Help me with you best turkey hunting tips!

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Kreyzhorse

New member
Scenario: Kentucky Turkey season. I've hunted the last two weekends (4 days) from a blind bordering an open field. I've called in 3 hens within shooting range but Spring Turkey is bearded only. I've also called in 4 males but have not been able to convince them to wonder into the field to get a shot at them. All of the males I've called in seem to be with hens and will not leave the woods. I use two different box calls and have two hen decoys.

Misson: Your misson, should you chose to accept it, is to give me your best turkey tips to help me bag a tom next weekend.

Should I call and stalk? Should I sit tight? Should I use a different call. Should I use different decoys? What am I missing? What will help me bag a tom?

Give me your best shot and your best advice!
 
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Loaded4yote

New member
Double up. Set up closer to the edge of the field where you've been able to call them to. Have a buddy set up at the same spot you were at. Both use different calls and see what happens.
 
K

Kreyzhorse

New member
Double up. Set up closer to the edge of the field where you've been able to call them to. Have a buddy set up at the same spot you were at. Both use different calls and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Good advice Loaded4Youte but I should have mentioned, my buddy sits high and I sit low covering the entire field. We use different calls.

At least I know that our plan to cover the entire field by sitting high and low and using different calls is a solid idea.

Keep 'em coming!
 
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Loaded4yote

New member
Have you roosted the birds? Might try getting between the birds where they fly down and the field. Cut them off before they get there.
 
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bclark1

New member
Get in the woods! Personally, if you can identify areas with other hunters and avoid them, I think run and gun is a good strategy. If you've got a small, private lot it may not be the best, but go where they're at. You don't need a permanent blind. Lean on a tree and stuff a few broken branches in the dirt in front of you. Motion discipline is more important than a perfect blind.
 
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Kreyzhorse

New member
TC Man - I've been afraid of overcalling too and I'm sure I've been guility of it. I've had a couple of toms on the line and really tried to layoff calling them too much. I'm at the crossroads trying to figure out what's too much and what's too little.

I'm going to try the run and gun this weekend. Get in the woods early and try to locate them. We are going to use one guy calling and the other guy moving and see if we can't get ahead of them and get a shot.
 
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mnhntr

New member
you may need to get a jake decoy to tick off the toms. if they see a jake they will get aggresive. otherwise you may need to switch to a softer call than a box to get them in closer. i only use a box for long distance calling and switch to a slate or mouth call when they are closer and call less with more purring and less ki ki
 
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jimbob86

Moderator
Run and Gun? Call and stalk? Mayhaps you have not seen M. Python's instructional video "How Not To Be Seen?"

Seems to me that dressing up in cammoflage, and wandering about in the woods making turkey noises is an invitation to become a target. Not only that, but turkeys have way better eyesight than you do. They'll probably see you first, and ske-daddle.

My advice: pattern the birds. Figure out where they roost. Figure out where they go, at what time of day. Be there first, with dekes(a jake and a hen) set up, and don't call to much, particularly when they are in sight. Don't move when they can see you, if you can help it.
 
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bclark1

New member
Run and gun doesn't mean high-crawling up behind them. You will get busted for moving, yes. I just take it to mean locating and pursuing to within a couple hundred yards rather than staying staked down in one spot all day. Their vision is better, but in dense woods visibility's not going to be a mile. If I got nothing for an hour, I'll pick it up a quarter mile, hunker back down and call again. I try to work old trails, clearings, anything I can move around without disrupting too much. While my two mornings this season were a bust, mostly my own fault, I do think there's a fair number of people like myself who aren't keen on staying put for more than an hour or two without a gobble, or if a bird is clearly not coming in where you want him. And I don't see how you'd get shot in the woods if you've got any faith in your fellow hunters. Maybe in the fall when people can shoot hens, but if you're somewhere that people blast at noisy hens they can't see during tom season, you need to pick a new wildlife area.

Anyway I'm not trying to argue, I'd just try a different spot is all I'm saying. If I know they won't come to me across the field, I'd try someplace where I don't know they won't go.
 
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Kreyzhorse

New member
Thanks for all the suggestions. We are going in the the morning and are going to try a slow form of spot and stalk. One of us is going to call and the other is going to try to locate them and move in. After lunch we'll go back to our blinds if we don't have luck with the spot and stalk.

Damn things are driving me nuts.... :eek:
 
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jrothWA

New member
call...

softly, it better than trying call the other county next door.
And WAIT five-ten minutes between calls.
 
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castnblast

New member
Call soft...Get a slate and do some soft purrs building to a soft yelp...If they gobble, play hard to get...make em gobble twice before responding back. For some reason, I've had better luck in late afternoon, but be prepared to call in yote's. When they are sitting tight I will also try moving, then calling again...this gets them real currious. I don't use blinds at all. I try to set up in the shade of brush so I don't get silihouted. (yeah, I know that's a misspell, but this ain't english class:D)
 
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jimbob86

Moderator
That's just it.....

"And I don't see how you'd get shot in the woods if you've got any faith in your fellow hunters."

Exactly. I don't tust anyone I don't know. All the stupid stuff I've seen..... and I hunt on private land. Public land would be out of the question.
 
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bclark1

New member
Yeah I guess we just have different experiences. I've hunted spring turkey on public land in two states and everyone always give a wide berth to the area you park in, never run into another hunter in the woods let alone had any hair-raising stories.

Losing the topic now though...

Did you have any luck with your bird Kreyzhorse?
 
K

Kreyzhorse

New member
Did you have any luck with your bird Kreyzhorse?
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Got shut out again last weekend. We mixed both blind hunting and a slow version of run and gun. We were able to get within a sight of two nice gobblers and 4 hens. We cut off the gobblers who then flew over us and landed on the opposite side of wide creek. We couldn't cross the creek and go get them and we couldn't get them in shooting range although they hung out for 15 minutes or so.

We think we have them patterned and are changing set up locations this weekend. This is the last weekend so we are going to try to hit them hard.
 
K

Kreyzhorse

New member
We got one today...

We got one today........It was pouring rain all morning. We got to the farm today at 6am. The rain poured. Napped and sat in the truck until 10am when the rain finally stopped pouring. My partner and walked into the upper field and about 10 yards in, he spotted a nesting turkey at the lower end of the field. We both ducked and he crawled through cow and horse sh@t to a feed barrel using it as cover. Once he reached the barrel unseen, he proped himself over the top and when the gobbler raised his head, the gun roared and the turkey dropped. He took the turkey at 70 yards! We used the range finder to verify the distance and I was totally impressed.

Nice 10" beard and a good 25lb turkey. We cleaned it up and had it on the grill within 4 hours. Total hunt time; 10am to 10:15am. We called it a rainy day after that and we'll hit it again in morning. It's the last day of the season so I'm hoping to get a shot at one.
 
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