So what did you learn this spring.
08-23-2019, 06:42 PM
#32
Super Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Indiana
Posts: 7,181
08-24-2019, 06:12 AM
#33
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 499
Truth I don't read much of either these guys posts lol
08-24-2019, 11:05 AM
#35
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058
I've since given up using a turkey wing during my fly-down hen cackle call sequence, followed by a few yelps. Instead...I use my hat to slap against my thigh for about 5 times; instead of a turkey wing, because a turkey wing might be too dangerous to use in a woods crowded with turkey hunters.
Of course...you have to make sure or hope that the tom is not looking at you, when you slap your hat against your thigh.
A fly down cackle call sequence, is one of the most important calls to use during a dawn hen turkey fly-down.
I also sometimes use a cackle sequence for a hot gobbler after fly-down, with the translation from hen to gobbler being: "COME TO ME...RIGHT NOW!!!" --- If he answers or cuts you off --- Shut-up...because he's probably coming in...unless he's with hens.
Of course...you have to make sure or hope that the tom is not looking at you, when you slap your hat against your thigh.
A fly down cackle call sequence, is one of the most important calls to use during a dawn hen turkey fly-down.
I also sometimes use a cackle sequence for a hot gobbler after fly-down, with the translation from hen to gobbler being: "COME TO ME...RIGHT NOW!!!" --- If he answers or cuts you off --- Shut-up...because he's probably coming in...unless he's with hens.
Last edited by Erno86; 08-24-2019 at 11:18 AM. Reason: typo
08-26-2019, 07:24 AM
#36
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 7,408
While I have never seen Erno on any past Turkey teams here my years of chasing these birds I have witnessed all of what he posted.
Thanks to all who added to this post.
It's about teaching and sharing rather than being a bully.
A good hunter learns from his mistakes and moves on.
JW
Thanks to all who added to this post.
It's about teaching and sharing rather than being a bully.
A good hunter learns from his mistakes and moves on.
JW
08-26-2019, 10:25 AM
#37
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
I learned a few things:
1) I don't have a 50yd gun - I have a 70yd cannon.
2) Expect the unexpected when taking new turkey hunters.
3) If you're not seeing birds in your honey hole, then scout hard and move to hotter properties.
4) Strange and unexpected changes in weather can drastically alter bird movement for an entire season.
5) Well-designed strategic hunting plans are great - but in the end, trust your gut at the moment of reckoning because it's almost always better than your predesigned plans.
I have advanced degrees in animal science and 25 years of experience, but this past season reminded me of a very hard lesson - turkeys do what turkeys want to do, when they want to do it, and you can't always understand nor explain it...
1) I don't have a 50yd gun - I have a 70yd cannon.
2) Expect the unexpected when taking new turkey hunters.
3) If you're not seeing birds in your honey hole, then scout hard and move to hotter properties.
4) Strange and unexpected changes in weather can drastically alter bird movement for an entire season.
5) Well-designed strategic hunting plans are great - but in the end, trust your gut at the moment of reckoning because it's almost always better than your predesigned plans.
I have advanced degrees in animal science and 25 years of experience, but this past season reminded me of a very hard lesson - turkeys do what turkeys want to do, when they want to do it, and you can't always understand nor explain it...
08-26-2019, 10:58 AM
#38
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location:
Posts: 499
01-05-2020, 08:05 PM
#39
Spike
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 14
I found out that wild turkeys love to hide in green leaf sticker bushes. Walk slowly every 10 feet or so in a sticker patch, before stopping for a minute or two. This pause makes the turkey nervous and anxious like a cottontail...and he might flush right next to you --- While he's making such a noisey racket to take-off --- It sounds like someone's being hit multiple times by a 2x4.
01-06-2020, 12:10 PM
#40
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Marriottsville, Maryland
Posts: 1,058
The last turkey I flushed from a sticker bush was a young jake.
And if you only wound one --- gaod forbid --- you'd be better off looking for him possibly hiding in some kind of bush or in a hollow log.
Last edited by Erno86; 01-06-2020 at 12:19 PM. Reason: added a sentence
