Things I learned this year as a pretty new turkey hunter
05-18-2015, 10:38 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,358
Things I learned this year as a pretty new turkey hunter
This was my second year turkey hunting, but my first one where I really worked at it a bit. Prior to this, I'd been with both my boys as they shot birds in youth weekend, but the caller was deer hunting friend of mine, I knew squat about turkeys.
Two reasons for this post:
1) Maybe others can learn from what I THINK I learned this year, I screwed some up along the way, lost more than I won, but had fun
2) Sort of bragging
Open morning, found me with someone in the field I wanted to be in, so off to spot #2. Walked back to a beach and oak ridge that when deer hunting I ALWAYS see birds, was actually surrounded by them last November as they flew down during opening of rifle for deer.
Just as I walked off the path into the woods, GOBBLE GOBBLE. I sort of froze wondering, "hmmm, what do I do now?" I continued to my spot, which was about 100 yards away, below the bird. Over the next 20 minutes in the dark he gobbled every few minutes, once I had gotten settled and let a few minutes of quiet go by I yelped quietly. he answered immediately. Man I thought, this won't take long!
He flew down eventually, gobbling away. I called to him and he came down the hill. Never saw him, but he was getting closer and closer. There was a small stream and pine thicket between me and him and from sounds it appeared he'd get to it, maybe 50-60 yards away, yell at me, then head back up the hill. I never saw him, but I called him down that hill 3 different times across a bit over an hour. Eventually he headed off gobbling away.
Lesson: SETUP BETTER. When I heard him gobble on the roost, maybe setup with a clearer path from him to me?
Later same day I got another tom gobbling. made one heck of a racket crossing a swamp to get to the oak hill he was on. SHOCKED beyond belief that he was still callable and answering. I THINK I setup better, he circled above me, again, never saw him, maybe 75-100 yards away (I think I stink at distance guessing). Eventually he seemed to stop moving across above me. Then it happened, between his gobbles and my clucks and yelps, we called in a real hen, who stole him away.
Lesson: hmmm, hard to beat the real thing????
Hour later, walking a logging road yelping periodically, got one to answer pretty close. Setup where he'd have to cross the road (was a drop off right infront of me with a small hill to one side, I was afraid of sneaking up there without being seen). He kept coming, I didn't make much calls at all. Then saw him, blue head poked out, was almost lined up, he went into strut and I just watched (rookie hunter, this was cool to watch). I quietly went "putt putt" on the mouth call. He looked my way, then walking into a very thick section, no shot. He proceeded to stay on that thick hill for 15 minutes, periodically gobbling. Eventually walked off.
Lesson 1: BE READY TO SHOOT. Should have had him
Lesson 2: When he's in sight, SHUT UP AND DON'T CALL
Next day, same places, NOTHING, not a peep. Lesson, hunters make birds shutup.
Following Friday I took the morning off to take my wife. She's been hunting with me for years, but always been snake bit for success.
We DO NOT get up in the dark, rather sleep to 6, at the field around 7:15. Walk into the bottom corner and up the edge, yelped from the corner, nothing. Move partway up a slope, turn to her and say we should call before we can see over the slope (100 yards to the end of the field) just in case. Yelp, GOBBLE. HUGE SMILE on my wifes face.
we setup at the edge of the field hoping to bring him down the edge of the field right past us, he has to crest the hill to find the hen, seems like a great setup.
For 15 minutes I periodically cluck very quietly, he randomly gobbles. Sounds like he moved into the woods, so I tell her we need to move, get up there. We do the quick/quiet walk up the slope: OH CRAP THERE HE IS IN FULL STRUT!
I hit the ground as fast as I can and signal my wife to get back down the hill. Get her setup standing next to a tree at the side of the field, I head 50 yards further away and lay down in the grass and keep clucking about every 5 minutes. After a bit I hadn't heard the bird at all and figure "crap he saw me and I messed up my wifes chance". I told her to stay and I crawled up the slope and peek over the top. He's still there AND WAY CLOSER. I crawl back down and signal her to get ready. At this point I figure I should just shut up, he's on his way.
After what seems like an eternity, she raises the gun, I get ready to jump up and run to the bird at the shot. She then lowers the gun. Now I'm confused, she's not the type to just practice looking. She signals me that he's strutting. So I just lay there not moving, not making a sound. She raises the gun up again and I get ready again.
BOOM! Up I got run up the field and a turkey flies away. I think "crap, man this is gonna be a long ride home, she missed". I take two more steps and there's one flopping on the ground. I never knew there would be two of them!
Her first bird and first anything hunting:
20.5 lbs
8 inch beard
1 and 1 1/4 inch spurs.
Smile that didn't go away for several days.
Lesson learned, sometimes they just take their sweet time to come to you. I suck at patience.
Following Friday, I do the same routine, hit the field a bit after 7. Nothing at the field, but get two of them to gobble a ways away. Off I go, across the field, into the woods, up a logging road. I never made a call, they kept gobbling. Get setup and call. NOTHING. Never heard them again.
Lesson: Remember I suck at distance guessing. They were in some thicker trees, and I think I got to close.
I did stay patient and stayed setup there for 45 minutes, they never showed or called. I sporadically called.
Went up the road where I had the two going the week before. Nothing, not a dang thing. Had one more logging road to work, it winds up through a hard wood section just below a field. I get the truck there, look out the window, at this point I am TIRED, HOT AND TIRED OF BUGS. While sitting there debating going home (was just before 10) or feeding the bugs, THOUSANDS of bugs were at the window. I figured against my better judgement I'd make one more try.
Get everything ready to go BEFORE opening the truck door, want it open as short as I can. leave decoy in the truck, running light this time. Head up the trail.
Get about 100 yards from truck, stop moving, give it a minute (just long enough to donate about a pint of blood to the bugs) yelp away. Nothing. Very tempted to just go back to truck, getting very warm out.
Head another 75 yards up, trail approaches a corner going up hill. Stop, repeat the call. GOBBLE and VERY CLOSE. So close I am sort of afraid to move. I decide to step backwards off the trail, he either has to come down the trail or over the oak brush knob infront of me, sit my butt down. INSTANTLY surrounded by bugs, but refuse to swing at them. I can hear him walking towards me, he never gobbled again, I never made a sound once I sat. Total calling to this point. One yelp sequence, one gobble.
He is walking steady to me and he stops and doesn't move for about 15 seconds, I rake the leaves lightly with my fingers (and move the call to my cheek to remove the temptation to call). He instantly starts coming again.
He popped up at 25 yards, two more steps: BAM. My first bird!
18.5 LBS
8 Inch beard
3/4 inch spurs.
Lesson 1: Get your tired, hot, bug eaten butt out of the truck!
Lesson 2: Once they are coming SHUT UP and let them come.
Other "nice" part to this. We have two nice turkey guns in the house, both 20 guage, both well patterned. Both unavailable. Kids have a nasty habit of growing up and taking their guns. We had:
turkey barrel for one gun, but no gun
gun with a slug barrel but not turkey barrel
So, I dragged out my 16 guage single shot, full choke gun that I grew up hunting with, got it when I was 15, that's 36 years ago!
Dang it works nicely on turkeys!
Two reasons for this post:
1) Maybe others can learn from what I THINK I learned this year, I screwed some up along the way, lost more than I won, but had fun
2) Sort of bragging
Open morning, found me with someone in the field I wanted to be in, so off to spot #2. Walked back to a beach and oak ridge that when deer hunting I ALWAYS see birds, was actually surrounded by them last November as they flew down during opening of rifle for deer.
Just as I walked off the path into the woods, GOBBLE GOBBLE. I sort of froze wondering, "hmmm, what do I do now?" I continued to my spot, which was about 100 yards away, below the bird. Over the next 20 minutes in the dark he gobbled every few minutes, once I had gotten settled and let a few minutes of quiet go by I yelped quietly. he answered immediately. Man I thought, this won't take long!
He flew down eventually, gobbling away. I called to him and he came down the hill. Never saw him, but he was getting closer and closer. There was a small stream and pine thicket between me and him and from sounds it appeared he'd get to it, maybe 50-60 yards away, yell at me, then head back up the hill. I never saw him, but I called him down that hill 3 different times across a bit over an hour. Eventually he headed off gobbling away.
Lesson: SETUP BETTER. When I heard him gobble on the roost, maybe setup with a clearer path from him to me?
Later same day I got another tom gobbling. made one heck of a racket crossing a swamp to get to the oak hill he was on. SHOCKED beyond belief that he was still callable and answering. I THINK I setup better, he circled above me, again, never saw him, maybe 75-100 yards away (I think I stink at distance guessing). Eventually he seemed to stop moving across above me. Then it happened, between his gobbles and my clucks and yelps, we called in a real hen, who stole him away.
Lesson: hmmm, hard to beat the real thing????
Hour later, walking a logging road yelping periodically, got one to answer pretty close. Setup where he'd have to cross the road (was a drop off right infront of me with a small hill to one side, I was afraid of sneaking up there without being seen). He kept coming, I didn't make much calls at all. Then saw him, blue head poked out, was almost lined up, he went into strut and I just watched (rookie hunter, this was cool to watch). I quietly went "putt putt" on the mouth call. He looked my way, then walking into a very thick section, no shot. He proceeded to stay on that thick hill for 15 minutes, periodically gobbling. Eventually walked off.
Lesson 1: BE READY TO SHOOT. Should have had him
Lesson 2: When he's in sight, SHUT UP AND DON'T CALL
Next day, same places, NOTHING, not a peep. Lesson, hunters make birds shutup.
Following Friday I took the morning off to take my wife. She's been hunting with me for years, but always been snake bit for success.
We DO NOT get up in the dark, rather sleep to 6, at the field around 7:15. Walk into the bottom corner and up the edge, yelped from the corner, nothing. Move partway up a slope, turn to her and say we should call before we can see over the slope (100 yards to the end of the field) just in case. Yelp, GOBBLE. HUGE SMILE on my wifes face.
we setup at the edge of the field hoping to bring him down the edge of the field right past us, he has to crest the hill to find the hen, seems like a great setup.
For 15 minutes I periodically cluck very quietly, he randomly gobbles. Sounds like he moved into the woods, so I tell her we need to move, get up there. We do the quick/quiet walk up the slope: OH CRAP THERE HE IS IN FULL STRUT!
I hit the ground as fast as I can and signal my wife to get back down the hill. Get her setup standing next to a tree at the side of the field, I head 50 yards further away and lay down in the grass and keep clucking about every 5 minutes. After a bit I hadn't heard the bird at all and figure "crap he saw me and I messed up my wifes chance". I told her to stay and I crawled up the slope and peek over the top. He's still there AND WAY CLOSER. I crawl back down and signal her to get ready. At this point I figure I should just shut up, he's on his way.
After what seems like an eternity, she raises the gun, I get ready to jump up and run to the bird at the shot. She then lowers the gun. Now I'm confused, she's not the type to just practice looking. She signals me that he's strutting. So I just lay there not moving, not making a sound. She raises the gun up again and I get ready again.
BOOM! Up I got run up the field and a turkey flies away. I think "crap, man this is gonna be a long ride home, she missed". I take two more steps and there's one flopping on the ground. I never knew there would be two of them!
Her first bird and first anything hunting:
20.5 lbs
8 inch beard
1 and 1 1/4 inch spurs.
Smile that didn't go away for several days.
Lesson learned, sometimes they just take their sweet time to come to you. I suck at patience.
Following Friday, I do the same routine, hit the field a bit after 7. Nothing at the field, but get two of them to gobble a ways away. Off I go, across the field, into the woods, up a logging road. I never made a call, they kept gobbling. Get setup and call. NOTHING. Never heard them again.
Lesson: Remember I suck at distance guessing. They were in some thicker trees, and I think I got to close.
I did stay patient and stayed setup there for 45 minutes, they never showed or called. I sporadically called.
Went up the road where I had the two going the week before. Nothing, not a dang thing. Had one more logging road to work, it winds up through a hard wood section just below a field. I get the truck there, look out the window, at this point I am TIRED, HOT AND TIRED OF BUGS. While sitting there debating going home (was just before 10) or feeding the bugs, THOUSANDS of bugs were at the window. I figured against my better judgement I'd make one more try.
Get everything ready to go BEFORE opening the truck door, want it open as short as I can. leave decoy in the truck, running light this time. Head up the trail.
Get about 100 yards from truck, stop moving, give it a minute (just long enough to donate about a pint of blood to the bugs) yelp away. Nothing. Very tempted to just go back to truck, getting very warm out.
Head another 75 yards up, trail approaches a corner going up hill. Stop, repeat the call. GOBBLE and VERY CLOSE. So close I am sort of afraid to move. I decide to step backwards off the trail, he either has to come down the trail or over the oak brush knob infront of me, sit my butt down. INSTANTLY surrounded by bugs, but refuse to swing at them. I can hear him walking towards me, he never gobbled again, I never made a sound once I sat. Total calling to this point. One yelp sequence, one gobble.
He is walking steady to me and he stops and doesn't move for about 15 seconds, I rake the leaves lightly with my fingers (and move the call to my cheek to remove the temptation to call). He instantly starts coming again.
He popped up at 25 yards, two more steps: BAM. My first bird!
18.5 LBS
8 Inch beard
3/4 inch spurs.
Lesson 1: Get your tired, hot, bug eaten butt out of the truck!
Lesson 2: Once they are coming SHUT UP and let them come.
Other "nice" part to this. We have two nice turkey guns in the house, both 20 guage, both well patterned. Both unavailable. Kids have a nasty habit of growing up and taking their guns. We had:
turkey barrel for one gun, but no gun
gun with a slug barrel but not turkey barrel
So, I dragged out my 16 guage single shot, full choke gun that I grew up hunting with, got it when I was 15, that's 36 years ago!
Dang it works nicely on turkeys!
05-18-2015, 01:21 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Eastern wv
Posts: 3,649
your learning, your learning well at that, a couple tdbits
THEY WILL ALWAYS COME UPHILL TO THE CALL BETTER THAN DOWNHILL
coming uphill if they sense danger, all they need to do is jump, spin and they are flying, if they must take off going uphill its much more diffacult.
this is me, its what works for me so I stick to it
never call till they are on the ground, they will set in the tree and gobble looking for the hen that's sposed to com to him.
Yes they take their time, if he gobbles a bunch he's not moving much, when he is quiet, he is covering ground, once he is coming, very, very soft yelps clucks and such are the only calls to make, and only if he gobbles first. if he can't see you, you've made hen sounds, and as you now know scratching the leaves gives him another reason to believe there is actualy a hen there so that will speed him up a bit.
congrats on your successful season, you really did shorten your learning curve.
RR
THEY WILL ALWAYS COME UPHILL TO THE CALL BETTER THAN DOWNHILL
coming uphill if they sense danger, all they need to do is jump, spin and they are flying, if they must take off going uphill its much more diffacult.
this is me, its what works for me so I stick to it
never call till they are on the ground, they will set in the tree and gobble looking for the hen that's sposed to com to him.
Yes they take their time, if he gobbles a bunch he's not moving much, when he is quiet, he is covering ground, once he is coming, very, very soft yelps clucks and such are the only calls to make, and only if he gobbles first. if he can't see you, you've made hen sounds, and as you now know scratching the leaves gives him another reason to believe there is actualy a hen there so that will speed him up a bit.
congrats on your successful season, you really did shorten your learning curve.
RR
05-19-2015, 08:54 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
Great job!
A lesson you might add: Always have a plan before you call while running & gunning.
Instead of calling from a logging road, take 10 seconds to step off and find a big tree to call from, where you can sit down quickly if needed
A lesson you might add: Always have a plan before you call while running & gunning.
Instead of calling from a logging road, take 10 seconds to step off and find a big tree to call from, where you can sit down quickly if needed
05-19-2015, 03:33 PM
#6
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hatton, Alabama
Posts: 520
Good read. On that first bird...when he walked away that second time and you know that there is a creek there that is a perfect time to move. I often find that birds that are in their strut zone and don't want come in need to be crowded. It's a tough call. I give him plenty of time but I'm impatient so when he goes off I close the gap.
Sounds like you've learned a lot. Something to keep in mind is that a gobbling bird that is coming in and goes quiet is doing one of three things....strutting on in, is just "there" not really doing anything, or he saw something he didn't like.
Sounds like you've learned a lot. Something to keep in mind is that a gobbling bird that is coming in and goes quiet is doing one of three things....strutting on in, is just "there" not really doing anything, or he saw something he didn't like.
05-26-2015, 02:06 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2,670
Good read. I enjoyed that, and congrats on your birds! Sites like this, searching the internet, watching videos and talking to other hunters are great ways to get more information on turkey hunting, but nothing replaces experience and learning how to do it on your own. Thats the only real way of getting better at it, and it's great to see you getting out there and learning on your own. Too many people expect the information on the internet to bypass needing the actual experience, and I've found it just doesn't work that way.
I love you point of learning the lesson of a better setup. That to me has been the most important thing I've learned over the years. I didn't kill a lot of bird I should have because of a bad setup before. Once I really started to realize that, and focus on being better at picking the right setup, from general location and then down to exactly what side of a tree to sit on, I have been much more successful. I've killed some birds I probably shouldn't have based on everything that happened with the hunt, but I just had a good setup. I'd take the right setup over the best calling and decoys any day. That being said I am still always trying to get better, I still screw myself at least once a year.
I love you point of learning the lesson of a better setup. That to me has been the most important thing I've learned over the years. I didn't kill a lot of bird I should have because of a bad setup before. Once I really started to realize that, and focus on being better at picking the right setup, from general location and then down to exactly what side of a tree to sit on, I have been much more successful. I've killed some birds I probably shouldn't have based on everything that happened with the hunt, but I just had a good setup. I'd take the right setup over the best calling and decoys any day. That being said I am still always trying to get better, I still screw myself at least once a year.
