How Do You Turkey Hunt?

[Meleagris gallopavo]

The way I hunt is really based on the situation I choose to hunt in a given day or the situations the turkeys I'm hunting provide.  I have access to a lot of private land in NC and VA within 30 minutes drive of where I live and work.  I can actually hunt on the land where I work.  I know where the birds are in general so I go real early and listen for gobblers and try to set up on them.  Sometimes I'll go in the afternoon if an opportunity presents itself.  The only day I may hunt for several hours is Saturday, but I hunt almost every day.  Sometimes I use decoys and sometimes I don't, but lately I like being mobile so I'm beginning to think they are more of a pain to have, especially when they scare or are ignored by birds half the time.  I use diaphragm and pot calls.  I call very little when I don't think it's necessary and I call more when I think it helps.  If a bird gives me an opportunity for an easy, legal kill I often take it because more often than not they don't give me easy opportunities.  Now I don't reap or shoot turkeys out of trees, mainly because I just don't want to do that.  I've shot turkeys using decoys, coming to my calling without decoys, by stalking them and getting close, by getting between them and where they want to go and so on.  My favorite hunts are with vocal birds that I'm interacting with.  The most anticlimactic part of a hunt is when I pull the trigger and it's over.  To me it's like getting off of your favorite ride at an amusement park.  I typically take my time and pack up and walk over and look at the turkey.  I may or may not take pictures based on my mood. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[THattaway]

No dekes or blinds, locate a bird the morning of the hunt either by sound or get a visual.  I'm in no hurry and may not make a call until 2 or 3 hours into the hunt.   I usually don't call until I think I have found what I think is the killing spot.   I don't try to force the issue by constantly calling.   I figure if I don't kill him today I'll kill him tomorrow, so no need to let him hear every sound I can make on every call I have.  I hear enough of that from other hunters.  When I do kill him I treat him with as much respect as you can after killing something.  I don't high five, dance around, jump up and down and yell like a little leaguer who just hit his first home run.  I like to sit a few minutes and just take it all in, in case that's the last time I get to experience it.

Hope you don't mind my quoting you but this describes the way I hunt in many ways. I admit to using a decoy once or twice a season and yelled like a little leaguer on my last bird this season. Sometimes all that pent up excitement spills over. When it quits I expect I will too. Wishing you many seasons to come Sir.

[Dtrkyman]

As often as I can!

[fallhnt]

Enjoy calling birds in the fall and use a bow most of the time.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Beards and Hooks]

I usually fire up the drone three hours before daylight. It's got a heat register and I look to see which way the birds are facing anticipating the direction they'll pitch. I crawl in with a bag full of decoys on my back and a full fan hat on my head to my Redneck blind—I'd like to thank my sponsor Redneck Blinds. I set my decoys—four full strutters, a half strutter, a posturing jake on an R/C truck, seven feeding hens, two breeder hens, and a funky chicken bearded hen with fishing line tied to her tail—102yds from the blind because my choke and load don't open up till about 97yds. When they get to gobbling on the limb I hit a fly down cackle on a batwing cut diaphragm through an elk bugle tube. I've had them fly down in Vs like Canada geese from a good three mile to get into the setup and at that point it's raining hellfire with the Keltec KSG and 4oz of TSS #16s. If that don't work I move to shooting them off the limb of an evening.

  I really anticipated nobody hunting like me, what the $$$$ Copper?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Howie g]

As often as I can!

Bam ^^

[Mossberg90MN]

I usually fire up the drone three hours before daylight. It's got a heat register and I look to see which way the birds are facing anticipating the direction they'll pitch. I crawl in with a bag full of decoys on my back and a full fan hat on my head to my Redneck blind—I'd like to thank my sponsor Redneck Blinds. I set my decoys—four full strutters, a half strutter, a posturing jake on an R/C truck, seven feeding hens, two breeder hens, and a funky chicken bearded hen with fishing line tied to her tail—102yds from the blind because my choke and load don't open up till about 97yds. When they get to gobbling on the limb I hit a fly down cackle on a batwing cut diaphragm through an elk bugle tube. I've had them fly down in Vs like Canada geese from a good three mile to get into the setup and at that point it's raining hellfire with the Keltec KSG and 4oz of TSS #16s. If that don't work I move to shooting them off the limb of an evening.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HAHAHAHA!!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mossberg90MN]

Woods Turkey hunter, no blind. I have a foam decoy in my vest that I never seem to use. 20 guage TSS, nice and light, and effective.  Don't own any land so public it is, plus I like the options of different pieces.

Roost hunt, cover ground trying to find a gobbler, then a series of "blind sits" in strategic areas, try and roost a bird. Repeat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jhoward11]

I hunt them with whatever is available legally. Some days it's decoys, blinds, set up against a tree, calling/not calling. My issue is....i have no patient in a type of hunting that requires patient:( I am more of a run and gunner, but as i get older it's easier to sleep in the blind than against a tree. Don't limit myself to one way of hunting though. Take what the day/and bird gives you and adapt.

[TRG3]

All of my turkey hunting is done in fields at the edge of small wood lots that I've hunted for years. Typically, I set up my Funky Chicken and hen before the gobbling begins. Using a gobble tube, I try to give the toms the impression that a stranger has moved into their territory and is responding to a hen that is also new to the area. Often, after fly down, a gobbler will come in to challenge the new tom, but if not then around 8-10 a.m. a bird often shows up. I rely on the peck order as much as hen talk to coax in a gobbler.

[Paulmyr]

I'm a woods hunter. Public land from Northern MN to GA for about 30yrs. My long trips are usually spur of the moment. If I'm still on winter layoff and a season is about to open in a southern state I'm packing the truck and heading out. I'm usually by myself and sleep in the back of the truck. State parks or a motel room for a shower when I start feeling/smelling funky.

No decoys, no blinds. The only stalking I do is to get closer or to change set up locations. No crawling turkeys for a shot but I will crawl to stay undetected while closing in on a set up location if need be. I don't shoot turkeys that I stumble into. I did that once when I was just starting out and it left a pretty empty feeling inside of me. There was no interaction, no anticipation, no excitement, and no climax. I need that! It's what makes turkey hunting for me. I lost interest in deer hunting years ago.

I'm usually not in a hurry unlike when I 1st started. I used to run around the woods calling to every gobbler within earshot. If there were 10 birds gobbling I was going to let everyone of them know I was there. Thinking back now I think when I did succeed it was a matter of attrition. Sooner or later if I called to enough birds I would finally have a taker. I was going get one no matter how many I spooked. Now I call very little until a bird is located and I feel I'm in the proper set up.  I use diaphram calls 99.9% of the time. I carry a pot call and hardly ever use it. Most of my time is spent listening or sneaking to my next listening location. It's a rare occasion my set ups allow me to see birds until they get fairly close. It's gobbles and drumming that lets me know they are near.
I will set up in what I feel are good locations or on fresh sign and blind call. I'm not reserved in my calling but don't run around calling every 10 mins either. If I feel the situations calls for it I will rock the trees with yelping and cutting. I let the birds dictate my calling. I'll start soft and and go from there.

Owl hoots before flydown and coyotes howls at fly up are about the extent of my locator calling. In the past I've tried crow calls. Never found one that didn't sound like a kazoo and rarely could get any responses. I pretty much gave up on them a long time ago. I let the real crows and woodpeckers be my locator calls.

At 53 the hills seem to be getting bigger. I'll still climb up that 400ft ridge it just takes much longer now.

I try to roost gobblers from a distance whenever I can. If I'm successful I'll try to get in tight the next mourning. If I'm not successful I'll be standing near a known roost area before light breaks the next mourn. If I hear a bird to go after I usually hang back a bit and set up. It's usually pretty light out or they are on the ground by the time I get to them so I don't see the need to try and rush in close. My main goal other than calling in a tom is to spook as few turkeys as possible hens or gobblers. I don't want them to know they are being hunted. I try to find areas that are hard to get to. In these areas there's a good chance I'm the only one that's hunting them. I don't like crowds. Ha, I must be trying to get away from myself of 25 years ago. If I successfully find one of these hard to reach spots. I take my time. It don't need to happen that day. I'm extremely careful not to let them know a human is present because I'll definitely be back in the near future if It don't happen that day.
Sunrises and critters are pretty cool but I'm in the woods or on a lake/river most every weekend during the year so seeing them takes a backseat to the task at hand. The one thing that really turns my crank is whippoorwills. We don't have them where I live so when I hear them it can only mean one thing, "Turkey Hunting!!!!!"

Over the years I've gone through the progression of a hunter. Kill one, kill a bunch, kill the biggest, and now I'm into the teaching stage. I don't have any kids to share turkey hunting with. Last year I was lucky enough to find a beginning turkey hunter hear on OG that lives close to me. He's been hunting turkeys for I think 3 years. He's a dedicated 30 something. I try and help him anyway I can. I'm sure I overload him with all the info I try and give him. Ultimately time in the woods will be his best teacher. Hopefully my input will help steer him in the right direction. I'll have to admit I think he is helping me more than I him. Getting to know him has filled a void I've had since I started turkey hunting. He's the only dedicated turkey hunter I know who lives close to me. I know a guy in GA but we fell out of touch for about 20 years. He's  little green but there's no quit in him that I can see. I get to tell my stories and try and share info with somebody who actually cares.

This spring we made it out on a hunt together on the second to last day of the season. We roosted a bird and got in close the next mourn. Too close to be exact. I knew when I heard the drumming we were in trouble. The tom was not 35 yards from me. 2 hens I'm pretty sure we're in each of the trees we set up against. That tom sat in that tree for 1 1/2 hrs after flydown time gobbling his butt off waiting for the hens to flydown that were sitting above our heads. I digress, it seems after meeting my new friend the fire inside of me is burning a little brighter.

Edit: I guess the last half of all that would be more of who I am as a turkey hunter instead of how I hunt.

[Tail Feathers]

Especially at home, I'm a no decoy, hear 'em gobble and try to get close kind of hunter.   I tend to burn a lot of boot leather.  My hearing is not good and going south.   I have to get fairly close most of the time to hear them, but when I do it's game on!  Scouting helps make up for the bad hearing.
When I travel, well, things get harder.  I will sometimes use decoys, just don't like carrying them.  I use Howard Leight ear muffs to amplify sound but if it's windy that does no good.  It's particularly problematic hunting new ground when I travel and being limited on how far I can hear one.
I'm sure I usually call too much but that's a great part of my enjoyment so I probably won't change much.   

[WV Flopper]

99% of the time when I go hunting my hunt day schedule consists of hunting.

Don't use blinds, no decoys, no fans.

Do no boots on the ground scouting locally, only out of town if I have extra time built in the hunt. I do alot of map scouting.

Run a slate or diaphragm call 95%. Which one the most is left to be determined by the turkey.

Hunt by myself mostly and enjoy it that way. But, I do enjoy a kid or friend once in a while. For some reason success seems to drop when I am with others, nothing on them. I think it's me, the things I don't do when with others.

Used to run and gun hard core, now I walk and gun. Seems the slower pace kills just as many turkeys for me. Maybe just don't cover as much ground on the quite days?

I don't hunt every piece of property the same. Some I have are small and require a slow to stopped pace if turkeys aren't gobbling. I have great patience when needed, sometimes, too much patience.

I still hunt with a big heavy 10g pump stuffed full of TSS. Never have thought you could kill something too dead. "Overkill guys"

I take really good naps after the hunt, and no work around the house gets done til after season is out!

I like going out, hearing a turkey, whether on the roost or to strike him up. Call him up and give him a load of shot to the face. Get to the truck (1Beer) and get a steak to eat. Have a couple drinks and fall asleep. That is my best day of turkey hunting. This is accomplished better if camping. You can eat dinner when you want and don't have to drive! A steak at 11, a few drinks, nap until three, Perfect!

I am already ready for next year! Can't wait, 9 months away.

[Howie g]

I still hunt the way I learned from my grandpa / mr Kenny Morgon / and a couple of others that took the time to share a " few " things with me .   No visual aids etc , Yelp em to the gun , or use woodsmanship to get your self in a killing position. If I can't get it done by those and those only methods? Then they live another day .
No cigar smoking , no excessive celebration needed either .   But I will celebrate with a good hot cup of coffee and honey bun ...

[Jbird22]

I just enjoy turkey hunting. No need to explain myself to anyone how i hunt. Just get out and enjoy the great outdoors and gods blessing. Those sunrises and hearing a gobbler at daybreak is awesome in my opinion.

Good stuff, Greg! My standards for hunting turkeys are personal to me. It's about enjoying the entire experience. Thank the Lord for every opportunity I get to chase them!