Posted By: KeithTT
When to hunt Turkey's and When to call!!!!!!! Tips - 03/18/13 10:13 AM
I have seen several posts about when should I hunt turkeys and when should I call to turkeys and how? Maybe these tips will help you a little!
Yes birds are more vocal early morning late evening but in my 5+ years of guiding I have never had a mature bird come running to the call off the limb WHEN THERE ARE HENS AROUND. Yeah if he is all alone then maybe but it is very very rare. In the early mornings a gobbler will chase live hens and it's very difficult to pull him away no matter what call you throw at him (calling in the hens does bring gobblers usually but not always so don't count out early morning hunting completely). Late in the morning the hens will spread off to feed and chill in the shade meanwhile the gobbler will return to his strut zone(if they are in fact in breeding mode and not still in winter flocks). When he returns usually between 9:00am and noon that is where I am waiting with B-mobile(strutting decoy). As soon as he walks out and becomes visible I sneak out the decoy, shake that gobble tube and it's all over! "One thing that will kill a smart spring longbeard is another man struttin' his women".
So lesson is, Late mornin'- mid evening act like another tom with a FEW hen tones in there, If he responds to the hen calls chances are you have hooked a lonely gobbler and it's gonna happen quick- or worst case scenario he is letting you know where the flock is and expecting you to come to him. If he is not coming I like to call every once in awhile and keep tabs on him so I can be in a reasonable range when he does finally leave the ladies(follow the flock at a safe distance couple hundred yards or so). More than not though in the morning when I shake the gobble tube in their area it happens very fast.
Also 99% of the time I put B-mobile and 1 hen decoy 15-20 yards behind me and try to draw the turkey right past where I'm sitting. Those ten yard shot's are devastating and there is no chasing down wounded turkeys. Make sure you are on them when you shoot though, pattern doesn't spread well that close. May wanna shoot when he is around 20.
Third and final method of calling I use in last ditch desperation is Runnin' and Gunnin'. Put the leather to the ground and go find a lonely bird. Walk everywhere you can nice and slow and hope you strike up a band of jellyheads. Let out a few soft calls at first and if no response then get a little louder. Space the call's out minutes apart, face in different directions and walk a 10 to 20 yard circle (as a hen would do) as you call. This will send the sound to different area's and reach out to its maximum range for that area. If you have ever been catfishing this method is like catfishing. Go to all of your hotspots cast out a line and if nothing bites within 10-15 min's pick up and try another spot turkey's are known to be around. Once you have tried all the other spots and no bite that doesn't mean they weren't there that just means they didn't answer. At that point I would find my favorite most productive spot and sit and wait.
For Reference I filmed both of these and they were both late morning and the gobblers came running into less than 10 yards to whoop up on B-mobile.
Late morning these 5 gobbler's came running to the male decoy on the edge of their field. Without a single call being made, just couldn't stand another strutting tom in their field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FhRfN3rs3U
I had scouted this second longbeard returning to this field to strut every morning around 930ish and told a guided hunter to be patient he would show. I caught movement coming out of the wood's right on time. Shook the gobble call once and he came from over 250 yard's to fight b-mobile sadly the excitement caused a slight miss by the hunter but it was fun as heck watching it all go down. Notice in both of these video's how fast it all un-folds with these methods I am preaching. It works and I would love to hear some success stories this season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkqLnQbW3RE
I filmed this video on some private land in Aspermont, TX and when nothing else seemed to work we set out a trail cam where we had found a bunch of turkey tracks and the turkeys were actually very easy to pattern. Right on time this ole' longbeard and hen's showed up and we literally just sat in a deer stand and waited him out. Called to him 3 times with answers all three times and the hens brought him right to us. Sometimes it's just the wrong time of year to be calling cause I called at bird's in three counties and couldn't get them to leave those winter flocks. Doesn't mean we couldn't get it done though just had to go to another strategy. Experience killed this bird cause anyone else would have said it's spring and no turkey's are gobbling I quit. Watch this video and see how we did it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m73_Y5NzIQ
Good luck and straight shooting everyone. Keith TT.
For more info or help PM or I am also available for hire to guide some.
Yes birds are more vocal early morning late evening but in my 5+ years of guiding I have never had a mature bird come running to the call off the limb WHEN THERE ARE HENS AROUND. Yeah if he is all alone then maybe but it is very very rare. In the early mornings a gobbler will chase live hens and it's very difficult to pull him away no matter what call you throw at him (calling in the hens does bring gobblers usually but not always so don't count out early morning hunting completely). Late in the morning the hens will spread off to feed and chill in the shade meanwhile the gobbler will return to his strut zone(if they are in fact in breeding mode and not still in winter flocks). When he returns usually between 9:00am and noon that is where I am waiting with B-mobile(strutting decoy). As soon as he walks out and becomes visible I sneak out the decoy, shake that gobble tube and it's all over! "One thing that will kill a smart spring longbeard is another man struttin' his women".
So lesson is, Late mornin'- mid evening act like another tom with a FEW hen tones in there, If he responds to the hen calls chances are you have hooked a lonely gobbler and it's gonna happen quick- or worst case scenario he is letting you know where the flock is and expecting you to come to him. If he is not coming I like to call every once in awhile and keep tabs on him so I can be in a reasonable range when he does finally leave the ladies(follow the flock at a safe distance couple hundred yards or so). More than not though in the morning when I shake the gobble tube in their area it happens very fast.
Also 99% of the time I put B-mobile and 1 hen decoy 15-20 yards behind me and try to draw the turkey right past where I'm sitting. Those ten yard shot's are devastating and there is no chasing down wounded turkeys. Make sure you are on them when you shoot though, pattern doesn't spread well that close. May wanna shoot when he is around 20.
Third and final method of calling I use in last ditch desperation is Runnin' and Gunnin'. Put the leather to the ground and go find a lonely bird. Walk everywhere you can nice and slow and hope you strike up a band of jellyheads. Let out a few soft calls at first and if no response then get a little louder. Space the call's out minutes apart, face in different directions and walk a 10 to 20 yard circle (as a hen would do) as you call. This will send the sound to different area's and reach out to its maximum range for that area. If you have ever been catfishing this method is like catfishing. Go to all of your hotspots cast out a line and if nothing bites within 10-15 min's pick up and try another spot turkey's are known to be around. Once you have tried all the other spots and no bite that doesn't mean they weren't there that just means they didn't answer. At that point I would find my favorite most productive spot and sit and wait.
For Reference I filmed both of these and they were both late morning and the gobblers came running into less than 10 yards to whoop up on B-mobile.
Late morning these 5 gobbler's came running to the male decoy on the edge of their field. Without a single call being made, just couldn't stand another strutting tom in their field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FhRfN3rs3U
I had scouted this second longbeard returning to this field to strut every morning around 930ish and told a guided hunter to be patient he would show. I caught movement coming out of the wood's right on time. Shook the gobble call once and he came from over 250 yard's to fight b-mobile sadly the excitement caused a slight miss by the hunter but it was fun as heck watching it all go down. Notice in both of these video's how fast it all un-folds with these methods I am preaching. It works and I would love to hear some success stories this season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkqLnQbW3RE
I filmed this video on some private land in Aspermont, TX and when nothing else seemed to work we set out a trail cam where we had found a bunch of turkey tracks and the turkeys were actually very easy to pattern. Right on time this ole' longbeard and hen's showed up and we literally just sat in a deer stand and waited him out. Called to him 3 times with answers all three times and the hens brought him right to us. Sometimes it's just the wrong time of year to be calling cause I called at bird's in three counties and couldn't get them to leave those winter flocks. Doesn't mean we couldn't get it done though just had to go to another strategy. Experience killed this bird cause anyone else would have said it's spring and no turkey's are gobbling I quit. Watch this video and see how we did it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m73_Y5NzIQ
Good luck and straight shooting everyone. Keith TT.
For more info or help PM or I am also available for hire to guide some.