Let Turkey Season Begin

IT WAS PRE-DAWN. It was still dark, and it was opening day of turkey season. The cool morning air surrounded me as I sat against a tree on the edge of a green field.

Last night the gobblers sounded off as they flew to their nearby roost. I sat in anticipation of the turkey serenade as the dark night sky slowly turned into morning light. I was not disappointed. All around me, the toms gobbled as they began to wake.

Let the Turkey season begin!

I LOVE this time of year. Winter is now a memory and spring has sprung! As a matter of fact, I am not sure what I like more—deer hunting or turkey hunting.

Don’t get me wrong, I love being perched up in a tree stand waiting for the whitetail deer I saw on my camera. But turkey hunting is totally different. You are not hunting the turkey; he is hunting you.

You sit still, either in a blind or against a tree and try to sound like a hen that is ready for action! Using the call of your choosing, you get the most seductive hen turkey sounds you can make and try to drive that gobbler wild.

Many turkey hunters out there make the mistake of calling too much. Number one, that just is not natural and number two, by calling too much, the tom will stop gobbling and that will frustrate the hunter.

Chances are, the hunter will get up and move thinking the gobbler moved on when in fact, he is actually coming right to you without making a sound. Busted!

If you call and immediately hear a response from a tom, then he knows right where you are. He will gobble every once in a while, to let you know where he is, and the game begins. It is natural for the hen to go to the sound of the gobbler, but as hunters, we try to turn things around and go against what is natural. We want that bird to come closer and closer to us until he is in range. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? I hate to disappoint you, but these birds are pretty smart and more than likely you will go home empty handed.

When I go after a bird, I have a sequence of calls that seem to work. Not all the time, but I have called in a few in my day. When Chester was with me in a blind, he got to witness my techniques. Sometimes it was hard not to laugh. Let me explain. 

The first call I make is a very soft tree call and I wait until I can see my sights before I start. If a gobbler answers you right away, get ready he is coming in and coming in fast. If there is no response, then I start to make soft hen clucks as if I am just waking up and getting ready to fly down.

I make these calls and cup my mouth in different directions to simulate more than one hen. This next step in my bag of tricks really caught Chester off guard, and we had to cover our mouths so we would not laugh out loud.

I want to sound like a bird flying off the roost. I take my hat and flap it over my leg as fast as I can and gradually slow down. I can tell you; this REALLY sounds like the wings of a bird.

I also add a cackle to my scenario and cup my mouth as I turn my head. Any gobbler listening might think I flew down in a certain direction. Of course, that direction was right to where my decoys are set up.

After my cackling stops, I wait about 10 seconds and then do a soft yelp as if to let any birds in the area know that all is well and come on in and join the party! I finish my charade by scratching up some leaves to simulate a hen looking for food. 

The only other call I make is a yelp every 20 minutes or so. Once a gobbler responds to my calls, I quiet right down. If he is alone and searching for a hen, then he will come hunting for you. However, if he already has hens with him, he will stay with the hens. Most of the time, the hens will lead him away from you. If he is alone, he will gobble, waiting for you to come to him.

Do not answer him every time he gobbles. I know you want to but show some restraint. He will soon think you have walked off and he will come looking.

As a matter of fact, if I hear a gobbler and he hangs up in the field and will not come any closer, I will softly yelp and turn my head away from the bird, so he thinks the hen has no interest. This will drive him crazy.

He may double or triple gobble. Don’t answer him. Make him come looking for you. Occasionally, a smart old gobbler will refuse to come any closer and will just gobble and strut back and forth until he just walks away. He has seen this movie before and already knows the ending. Oh well, that is why they call it hunting and not shopping.

As I sat with my back against a tree, the gobbling stopped. I waited and waited and waited some more. I would not make a sound and I would not move at all. That gobbler was around somewhere.

Suddenly, without any notice at all, I heard footsteps right behind me—I mean RIGHT behind me. The tom was looking at my decoys in the field in front of me but would not move another step.

It seemed like forever when finally, he made his move. While he stood there less than three feet from my position, his neck stretched out. He gobbled so loud it startled me, and I jumped a little. All I heard were the footsteps of a turkey running off.

It was a great hunt—no bird, but a great hunt.

Have fun and hunt safe.

 

Email Lou Marullo at ContactUs@fishgame.com

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