Turkey Hunting

[Bucksnort1]

I went turkey hunting, for the first time, last weekend. My plan was to drive a five mile road inside a Colorado State Wildlife Area, spot some birds then use my .223 for the kill. I saw some birds but nothing I could shoot at, for one reason or another. Having never hunted in the spring but having read a zillion articles about it and seeing a lot of TV shows about it, I have come to the conclusion spring hunting must be easier for these reasons. We did not scope out roosting trees for a reason that will take too long for me to explain. I think this method could have put a turkey on the table.

1. After a successful shock call, you know about where the birds are.

2. Fall calling is not as productive as in the spring.

Comments?

 

[Blindstitch]

If I knew the answer I would have my tag wrapped around a turkey leg.

Last weekend I saw a group of jakes moving fast from public to private land. They didn't want anything to do with anything I threw at them.

 

[Toney]

You have to know their travel patterns and set uo a ambush.

 

[upstate81]

Turkeys love to roost in pines.

 

[Guv]

Watch that 223, even a FMJ in the wrong place will destroy a good bird. No fried turkey would be pretty sad!

 

[upstate81]

Wish I could use my 22 wmr.

 

[Bucksnort1]

Toney,

My intent was to establish travel patterns then do as you suggest and set up an ambush; however, I couldn't get my hunting buddy out of his motel room at an early enough time to spring the ambush or to establish travel patterns. We did not scout the area earlier, which is part of the problem.

Upstate81,

There are no pines in this area. There are only huge, and I mean huge, cottonwood trees. And speaking of roosting, with no pines, would they pick a cottonwood with leaves or one without or very few? At this time of the year, most of the cottonwoods have shed some of their leaves.

 

[Coppershot]

In Virginia, shock calling is not terribly successful in the fall. Calling turkeys in the fall can be very productive. On spring hunts you need to get near the gobblers, set up and start calling. In the fall you are best locating a flock, get a good bust-up flush on them and then set up at or near the flush site. Start calling after a period of time when you expect turkeys might have had time to return to the flush site. Do not overcall. If one or more are coming back to the site, they will hear you. Sometimes they will come in yelping, other times they come in without a peep. The best call at this stage is the lost yelp, but clucks and putts can work as well.

I would download a 223 and use a Berger target bullet (thicker jacket than a hunting bullet).

 

[jmr40]

I can't comment for sure since Fall hunting is illegal here and the only rifles legal are muzzle loaders. It is shotgun only for the most part and on public land they get call shy pretty quick in the Spring.

I do however see a lot more birds in the Fall while deer hunting. I get a lot in my sights in the Fall, but can't pull the trigger legally.

 

[Toney]

Ive been watching several flocks this year, our fall season for rifle starts the 31!!!

Im probably gonna use a 22mag.

Turkeys roost over water.

 

[buck460XVR]

2. Fall calling is not as productive as in the spring.

That's B.S. Fall calling is just as productive as spring calling, it's just that the replies are much more subtle and can't be heard across the miles like a Gobble. You also have to be closer to the birds to get them to come because they are not driven by that desire to breed, only to assemble. Unlike spring calling, you cannot over call in the fall and many of the subtle fall calls you hear will work on that Tom next spring.

 

[Bucksnort1]

Toney,

I've thought about using my 22 mag but I've not been sure it's the right gun. If I do this again, I'll take my 22 mag. Thanks.

 

[Bucksnort1]

Toney,

Tell me more about roosting over water. This is the first I've heard this.

Here is a situation I was in, last weekend. We stepped out of the truck. Immediately, three turkeys busted from in front of a row of short bushes at about thirty yards. We could not see them until they flew. They flew away from us for about thirty more yards, set their wings then lit on the other side of a row of the same type bushes and again, we could not see them on the ground. We walked toward the second row of bushes and while walking, we could hear one clucking or whatever you call it. We walked toward the cluck wanting to see them in an open field but they were no where to be seen. What should we have done in this situation?

 

[Bucksnort1]

My elk/fly fishing/best friend hunting partner and his grandson were on this hunt. I was not hunting but rather, his grandson had the tag. My friend is sometimes hard headed when it comes to hunting. I don't know if that's because he is an engineer but in any case, I could not get him to take my suggestion of trying to locate roosting birds and I could not get him to sit, for the evening hunt, near an area where we saw a zillion turkey tracks in some sand. It was obvious this is a well used turkey interstate highway. He wants to be the only hunter for a hundred miles, it seems. I think he balked at my suggestions because we saw three other vehicles in the hunting area.

Oh well, if I ever do this again, it will be just me and another good hunter friend.

 

[Erno86]

Turkeys like to roost over water, because they love to hear there droppings plop in the water.


For the turkeys hiding in bushes...Go over to the bush near where you think the turkey/turkeys are hiding {they love to hide in big green sticker bushes} --- and wait about a minute or two --- till the bird gets antsy {also works good for rabbits in a brush pile} --- Cuz the bird thinks you have him spotted --- And be prepared for all hell to break loose when he flushes. Turning your back to the sticker bush might help sometimes.

You'll need a shotgun when the turkey flushes.

 

[kcub]

Turkey hunting has to be carefully regulated.

Otherwise there might not be a quorum when congress convenes.

 

[Bucksnort1]

kcub, good one.

 

[kilimanjaro]

Planning the outcome of a hunt and the actual outcome of a hunt are about always two different things.

Just get out there and enjoy the day.

 

[bamaranger]

easy?

Turkey hunting is seldom easy, fall or spring. If it ever gets easy, I'll quit. Note the results of Pogey's hunt, circumstances not withstanding.

Spring and fall is indeed two different games. Gobblers are typically vocal in the spring, and locating some, and calling one in, is the name of the game. Don't judge the sport by the hunting shows and videos. "You'll go a lot of times and never kill one"- Ben Rogers Lee,........ or words to that effect!

Fall turkey hunting is a flock game. Locate/pattern a flock, bust it and call stragglers in, or ambush/snipe one with a rifle where legal. And while toms may well gobble year round on occassion, a "shock call" is not a useful tactic in the fall. Fall gobblers hang out in bachelor flocks, and typically call very sparingly to each other as they roam the fall woods. Hens and young birds call much more, and assembly/lost yelps, and the "kee-kee run" are effective fall calls.

The .223 with an expanding bullet will likely scramble a good bit of edible turkey. An FMJ will likely not be much better. The .22mag is as low as I'd ever go, but I have no experience with the 17 HMR. Back in the day, the old hands that I knew that hunted fall turkeys with a rifle used the .22 Hornet, or the .218 Bee.

 

[kcub]

My experiences are contrary to Gov's recommendation against body shots with .223. We didn't hunt turkey, we hunted deer. But if we saw a Rio Grande wild turkey we'd take a potshot with what scoped deer rifle we had. You'd aim at the base of the neck and if you hit he'd be dead and virtually no meat loss.

Sometimes we took a .222 just for turkey because a body shot would not tear it up too much. A .243 was too much though (yep, learned the hard way and lost half a breast). They were always on the move and a quick difficult shot at best so having body shot capability was a big advantage. Ammo was always Remington 55 grain Core Lokt soft point. That Remington .222 was what I killed my first deer with when I was 7 with a DRT neck shot. It was a neck shot only first deer rifle for at least 20 other kids growing up in those days.

The point being .223 is good to go for turkey body shots.