more relevant when you're in tight.

One thing I have absolutely noticed over the years is that more longbeards will gobble to and more hens will answer a caller who can truly achieve a high end of their yelp on a mouth call.  It's always poor to mediocre callers who say calling doesn't matter but I can tell that if you ever get the chance to hunt with premier caller, they will make more turkeys gobble and create more opportunities for themselves than the average or poor caller will.

[eddie234]

Like I always do, work the roosted birds early. If no success by 9 or 10 I'll walk, call and listen.


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[NYturkey]

With all due respect. My Best tactics/Set up change with every hunt... I don't use decoys or blinds.

Simply put and similar to my feelings and tactics...


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[Old Swamper]

The best way to kill turkeys with considerable consistency is to get really close to turkeys.

Roosting birds and getting in tight (inside 70 yards of the roost) will facilitate opportunities you'll never get when you start the game at 100, 125 or 150 yards.  Hens and gobblers a like are far more inclined to engage and respond to the "phantom hen" when you're in extremely close proximity.

The same applies to turkeys on the ground during the post-roost hunt.  I hear a lot of guys start working turkeys at 125, 150 and 200 yards but most of the time, if you're truly skilled, you can use topography, wide trees and vegetation to sneak within 75-80 yards of a bird before introducing yourself.

Actual belly crawling with your face , belly and legs fully in contact with the ground is not something many turkey hunters have truly mastered.  I see a lot of folks crawl on all fours and all fours puts you 16-24" higher than a belly crawl does.  You'll put yourself in better position to kill turkeys if you crawl like tracer rounds are tracking inches over your head as opposed to the all 4 approach. 

Furthermore, vocabulary selection, the frequency and the volume of your calls will never be the same but most of the time when you're in tight it pays to start quiet and soft.  I've always believed you can't de-escalate a conversation with a gobbler once you've ratcheted it up and I firmly believe that is even more relevant when you're in tight.

One thing I have absolutely noticed over the years is that more longbeards will gobble to and more hens will answer a caller who can truly achieve a high end of their yelp on a mouth call.  It's always poor to mediocre callers who say calling doesn't matter but I can tell that if you ever get the chance to hunt with premier caller, they will make more turkeys gobble and create more opportunities for themselves than the average or poor caller will.

Making them gobble and killing them are 2 separate tasks. I have hunted "behind" several "competition" callers, and killed gobblers they could not get to come look. My stlye is soft and subtle, usually 180 degree difference from theirs. I will agree that realism kills more pressured gobblers.

[Dougas]

if you're truly skilled, you can use topography, wide trees and vegetation to sneak within 75-80 yards of a bird before introducing yourself.

Actual belly crawling with your face , belly and legs fully in contact with the ground is not something many turkey hunters have truly mastered.  I see a lot of folks crawl on all fours and all fours puts you 16-24" higher than a belly crawl does.  You'll put yourself in better position to kill turkeys if you crawl like tracer rounds are tracking inches over your head as opposed to the all 4 approach. 

I do this a lot.

[Prospector]

The ol tried and true soft sale, stealth, knowledge of terrain soft call, locate a gobbler and aggressive close, quick decision to move shoot him when he's in range maneuver!
Since I hunt same ground all season, I try to not be overly aggressive in the actual hunt until I have a gobbler that is willing. At that point the level goes up! My theory has always been lay back on day one means you can try again on day two with your quarry none the wiser. But if you push too hard on day one ( he's not as ready)and spook him, youre just sight seeing on day two....

[Yoder409]

Actual belly crawling with your face , belly and legs fully in contact with the ground is not something many turkey hunters have truly mastered.

Where I hunt.....and at my age..... belly crawling would master me an atomic case of poison ivy, an infestation of ticks and the inability to get back up off the ground.  You know...... "I've fallen !!!  And I can't get up !!!"   

Over the decades, I've found that a slow quiet approach in total darkness, followed by an hour or so nap from my set-up position until it's gobble time nets me a great result.....minus the poison ivy and ticks.  One particular place I've done extremely well, requires me to cross about 200 yards of wide open field within sight of the roosted birds when there's little or no foliage.  I've not been above doing my crossing at 3:00 or 3:30 AM in the past. 

I've found, the older I get, I much prefer walking in the pitch dark then napping, rather than belly crawling at ANY time of the day. 

Both my home state birds this spring (Easterns) were struck well post-flydown and called from 400+ yards.  It CAN be done.

[Dougas]

I am 60 and belly crawling is no big deal to me. The getting up off the ground can get comical though. If I sit for any length of time, getting up can be an ordeal. Once I sit down get and get situated, I pray that I don't have to move quickly to a different spot. I can do it, but it ain't pretty. I lift weights in a serious program 2 days a week and walk 2 or more miles a day as well as active mobility drills and I still have a hard time getting to an upright position after just a few minutes of being on the ground.

[YoungGobbler]

Just found this thread...

My best hunts this year were done in absolute silence, just waiting for gobblers to come to this specific spot they used to go by everyday.

Sad thing is I messed them hunts, one because i moved my head to see if the gobbler was coming from behind, and he was just entering my shooting zone... and i turned to shoot him and he went running 

Other hunt I waited two hours with hens and him in the field, all could see me if i moved... and when the hens were finaly at 15-20 yards, the tom was way behind them at... 'what seemed' to be 40'yards...
Endend up being more 45-50... I took the shot, thinking he could end up seeing me before coming closer... Anyway, i missed.
I knew i was still too far and i took the shot anyway. Nobody to blame except myself! Not patient enough... should've kept enjoying the show, living the moment... maybe he would have followed the hens and come closer!

But yeah...
The lesson i got this year was that if you pattern them well enough, you can hunt them like deers and just wait them somewhere they usually come...