Christian Turkey Hunting

[Chuck7]

Day 2 ,
Fellows I have no idea what I'm doing .Can someone please help? I went to the same area. 5:30 Literally 2 miles deep in the swamp.
1. What time should I start yelping and how often should I keep it up?

Well I was yelping real frequent. I got burned out about 7:30 and was planning to head back slow and listen.I went exactly 175 yds and flushed 3 big toms out of an oak tree. I went ahead of them 100 yds and found a very nice natural blind by the dried up muddy river.Hundreds of tracks. I called till about 10.00 Frequently.What am I doing wrong??

I know that many of you hunt turkey and figured you might be able to help me.
Chuck7
PS I was using 3 decoys as well.

[DaveH]

First off, why are you hunting Christian turkeys? [8D]

Chuck, there are entire books which answer these questions and the turkey forum you posted this in is a good place to learn.

Since time and space don't permit, I'll offer a nutshell advice.

Find out where the gobblers are roosting. If you can get out to the general area the night before you hunt and listen, you might hear a gobbler or two sound off from their roost tree. An owl call might assist you here since they often will gobble at owls. Knowing where they are will greatly assist you the following morning in setting up. Try to get in as close as possible without spooking them. Get in early under total darkness before they begin to wake up.

Call very sparingly -- only a couple soft yelps -- AFTER you hear other turkeys calling. You may be able to fine-tune your set-up once you know where they are. If you hear a gobbler answer you from the roost, do NOT over call to him. Calling a lot will likely make him stay on his roost longer and wait for YOU to approach him. After he's on the ground, you can pick it up a bit. Cutting is deadly, but I like to wait a bit longer before I employ this.

If he goes off with real hens, you can try to circle around in front which may or may not work. Eventually, the hens will leave him to go lay their egg and he'll be alone . . . and workable. This often doesn't happen until much later in the morning.

If you aren't able to get them to come in to your calls, go to a known strutting area, or, since the dry riverbed looked good, go there . . . and wait. Give a series of yelps every 15-20 minutes and see if they come in. A lot of times, the gobbler will be silent when he's with hens and they could suddenly show up where you are with him bringing up the rear.

This is just a brief synopsis and probably will need more fine tuning since every situation is different. Hope it helps.

[Chuck7]

Thanks Dave.,
It's much more than I already had. I honestly went out blindly. I do know where they are roosting so that is a big part done. Swamps are hard to set up because everything is flat. I was calling way to much. I may try agian tomorrow and do as you said call much less.
C7
I'm going to save your advice to a folder. I also posted this at the Turkey site. This is our last week off from school and I need ed a crash course in turkey hunting. I'll do some reading on line as well.

Reb..if your reading this I'm just a tad north of O.J.Simpson .2 miles deep off of main.

[Chuck7]

Dave .I just did some research.Do ya know what those hundreds of tracks were I saw going in 2 different directions.?I think I found a strut zone. If that's the case it's about 100 yds from the roosting tree.

[MOTOWNHONKEY]

remember them turkeys walk around all day long. If your in a good spot you will see them come thru. Listen early in the morning for them toms gobbeling. Try and get witnin a 100 yds of them and when you hear them fly down give some light hen calls. if they gobble back at you he will be on the way so get ready. Only use as much calling as necessary to get him in. this time of year it doesn't take much. Good luck chuck.

[Goose 11]

These guys have given the exact advice that I would have given. Sounds like the key to your success may be calling less. Remember "curiosity killed more than the cat!" If you have found that strut zone, that's where I'd probably set up.

My brother Caleb,(Moose 75)heard about 100 gobbles this morning! Wish I were there!!

Hope you get 'em Chuck!
Trae

[Chuck7]

Thanks Chris,
I'd like to take you and Dave with me. With the advice from the Turkey site and you folks I plan to get between the Strut walk place and the roosting tree and hang tite with minimal calling. It's a real long drive.I hate striking out too much ? It's very hard finding cover in a swamp where you can see any distance at all. Tons of hog tracks here.
C7

First don't call too much. I won't start yelping intil daylight. Also, I have about 8 different mouthcalls and a call box. I don't stay in one area too long. I might call a few times, with one mouth call. Wait 5 min, change around to another.

After 1 hour max, I get up and slowly move to a totally different section. Do the same thing. I will come back to the original around 11AM. They can get really stired up by lunch. AFter the hens get down and they are looking for more.

Other than that, I can't figure these birds out. Some days they hate a double reed raspy and others they love it.

[Chuck7]

"Other than that, I can't figure these birds out. Some days they hate a double reed raspy and others they love it Mark "{The tough guy}

Mark ,I'm with you.I honestly wanted to give up today .It's a long drive and after 3 toms you know were sitting there the whole time {Looking at me}it's like an impossible task. I think I found a spot where they strut. The long walk does do me good though. I also started getting the willies the farther I got down there in that swamp. Your a gun man Mark. What would you guess to be the maximum range for my 2 3/4 inch Ithica.12 guage.I'm shooting turkey loads #4 shot ? Anyone else is welcome to guess to.
Thanks ,
C7
Chuck7

30 yards max. And thats if you patterned it and hit at least 5-10shot in the head and neck.

I try to never go over 35 yards with a 3" mag #5. People that pattern thier gun realwell, have made shots up to 50 yards. Some more, but I wouldnt'.