Patience
Patience. It's something that can be in short supply in the spring turkey woods, especially when you're not hearing gobbles or yelps. The urge for many hunters is to keep moving until finding a longbeard that's willing to "play the game", but sometimes, remaining patient and holding position can pay off. Lightly calling every now and then, in an area where you know turkeys travel and want to be in, can lead to a consummated turkey tag.
We have had a variety of weather conditions and experiences so far in the first week of the New Hampshire and Vermont wild turkey hunting seasons. A few mornings have been clear and somewhat cool - in other words, picture perfect conditions for turkeys to sound off and begin their daily activities. However, most of the days have been a little rainy, generally overcast, and sometimes lacking the vocalizations we hope for. On those days, it's been quiet, at least as far as gobbles go, but that doesn't mean the turkeys aren't there ... somewhere.
We have had a variety of weather conditions and experiences so far in the first week of the New Hampshire and Vermont wild turkey hunting seasons. A few mornings have been clear and somewhat cool - in other words, picture perfect conditions for turkeys to sound off and begin their daily activities. However, most of the days have been a little rainy, generally overcast, and sometimes lacking the vocalizations we hope for. On those days, it's been quiet, at least as far as gobbles go, but that doesn't mean the turkeys aren't there ... somewhere.
As you might expect, turkey hunts can go in any number of directions, depending on a number of factors. Early in the season, competition with real hens can be fierce, as many gobblers are led away from hunters by the real thing. Occasionally however, mature males can be called to from the roost and successfully hunted, especially if they are without hens.
That's exactly what happened last week - gobbles off the roost, an anxious hour (are they coming or going away?) of back and forth subtle calling (on our part), and finally commitment from two longbeards that came strutting in to the decoys (jake and two hens). Mike made a nice shot from 30 - 35 yards, and the decoys proved their worth yet again in field hunting situations.
As far as the placement of the decoys, I tend to place a jake decoy with a hen decoy, especially early in the season. The jake will be the nearer of the decoys, as dominant males would likely see the jake as a challenge and go straight to it, diverting its attention from a hunter in hiding. The hen is placed 5 - 10 paces away, in a more conspicuous location. The thinking is that the hen gets them interested, but the jake brings them the rest of the way in to killing range.
If you've turkey hunted long enough however, you already know that hunts rarely go as planned. Hens drag gobblers away and toms get hung up and stay out of range, amid a myriad of other possibilities. When that happens, it's time for a mid-morning and perhaps even a late morning plan.
That's exactly what happened last week - gobbles off the roost, an anxious hour (are they coming or going away?) of back and forth subtle calling (on our part), and finally commitment from two longbeards that came strutting in to the decoys (jake and two hens). Mike made a nice shot from 30 - 35 yards, and the decoys proved their worth yet again in field hunting situations.
As far as the placement of the decoys, I tend to place a jake decoy with a hen decoy, especially early in the season. The jake will be the nearer of the decoys, as dominant males would likely see the jake as a challenge and go straight to it, diverting its attention from a hunter in hiding. The hen is placed 5 - 10 paces away, in a more conspicuous location. The thinking is that the hen gets them interested, but the jake brings them the rest of the way in to killing range.
If you've turkey hunted long enough however, you already know that hunts rarely go as planned. Hens drag gobblers away and toms get hung up and stay out of range, amid a myriad of other possibilities. When that happens, it's time for a mid-morning and perhaps even a late morning plan.
Mike admires his NH longbeard. This one came strutting in to check out our decoy spread. When hunting field birds, properly placed decoys can seal the deal and bring gobblers in to killing range.
Red Trillium, one of many wild flowers that signify spring's return to the northern New England turkey woods.
When "Plan A" doesn't go as dreamt, my first inclination is to go on a walk and talk through the woods or along trails to strike up a conversation with a lonely gobbler. This has worked quite a few times in the past, usually in the mid-morning time frame when hens have gone off to incubate nests. However, if that doesn't work, my best plan is to go to an area where I know turkeys like to travel to or through (look for scratchings and other sign as confirmation) and set up and periodically call.
This plan worked particularly well on Wednesday in Vermont, where we came back to an area we had been calling from earlier in the morning. After about an hour, a boss hen came in to investigate our location, and 45 minutes after that (about 11:30 AM) we heard gobbles across the field from us. With the noon closing bell looming, time was of the essence.
My plaintive calls became much more urgent to try to get this bird in to range, and while he definitely cut the distance between us and him, we couldn't get him to come all the way to us before noon. Perhaps the most challenging part of this strategy is to be patient enough to sit and call in an area for the final few hours of the morning, particularly on the noon deadline.
This plan worked particularly well on Wednesday in Vermont, where we came back to an area we had been calling from earlier in the morning. After about an hour, a boss hen came in to investigate our location, and 45 minutes after that (about 11:30 AM) we heard gobbles across the field from us. With the noon closing bell looming, time was of the essence.
My plaintive calls became much more urgent to try to get this bird in to range, and while he definitely cut the distance between us and him, we couldn't get him to come all the way to us before noon. Perhaps the most challenging part of this strategy is to be patient enough to sit and call in an area for the final few hours of the morning, particularly on the noon deadline.
We had another good day on Thursday in Vermont, though it was much different from the day before. This time, we didn't hear gobbling until 8:30 AM (the previous day, we heard gobbles off and on from 4:50 AM - 11:55 AM), and we decided to set up uphill of this bird. For an hour and a half we called back and forth, with what seemed like progress at times followed by setbacks. He just wouldn't come to us, so we used the terrain and northern Vermont spruce cover to our advantage.
We moved downhill, but swung around his flank to try to get on the same level as him. My thought was that perhaps he was hung up because of our uphill location, and by doing this we also were able to get significantly closer. Finally, after another half hour of conversation, we made our final move to close the distance. A few soft clucks and an immediate emphatic response later, and he was on his way in to find the hen of his dreams.
He came in strutting, his softball head a brilliant white with glowing red wattles, but as you know, calling them in is only part of the work. Keeping one's cool and making a killing shot in range is pretty important too, and my client rushed his shot a bit, shooting directly over the tom's head. He skittered away, no harm no foul, and we're all significantly wiser now.
We moved downhill, but swung around his flank to try to get on the same level as him. My thought was that perhaps he was hung up because of our uphill location, and by doing this we also were able to get significantly closer. Finally, after another half hour of conversation, we made our final move to close the distance. A few soft clucks and an immediate emphatic response later, and he was on his way in to find the hen of his dreams.
He came in strutting, his softball head a brilliant white with glowing red wattles, but as you know, calling them in is only part of the work. Keeping one's cool and making a killing shot in range is pretty important too, and my client rushed his shot a bit, shooting directly over the tom's head. He skittered away, no harm no foul, and we're all significantly wiser now.
