turkey hunting tips

The Kamikaze Bird, by huntfishtrap

June 12, 2017 by Charlie 18 Comments

By, HuntFishTrap

The morning of May 5 brought clear skies and mild temperatures to my corner of Iowa, and I was itching to get back into the turkey woods again, after a 2-week layoff following the hunt for my first bird of the year, back in our 2nd shotgun season. We’re allowed two gun tags for spring turkey hunting here in Iowa, and of the 2 one must be for the 4th and final season, for reasons I have never heard explained by the powers that be.

Being strongly averse to rising early in the morning, I elected to set my alarm for 6 am, and then hit the woods after fly-down. Since it was a weekday when most of the competition would be at work, I elected to go to a public land spot where I had long wanted to kill a gobbler. The property had produced a number of close calls over the years, including missing a big longbeard two seasons prior, but I had always seemed to be snakebit there.

I pulled into the deserted parking lot a little after 7 and set off into the woods as the rising sun painted the just-emerging maple and oak leaves with shades of gold. I walked about a ½ mile into the timber before stopping to call for the first time, knowing from past experience that calling close to the parking lot is usually a waste of time on public land. The first series of yelps did not produce a response, so I kept going, stopping to yelp a few times every couple hundred yards or so. My destination was a ridge overlooking a large oak flat that often held birds, and I had almost reached it when I heard a faint gobble from somewhere off in the distance. I cut loose a few loud yelps on my go-to long-distance aluminum pot call and received an answer. Still, could not tell exactly where the bird was, so I eased up to the top of the ridge and tried again. This time the far-off gobbler was joined by another, much closer bird, somewhere down on the oak flat in front of me. I quickly scanned the trees around me for a good spot to set up and chose a large oak tree with a deadfall in front of it which acted as a sort of natural blind.

After settling in, it didn’t take long to ascertain that the distant tom was way down in a big valley on the other side of the oak flat, and was most likely a lost cause. But the closer gobbles were only a few hundred yards away, and it sounded like there might even be more than one bird. My first few series of calls brought immediate responses, and it sounded like the bird or birds were moving closer, but then they seemed to begin to lose interest. So I started switching calls, looking for something they’d like, but without much success. The occasional gobble would ring out, but they didn’t seem to be answering anymore. Finally, I got to one of my three wingbones, which I rarely use, and mostly carry for emergencies. That was the ticket, as they – by now I was certain there was more than one – started responding again, and began working their way closer. The birds got to within 200 yards, then hung up, and a stalemate ensued. I would call, they would gobble, but wouldn’t come a step my way. I knew the area quite well and didn’t think there were any obstructions that would prevent them from moving my way, so after about 30 minutes I was getting exasperated. Finally, I’d had enough, so decided to make a move.

I eased back over the ridge until I was certain the turkeys couldn’t see me and started looping around one side. The open oak woods didn’t offer much cover for trying to sneak up on anything, but I knew there was a small ditch on the far side of the ridge that I could use for cover if I could get there. I made it to the ditch and followed it as far as I could, until reaching the point where I had to climb out in order to keep moving in the right direction. At this point, I figured I was still at least 150 yards from the last gobbles I’d heard, but at least I was now on their side of the ridge. I elected to stop and call just before reaching the top of the bank above the ditch, but before I could get my wingbone out of my pocket the toms gobbled again, but they sounded much farther away. I cut loose with a little wingbone music and received silence in reply, tried again, the same result. I was standing there a little despondently, trying to figure out a new plan of action, when I heard what I thought was a hen putting just over a small rise in the ground, about 100 yards in front of me. That was followed immediately by a loud commotion that sounded like several turkeys running in the dry, crackly leaves.

I figured I had somehow spooked part of the flock I’d been hearing, and almost started to jog up to the top of the knoll to see if I could catch a glimpse of them, when a red head popped over the hill in front of me, followed immediately by two more! I froze in consternation because I knew that standing in the middle of the open woods without any cover near me was a recipe for disaster. But thankfully when they lowered their heads they disappeared behind the rise in the land again, and I could drop to my knees and scramble several feet backward until I was up against an oak tree. I just had time to raise my trusty 870 and steady it over one knee before they came trotting over the hill, headed right for me. At this point I was not certain what kind of birds were coming in – the gobbles I’d been hearing all morning had sounded a little choppy at times, like jakes – but the first bird in line was a nice long beard, and he was determined to be first to the party. He came trucking right toward me, beard swinging from side to side, while I tried to make myself small against the oak. While he was coming in, I heard a loud spit-n-drum from beyond the rise and saw a fan pop open, so I knew there were still more birds coming but was focused on the one at hand.
He paused at about 40 yards, and I almost shot him, but just as I was about to squeeze the trigger he kept coming, and I kept tracking him with the gun muzzle. Even in the heat of the moment, the thought popped into my mind, “This bird is like a kamikaze – I’m going to kill him, or he’s going to run me over!”. Finally at 25 yards, he started to slow down, and finally stopped and started giving me the old hairy eyeball, so I centered the bright fiber-optic bead on his glowing head and sent 2 ounces of #5s on their way. The gun boomed he dropped like a stone, and turkeys took off in every direction behind him. There were at least 5 or 6 different birds, a mix of jakes and toms. I will never know what made that flock suddenly reverse course and come right to me after essentially disregarding my calling for the previous 2 hours, but I’m not complaining. Sometimes the unpredictability of turkeys is bad, and sometimes it’s good.

When I looked at my watch, I saw that the time was 9:35 am, only 5 minutes later in the morning than when I killed my first turkey of the year, two weeks before. This bird would then tip the scales at 20 ½lbs, with 1 1/8” spurs and a 10 ½” beard. A nice 3-year-old tom. After snapping some photos, and stopping to enjoy the beautiful day for a while, I loaded the bird into my pack and set off on the 3/4+ mile walk back to my truck. The hard part of the hunt was just beginning, but it was a small price to pay for such an awesome morning in the turkey woods.

Are Turkey Hunts like Chess Match or Card Game of Chance?

June 10, 2017 by Charlie 20 Comments

What do you think? Is a wild turkey hunt more like a game chess in the woods or is it more like the card game solitaire?

Something, perhaps mostly unknown about charlie elk is the fact it took him five wild turkey seasons before he finally killed a gobbler.

What took him so long?

After all, he helped Minnesota catch grouse for the Minnesota/Missouri turkey/grouse exchange release program so he should have learned something about turkeys during that long restoration period. Well, not so fast. Charlie was an accomplished big game hunter who frequently stalked within longbow range of bedded cervids across the North American Continent. And then, in the early eighties along came the wild turkey opportunities.

After finally being drawn for a Minnesota turkey license in the zone where a band of turkey nuts, including Charlie had released turkeys from Missouri years before; the young, cocky, self-assured Charlie was humbled by a bird with a brain about the size of a walnut. It is amazing how a feathered bird-brained creature could be so elusive.

He planned all his hunts so carefully, doing research to determine in advance where the turkeys roosted, where they would want to go from roost and how they would get there, all to no avail. Then late one morning he saw a truck with plates from Missouri pull into the parking area, an elderly gentleman stepped out walked around surveying the area and then did some cutting on a long box call. Answered by a robust gobble, not more than 100 yards down the trail Charlie had just walked back to camp. The veteran hunter headed down the path and soon a there was a gunshot. The fellow came walking back with a very nice turkey over his shoulder.

The mistake Charlie had been making, in his humble opinion was that he’d been hunting turkeys using many of same tactics as he used for hunting big game. Big game animals do things for reasons that are quite apparent to an experienced hunter. Whereas the wild turkey does things that are apparently done for well, maybe no clear reason at all.

A lot of turkey behavior, if not most, is random, much like the shuffling of a deck of cards. For example, if a turkey is flushed and somewhere different with suitable habitat and maybe an available hen during the spring— that turkey is likely to be just as content in the new location as he was in the previous one, he’ll just roost in whatever tree is convenient as it gets dark. Once this randomness soaked into charlie’s sometimes, most times, dense head, he has killed a turkey in every season he has hunted over the last 40 years.

How I Kill Afternoon Gobblers, the lessons of many years

March 26, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

The thing about afternoon turkey hunting that gives hunters fits is the lack of, or significantly reduced gobbling. Spring turkey hunters have a tendency to assume if they hear no gobbles, there are none in the area. I started regularly killing afternoon birds when I realized toms make other more subtle calls which I needed to be closer in order to hear.

After I spend a morning camped out on my rear, some afternoon strolling/trolling feels good. Fortunately, a walking turkey sounds very much like a walking human, so long as the human stops, pauses, slows down and does not walk in a straight line from here to there and if the person makes turkey sounds it becomes even more naturally convincing. Old-time hunters used to call this moseying, not run and gun.
In my area of west.central Wisconsin public land offers the most productive afternoon turkey hunting. The nesting habitat is better than private so hens will be more likely to be loafing, nesting, laying and uninterested in the toms.Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands for

Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands or edges of short grassy fields. Rarely will hens nest in brushy areas that diminish visibility. The incredible eyesight of a turkey is its number one defense. Clearly, it is not in their best interest to get into places of reduced visibility; this makes for ideal trolling conditions.

Trolling for turkeys involves moseying along making turkey calls. Think of it as if you were moving along searching for a buddy calling out their name occasionally. In this case, we’re looking for a gobbler who in turn is looking for company. So the hunter should yelp (hey anyone here?), cluck (I’m here, where are you?) purr with leaf scratch (yum this is tasty, and I’m content). Keep in mind the response may be a gobble, but more likely it will be a single course sounding yelp or cluck. Hearing the quieter turkey sound indicates, of course, the turkey is probably close by, so setup immediately and try to engage in conversation with the bird. Don’t be afraid to call, err on the side of more calling rather than less. Keep it soft and conversational matching the mood of the turkey with just a bit more urgency.

Another all too common springtime afternoon situation is the gobbler or gobblers strutting in a field with disinterested hens. The gobblers are openly competing for that lady’s attention, but well guys it can be frustrating, to say the least. Like nearly every other hunter I’ve tried sneaking along an opposing edge of the field, setting up and calling to the gobblers as they get more excited with each of my calls. Only to have those disinterested hens lead them off to parts unknown. Oh, well, what’s new in turkey hunting?

In this situation, I try, the edge set up and call first. Not sure why, it rarely works, it’s just that starting with the least aggressive strategy first seems to make some sense.

My experiences continue to demonstrate the fall turkey hunting tactic of scattering or break up the birds usually works better. Depending on the position of the field turkeys I wait for them to get into a position that gives me a chance of separating the hens and gobblers. The goal is to get them to run or fly off in different directions. Ideally, hens one way the gobblers go in another direction. Most spring turkey hunting articles conclude when turkeys are bumped they leave the county, and the hunt is done there for the day or week, this is not true. Years of fall turkey hunting have taught me flocked up turkeys rarely move off more than 300 yards and most of the time much less than that.

During my young hunter days, I would rush the flock by running, yelling and occasionally shooting just make more noise for a better scatter. Somewhere along the line a little more wisdom developed in my head, my running skills declined or a combination thereof, not sure which. Nowadays I “walk” the turkeys out of the field then setup to call the gobblers back.

How walking turkeys works. The field hens are more alert to my approach so as soon as they detect me moving in, they start moving towards the cover. The strutting gobblers are distracted competing with each other and ideally don’t notice the hens moving away at first. When the gobblers are looking/facing away from the hen’s direction I then yell or whistle. Toms then start of drift out of strut peri-scoping their heads up at this point it’s time to blow the whistle again in a solid, loud blast, wave and move directly to them. Since turkeys are birds that don’t “think” more times than not they keep going the direction their body points. As soon as the birds are in the cover, I move in and setup. Wait about 20 minutes before calling. If the turkeys start calling before that time, answer back.

Scattered turkeys will usually respond within about 45 minutes from the start of calling. Spring gobblers are known to respond faster because they are more vocal and driven with urgency. Keep in mind the gobblers who walked into the cover at this point are eager to reunite with the hens they abandoned.

Good hunting.

What do Wild Turkeys Eat? Crops tell the story

January 17, 2016 by Charlie 5 Comments

Turkeys have sometimes been referred to as feathered goats when it comes to their eating habits. The wild turkey’s diet is very diverse. It might be easier to list what they don’t eat rather than trying to come up with a list of things they do eat.

When I kill a turkey, I always inspect its crop contents. Sometimes referred to as the craw by our southern friends. The crop clearly shows what turkeys are feeding in a given area. The crop is an enlarged muscle area of the esophagus near the gullet or throat.. See #4 on A.E. Shipley’s diagram.

OK you’re on the ball the diagram is a pigeon, that’s fine because almost all birds have crops. One exception that may be of interest to hunters are geese; they do not have a crop. I continue to be surprised by the number of bird hunters I meet who do not regularly open the crops of harvested birds to determine what they are eating.

Images of wild turkey crops and their contents.

From one of the gobblers who was feeding on watercress in a creek. Story here.

Same turkey crop as above cut open. All those roots are watercress and some grasses apparently from feeding on the prairie.

Bird of year. Soybeans and some grass. Grass is one of the wild turkey's staples. Courtesy of www.turkeydog .org

Bird of year. Soybeans and some grass. Blades of grass is one of the wild turkey’s staples. Courtesy of Jon Freis www.turkeydog .org

Jake crop Oct. 15 Full of grasshoppers and crickets along with a few berries, waste corn kernels.

Jake of the year Sept. 18 a summer bird. Stuffed with clover and grass seeds.

A lot of hunters assume turkeys eat primarily agricultural crops and focus their hunting efforts on these fields; this is understandable since field turkeys are the easiest to see. Unfortunately, hunters who primarily focus on fields are missing out on a lot good turkey hunting in all the other out of sight areas.

Many assume wild turkeys primarily eat agriculture crops. They do, but it’s the waste they go after not the standing crops. Think feathered goat.

How can you say turkeys eat the waste grain when I see them feeding in fields before harvest?

Even when turkeys are feeding in green agriculture fields, they are feeding on waste from the previous season, or they’re eating insects. Proof of this is in the crops of dead turkeys. A few years ago WDNR with volunteers from NWTF tracked a brood flock of turkeys on a southern Wisconsin farm that had requested a turkey shooting permit to stop the depredation. In other words, this farm believed the turkeys were eating their growing crops. The volunteer shooters monitored the brood flock all day as they fed. As the flock begins moving to roost the shooters moved in and killed the entire flock; this was in the name of science. The turkey’s crops were then dissected to see what they had consumed all day. All the crops contained primarily insects and small amounts of waste grain, and this affirms what I see in the crops of turkeys. I have never shot a turkey that had any recently planted grain; this includes the turkeys I’ve killed on farms with WDNR shooting permits for depredation.

Preconceived Notions Hamper Turkey Hunt

March 29, 2015 by Charlie 1 Comment

Are these turkeys laughing or snickering?

A frequently asked question; What is the one most important thing that makes a great turkey hunter?

I can’t speak to the great part, not sure what that exactly means. Great is probably defined differently by each person. Let’s assume great is not a video star; instead, they’re a successful turkey hunter who enjoys the hunt and bags some birds.

For most turkey hunters Preconceived Notions are the number one impediment to killing wild turkeys.

Pick up most any hunting magazine or read online articles this time of year and you’ll find a plethora of expert advice:

About where the turkeys will fly down to,
you must be there early, in the dark.
How they’ll travel certain routes,
respond to individual calls,
Only call once every 20 minutes or whatever period of time the author made up. All of these examples assume turkeys are creatures of habit that show up, fly down and act according to preset rules or as I’ve learned to understand this advice as Preconceived Notions.

When I started turkey hunting, I heard all the advice above and assumed it was correct. After five turkey hunts during which I was out somewhere in the dark woods setup by a preselected tree in an area that should hold roosted turkeys. Only to discover as the sun rose the gobbling turkeys were everywhere I was not. There I would sit making a call every 20 minutes, after all, I surely did not want to make the turkeys call shy. This setup had everything a turkey could want an open slightly elevated strutting area, with drag marks and scratchings all over, and this is a classic example of a preconceived notion. This type of planning and setup works for deer, not usually turkeys.

The turkey hunting light bulb burst on in my head one day when my hunting partner was too sick to leave camp early in the morning. Upon my return to camp, he told me about a hunter who drove into the parking area then just sat there until a turkey gobbled. He slipped out in the turkey’s direction. In short order, there was a shot, and this mystery hunter returned to his truck with a fine gobbler. All of this happened while I was much further away in the dark at a preplanned location. At that point, I was a lifelong deer hunter, and now the epiphany hit. Turkeys are random in action.

The next morning found me on the ridge not far from camp listening with no intention of moving until the gobbling started. When it did, I walked towards that area in the light after the turkeys had flown down. My calls answered almost every sound the turkeys made. Shortly a magnificent strutting turkey appeared. My heart raced, and I forgot to shoot until he was down the ridge out of sight. Those iridescent feathers catching the multi colors of the sunrise mesmerized me, in all my years of hunting I’d never seen a more hypnotically beautiful display. Without more thought, I propped the gun on my knee and called. Nothing, call again, nothing called a lot, not loud just persistent and that Tom reappeared to become my first turkey.

There was no looking back since that time some 33 years ago I have filled a tag during every season. Nowadays some hunting units allow more than one tag, in those cases, I have not always filled all the tags in my pocket but filling just one is perfect ably acceptable.

Some preconceived notions to avoid:

You must be somewhere in the woods before first light. Entering an unknown hunting area in the dark when you have not put a turkey to bed risks bumping the birds off their roosts before a hunter can set up.
Restraining your calling for fear of making turkeys call shy; Experience teaches you when to call how much and at what volume — not an arbitrary rule established in advance of the real-life hunting situation.
Assuming a turkey will only travel through an area one way or that he must pass by a particular spot. Remember turkeys have wings they can and do fly across the water, valleys and from tree to tree. During late season hunts, gobblers have come into my calls using leafed out trees to find the hen/ me on the ground.
Believing turkeys have left the area due to hunting pressure, weather, etc. The turkeys are always there even when they can’t be seen or heard. Turkey dogging has taught me turkeys will lay on the ground unmoving and unseen as a hunter passes by. However, a turkey dog finds those birds, and in the fall I’m shocked at how hard it is to see one laying on the leaf-strewn ground a few feet away.

Tough to Hunt Gobbler Led to Ghillie Suited Grass Setup

June 1, 2014 by Charlie 2 Comments

You all know this gobbler or at least have met/heard him. He sits on his roost proclaiming himself king for the day. He wants all the other toms to back off and leave all the hens to him. Because he is stuck on gobble every hunter in the areas thinks Mr. Loud Mouth will be an easy mark only to find out this bird is king of hunter avoiding strategies. My advice is when you meet this turkey find another to hunt or you’ll find yourself addicted to killing this particular bird. You find yourself getting up earlier and earlier in order to head him off while each time for some not so obvious reason or maybe an obvious reason you can’t figure out due to the additional sleep deprivation.

Ghillie Suit hides the human form. Make sure it is made of natural materials they reflect less light.

Anyone who knows me, knows I can’t bring myself to give up, so my sound advice above goes right over my own head which leads me to unusual or some would say desperate tactics. Such is the case in the following tale of the grass setup.

This turkey out gobbled every turkey in the valley making him impossible to ignore. He seemed to have a easy pattern and at first glance I thought he would be wearing my tag in short order. However, his habit of leaving the roost and walking to the upper field ended the first time I setup there; he walked down hill. Must have seen or heard me, odd all the other turkeys flew or walked into the upper field. Next morning I arrived earlier and snuck into woods middle ridge, it stayed quiet except for the wing beats landing in the field. Then after my 2+ hour wait he started gobbling at 6 O’clock and stayed on roost until 7 before dropping the ground and sprinting up into the field gobbling all the way. His zigging and my zagging went on for days.

Then I remembered my grass ghillie suit. A disappointing apparel purchase mainly because it was very hard to move in. It picked up every sticker and snagged on every piece of vegetation. I realized that would not matter since the field was freshly planted and the 12 inch high grass strip would provide sufficient cover to lay in. There was one particular fold in that field where the turkeys moved through out of range of any edge setup. With only 2 days left to fill 2 tags I smirked at how well this idea would work.

View the approaching turkeys see.

Morning dawned on me lying on dew coated grass wearing an artificial grass boonie hat dressed in a grass suit with gun resting along my right side. Sure glad only turkeys are out in those early mornings. Someone from normal society might try and lockup a camo painted face grass clad hunter. Some things are just too hard to explain to those outside the know.

The target turkey sounded off and stayed on roost while a hen moseyed along staring at me. I had called on a tongue teaser call, she came to point of call. She purred and stared looking for the turkey she had heard. A hunting buddy had told me a story of how he moved while hiding in some logs during a fall hunt thinking he messed up his chances when all of sudden the flock of turkeys came over to investigate. He figured they were expecting to see movement and his movement looked turkey like to them, he shot his bird. So I moved my head and the hen immediately came within a few feet of me continuing to purr. The two us played this game for at least a half hour.

The turkeys were within and never showed any concern as I laid still watching.

The turkeys were within feet and never showed any concern as I laid still watching. Bagged a second gobbler from this setup the next day.

He appeared without warning, I had been distracted playing with the hen and not paying attention of the gobbler’s approach. The gobbler stood at attention staring at me and the fading away hen, she moved up the field past my head out of sight.

The gobbler moved to a 45 angle a few feet from my feet looking down at me. My plan, as had happened on so many other open area setups was to wait for him to strut, pirouette until his fan blocked his vision, rise up with gun pointed and shoot as he came out of strut. Sounds easy, that is, until the gobbler is not in the mood to strut and looking down on you. Come on, there is a hen please strut your stuff….

As the gobbler resumed stiff legging closer it was very apparent he was not going to strut. My fingers found the shotgun’s grip, fumbled the safety off as the barrel aligned with his beak. Pink mist filled the air with the headless turkey flopping on his back, he felt no pain.

Second Turkey using Grass Ghillie Suit.

History of Ghillie Suits

The word ghillie is an old Scottish term for a special kind of game warden. Ghillies were tasked with protecting the game on their Lord’s lands from poachers. From time to time, the ghillies would stalk the game by hiding in the grass and lying perfectly still. They would wait for unsuspecting deer to amble by and then leap out and grab it with their bare hands. Ghillies would then haul their prize back to the keep so the Lord could shoot it in the castle courtyard in a “mock hunt.”

Grass setups work to get tough gobblers in close.

Grass Ghillie Suit setups work to get tough gobblers in close.

How to Hunt Turkeys in Wind & Rain

April 28, 2014 by Charlie 1 Comment

Wisconsin wild turkey hunters are moving into their third season. That comes with rain and wind which is typical of springtime weather. Most hunters think this is better than snow, although on May 5th of 2013 20 inches of wet snow suffocated the woods. Let us all hope there will be no repeat performance this year. The thing a spring turkey hunter must keep in mind is the turkeys are still there doing turkey things no matter the weather. Where else are they going to go?

Soggy rainy days can be productive. The turkeys are still doing what turkeys do.

Wind and rain bring some advantages to the turkey hunter who perseveres through their discomfort. Both help hide hunter’s movements and noises. When the wind is blowing there is movement all around from greases, brush and trees. A turkey’s eyesight is their first line of defense however it is only 2 dimensional eyesight so background movement makes it harder for the turkey to pick out danger. This causes turkeys to move less and become more wary,(if you can imagine that). A turkey’s second defense is their acute hearing which also is impaired due to wind and rain moving plants while causing background noise that aids in covering accidental human made sounds setting the stage for a successful hunt.

To avoid the loss or degradation of the their primary defenses turkeys hangout or loaf around in areas where the wind has less affect. Such as hollows in hilly country or even folds in open field land and flat woodlands. Rain seems to keep turkeys from moving around as much so when a hunter finds turkeys they’ll be less likely to leave the sheltered area. If the hunter can enter these zones relatively undetected and waits 15-20 minutes for “settle time” before calling softly they may soon find a lonely turkey silently responding to their calls. Keep in mind the rain and wind that takes away from the turkey’s senses also diminishes the hunter’s. This will make identifying the approaching turkey more difficult.

Today’s modern turkey hunters if they go hunting in the rain and wind setup in a blind. This is better than not hunting but remember turkey movements are curtailed during times of less than perfect weather. These blind and decoy spreads are occasionally successful. I have little advice to offer with these blind setups even though I have killed a few gobblers from blinds on bad weather days.

My preferred bad weather tactic is “sneak’n and gun’n”. A version of running and gunning at a much more careful and focused pace. A rain suit is a give away, way too noisy. Instead I wear fleece which is quiet, warm, sheds quite a bit of water and dries quickly using wearer’s body heat. Wood and slate calls will not work wet. Mouth calls, wingbone calls. and crystal pot calls with synthetic strikers are the order of a inclement weather days.

When possible setup with the wind to your back. This is more comfortable and call sounds carry downwind better than upwind. There is a theory turkeys prefer to travel into the wind rather than against it. Traveling into the wind keeps their feathers down in natural position, where as traveling with the wind pushes their feathers forward causing some discomfort and soaking under their feathers if it is raining.

If the hens are nesting they are more likely to stay on nest rather than be interested in any advances from a gobbler. So the hunter may have more lonely receptive gobblers to work with.

Remember when morning weather is bad turkeys will usually leave the roost later. I’ve encountered roosted turkeys as late as 11 am. Unless the hunter has roosted turkeys the night before they may want to wait until they hear turkeys or it’s light enough to see before heading into the woods. On the other side of the day if late afternoon/evening weather turns windy and wet turkeys may go to roost earlier.

So when is a good time to hunt? Whenever you have the open tag and time off.

Good turkey hunting.

Wind and Wild Turkey Hunting

March 1, 2014 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Many small things go into a successful turkey hunt.

For the most part wild turkey hunters do not like windy days. The wind makes it harder for hunters to hear the turkeys and for the turkeys to hear the hunter’s calls. Not sure about latter. A turkey’s hearing is so fine tuned they can probably hear the hunter’s calls it’s just that the hunter who can’t hear the turkey’s response. Blowing wind masks the sound of approaching turkeys perhaps causing a hunter to give up their setup prematurely in the mistaken belief there are no turkeys out and about.

Questions not usually considered or discussed much:

Does wind alter a turkey’s behavior?
If so how can a turkey hunter change strategies to bag a gobbler?
Excellent article: Let the Wind Blow a Bird Your Way by Judd Cooney. Get a copy and enjoy.

An article by Judd Cooney in the March 2014 Fur-Fish-Game titled Let the Wind Blow a Bird Your Way, Wild Turkey Tactics

This article got me thinking about wind and turkeys on a deeper level than in the past.

Mr. Cooney writes:

I speculate that turkeys, being heavy-weight gliders, have a tough time navigating on the wing through tree branches – as any hunter who has heard them going to coming from a roost in a thicket might attest. Flying into the wind gives them better control, much as a bush pilot always tries to land into the wind. It also makes sense that turkeys feel more comfortable feeding into the wind, when it is blowing with and not against the natural lay of their feathers.

Good observation there Mr. Cooney I too have noticed turkeys seem to prefer facing the wind. This is why a setup with the wind on the hunter’s back usually works out better. Not only will the wind carry the sound of your call more effectively… The turkeys are usually already pointed and upwind up wind. As on longtime deer bowhunter having the wind at my back doesn’t fell quite right because deer will smell the hunter and be gone. Fortunately, turkeys on the other hand have no sense of smell. However, I had not considered the wind effect on determining a turkey’s fly down direction. As I think back over past hunts where the turkeys went the “wrong” way it was very likely that the wind had something to do with it.

There is more in Judd Cooney’s article explaining his observations and conclusions regarding wild turkey behavior in the wind. Hunting turkeys on those particularly windy spring days is more challenging. A hunter with a good understanding of all the things affecting turkey behavior is better able to tip the odds in their favor. This is another tidbit of information to help in that quest.

Good hunting.

Also read tips in How to Hunt Wild Turkeys in Wind & Rain

Turkeys and Poults Find Them During the Summer

July 22, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

The poult watch is a popular summer time activity of turkey hunters; well maybe not

Wild turkey hen with brood of poults.
photo by Kevin Cole

the casual turkey hunter but certainly those who are the hard bitten turkey hooked type of hunter. Many hunters I have talked with lately see no sense to scouting turkeys now. After all turkeys will, most likely, not be in the same areas come September 14th Wisconsin’s 2013 fall opening date. Besides these hunters add the cover is so thick you can’t see the birds anyway. Well maybe there is some truth to that on both accounts…

Will turkeys be somewhere else come the opener?

Maybe, maybe not.

Turkeys in my section of Wisconsin are wide ranging they can be one place one day and somewhere else the next. You just never know because they do things for turkey reasons. Heck during the fall season on any given day turkeys could be all over in one area and gone somewhere else the next. Turkeys are very random creatures so no matter the time of year turkeys might be somewhere other than where they were last seen.

What is the definition of scouting? I think it means different things to each hunter. To me it does not matter if you call turkey observing scouting or whatever. I simply like watching turkeys period. Observation is a prime method of learning and there is a lot to learn about turkeys. But first you have to find turkeys to observe.

Contrary to the conclusion some spring only hunters come to. Turkeys respond to calls year round. You can even call turkeys during the summer months. During the summer I like to find and watch hens with broods so I use hen talk such as the assembly call, putt, clucks, and feeding purrs young poults instinctively respond quickly to these calls. When the hen calls poults pay attention because their lives depend on it for survival. In the case of alarm putts and assembly calls they must come quickly so the hen can shepard them out of danger.

Wild turkey poults must feed extensively during summer months.

My goal using a call is to locate the poults not necessarily to call them in as I would while hunting in order to get a shot. I like to find the birds then just shutup and watch them interact while going about thier business. Dense cover in fields and woods frequently inhibits the ability to see. This is a two way street, the turkeys can’t see well either which many times causes them to use their wings to get above the cover or they may fly into trees for a look around. Too often we think of turkeys as ground birds during the day and tree birds while they roost at night. In reality turkeys especially the young are in the treetops more than we think. Dittos for the use of their wings. Sometimes after making some calls the turkeys will flutter and hover a bit much alike a hummingbird does up above ground cover to get look.

Turkeys most preferred summer food is insects from the smallest of gnats to large grasshoppers. Find a good source of insect life in good turkey habitat and you should find the birds. Don’t over look areas in and around water. Not only does water concentrate insects it also holds all kinds of high protein morsels such as crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, snails and many types of aquatic bugs. I have seen water feeding turkeys dunk there heads underwater to feed on these.

Turkeys prefer eating insects and other high protein critters.

How to Find Turkeys in the Late Spring Season

May 16, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

As turkey hunters are all to aware- Turkeys do not share our dinner plans.

The spring of 2013 in Wisconsin has been one of, if not the most challenging spring season in history. More late season tags have sold out this year than in previous years. Some of my buddies are asking where do we find the turkeys? How is their behavior different?

Regarding where to find them:

With the improving weather hens have begin laying. I’m finding turkey nests with 4-6 eggs along with the occasional “drop egg” laying by itself. In the next few days here in west central Wisconsin the hens should complete laying and start incubating. When the hens are incubating they will not roost at night. For a few days this will cause some angst among the gobblers resulting in more gobbling activity.

At first the hens will sound off from their nesting areas as their interest in the toms wanes. So a hunter should experience good luck if they can get in the travel corridor leading from the tom’s roost to nesting area. Once the hens are in the incubation process they are unlikely to run to the gobbler, leaving him “available”. At this point hen talk should work to get the gobbler in.

Watch for the formation of summer time wild turkey bachelor groups and change your calling to gobbler talk.

If this were a normal year or the nature of things “catches up” to normal the gobblers would be forming summer bachelor groups this 6th season. Gobbler talk would then be more effective calling. Each area of the state is different so watch for the signs of what to do from the turkeys.

Key in on insect production areas, new wild flower and woodland grass growth. Hens seem to like to nest in open woodland near these areas. Gobblers like to loaf and refurbish their bodies after the long breeding season. Particularly late in the afternoon and early evening. This is a good time for the audio baiting tactic described in “How to Legally Bait Turkey post” Make sure you take your gun I have killed 2 toms this year between 6-7 pm calling in these areas.

Regarding turkey behavior-

Turkeys behave like turkeys and they are out there even if you do not hear or see them. Turkey behavior changes throughout the seasons and a savvy hunter tries to learn as much as they can about turkeys and their changing flock structure from spring thru winter.

Double Beard Lightweight Turkey

April 10, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

On April 10th the opening day of Wisconsin’s 2013 wild turkey season I awoke to find the temperature at 21 degrees, 16 mph wind, snow covering the ground and sideways freezing whatever. Not exactly the kind of weather spring turkey hunters dream about.

So I did what any self respecting old turkey hunter does on days like this-

Enjoyed a pot of coffee
Chatted with Mrs. elk
Puttered around with stuff until I figured the turkeys were well off the roost.

My Reasoning– When there is no foliage the woods is naked and as was the case this morning it’s very easy to see anything against the white landscape. Roosted turkeys with their 8 power binocular eyesight would have spotted me in an instant. Best to wait until they are down on more equal footing.

Since I had no idea where exactly any turkeys were I setup cold on a windswept point over looking a 2 mile valley. I chose my Willow Ridge Death Wish pot and peg call to start and after 2 sets of calling to my utter surprise a group of gobblers across the valley enthusiastically chain gabbled back. I called more aggressively and they moved along their side until they were almost straight across from me. The sound of large wings lifting off brought a spark of hope as they pitched off and sailed to the bottom of the valley on my side. My plaintiff calling brought no more responses for an hour. I was iced over and soaked obviously under dressed for these spring time conditions.

My Reasoning– When the turkeys are not gobbling you must try and make things happen. I frequently setup on points where the sound of my calling will travel a great distance and in return I’ll have a better chance of hearing turkeys answer. Listen for turkey vocalizations other than gobbles. Toms will not always gobble an answer, many times they cluck or yelp back.

Back at the hut the hot soup refurbished my resolve…

Changing into more and dry snow camo I stuffed the snow net in my vest and headed down and circled around where I thought I had last seen the birds. Willow’s Death Wish call sang out and was promptly greeted by thunderous gobbles below and out of sight. I moved down the tight logging trail which offered no good setup locations. So I setup in a not so good spot, if the turkeys came they would be nearly in my lap with only the snow net between us.

Picture taken from the turkey’s point of view.

The first set of 3 came in, jakes, I thought about taking 1 to fill my tag because the forecast was full of bad weather for the next several days. There is no dishonor shooting a jake but I didn’t want my first turkey hunt of the year over so quickly. Instead of shooting I waved my gun barrel to scatter them out of the way. I was convinced a long beard lurked behind. The jakes flew up into the trees around me and they were worked into a frenzy; started loud angry purrs, clucks and putts. I yelped loudly back at them, one of the treed jakes caught my moment and he took to flight, in the same moment a thunderous gobble on the hill above snapped my head around. Yeah, I know, couldn’t help it, he startled me with his feathers rattling at the tail of each gobble. In spite of him obviously being in range, incredibly I couldn’t see him on that brush choked snowy hillside.

My Reasoning– In a tight spot like this the jakes needed to be cleared off the trail to make way for sir gobbler. If a gobbler is out numbered by jakes he rarely pushes his way in rather he finds another place. Since these turkeys were challenging each other I changed my calling accordingly.

More aggressive gravelly yelps from me; I don’t know how he got to standing on the trail but there he was gobbling hard at 16 feet with only the snow net separating us. In my early days of turkey hunting the turkey had the advantage during a stand off like this. Not so any more; as you can see he did not win the race.

An unusually small turkey considering he sports a double beard.

Nice double beard, 1/2″ blunt spurs and weighed only 14 lb. 12oz. I wonder if all the turkeys are going be small bodied this year? Aw, who cares, it’s all fun.

Scare Turkeys to Call Them In (an answer for Ray Eye)

April 5, 2013 by Charlie 2 Comments

In Ray Eye’s last book “The Turkey Hunter’s Bible” he wrote that he did not understand why anyone would scare a bunch of turkeys before attempting to call them back in. His reference was primarily regarding the common fall tactic of scattering a flock. Ray makes his point about this tactic being counter productive that it’s better to call undisturbed turkeys. Well, that works too, I’ve done it many times. But there are situations in spring and fall that scaring turkeys does increase your chances of calling them back in.

I must admit I feel a little apprehensive about disputing anything Ray says, after all I respect him as an expert turkey caller and hunter. Be that as it may I have had great success calling in scared turkeys and I will at times scare them on purpose.

When to scare turkeys in the spring?

You find a mixed a group of turkeys out in a field with the toms strutting for the hens who are not paying a lot of attention to the wannabe suitors. Most hunters setup, attempt to call and lure the turkeys over to them. In most cases these turkeys ignore the hunter’s overtures continuing to attend to the turkey business at hand. Think of these turkeys as comfortable turkeys. They are doing what they want to do in what they consider good company with no reason to go anywhere else.

What to do now?

As long as the turkeys are content they have no reason to investigate you or any other turkey that may desire to compete with them. Time to shake up their confidence. In this situation I sneak, as best I can as close as possible and then rush them in an attempt to send the hens one way the gobblers the other. Now you have turkeys that are no longer comfortable or complacent rather the turkeys are nervous and their ingrained behavior pattern urges them to regroup.

I move to where the hens were and setup, many times this requires hiding in plain sight. Wait about 10-15 minutes to begin calling. Usually the gobblers are back within 30 minutes of calling. Bang!

Ray’s book contains good advice and I recommend it. It’s just that unlike Ray Eye I am not an pro turkey caller so comfortable turkeys feel no reason to come on over to visit my calls. My tactic is to make them uncomfortable and vulnerable. Vulnerable turkeys are killable turkeys.

Can Turkeys Find Snow Insects?

March 17, 2013 by Charlie 4 Comments

Wild turkeys are amazing, they have proven to be tough survivors under harsh conditions. Sometimes they are referred to as goats with feathers because of their ability find and eat such a variety of food.

Earlier this winter I found a flock of turkeys scratching in deep snow powder but they appeared not to be scratching down through the snow as they would if they were exposing nuts or seeds. This got my curiosity going so I moved in to investigate what they were after.

Even in the dead of winter insects are available.

Insects take refuge in tree bark to wait out the winter and apparently after some high winds they blown out into the snow were they wait helplessly on the wild turkeys buffet.

Here is another iced insect, mosquito?

The Turkey’s Snood Knows

March 9, 2013 by Charlie 4 Comments

What is the purpose of a wild turkey’s snood?

According to research done by University of Mississippi Dr. Richard Buchholz

In addition to uncovering a non-sexual function for the brightly colored, bare head of the male wild turkey (which is crucial for maintaining sub-lethal body temperatures under warm ambient conditions and during physical exertion), my work also demonstrated that one aspect of male head ornamentation, the frontal process, or snood is subject to both inter-sexual and intrasexual selection. Captive female wild turkeys prefer to mate with long snooded males, and during dyadic interactions, male turkeys deferred to males with relatively longer snoods. These results were demonstrated using both live males and controlled artificial models of males.

So according to Dr. Buchholz research the hens prefer a long snood on their gobbler. But what is the genetic advantage of a long snood?

Dr. Buchholz continues

in the wild the long snooded males preferred by females and avoided by males seemed to be resistant to coccidia infection.

Very interesting I will be following the Doctor’s research.

As a hunter, I have noticed all turkeys snoods vary in length depending on their general state of alert or alarm.

When a turkey is relaxed and unalarmed, their snood is longer.

As a turkey becomes more alert to something out of place the snood begins to shorten.

They alarmed the turkey becomes the shorter the snood becomes.

Snood length gives the hunter an indication of the turkey’s mood or agitation. When the snood shortens you must make the decision- shoot or not shoot. Should the shot not be good you must be very still and quiet for any hope of the turkey settling back down. Most of the time a turkey who has suddenly shortened his snood is getting ready to leave the area.

How to Legally Bait Wild Turkeys

March 3, 2013 by Charlie 1 Comment

After aggressive calling the evening before. This public land wild turkey was waiting for me the next morning and came in without hesitation.

The baiting of wild turkeys with food is banned in all states with turkey populations unless you have a permit to capture and relocate turkeys or a depredation hunt.

However, what I have in mind and the method I use, particularly during the spring turkey hunt is audio baiting.

Audio Baiting

It’s no secret turkeys are attracted by “Turkey Talk”, the sounds made by other turkeys. After all, that is why most turkey hunters make or purchase several different styles of turkey calls. Some hunters have bought into the notion that turkeys become call shy, and you should not call when you are not hunting. Unless you are a terrible caller or cause a big human disturbance entering and leaving the hunting area, you will not scare or educate turkeys by making turkey sounds. By the way, some of the worst turkey calls I have ever heard came out of the beaks of turkeys.

How it works

The evening before your hunt decide where you would like a gobbler to be the next morning, the approximate area. The tom probably will not fly into the exact tree you desire, but he may get close to it. The goal is to pull a wandering gobbler or two into the area you can hunt come morning.

Locate a prominent open location where sounds you make will have the best chance of traveling the greatest distance possible. Trees, vegetation, and hills obstruct or absorb sound. Some unobstructed sound corridors are necessary. Another method is to move quietly along a trail audio trolling; picture floating a river casting in likely spots only you are using audio lures rather than fishing lures. Think of it as audio chumming.

If your season is open and it is legal to take your gun on this setup just in case a gobbler shows, after all, you are in a turkey woods that contains turkeys and you never know when one is going to show. At least one-third of all my spring turkeys are taken late afternoon/early evening.

After setting up start calling; using yelps, cackles, purrs, and clucks; increasing the volume and intensity as sunset approaches. Guide your calling by imagining a couple of hens sparring with each other over the best roost trees. Of course, as you call, listen for an answering gobbler and if you hear an answering gobble begin calling as you would during any other setup.

Assuming you heard no turkeys going to roost, understand, this does not mean there are not any turkeys in the immediate area. If you have no other “for sure spot” at which to start in the morning, arrive at the last evening’s calling location before gobbling time. Many times I hear the gobblers without doing anything else, so all that remains is to pick a good setup location and go about calling em in. If you don’t hear anything owl hoot or tree yelp and listen, then proceed with your hunt in the usual manner.

Late in Wisconsin’s 2012 spring turkey season a friend hunting in northern Wisconsin called me for advice about finding a turkey. He is a very experienced turkey hunter accustom to success all over the country. But he wanted to kill a turkey on his property, something that had eluded him for many years. He described gobblers roosting along the property line of his land but in the morning they promptly flew into the neighbor’s field, strutted and faded away.

I suggested that he should try audio baiting as previously described in order to pull the turkeys deeper into his land in the hopes of then setting up between the turkeys and field. My grateful buddy called the next day with the happy news it worked. He had killed his first ever gobbler on his property shortly after fly down and admitted he had thought I was crazy suggesting the audio baiting strategy.

Update: Kirkland Warblers and Wild Turkeys audio baiting.

The above-linked update article covers wild turkeys being motivated to move into new areas with the use of calling. Wildlife biologists are using audio baiting tactic to get Kirkland Warblers, sage grouse and prairie chickens onto actively managed habitat.

Fall Birds of the Year Called in with Specialized Pot and Peg Call

February 5, 2013 by Charlie 2 Comments

Willowridge Custom Calls makes this very specialized and unique call that is particularly effect for making kee-kees the many other bird of year calls. The striker is tapered to point. The pot wood with a crystal surface and has a single sound hole.

In the fall of 2012 I used this call bring several turkeys to gun after my turkey dog Vic had scattered them. The proof of a fine call is in the pictures.

How Do You Setup for Winter Turkeys?

January 2, 2013 by Charlie Leave a Comment

Even though Wild turkeys can only see in two dimensions they have good eyesight, no make that excellent eyesight. Any wild turkey hunter knows this after only a few encounters with this king of birds which is why camouflage is so popular among hunters. Although there are a few die-hard traditionalist do not wear camo.

So how do you hide from a turkey’s keen sight in a snow covered landscape?

Snow camo is a big help when a hunter is out in the open or open brushy terrain. This is a typical setup I use for winter turkey hunting.

One snowshoe is used as a backrest, the other is laid flat with a cushion on top for a seat.

Add in the hunter dressed in snow camo and you can see the human lines are nicely broken up. Notice the shotgun is also taped with white first aid tape to break up its outline.

If I were to have picked any of the larger trees in this area the snow camo would have stood out against the dark trunk and the turkeys may have likely been out of range. Turkeys can see in color just like us.

In case a more traditional tree setup becomes required I wear an outfitter camo vest under my snow camo jacket and then zip open the outer jacket so my chest will blend with the tree trunk.

Turkey Call with Pen Barrel

June 4, 2012 by Charlie 1 Comment

Turkeys can be called in with a wide variety of things, even your common ink pen.

Turkeys can be called in with a wide variety of calling implements. From all types of friction calls like box and pot calls to wind calls such as trumpets, wing-bones and yes even a common everyday ink pen. So if you forget your calls as I did one day—–
More accurately I did not forget my calls so to speak; as I was on my way out to hunt something else. There was a group of toms in a field I had permission to hunt. Then I discovered the box call usually kept in glove box was missing, there was the pen. I got out rushed the toms to break em up, only one peeled off a different direction from the rest. I set up in a hurry wearing a blue and black plaid flannel

Smile the Gods did, the gobbler sported three beards

shirt, smeared a bit of dirt on my face, the shotgun was mod choke loaded with #6 Fiochhi pheasant and sometimes as in this case the turkey gods of the hunt smile on you.

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