Now that you have prepared your equipment and have done your scouting it is time to hunt. How should you go about it? What technique should you use? Spring time offers a variety of techniques to use. They all have their purpose, but deciding which one to use and when is up to the turkeys.
Put Them to Roost
Whenever possible, the night before your morning hunt try to put the birds to roost. Try to use a quality pair of binoculars and watch them from a distance to make sure they don’t know that you are there. They will usually be working the edge of a field feeding on the way back to their roosting area. If you are unable to watch them roost try to use a crow call or just after dark try an owl hoot to get the gobblers to gobble. Once they are located on the roost leave the woods to let them settle down.
When heading out in the morning try to have a setup location in mind. You will want to setup within 100 yards if possible but they must not be able to see you from the roost. Try to setup in a travel corridor between the roosting and feeding areas. I like to find a small opening or old clearing that is in the woods.
The Setup
Once in your location setup your decoys. I prefer the Renzo’s Decoys because being silhouettes they are easy to transport and they are very realistic. Early in the spring I will setup three decoys, usually two hens and one jake. I will put the jake decoy closer to me because the tom turkey will go after him first to show his dominance. Later in the year I will try two jakes and a hen or even just one hen by itself.
Now that your setup is complete wait until you hear the first yelp from a hen or a gobble from a tom. After I hear a couple of real turkeys call I will respond with a soft tree yelp. I will call a couple of times and if the tom continues to gobble I will stop calling and make him come looking for me once he fly’s down. I have had them fly right into my decoys before with this technique.
On the Move
If they don’t come right in because the real hens have pulled him away or if you hear them moving away from you, try and call again. If they aren’t responding to your calls and you hear them moving away from you, then it may be time to move.
Try to have a path in mind so that you can get ahead of them; this is where scouting can really pay off. If they are feeding in two different locations you will need to know these feeding areas so you can travel around them and cut the turkeys off before they get to the other feeding area.
Later in the Day
Later in the day I will setup in the fields themselves, especially on sunny days when it is cool out. They will go out to sun themselves while they feed. I will use the same setups as I did first thing in the morning. I try to limit my calling later in the day unless the toms are gobbling. If you get a response only call 2 or 3 times. Once a tom responds to you he will know where you are especially later in the season when hens are nesting. The tom will be more apt to come looking for you. Early in the year he is looking for the first hens that are ready to be bred. Later in the year after most hens have been bred they look for the remaining hens that need to be bred.
Still Hunting
If you can’t get the birds to come to you then you may have to be more aggressive. You may have to try to move closer. I will still hunt through the woods. I will move extremely slow not to alert anything. Remember that even if you spook a deer or other wildlife it will alert the turkeys and heighten their awareness. If you do get too close to the turkeys and they start to spook you can implement a fall technique of scattering them. If you know they are spooked and start running away from you, you may want to put your gun down and charge at them. This will scatter them but try to identify the tom and in which direction it ran or flew. Then you will want to go in that direction and setup with one hen decoy and start calling. Use yelps and purrs to draw him in. He will look for his flock of hens. They will often come in fairly quickly to this technique so you must be ready for the shot at all times.
Calls Can Make a Difference
Be sure not to limit yourself to just one call either. Make sure to try a variety of calls from box calls, slates, diaphragms, or push buttons. It is important to have a quality turkey vest that can carry all your calls as well as provide a comfortable seat so you will be able to sit longer Don’t skimp on the quality because you do get what you pay for in this case.
Remember that you have to let the turkeys tell you what they want. Try all your calls to see which ones they respond to best each day and it will change from day to day. Remember not to overcall. Overcalling is one of the biggest mistakes hunters make. Call enough to peak their interest and not alert them. You can make them call shy which will make your calling more difficult.
