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 Out in the Woods is intended to be a place on the TurkeyHuntersMall.com where our customers can come to get expert hunting tips from some of the best turkey hunters in the country: TurkeyHunterMall.com Merchants! In the future, that is who will be writing these stories and tips.
My family and I have been blessed for my early-in-life pursuit of America’s greatest game bird, the wild turkey. It has led us all to be involved in the hunting business now for 10 years. At age 15, I killed my first turkey, a Jake, just outside little Rock, AR where I grew up. Since then, I have killed quite a few turkeys in about 10 states in this great country and have even been lucky enough to kill a Grand Slam, which I’d like to do a few more times. I’ll admit that I’ve also been lucky because by being involved in the hunting business, I’ve had opportunities to hunt more and on better places than a lot of others. But don’t be mistaken, I’ve hunted a lot of tough places to include public ground turkeys, and that is where I’ve learned some of my better lessons on how to kill turkeys.
The other lessons have come from being able to hunt with some of the best turkey hunters in the country, most of which are friends and customers. These are everyday hunters, just like me and you! Not all great turkey hunters are on TV or video. And of course, I’ve hunted with some of the best guides and call makers and there is no doubt, these are good hunters to learn a thing or two from. They depend on it to make a living! Turkey hunting is, in fact, one of those sports that you can be a master at, but yet never master it.
The following tips will be the first written for the TukeyHuntersMall.com and are taken from the material I use when doing seminars for our game call company, Bud and Betty Custom Calls.
Hunting pressured or public ground turkeys
The first thing to remember when hunting any turkey is they are really not smart, we give them too much credit for being “smart”. The fact of the matter is, they don’t have the ability to think or reason (some people don’t either, come to think of it!). In other words, when a gobbler hears a turkey call, he doesn’t stop and think “now is that a real hen or not?” You see what I mean? What turkeys really are, are just great survivalists!
Public ground is used for the testing grounds for all newly purchased turkey calls. In fact, I believe that these are the first turkey’s to hear each year’s newest and latest calls on the market! I have a few guys that live close to me who never hunt public ground, but go there before the season, call in and video turkeys, and when the turkeys get into gun range, they jump up and run after them screaming. I must admit, it makes for some interesting video! It also makes for some tough turkeys to hunt. Public ground birds are also scouted very hard, so it would be safe to consider them “pressured” and “call shy” before the season even opens.
If while scouting public ground birds, you come across an area that looks great for turkeys with a good food source, but you just can’t believe there is no sign, start there first. Once the season opens, pressure will push the birds into these hidden areas.
Unless this is the only land you have to hunt, wait until after the 2nd or 3rd week of the season to go to these places. Also, hunt during the week and always hunt mid-day (10:00 am to 4:00 pm). Most turkey hunters are morning hunters only and are discouraged early in the day by these hard-headed birds. They also quit hunting as much (or any at all) after the first couple of weeks into the season. A lot of gobblers are killed the last two weeks of turkey season on public ground. Good things come to those who wait.
Public ground is the place to learn the difference between turkey hunting and turkey calling. A very, very conservative approach to calling pressured birds will almost always get you the results you’re looking for quicker and more consistently.
Always sneak through the woods listening for sounds of feeding turkeys such as clucking, purring and scratching in the leaves. When this is heard, STOP and first locate the direction of the sounds before taking another step. When located, or if it’s determined that the turkeys are out of sight, sit down and start calling, just like they are; try to fit in.
While sneaking through the woods, if you hear a gobbler drumming, STOP, locate the bird and sit down. The first call I always make in this case is scratching in the leaves. If a gobbler gobbles at leaf scratching, get ready to shoot cause he’s coming. I have killed more than a few birds raking in the leaves, but can honestly say (knock on wood), I’ve never had a gobbler that gobbled at a good hand full of leaves to live to tell about it. Sometimes the best call of all is just under foot.
I’ll close this out with a few thoughts on shooting turkeys, more specifically, the top three reasons I think turkeys don’t make that truck ride we’re all so fond of giving them. Turkeys are hard to get within 40 yards of , here are a few problems and solutions to help keep you from blowing it!
Problem #1:
Hunters get carried away, looking at the turkey while he’s coming in and they quit looking at their sights. This causes you to shoot over the bird because your barrel is elevated.
Solution: Keep your sights aligned on the turkey’s head where they belong at this critical point in the game!
Problem #2:
Hunters making huge errors in range estimation or shooting through too much brush or a combination of both.
Solution: Stop shooting too far and never shoot through a bunch of brush and other junk!
Problem #3:
The gun is empty!
Solution: Make sure the gun is loaded before trying to shoot a turkey with it!
I hope the things I’ve learned and printed here have been of some help to you. Please let us know what you think of this “Out in the Woods” and look for up and coming stories and tips from our Mall Merchants. Don’t hesitate to let them know what it is you need help with.
Thanks for shopping and using the TurkeyHuntersMall.com.
Russell Lynch
President, Lynch Outdoors, Inc.
Copyright 2005 Turkey Hunters Mall. Content is the intellectual material of its author. |
