By Garett Payne
Darkness began to fade as the sun slowly illuminated the landscape and the river bottom soon erupted with a thunderous gobble that was quickly followed another. We could tell it was going to be a good morning hunt. We had spent the last few months scouting fields from sun up to sun down, and could practically set our watches as to when and where the birds were going to be. As it neared legal shooting time we made a few soft clucks and purrs and “Ole Tom” answered back with a gobble that echoed across the valley. It was finally here: legal shooting time on opening morning.
We started out softly and got more aggressive as the river bottom erupted with the sound of beating wings and we knew the birds were on the ground. We went back to calling softly and every now and then hammered them with a series of loud aggressive clucks and purrs being careful not over call. The birds began to make their way out of the bottoms into the freshly tilled field where we were set up. In the first ten minutes of legal shooting light eight birds stepped into the field and all of them were working their way toward our decoys.
Doing your homework is the biggest part of the equation when preparing to hunt. Logging hours in the field is what it takes to tag out. It helps to contact the local DNR to find out what areas yield the highest number of birds while taking time to talk with local farmers who are always a good source of information. Next I try to identify places where cropland borders a river or creek system.
Once I have found an area with that criteria I begin to look for sign. There are usually good roost trees near the river where I look for droppings under the biggest ones. Cottonwoods and old oaks are a good place to find splashes of white feces on branches and down the trunk then on vegetation and the ground underneath. The next step is to find the agricultural field where the turkeys feed most frequently. Look for droppings and scratches in the dirt. Like my grandfather always told me, you can tell the difference between a hen and a tom by the shape of the droppings. A gobbler’s look something like a question mark while a hen’s will look more like an exclamation point. This will begin to give you an idea on the number of birds in the area and how often the area is used. Is there an exact science behind it? Probably not, but it usually works out for me.
Once I have found a good area I look for a cutoff point to place a setup between the roost and where they will be feeding. You can do this by scouting in the mornings and evenings when the birds will be feeding and or breeding. Watch for the points where they exit the woods and enter the field or leave the field headed to the roost. An understanding of where the birds are and what they will do next is vital to filling your tag.
The night before you hunt take time to “roost” the birds. Simply slip into an area where you know there are roost trees, or where the birds use a field then wait for them to fly up to roost. This will let you to know exactly where to set up the following morning. Remember to slip in and out of the area quietly both at night then the next morning so you don’t spook the birds off the roost. Mess up and all your hard work will have been for nothing. When hunting public land always get there long before legal shooting light to stake claim to the area so someone else doesn’t beat you to the best spot. Hard work will pay off when that big gobbler steps into range.
According to the Wisconsin DNR upland game biologist, zones one and three yield the highest numbers of turkeys. This is due to the habitat, mostly a mix of agricultural fields, hardwood forests, found in these portions of the state. It creates a good environment for brood production and survival. Last year, the zone-one spring harvest was 15,729 birds while zone-three produced 12,947 birds. The state’s 10-week spring brood survey indicated that there had been a decrease in the population and the worst part was it had experienced the decrease on top of a previous decrease. This was attributed to heavy snowfall over the last few winters plus a record rainfall and cool spring in 2008.
To hunt with the best odds of success chasing the “kings of spring” in America’s dairy land you should concentrate on the best two zones one and three. Good areas to begin your search are found in Clark and Johnson counties where the Black River State Forest covers around 67,000 acres. In Juneau County there is a 2,187-acre property called the Yellow River Wildlife Area. Lastly, snaking across eight counties is the Lower Wisconsin State River Way encompassing approximately 50,000 acres. When hunting Wisconsin’s public lands try to focus your efforts on the types of habitat structure explained earlier when scouting.
Finishing our hunt, the eight birds working their way towards our decoys cranked up the adrenalin flow and our hearts began to pound. Six small jakes led the way with two big toms bringing up the rear and they were closing the distance fast. Before we knew it we had six jakes standing in the middle of our decoys giving half gobbles, while the two old toms stood just out of range. We held tight and eventually the old gobblers began to strut closer.
We sat frozen as the jakes stood within 5-yards of the gun barrels and we feared they bust us at any moment and our morning would be ruined. With a touch of luck we were able to both draw a bead on a tom and following a count of one, two, TAKE EM’ the river bottom echoed with a thunderous blast from two 12-gauge guns. The jakes scattered in every direction and the two old toms lay dead. Our opening morning double is a memory we won’t soon forget and that’s really what it’s all about. The memories you make in the field with friends and family are memories you will carry for a lifetime. Good luck and happy hunting.
For this article I chose Wisconsin as the target area. The procedure will be the same in the other states you hunt. All the states are blessed with public land that is good for hunting, all that is required is some research and you will find more land than you could ever possibly hunt.
By Babe Winkelman
Have you ever had a gobbler approach in stealth mode? Without making a gobble or even the sound of a footstep? I have, many times. But the one bird that stands out in my memory the most was an Eastern that was easily the biggest turkey I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t even guess how heavy he was, and his beard was as thick as my wrist and practically dragged on the ground.
He came in just outside of my peripheral vision. And like I said, he didn’t make a sound. Ten more steps and he would have popped out right in front of me. But he didn’t, because of a mosquito.
A mosquito you ask? How can a winged creature that small have any kind of effect on a winged creature the size of a mature Tom? I’ll tell you how: the voracious little blood-sucking bandit had rudely attached himself to my neck, just as the unseen turkey was approaching. I could feel its little syringe going in, and I tried not to flinch because it’s always so important to sit like a statue when turkey hunting. But the discomfort of that tiny torture machine was too much for me to take, so… WHAP! I got him with my right hand. I also unwittingly spooked King Kong Tom with my movement. I have never hated a mosquito more than that one, and I never saw that bird again.
Well, there are lessons learned on every hunt and that day I learned (the hard way) to always be prepared with the right gear – insect repellent included. This is especially true when hunting in areas that have ticks carrying Lyme Disease, which is a terrible disease that can have dire consequences if undetected or untreated.
So now there’s always a can of repellent in my turkey pack, whether I’m hunting in the spring or fall. And because I hunt turkeys so often with the people I love most in the world, my wife and daughters, I always make sure they’re protected with an effective repellent too.
Now, let’s talk about swatting TURKEYS! I want to give you two sure-fire tips that will help you bring home more poultry, whether you’re hunting with a shotgun or a bow.
For shotgun hunting, it is 100% critical to pattern your turkey gun before you go hunting – with the choke you’re going to use in the field. Some hunters like to use anatomical turkey targets when patterning. And they’re great for the job. But a sheet of cardboard with a snuff-can-sized circle drawn on it will do just as well. Because all you’re trying to determine is whether the payload is landing where you aim it; and that a lethal dose of BBs are hitting inside the strike zone at your gun’s effective range for turkeys. Knowing your gun’s patterning performance ensures two things. First, that you’ll make humane, lights-out shots. We owe this to the birds we hunt. And second, it will arm you with confidence in your shooting skills and equipment – which is so important.
For bowhunting, know where the vital organs reside in a turkey. That might sound silly, but it’s not where people instinctively assume they’re located. Rookie turkey bowhunters regularly shoot too high and too far forward on turkeys – into the meat of the chest. And you will not kill a gobbler with that shot. The vitals in a turkey are quite low and located about where the drumstick muscles meet the body.
Here’s what you do to get a study in turkey anatomy…. Go to the grocery store, buy a turkey and study how it’s built and where the organ cavity is located. Engrain it in your memory, so when the moment of truth comes and you’re putting that pin on your bird, you put it where it belongs. After your anatomy lesson, eat the bird. It’s a win-win.
I hope these little lessons pay dividends for you this season, and I hope you swat a giant gobbler. Who knows, maybe you’ll get the one that mosquito cost me…
Good Hunting!
Hunting Turkeys on Public Land
By Michelle Holden
Hunting public land in the Midwest often receives a bad rap; there is too little area, too many people, and too much pressure! These comments are sometimes true, but not always; the key is to learn an area well and know where to find animals with the least pressure.
To start, obtain Forest Service maps and study them thoroughly. Look for places with high ridges where you can hike well off the main roads to listen for birds. Distancing yourself from a main road is a must! You’ll need to hike further than other hunters to enjoy a successful hunt. Getting far into the woods makes your hunt more successful, more enjoyable, and allows for a peaceful day. When you make a call, a real bird answers, not another hunter. You may also have opportunities for a second and third attempt if you bump birds without getting one.
The second key to success is to learn where turkeys use a prominent roost tree. Birds will usually return to a specific tree or adopt a prominent ridgeline as a roost area where they feel safe at night. Once a hunter locates such an area it will become your “ace in the hole” for years to come. Learning these spots takes time and may require a few years but learning the bird’s habits in the area you hunt is key to continued success.
To speed the process you can torment gobblers into revealing their location by making them ‘shock gobble’ evenings and early in the morning. Use a crow call, a silent whistle, a woodpecker call, or even a coyote howl to elicit the shock gobble. When hunting all day, stay out until dark so you can roost the birds and know exactly where to set up the following morning. Pay special attention to approaching birds and note the direction used to approach the roost then set up on that route the next day to intercept them when they fly down to feed.
Problem: you hear birds on your left and your right as you call. You need to hone your sense of hearing to listen carefully to pick out the birds that are not with hens. Adult toms follow hens and hens are only worried about finding food before heading to their nest. Listen and pick out gobblers to hunt that are alone. When there are no hen clucks, or purrs as toms gobble, hustle into position, and set up in their path so you will become the hen they are looking for.
Calling position is important. Adult birds will not come to a call when they can see there is no hen. Open country or long downhill vistas are responsible for birds that hang up. They need to see a decoy to seal the deal or be called up hill where they cannot see. Hunting without a decoy? The best scenario is to have the gobbler step over the crest of a knob and into range at the same time. By the time he figures out there is no hen - he’s dead!
Calling skills, in pressured areas where turkeys become attuned to the sounds of calls, will make the difference between hearing birds and tagging them. Birds pushed by a hunters shy away from specific calls when that call is heard a second time. Carry box calls, slates, and diaphragm calls that you are confident using.
When you have not been successful by late afternoon, head back to where the gobblers came off the roost at dawn and cut them off as they make their way back to roost. Earlier in the afternoon check places where you heard hens earlier in the day. Set up a decoy and begin calling. When the hens have gone to nest, the toms will return to that spot looking for stragglers.
A major obstacle to successful turkey hunting is bad weather. Even when hunting premier country, low pressure and rain will shut down gobbling and mating. Before packing up for a weekend hunt and driving a long distance, check the weather forecast and Doppler radar maps for the area. There is no sense spending time and money during bad weather unless you enjoy sleeping in the camper or cabin during a pouring rain.
Owning your own acreage and having plenty of time is tough to beat, but most hunters lack those assets. Follow simple hunting tactics on public land and you’ll find birds in areas with no pressure!
By Garett Payne
When spring finally rolls around it is a sure bet rain showers will come with it. The secret to good hunting is not to let the wet days keep you out of the field. Depending on where you live, or your workload, you may be limited in the number of days you get to spend in the woods. Furthermore, if you limit yourself to only hunting on days when the weather is nice, you reduce your hunting even more. You shouldn’t fear the rainy days of spring - you should embrace them. The following are some tips and tactics for hunting gobblers when the thunderheads roll in.
The two important things you need to understand about turkeys and during rainy weather are they will most likely be late, and they will be found out in the open.
Turkeys are creatures of habit. They like to roost in the same area, travel the same routes and feed in the same fields, which makes them easy to pattern. During a morning rain they still follow the same pattern, they just do it later than normal. When it is raining outside you are reluctant to get up and go outside, the same holds true for turkeys. On rainy days they stay in the roost longer, which delays their normal schedule.
When it is raining you hear every drop land on a roof or umbrella and at times it is loud and annoying. The sound of rain hitting the trees and especially the leaves has the same effect it does on your umbrella. Turkeys depend on sight and sound as their means of identifying danger, so being in a heavily wooded area with lots of new undergrowth is not a comfortable place to be when sight and sound are limited. When their ability to hear is impeded by the rain they must rely on their ability to see. So during periods of rain turkeys will most likely be found in the wide open where they can rely on their keen eyesight to keep them out of harm’s way.
The disadvantage to the hunter is that rain also drowns out vocalizations produced by both the birds and the hunter. On rainy days you will hear less vocalization, which explains why you often fail to get a response to the calls you make.
We can use this information to our advantage. Stick to open areas when the weather turns wet such as agricultural fields, livestock pastures, old roads, and feedlots. Determine which of your calls is not only the loudest, but the one that sounds natural at a higher volume. Keep your calls dry. I like box calls so I use a small trash bag to cover the call. The thin material does not affect volume and it will keep the call dry and working effectively.
A quality rain suit or poncho and waterproof boots are a must. Good optics are always a good thing to have, because rainy day birds, out in the open, will require sight rather than sound to locate them. Remember to move slowly; the birds will be looking for danger just as hard as you are looking for them.
Hunting rainy days will not only increase the time you spend in the field this spring but you will also maximize your chances of getting a gobbler. You never know, maybe flowers won’t be the only things the spring showers bring this year.
By Winston Barlow
Face it. We will never know exactly what a gobbler is thinking but we have a good idea of his motives during the spring; in a word it’s females. During summer, fall and winter a gobbler's movements are determined by where he can find his next meal. But as late winter days grow longer his attention drifts toward more important things. Learning how a gobbler reacts to hens will help improve your chances of tagging a long beard.
In principle, spring turkey hunting is not difficult. Find a gobbling bird in predawn darkness then set up nearby. As the first streaks of sunlight cross the horizon make a few hen yelps and get ready. When the gobbler flies down and walks within 30 yards - take him. Unfortunately it doesn't always work that easily. Oftentimes, the key is finding the right bird, at the right time, in the right place; the bird that ignored your calls in the morning may run you over later that afternoon.
There are a few general tips about turkey behavior in the spring than can help in your quest.
Gobbling is used to bring hens to the gobbler. Remember that you are trying to make it work opposite of nature’s system when calling. Be patient and adjust calling intensity to suit the bird’s mood. The best scenario is to get him fired up and answering with gusto.
Strutting is a close-range technique to attract hens to the gobbler and dominant toms will usually gobble and strut more than subordinate ones. Jakes gobble and strut but are often afraid to display, especially later in the spring after the dominant bird provided a sound thrashing each time they became too exuberant. Just because the woods are quiet doesn't mean there aren't any turkeys around. Always be alert for a subordinate bird coming to your call without making a sound.
Gobblers are usually surrounded with hens early in the morning. Toward midmorning, nested hens will often leave to attend to their nests or lay another egg. The perfect time to be in the woods is when an old tom ends up alone. The very vocal bird that responded to your calls just before dawn then shut up when he flew down from the roost was probably surrounded by hens. Return to this spot between 11 a.m. and noon and call again. When the hens are all sitting, he will be alone and responsive to a call.
Gobblers mate in the rain - they don't gobble as much and you can't hear them as well when they do gobble due to the noise. There is no reason why hunting rainy-day gobblers can't be successful. Look for birds in fields and pastures when it is raining.
A common late season misconception is that toms sometimes just get tired of gobbling and shut up. This is not true. Gobbling will peak just before the hens are ready to breed, which is usually just before your hunting season starts then again after most hens have started to incubate their eggs toward the middle to later part of the season. Late-season hunting is a great time to find a lonesome tom.
The pecking order is established for each area and the fights that eventually determine dominance are awesome to watch. Being able to recognize the dominant gobbler and help take the biggest, oldest gobbler on a property takes a bit of luck. The problem is it can often be hard to tell which gobbler is dominant until you actually have him in hand. Fortunately, there are a few clues that may give a turkey hunter an advantage in picking out the dominant tom.
Most of the time, the biggest and/or oldest gobbler is likely to be the dominant bird, but not necessarily. A dominant bird can usually be identified by the way he acts so observing a group of gobblers can pinpoint the boss as he will do all or most of the strutting. The subdominant gobblers will often strut but usually not as long or fully fanned. The boss gobbler may not come out of strut at all during a display period, keeping his head pulled in close to his body with the fan sticking straight up while the others tend to flash fan.
Another clue to understanding the pecking order is to watch for attacks coming from either the dominant tom when another bird offers a challenge, or from a gang of birds that mount an attack on a single tom. The boss often chases the others off or just turns their way to intimidate them. If the group has not established a solid pecking order a gang attack may occur which will include jakes. Such a multi-gobbler skirmish is awesome to watch and hear. When fortunate enough to observe such a fight you’ll learn a lot about using a fighting purr. When you shoot the dominant gobbler, the next in line will often pitch into the dead bird and ‘win’ the fight to become the new top bird.
Gobbling behavior may also give a clue to pecking order, as the first turkey to gobble on a given morning is often the most dominant. However, when he doesn't gobble first, you may hear the other gobblers suddenly fall silent when he finally sounds off. Another clue is that the hens may yelp back more often and with more excitement to the dominant bird.
Pay close attention to turkey behavior and you can take the top trophy we all dream about.
By Bob & Ginny Riege
Two years ago, the day before opening day was spectacular. Leaves were already budding and the temperatures were scheduled to be on the warm side of high 60’s. As I drove to my hunting spot to scout for turkeys, I slipped the Primos Diaphragm call into my mouth and cut loose with some pretty good yelps. I was really fired up about hunting spring gobblers and the weather looked as it would be ideal to set in the woods and see if I could put a gobbler to bed that evening.
Upon arriving at the hunting spot, I picked up my gear and calls and started up the ravine to the top of the bluff. As I walked, I would periodically stop and cut loose with some calls and I would vary my technique from loud to soft to see if I could locate a tom.
As I arrived at the top of the bluff my heart was pounding from the hike and I had a tom responding to me already. I hide behind a brush pile and put my back to the largest oak in this location. I was facing a small clear cut that had a grown up with some three-foot tall weeds. I put my decoy at the edge of the brush pile and sat for about five minutes. Then, I started to call. Before I could get out a second yelp, the old tom gobbled back and I could tell he was moving toward me. He ceased his strut to answer my three yelps and four cuts with the most vociferous gobble yet. Then he stood there, neck outstretched, looking for his "hen." Had I been behind the gun, (and if it was the opening morning rather than late evening of the preseason) I'd have pulled the trigger right then. The gobbler took several steps forward. I remained silent, fearing that any further calling would spook this savvy tom or stop him behind a big tree or foliage. From my mistakes I knew that when an old gobbler hears a hen that he should also be able to see, he stops and won't come any farther. Frankly, I'm surprised that any longbeard comes as far as some of them do, for in nature it's the hen that walks toward the gobbling bird, not the other way around. But this tom kept getting closer and closer, without stopping, or at least when he did stop he was out of sight behind something. Finally, after what seemed like 30 minutes, the gobbler lost interest in the decoy and because he couldn't hear any other calling he decided to move off into the woods. Minutes later, as the evening shadows started to fade into darkness I heard him fly up and let out one more gobble before settling in for the evening.
Later I found out that the distance to the bird was 37 yards and the night before I had patterned the gun at 40 yards. The Turkey Super Full Rem Choke had put plenty of No. 5 pellets from the 3-inch Magnum, 2-ounce copper-platted load into the head and neck area of the patterning target.
There are many, many 870 and 11-87 models that are excellent for turkey hunting. One of my favorites is the 11-87 SPS-T Camo. The SPS stands for Special Purpose Synthetic, the T for Turkey, the camouflage covers the gun's wood and metal. There's even a matching 870 pump. Both come with stubby 21-inch barrels topped by a two-bead ventilated rib. These SPS-T Camo models come with .665-inch Turkey Super Full Rem Chokes extended to 3 inches.
Most experienced turkey hunters rely on No. 4 shot for turkeys. I prefer a No. 5 for a variety of reasons. At maximum distance I worry that No. 6 shot doesn't retain enough energy for good penetration, which I know from experience No. 4 shot does. But in my experience, No. 5s give adequate penetration at extreme ranges, plus my pattern testing shows that with most shotguns more No. 5 pellets hit the kill zone than with No. 4s.
Remington's Premier Magnum turkey loads come in 10-round Mossy Oak camo boxes. The company goes the extra mile even with the hulls, which are a dull, olive green, plus the metal bases are non-reflective black. These loads are all packed with high-anti-mony copper-platted shot buffered to prevent shot deformation.
The next morning I decided to take the day a little easier, because the sun was getting hot and my legs were not use to climbing the bluffs. So, I decided to start calling from the ridge tops to see if I could get an interested tom to call back. I called on a couple of ridge areas and I had little, if no, response. Then I called, and I had a tom just "light up" on my sweet yelps.
I hurried in the bird's direction. About 150 yards to the ridge top I stopped to listen again for a couple of minutes. A good gobble this time, louder and less subdued than the first. I hurried to another spot on the ridge top and called again, bang, the gobbler jumped all over my call. I had the bird pinpointed as to where I thought he would come to the top of the ridge. I found a prime setup spot and slid in behind an oak, while donning my face mask and gloves.
There was no wind, so I wanted to offer a soft cackle, not knowing if the volume was enough for the bird to hear. My yelp caught the gobbler in mid stride, the tom answered with a hardy gobble, to which I did not respond. I could see that the tom was already in gun range and closing the distance at a trot.
A few seconds later, as my heart slowed down, a white, red and blue head appeared, bobbing, looking, stretching. He was already in range and things happened fast. He was in full strut and showing his stuff for everyone. The problem was he was too close to shoot. So there I was the turkey in full display six feet from me and I can't shoot. This little drama went on for about 10 minutes and finally the tom was weary of what was in front of him, plus he couldn't see the hen that was making the "peel, peel, and the do whoop, do whoop sounds." From hunting before I knew that when a tom is stuck on something or puzzled about where he might find his "hen" he will often time circle an area.
Off to my left was a dead fall. He had positioned himself so that his left side was hidden by this dead fall. The old tom started to strut his stuff in the direction of the dead fall. All the time he would stop and puff himself up and then let all the air out in one ruckus gobble. Finally, he made his way through the dead fall and when he appeared on the other side he gobbled again. Without hesitation, I had him in my sights and I sent a swarm of No.5s on their way to the target.
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