Some turkey questions
02-03-2011, 04:11 AM
#11
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tuscaloosa AL
Posts: 609
I agree, find someone who knows what's up and go. You can read it all, but nothing will teach you more than the turkey woods themself! If I bump a bird I will leave him alone and look for another. No need to make him smarter than he already is, you can hunt him again another day! As far as there smell, if it was good and I couldn't wear bug spray in the spring woods....well you'll see! Haha! Don't have to field dress, we take ours home and just breast them and get the legs and thighs, not getting in the guts.
02-06-2011, 02:38 AM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Pine Hill Alabama USA
Posts: 1,280
1-If you scare off a tom will that blow it for all turkey in the area.
2-how can you tell what tree turkey are roosting in.
3-and do you field dress(gut)turkey like you do a deer and anything special to do .
4-i take it that setting with the sun to my back is much more important than worrying about the wind direction,is that correct.
2-how can you tell what tree turkey are roosting in.
3-and do you field dress(gut)turkey like you do a deer and anything special to do .
4-i take it that setting with the sun to my back is much more important than worrying about the wind direction,is that correct.
2. In the evenings at dusk you can hear a turkey fly up on the roost from a pretty good distance. In the spring when they start gobbling you can hear them at daylight gobbling on the roost from 1/2 a mile if there isn't too much background noise. LOL~!
3. I do not field dress turkeys. I typically filet the breasts off and take the legs off when I get it home and never touch the guts.
4. Wind direction is of little concern. Turkeys don't have much of a sense of smell (thank God). Windy days can make them more nervous (all that tree, bush, and limb movement). Wind noise can also make it harder to call to them. As for the sun, I wouldn't want a rising sun low on the horizon blinding me but otherwise I don't pay much attention to it either.
My primary concern in setting up to call a gobbler is trying to figure out which way he wants to go anyway. Way easier to get him to swing by and look at you if you are in the general direction he's headed than it is to call him in the opposite direction he wants to go. Make sure there isn't a creek or fence line between you and him. They will hang up on things like that and often won't cross it. I'd also rather call one up hill than down hill if possible.
The number one virtue of a turkey hunter is patience. If you yelp to a gobbler and he gobbles at you, and you "know" he gobbled "AT YOU", stay put. He may move off at first for a variety of reasons (maybe he already has some hens with him) but there is a good chance he will come back to check on that hen he heard. A gobbler will often go silent on you when he decides to come. Don't get up and move just because he stops gobbling. He may be headed to you. Trust me, been there, screwed that situation up several times in my younger years. LOL!
Don't call too much. Forget the nonsense you see on a lot of the TV shows. They are just trying to sell calls and a lot of that stuff is staged. If you sound too eager, or fired up, the gobbler may stay put and expect you to come to him. After all that is the natural way of things, the hen going to him. I aim to seem casually interested. LOL!
Just starting out I'd get a Lynch Fool Proof box call. It's the easiest call on earth to make realistic yelps and soft clucks on. And that's all you need to kill turkeys. Yeah it's great to be able to mimic every call a turkey makes and it really wows them at the local NWTF contest. But you don't need to know all those calls to kill turkeys. Setting up in the right place and being patient will kill more turkeys than all the KEE KEE runs or fancy cutting in the world.
02-10-2011, 02:55 PM
#16
Typical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: colorado
Posts: 700
Walks On Chips,
1.Scaring off a tom>> No you can still hunt that area but you may not see any activity for an hr or so, I suggest after the turkey is out of site give it 10 min or more and move forward about 100 yards or so the way the gobbler came from before he saw you, wait 20 min and call. If you have them patterned you can RUN to cut him off but Don't let him see or hear you, stay low and out of site decoys help in this situation but are not necessary. If you use a decoy point its head toward you or almost toward you, this will give you a better shot.
2. Roost trees>> First you have to know what type areas turkeys prefer to roost in and that depends on the terrain you have, mountains or hilly areas will be ridges, gullies etc. prairie turkeys will roost by water etc. and so on all turkeys like to be over looking their terrain with a clear or somewhat clear view of their surroundings and may use a roost near a river. If roosting on a hill or ridge they normally wont be on top, and a clear view may not look so clear to you on the ground.
Roost trees normally will be large trees with branches reaching more outward than upward you can spot these easily then look for bark missing on those branches ( wont be missing on all roost trees) and droppings around the base and under those branches, you may also spot wing and breast feathers, if you find a wing feather look up and find the tree he may have flown to then look for droppings and tracks telling you their direction of travail after fly down, this will not be the same direction every day.
3. Gutting a gobbler>> Yes similar to big game look at turkey hunting tips section for more detail on that and saving the fan.
4. Sun/Wind>> You want to sit in the shade to help blend in although I don't worry to much about this and have done just fine, with not being spotted, movement is more important. Wind not important unless you don't want it blowing in your face etc.
Check out different posts and you can learn lots.
Good luck and be Ethical and safe!!
1.Scaring off a tom>> No you can still hunt that area but you may not see any activity for an hr or so, I suggest after the turkey is out of site give it 10 min or more and move forward about 100 yards or so the way the gobbler came from before he saw you, wait 20 min and call. If you have them patterned you can RUN to cut him off but Don't let him see or hear you, stay low and out of site decoys help in this situation but are not necessary. If you use a decoy point its head toward you or almost toward you, this will give you a better shot.
2. Roost trees>> First you have to know what type areas turkeys prefer to roost in and that depends on the terrain you have, mountains or hilly areas will be ridges, gullies etc. prairie turkeys will roost by water etc. and so on all turkeys like to be over looking their terrain with a clear or somewhat clear view of their surroundings and may use a roost near a river. If roosting on a hill or ridge they normally wont be on top, and a clear view may not look so clear to you on the ground.
Roost trees normally will be large trees with branches reaching more outward than upward you can spot these easily then look for bark missing on those branches ( wont be missing on all roost trees) and droppings around the base and under those branches, you may also spot wing and breast feathers, if you find a wing feather look up and find the tree he may have flown to then look for droppings and tracks telling you their direction of travail after fly down, this will not be the same direction every day.
3. Gutting a gobbler>> Yes similar to big game look at turkey hunting tips section for more detail on that and saving the fan.
4. Sun/Wind>> You want to sit in the shade to help blend in although I don't worry to much about this and have done just fine, with not being spotted, movement is more important. Wind not important unless you don't want it blowing in your face etc.
Check out different posts and you can learn lots.
Good luck and be Ethical and safe!!
