You’ll always remember your first turkey. Perhaps you had a searching buddy or mentor name one up for you. Or, you fumbled round till you lastly coaxed a longbeard into shotgun vary with subpar calling. Perhaps that first fowl, or first few, gave you confidence in your turkey searching abilities, just for them to derail you right into a so-called sophomore hunch.
Turkey searching may be difficult, no matter your expertise stage, however particularly if you’re simply beginning out. For those who’re attempting to change into a constant turkey hunter, there are seemingly a couple of issues conserving you again. Listed here are a couple of factors to think about if you wish to change into a stone-cold-killer within the turkey woods.
You Haven’t Developed Persistence
Let me get this out of the best way. Sure, the persistence level typically will get overstated and oversimplified, however it’s true. Turkey searching, or searching on the whole, requires persistence. Everyone knows this fact, however fail to follow it. Whereas persistence is vital, I’d argue that timing issues greater than something. Realizing when to remain put, when to run-and-gun, when to swing your gun barrel, when to time a name, when to shoot, and so on., all issue into your success (or lack thereof) within the turkey woods. Persistence is a part of that timing.
Early in my searching profession, I would go away turkeys that stop gobbling too quickly or bust them by standing up. I hadn’t developed the persistence to understand that these longbeards have been headed my approach. Equally, I wouldn’t spend sufficient time at noon spots that have been loaded with turkey signal.
These are widespread themes I typically right here from a few of my searching buddies who’re new to the turkey woods. You need to expertise a profitable hunt that requires a ton of persistence earlier than it clicks. No quantity of YouTube movies, podcasts, or searching articles can try this for you. You earn it from sitting till your legs go numb. Or you must undergo your total Rolodex of searching spots earlier than you strike that prepared fowl. However when it lastly occurs, there’s no higher feeling.
You’re Not Searching the Proper Turkeys
Don’t you spin your wheels with a fowl that’s un-huntable. Whether or not he’s henned up with a flock, on the mistaken property, or he’s simply not prepared, no quantity of calling will carry him to your setup. It may be onerous to depart these eventualities, particularly with longbeards that gobble their brains out, otherwise you see them strutting round a pasture you possibly can’t hunt. Barring some divine intervention, these conditions are a misplaced trigger. You possibly can at all times drop a pin and revisit these spots later within the season.
As an alternative of losing the time you do have, attempt to discover a prepared fowl. When you have restricted time, you most likely must troll for longbeards. Attempt to hit as many spots as you possibly can to strike up a prepared fowl by yelping or getting him to shock gobble. Don’t anticipate to listen to something in your first few and even a number of spots. No, the chances aren’t nice with this method, however the extra spots you possibly can hit, the higher. Whenever you do occur to strike a fowl in these eventualities, issues are likely to progress rapidly.
You’re Not Searching the Proper Spots
You possibly can’t hunt turkeys that aren’t there. It doesn’t matter how nice a spot seems; if you happen to don’t see any signal (or turkeys, for that matter), you’re losing time. That is very true for public land turkey searching. You possibly can wager all of the traditional turkey spots have been pillaged by mid to late season. However that doesn’t imply you possibly can’t discover good turkey searching.
Pressured turkeys gap up after the primary few weeks of the season. You’ll must glass or get some boots on the bottom to search out them. The identical goes for silent gobblers. Search for areas with recent scratching or droppings. For those who discover them, plan on spending a while in these areas when you name softly. Alternatively, you possibly can stash your calls away and mimic turkeys scratching within the leaves if you happen to’re coping with tight-lipped birds.
It’s additionally vital that you just scout unconventional turkey spots, too. You possibly can keep away from rabbit thickets, however search for locations that may provide sufficient safety and meals for turkeys to hang around. These locales might embody small bowls on the bottom of a ridge, just lately thinned pine stands, small drainages off of a significant creek, and even small blocks of timber close to a cutover or area. These spots don’t typically stand out from the highway, so that you’ll must cowl some floor to search out them.
You Don’t Spend Sufficient Time within the Woods
One more reason you aren’t killing extra turkeys most likely offers with a scarcity of woodsmanship, which solely comes via intentional time within the woods. The very best turkey hunters I do know aren’t simply good callers (a few of them aren’t even that), however they perceive turkeys and turkey habits. Even the perfect turkey calls gained’t show you how to if you happen to don’t understand how turkeys behave. As a lot as you follow calling, it is best to study what turkeys eat all through a complete spring, how they navigate the panorama, and the way they may react to searching stress.
You must also pay shut consideration to actual turkey sounds. Whenever you encounter a hen, attempt to mimic the sounds she makes. For those who’re profitable at tagging a fowl, replicate on how the hunt performed. Did he reply to sure calls? What “sealed the deal” for it? Did you discover something about how the turkey approached your setup? All of those components change all through the spring. You need to change with them. Studying as a lot as doable about turkeys can assist you try this.
