Master the purr. That will be your best friend in the turkey woods. When hunting roosted birds, don't call too much. Get in close enough to where they can hear you tree yelp. (75 yds or so). Once they answer you, maybe give a few quiet clucks but take it easy until you do a fly down cackle. If he gobbles his brains out when he hits the ground, he's probably got a few girl friends with him...just hang tight. If by chance you happen to be the closest hen to him, he's probably coming your way. You're going to think I'm crazy, but if you can tell he's coming to you...don't yelp. Maybe give a few purrs and some clucks. Nothing too exciting. If he's got hens with him, give him about 30 minutes...he'll come looking for you. I called a bird in for my dad last year that took me an hour to talk him into coming. Granted, he was an old bird (1.5" spurs, 11" beard + a 6" beard) and he had about 10 hens with him right off the roost. Late morning birds are a piece of cake to call in. 9 times out of 10, the hens have left and they're looking for something to do. Now you'll run into situations when the gobbler hangs up and you'll need to pull some tricks out of the bag, but for starters, this should help you out. I hate evening hunting, so I cant help you much with that.
I can count on 1 hand how many turkeys I killed as a direct result of a purr or purring. Just my opinion though. There are a lot of different ways to kill a turkey and it seems like each one you kill is different. I think that is what makes it so much fun. A lot of good advice was given in this thread.
Let's Fish www.carolinaaeromarine.com Or dip something www.tntcustomcamo.com
*yes, Capt Toms yankee ass did show me a new trick in my own backyard*-- CYPRESNEAK
I agree. A few clucks. Maybe soft yelp, scratch the leaves. Purring like a real hen is hard unless you are using a slate. I'm not confident doing it, so I rarely do. It's mainly because I use a mouth call. Not saying its wrong. I've got buddies who are great at it.
Calling to them in the tree is always a debatable topic. If its dark. And your yelping normally, that's not natural to the Tom IMO. Ive heard only one hen tree yelp before. NWTF.org has sound files. 99% of the time I don't tree yelp. Not saying its wrong, I've tried it, with no success.
Trkyklrs post earlier on closing is the hardest part to learn. It's a feel type of thing. This sounds gay, but you gotta gauge the Toms mood and react accordingly. You only learn from trial and error. I guess wrong more than right.
All I can tell you is I feel closest to God up against that big tree trunk with the sunlight breaking, birds peeping, crickets chirping, and then that gobble thunders through the stillness. That is something I can't explain to others that don't hunt. The dance you play with ole Tom is only a part of it.
All these guys have given you some TERRIBLE advice! So toss it all out. Here's all you need to know, PERIOD!
Do Not Start Turkey Hunting!
The End!
You've got one life. Blaze on!
You call yourself a caller
I call myself a shooter that calls
You've got one life. Blaze on!
I don't!
Why even lie about it to sound cool
I like to kill them!
Last edited by GobblerHntr; 01-22-2014 at 09:32 AM.
You've got one life. Blaze on!
Some of the coolest hunts I've ever been on was when I called for somebody else. I called a kid up his first turkey two years ago and that was awesome. I called in 5 longbeards for my buddy who had never killed one. I called my dad up his first legal gobbler to which to this day was the best hunt I've ever been on. I mean, he'd done so much for me thru the years and for me to help get him his first turkey was the greatest thing ever.
Sorry...we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Ok I'll admit calling up my daughters 1st turkey last season on youth day was pretty damn cool! However I'll admit the coolness quickly vanished when I had to watch the other 3 walk off because I couldn't shoot. Nevertheless those same 3 died mornings later and all the coolness returned
Oh and I was supposed to count to 3 then shoot. I shot (doubled) then told the other fella to shoot
Last edited by GobblerHntr; 01-22-2014 at 09:40 AM.
You've got one life. Blaze on!
Crops are harvested, animals are killed.
See this guy gets it
Last edited by GobblerHntr; 01-22-2014 at 09:43 AM.
You've got one life. Blaze on!
It actually was seriously.
But i am serious I really hated watching those other 3 walk off.
You've got one life. Blaze on!
haha...when I called up those five for my buddy, he doubled up and then took off running after them...while the other three were pecking at the dead ones. I was like...WTH are you doing dude? No doubt we could've wiped that bunch out in a hurry. But two of them died later on in the year.
I did/do enjoy calling turkeys up for my kids. My daughter killed her first at 8yrs old and my son at 7yrs old. Daughter has killed 2 and my son, 6. My son is about to be 14 and, last season, I built him a trumpet and told him that he needs to learn to call for himself. We'll see...
Crops are harvested, animals are killed.
yea, i think i may have created a monster like this last year.... called in 3 longbeards and two jakes for him on 4 separate hunts..... only one of the longbeards actually died.
i much rather hunt alone and do all the killing. im not ashamed to admit it, but calling up my best friends first bird and seeing how excited he got when the bird hung up behind a tree at 35 yards, well, that was pretty cool too.
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