Hardtarget
Member
I live in Nashville, Tn. I'm 15 min. from down town. On my way to work this morning I saw two hens and a tom. Only a 5"beard. Kind of funny to see them right in the neighborhood like that.
Mark
Mark
Can't hardly wait for spring to get here, Turkey season!!
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urbaneruralite
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GA youth opens this weekend. I plan to be on a honey hole come the 21st.
Turkeys are fairly adaptable. I've seen them inside the perimeter in Atlanta.
Turkeys are fairly adaptable. I've seen them inside the perimeter in Atlanta.
MCgunner
Member
Well, I heard a turkey yelping in the woods this morning, got my attention. 
I had to go to town and get some tomato plants to put in, so I stopped by the hardware store and picked up a box call. Hell, you never know. I'll walk back and sit on the stand in the mornings next month, do some calling, (season is the month of April) and see what I see. If I hear something, I've got about 27 acres I can roam, that's it. No big acreages here.
I had to go to town and get some tomato plants to put in, so I stopped by the hardware store and picked up a box call. Hell, you never know. I'll walk back and sit on the stand in the mornings next month, do some calling, (season is the month of April) and see what I see. If I hear something, I've got about 27 acres I can roam, that's it. No big acreages here.Cleveland48
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Well guys season opener today in Mississippi! Headed out now, good luck to all those heading out. And those who's Season opens later stay strong.!
gamestalker
member
I'm heading up the mountain next weekend to train a couple of new turkey hunters, it'll be a lot of fun. We'll be working with some Gould's, which in my experience hasn't been any different than calling Marriams. If not for the opportunity to play with them preseason, I would probably go nuts with anticipation.
Call em up, and knock em down, have a great spring hunt everyone!
GS
Call em up, and knock em down, have a great spring hunt everyone!
GS
I called up two gobblers for an 11 year old boy this morning. We had at least 7 birds gobbling at daylight and these two wandered in about an hour after they flew down.
Tomorrow I am taking a woman that has never been turkey hunting.
Tomorrow I am taking a woman that has never been turkey hunting.
urbaneruralite
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Pic didn't make it, but congrats anyway!
Method?
GS and others with experience: please describe how you roost turkey in advance of your AM hunt. We are off to W. Texas in another week. Season began yesterday.
In our situation we will arrive mid-late afternoon and have 2 full days to hunt thereafter. I planned on making a simple ground blind near a draw, late in the day. However being new I'd like to understand how to identify where to set up for best results. What is the best approach to search/discover a roost location?
BTW I do have a pop up ground blind but planned to use local branches and scrub to make a blind up next to a tree, instead. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks for your advice. This is our second time out. First time a guy 150 yards away called the Toms to him and we just heard the action. Hoping to be in it this time!
GS and others with experience: please describe how you roost turkey in advance of your AM hunt. We are off to W. Texas in another week. Season began yesterday.
In our situation we will arrive mid-late afternoon and have 2 full days to hunt thereafter. I planned on making a simple ground blind near a draw, late in the day. However being new I'd like to understand how to identify where to set up for best results. What is the best approach to search/discover a roost location?
BTW I do have a pop up ground blind but planned to use local branches and scrub to make a blind up next to a tree, instead. Any thoughts on that?
Thanks for your advice. This is our second time out. First time a guy 150 yards away called the Toms to him and we just heard the action. Hoping to be in it this time!
Roosting turkey on virgin land can be problematic. Sort of like patterning deer on new land. In the areas I hunt it seems the hens like to roost in pines adjacent to hardwood bottoms while the gobblers seem to prefer roosting in hardwoods along ridges.
Turkey make a good bit of noise when they fly up to roost but you still need to be fairly near to get a good idea of where they are roosting. Maybe you can locate a gobbler late in the afternoon and move in close enough to figure out where he goes to roost but it will be a crap shoot. Many birds will gobble a lot before roosting. Rios are pretty easy to call up if the timing is right.
It doesn't always work to roost a bird and get in very close, especially with more mature birds. I have literally had them roosted 20 yards from me only to have them fly down and exit the area because they know something isn't right. I once had a mature bird roosted and set up too close to him prior to daylight. I set up decoys and began soft calling as the sky started to lighten and when he gobbled from the roost and I almost peed my pants. I could easily have shot him from the tree but wanted him to fly down to the decoys. Naturally he flew down in the opposite direction and never made another sound.
Turkey make a good bit of noise when they fly up to roost but you still need to be fairly near to get a good idea of where they are roosting. Maybe you can locate a gobbler late in the afternoon and move in close enough to figure out where he goes to roost but it will be a crap shoot. Many birds will gobble a lot before roosting. Rios are pretty easy to call up if the timing is right.
It doesn't always work to roost a bird and get in very close, especially with more mature birds. I have literally had them roosted 20 yards from me only to have them fly down and exit the area because they know something isn't right. I once had a mature bird roosted and set up too close to him prior to daylight. I set up decoys and began soft calling as the sky started to lighten and when he gobbled from the roost and I almost peed my pants. I could easily have shot him from the tree but wanted him to fly down to the decoys. Naturally he flew down in the opposite direction and never made another sound.
urbaneruralite
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The classic way to find one the night before is to owl right at dark to get the gobbler to sound off from his tree. Not knowing the terrain where you hunt or even if you have enough owls, it is hard to say. They'll gobble at coyote howls and crow caws, too. Sometimes you can just slam the door on your truck.
If the area has some high ground close to water, I'd look there for a roost. If there's a low lying area with water, go there first. Alternately, just be on the highest ground on the place before first light so you can hear them sound off at daylight. You'll have from the first gobble until it gets light enough for them to see the ground well to get in place.
I would not bother with a blind unless you have someone who fidgets. You can sit right against a tree in some shade. They won't see you if you don't move. Turkeys look for the danger hiding behind something. They're not smart enough to notice you sitting out front if you're not shiny or in motion.
Personally, I hardly ever roost a bird the night prior. I generally have a good idea where they'll roost. I just get out early and listen. I kill most of my birds after ten anyhow. The two I've taken this year were both after eleven. The hens rule them in the morning. If one answers you after lunch time it's much easier to call.
If the area has some high ground close to water, I'd look there for a roost. If there's a low lying area with water, go there first. Alternately, just be on the highest ground on the place before first light so you can hear them sound off at daylight. You'll have from the first gobble until it gets light enough for them to see the ground well to get in place.
I would not bother with a blind unless you have someone who fidgets. You can sit right against a tree in some shade. They won't see you if you don't move. Turkeys look for the danger hiding behind something. They're not smart enough to notice you sitting out front if you're not shiny or in motion.
Personally, I hardly ever roost a bird the night prior. I generally have a good idea where they'll roost. I just get out early and listen. I kill most of my birds after ten anyhow. The two I've taken this year were both after eleven. The hens rule them in the morning. If one answers you after lunch time it's much easier to call.
MCgunner
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Actually, I've been hunting these lately.
eastbank
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turkey seasons still a month away and i,m light headed already. over 50 years ago i remember sitting under a large pine tree with my grandad,him with a davenport 12ga double barrel and i with a stevens 12ga single barrel. dressed in tan brier hunting pants and brown safety back hunting coats(the ones with the double rows of shell loops in the large pockets with flaps) with strips of red cloth sewed on by my gradmother. his calls were a old cracked lid lynch and a small papa-rica can with a small half moon cut in the metal lid and a piece of condom stretched over it(unused). we never killed alot of turkeys, i think grandad killed five and i killed one (winchester red paper 2-3/4--1-1/4 #5 shot). one morning stands out in my mind when grandad called in several jakes with some hens and a real big boss tom came in and kicked the jakes asses and we had a front row seat at about 70 yrds,i had never saw any thing like that in my 14 years and no we didn,t get a shot but it hooked me on turkey hunting forever. i still wonder what those turkeys thought about those two brown turd shaped things that were sitting under that pine tree. grandad is long gone, but when i,m sitting under a tree waiting for the first gobble on openning day i think about him and thank him for taking a young fidgety boy with him. eastbank.
urbaneruralite
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That is awesome. Thanks for sharing. Y'all don't start 'til May? That is about the time we quit here and start in on bream fishing.
I had some real fine luck the first two days I hunted here. I'm waiting until mid-April when the breeding tapers off before I start working on my last bird. Maybe I'll get real lucky and get that last one. We're running low on gobblers, so I won't be too upset if I don't. At least I get to hunt some more!
Note the effect of a 20ga with heavy 7s on the second bird's head. Range was about 35 yards.
I had some real fine luck the first two days I hunted here. I'm waiting until mid-April when the breeding tapers off before I start working on my last bird. Maybe I'll get real lucky and get that last one. We're running low on gobblers, so I won't be too upset if I don't. At least I get to hunt some more!
Note the effect of a 20ga with heavy 7s on the second bird's head. Range was about 35 yards.
gamestalker
member
Hoplodad, putting them too bed, roosting them if you will, is simply the process of getting them to sound off from sunset to a bit after dark, this tells you where they are roosted, they'll be there in the morning.
How you go about this is by doing some locate calling every few hundred yards, 1/4 mile or so apart. I will quietly wait for a minute or two after shutting the vehicle off or is I'm walking I stand perfectly still, no talking ever, no noise at all actually. Always give them an opportunity to sound off on their own first. But if you don't hear a gobble after several minutes, then let out a very light call on the box, then wait a minute for a response. If nothing happens, then let out a gobble with a gobble call, I like the old radiator tube call, made my own. If that doesn't yield an answer after a minute of waiting, then let out the loudest most shrill coyote howl possible, stand still and listen. If you get an answer, carefully locate where it is coming from, mark the spot so you can find it in the morning, and in the dark.
GS
There are various calls out there, owl, crow, coyote you can buy, but I've never needed to spend a dime on those shock gobble tools.
How you go about this is by doing some locate calling every few hundred yards, 1/4 mile or so apart. I will quietly wait for a minute or two after shutting the vehicle off or is I'm walking I stand perfectly still, no talking ever, no noise at all actually. Always give them an opportunity to sound off on their own first. But if you don't hear a gobble after several minutes, then let out a very light call on the box, then wait a minute for a response. If nothing happens, then let out a gobble with a gobble call, I like the old radiator tube call, made my own. If that doesn't yield an answer after a minute of waiting, then let out the loudest most shrill coyote howl possible, stand still and listen. If you get an answer, carefully locate where it is coming from, mark the spot so you can find it in the morning, and in the dark.
GS
There are various calls out there, owl, crow, coyote you can buy, but I've never needed to spend a dime on those shock gobble tools.
Thanks GS. Went last week, had a great time. Wednesday morning I was able to talk with one gobbler on and off for 45 minutes, tried not to overdo it but even so he did not take the bait. Had some good binoc's and spied three in a tree about 8:30. They were 180 yards off, but it was neat to watch them for about 5 minutes, preening up on their branch. I watched as they flew down to the ground, in the direction of one of my buddies. About 10 minutes later I heard a BOOM. The bird came up behind him and he did not get turned around very gracefully, spooked the turkey and got off an awkward missed shot. So close!
gamestalker
member
Your best chance of calling in and nailing a weary bird is to worry more about how much you call, rather than trying to figure out all the different types of calls they produce.
Example, lets say you get one roosted the night before. Next morning, while being as silently as possible, no talking, no whispering even, set yourself up 50-75 yds. from his roost. If hunting flat land, have your decoys or shooting zone so it will put the birds within 25 yds. or so when they come into sight. If they are roosted on a slope, you want to approach from either the back of the slope, or make a wide approach that guarantees they won't see or hear you coming. Then set up above their roost, never try to call them down hill, this is a common mistake many turkey hunters make.
Once you've got yourself all set up, wait until it is good and light out before doing any calling at all, so don't make a single call until it is light out. And absolutely, positively do not use a location call, or try to shock gobble them. those tactics have a another time and place, not when you already know where they are. So, once it's light out and while sitting perfectly still, with shotgun already raised and ready, as softly as possible, just barely scrape the tongue of the box call across the box, I mean really, really soft, barely audible soft. Once you do that, they'll sound off, and they'll usually fly down, often nearly landing in your lap. I would have to say that better than 80% of the birds I've called in from the roost landed right in front of me with nothing more than that one single scrape across the box call.
Once they start to come in, don't move, and don't try to turn around to get a shot at him, let him step into your shooting lane. Decoys are extremely helpful at getting them to enter your shooting lane, other wise it's a game of getting them to wonder into view. I've had to let them get bored and walk away, and call them back in multiple times, before I got them in front of me.
GS
Example, lets say you get one roosted the night before. Next morning, while being as silently as possible, no talking, no whispering even, set yourself up 50-75 yds. from his roost. If hunting flat land, have your decoys or shooting zone so it will put the birds within 25 yds. or so when they come into sight. If they are roosted on a slope, you want to approach from either the back of the slope, or make a wide approach that guarantees they won't see or hear you coming. Then set up above their roost, never try to call them down hill, this is a common mistake many turkey hunters make.
Once you've got yourself all set up, wait until it is good and light out before doing any calling at all, so don't make a single call until it is light out. And absolutely, positively do not use a location call, or try to shock gobble them. those tactics have a another time and place, not when you already know where they are. So, once it's light out and while sitting perfectly still, with shotgun already raised and ready, as softly as possible, just barely scrape the tongue of the box call across the box, I mean really, really soft, barely audible soft. Once you do that, they'll sound off, and they'll usually fly down, often nearly landing in your lap. I would have to say that better than 80% of the birds I've called in from the roost landed right in front of me with nothing more than that one single scrape across the box call.
Once they start to come in, don't move, and don't try to turn around to get a shot at him, let him step into your shooting lane. Decoys are extremely helpful at getting them to enter your shooting lane, other wise it's a game of getting them to wonder into view. I've had to let them get bored and walk away, and call them back in multiple times, before I got them in front of me.
GS
That's interesting, I had not heard that. Now I know where some of them roost (via the binoculars) so I'll get back out there and use the method you describe. Thanks for your response. Now all that is needed is the elusive kitchen pass.
To your point in the original post, yes, going after turkey is great fun.
gamestalker
member
Having killed countless gobs, I now focus my attention on teaching. There's just nothing like seeing the excitement on someone's face when that strutting, drumming bird comes in.
The clock is ticking, I'll be rolling out on Friday about noon. Looks like I've only got two hunters to mentor at this point, ao I'm hoping to pick one or two more eager hunters up when I get there.
GS
The clock is ticking, I'll be rolling out on Friday about noon. Looks like I've only got two hunters to mentor at this point, ao I'm hoping to pick one or two more eager hunters up when I get there.
GS
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