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Hunting Deer From the Ground in Wisconsin

November 6, 2018 by Charlie 6 Comments

The pungent smell of a buck drifted down on the morning thermals right when an urge to stretch crawled through my muscles. The yearn to stretch was mentally pushed aside, on a windless morning like this the smell of a deer this strong leaves me with no doubt a buck is close, very close. A glance at the winding string tied to my bow tip indicates the deer is uphill behind me 45 degrees to my right. Deer just like turkeys seem to always approach on my weak side. Many years of turkey hunting has taught me how to hide on the ground in plain sight and at moments like this, a hunter must be quiet and motionless. Everything in the woods has slowed to the speed of a molasses flow. My eyes have moved as far to the right side of my head as possible and strain to push further, there is no sound of a moving deer perhaps my nose mistook the odor. I slowly inhale, nope, there is no mistake a rutting buck is not far away. With a smell like that my bet is he is an elder carefully checking the safety of his next steps. My eyes shift to confirm the thermal’s direction. According to the frayed dental floss tied on my bow tip still shows the path of scent movement is in my favor.

Last week while sitting in a Gobbler Lounger a doe unexpectedly showed up standing right in front of me at ten yards. She busted me, stomped her foot, snorted and bounded away. After a few minutes, I bleated in the manner Ishi once upon a time would do to call deer for Pope and Young. After a short period of time, she came back, stopped at fifteen yards and bolted when my arrow passed through her engine room. I found her laying peacefully within forty yards of my shot.

Knowing that the buck uphill behind me could move off unseen in any number of directions, I decided to make the Ishi call. In this case, I did not dare touch the heel of hand to my lips. Instead, I pressed my lips tightly together as when I kee-kee on a wing bone. As I sucked air in through my lips, the desired soft bleat sounded. It worked, the buck begins quartering down the hill passing 6 feet to my right and continued angling down the slope toward the trail I had figured deer would walk along broadside past me.

Keeping an eye on the buck and the winding string on my bow I could anticipate the exact spot where the buck’s nose would intersect my scent line, much experience has taught me if there is going to be a fatal shot it must occur before that intersection. When his head went behind a tree I raised my bow, he never noticed and when his front leg extended out for his next step my arrow hit in the pocket with a hair cutting blood spraying thump. The surprised buck launched, scrambling/crashing away, all went quiet, after the saga of the buck trail last year I decided to wait 30 minutes before standing up to check anything out. Even though my broadhead was robust, sharp and the shot was good. Checked the time, 9:00 A, at 9:10A there was loud sounds of a falling deer sliding down a steep hill being cheered on by some startled squirrels. Not sure who made more noise the buck or the squirrels, this little puzzle kept me occupied for the next twenty minutes or so. Then that long-awaited stretch as I stood up felt so good.

After a rough slide down to the bottom, he lays with head resting on a rock.

Sure I had heard the buck drop I contained the urge to make haste to the place of that sound; it is always best to move with purpose along the trail without taking any shortcuts until you see the deer laying dead. At the point of the shot, there was lots of cut deer hair and foamy pink blood, but the amount of blood leading out from there was less than I like to see. However, with the large divets kicked up through the fallen leaves, there was no doubt which way the buck went. I advanced on high alert watching the trail well ahead for my deer after moving forty yards the edge of the deepest ravine on the property came into view, and few feet from the drop was a huge puddle of blood as if someone had just dumped it from a pail. Best of all 150 yards almost straight down, at the bottom of the ravine lay my buck.

2017 Wisconsin Spring Wild Turkey Hunt; Drawing Completed

January 17, 2017 by Charlie 1 Comment

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been undergoing a lot of updating and changes during the last few years. Perhaps the most noticed are the GoWild licensing and permitting process. On January 12, 2017, I checked my spring turkey application, and to my surprise, the results of the spring turkey permit draw are posted. Best of all my grandson pulled his permit for the first time period, so I’ll be able to focus on helping him bag an early spring gobbler.

Nugget the turkey decoy. Keeps it interesting for the young ones.

Check your Go Wild account for the results.

How to Ask for Hunting Permission

July 5, 2016 by Charlie 7 Comments

Photo sent with a letter requesting permission to hunt.

Oh no, the hunting seasons are closed now what is a hunter to do?

Fish
Hike
Excercise
Practice Shooting
Get permission to hunt

All the above are good wholesome & entertaining. Personally, I put #5 up to number one. Even though I own land, I still continue securing permission to hunt on other parcels, sometimes I trade with another willing landowner. Occasionally, some high-quality ambitious hunters contact me for permission to access my land. The initial contact varies from phone calls to stopping by the house. Nine times out of 10 the unannounced house visit is the least likely to catch me home or with time to visit. Those call first to arrange a visit generally get a more favorable response. With the exception of turkey season, someone is hunting my property during all hunting seasons; bear, deer, squirrels, fox, coyotes and trappers. But I digress, that is not the point of this post.

A party of hunters sent me the above picture of those who would like to hunt my land along with a well thought out letter to “sell” me on the idea. Excerpt from the body of the letter.

Hello my name is Steve, my son, grandson and a family friend are looking for a place to hunt. We are looking forsome quality deer hunting land, we practice quality deer management. But we are not just trophy hunters we love to ear venison and will harvest does if allowed.

We understand the need to keep the deer population at a reasonable level, to reduce crop damage an over browsing. We are very safe and ethical hunters who are looking to pass on those values to the next generation. We always abide by state and federal regulations. Safety is a major concern for us, we all wear safety belts. We have liability insurance to protect you from any lawsuits, etc. We understand that your land is valuable and very important to you and your family, we will treat the land with the utmost respect, by not cutting down trees, erecting permanent stands, driving in fields causing ruts, leaving litter or any other debris. In a nutshesll we leave the property as we found it or better.

They continue by offering the possibility of a modest lease payment to offset taxes and being flexible to hunt around the time slots of my family members or friends who may be currently hunting, in closing, I am invited to call them. In my nutshell, this is a very straightforward persuasive approach, and it’s the first I’ve ever received an introductory letter of this type. The letter gives the impression of some top notch hunters, and I would have granted them permission to hunt this year had there been an opening. Their contact information will be kept, and they’ll be contacted for a time to hunt.

Hunting Request Letter

Deer Can Hear Your Muscles Move?

June 26, 2016 by Charlie 3 Comments

Have you ever had a whitetail deer standing real close looking the other way while the wind is blowing from the deer towards you? This deer appears to be totally unaware of the danger near him. The draw is silent yet, suddenly for no apparent reason other than some dang sixth sense he tenses and bolts away out of range only to stiff leg around for a few minutes before fading off out of sight.

During my half-century of hunting a scenario like this has happened on more than one occasion. I’ve sadly shaken my head in defeat while racking my brain trying to figure out went wrong at the moment of truth. And not just deer, other animals such as turkeys, elk, coyotes, fox, cats and bears at times have appeared to have that sixth sense warning of danger at the very last moment. I have always thought something unnoticed went wrong, some movement, noise or scent and then redoubled my efforts to avoid making whatever mistake it was. However, in March another possibility was unveiled to me.

Early this year the upper left side of my body seized into pain shooting down my left arm causing my hand to go numb to the point where a needle pushed through it did not produce any feeling or pain. Needless to say, this is always a good reason to seek medical attention. Thankfully a heart attack and stroke were ruled out. The doctors suspected nerve damage and referred me to the neurology department.

An MRI showed nerve damage at the base of my neck, so the Doctor ordered an EMG (electromyography) and this was when things got interesting as they relate to hunting.

This EMG graph represents the noise made by contracting human muscles.

During the EMG I discovered when my muscles are moving and tensing they make noise, a lot of noise, the electrical static coming out of the EMG speakers was astounding. As soon as I heard that racket all those deer described earlier came to mind, and I remembered they came to attention just when my muscles were tensing for the draw or lifting the gun. I immediately asked the doctor if any research has been done to determine if animals can hear all those sounds. He was taken aback by that question; apparently, it had never occurred to anyone to consider the possibility. Of course, my next request was when the test is complete could we experiment with different muscle moves. He agreed.

I learned that if I quickly bunched up my bow pulling muscles, the noise went off the chart and when I ever so slowly tensed those same muscles for a draw the sound produced was much more moderate, almost a flat-line. We spent an additional 40 minutes as I experimented with different combinations of internal muscle movement while the doctor measured the sound levels and strength application. We discovered I could apply the same pressure with and without noise. Hmm…

Fewer deer escape me these days than did at the beginning of my hunting career. Buck fever does not have much effect on me anymore, and I’m smoother during the seconds of shot preparation and shooting. Perhaps there is no sixth sense, rather just a case of a very finely tuned sensory ability on the part of the prey.

Here’s a video of a basic EMG test. Mine was much more extensive, as in a lot more needles were inserted into me but the principles were fairly close to the same as shown here.

Reflecting at the End of Spring Turkey Season 2016

June 18, 2016 by Charlie 10 Comments

The hen makes gentle clucks from a treetop behind me, odd perhaps, but this is one of the last days of the 2016 spring turkey season. For the most part, the hens are now sitting to incubating their eggs. The made morning rush is giving way to deliberate calm. At least on the part of the hen, not so with gobbler booming in the morning to my front. He is not in the mood to let go of his dominance or mating drive.

As the rays of sunlight begin piercing the woodland, my mind wanders over the passing days. Reminiscing about a turkey season before completion; who would think that is possible? This morning I’m having trouble shaking the feeling of melancholy, it’s typical at the end of a season to feel a certain reverence, but it’s not quite over yet. As the rays of sunlight begin piercing the woodland, in spite of the hard gobbling tom, my mind wanders over the last passing days.

Gobble gobble at the hen’s soft clucks.

It all started by accompanying my grandson on his youth hunt, the memory of those seven long beards coming in while he caused and earthquake in the magnitude of 3.6. The moment of consternation when he missed one of the biggest turkeys I’d ever seen afield that quickly gave way to a warm, confident feeling he’s on the road to becoming a hunter. He saw that insight that keeps us all hunting for just one more of those sights.

Gobble gobble the hen softly clucks.

My good friend Kody from Alberta, Canada, here on his first ever, heck he was the first Canadian ever to hunt spring turkeys in Wisconsin. Only two days to hunt but we crammed a full array of turkey hunting experiences into those days. This gobbler ushering the morning could very likely be one that Kody set up tight on; it’s in the same area. If only Kody could have hunted one more day. No one can predict the actions or behavior of turkeys; they are so random. The melancholy feeling set in after Kody departed for the airport so I setup in the field point where we had a close call with several different turkeys. I called a few times and let my mind wander savoring the memories of hunting with Kodyhunt’s highs. Suddenly the sight of two toms walking towards the decoy jerks me back into focusing on the now. With two tags still open in my pocket, the last day of the fourth Wisconsin season, I realized the tom’s heads were going to intersect which would allow me to kill them both with one shot. A feeling of frustration enveloped me as stood over the two dead birds; why didn’t, couldn’t this have happened when Kody was here? No predicting turkeys.

The hen’s wings caress the air as she flys off roost to her nest, and I take over her clucking. The tom does not seem to notice any difference and gobbled right back.

Last week Rye, my Grandson from Texas came to visit, he’s seven and wants to hunt so bad. With his help, we set up a pop-up blind, and then he had a blast randomly sticking out the decoys. He called his little heart out, dang, no turkeys showed up only some crows. A couple of years ago I gave him a crow call to use on Texas crows, so I told him to order those crows to go away. Well, I don’t know what he said in crow to make those crows go so wild. Whatever his calls meant to the crows remains a mystery, we were soon witnessing 25-30 crows darting about trees around us, screaming and diving at the blind. Had it been crow season we’d have had to eat a bunch of crows. As it was, he just blew that call with more urgency and laughing between breaths. Oh yeah on the way back he begged to carry my gun, it’s all about fun, so he was my gun bearer.

Gobble, gobble, yelp, cluck.

Those last calls were a whole lot closer with some mind clearing directness bringing my attention fully back to the present, the shafts of sunlight are lighting the woods glistening through the rising mist. The canopy is thick late in the season limiting visibility for that turkey and me. The early morning wet dampened the woods allowed me to move quietly and get real close to this gobbler, him and I have a little contest to settle. The hen quietly flew off to her nest some time ago, so I took over her clucking without the old gobbler realizing the change. His gobbles had an urgency to them now at times he sounded like he was moving away and the next sound like he was in range, but I had not heard him fly down yet. Oh, of course, he is hopping from tree branch to branch trying see me through all the leaves. The gobbling sounded closer and farther depending on which direction he pointed his beak during the gobble.

For a moment all went quiet and then the tell-tale thud, he is on the ground and my gun is pointed at exactly that location. I cannot see him only his feathers are making noise as they shake and rattle with his movement. The turkey is in range all I need to do is see him. Tension has a way of building in these situations; I dare not move, or the turkey may periscope me and then fade away as he did on so many other mornings this season. The gun is comfortable on my knee as I grip the striker for one last cluck while hoping he is not looking directly at me. There is no reaction to my cluck; all is quiet until that red, white and blue pulsing bulb of a head appears as if floating up a little draw in the hillside, it’s all I can see moving along. The turkey’s body is not visible only the head; it’s in range… At the blast, the bright head disappears being replaced by a wing tip skidding down the draw. I race to grab him to avoid joining his slide all the way to the bottom for retrieval.

A genuinely fine bird, double beard, 1 3/8” spurred gobbler. Heck, they are all fine birds I just love turkey hunting.

Turkeys are Hatching in West Central Wisconsin

June 12, 2016 by Charlie 5 Comments

Turkeys are hatching in West Central Wisconsin

This photo was taken one day before the next one which shows four eggs.

In spite of wet, chilly weather wild turkeys are hatching all across West Central Wisconsin. Ground temperatures are more important than the air temperature in determining the timing of laying, setting and hatching. Recently hatched poults are being reported near their nests with the brood hen nearby watching over them.

Recently hatched wild turkey poults in West Central Wisconsin. June 11, 2016

Turkeys lay eggs one at a time, one per day in open woodlands or along the edges of fields.

Other broods that consist of fully feathered poults with limited flying skills have been seen along roadsides and in ditches feeding on insects. Insects are the most important first food items for the newly hatched turkeys. These poults are roosting in trees at night; this provides them much more safety than huddling on the ground with their brood hen.

When poults are a few days old and flightless, they remain frozen in place as their primary defense.

Poults can be very hard to see in all the lush springtime growth. More than likely poults have been hatching since early May when ground temperatures rose to 50 degrees.

Three wild turkey poults in this picture. Notice how well they blend into their surroundings.

If a brood or nest is destroyed, hens will re-nest until late August to early September, and this is why hunters sometimes see grouse sized poults in October.

Hens store sperm for about 90 days to make re-nesting possible. Gobblers can continue to breed hens through July; occasionally strutters will be spotted in fields during July with hens present.

Brood hen with poults. Courtesy of D Gordon Robertson

If you like what you see, I urge you to get out and see what is going on in your area and then let us know here in the comment section. I really enjoy being out at all times of the year.

First Canadian Who Turkey Hunted in Wisconsin

May 27, 2016 by Charlie 13 Comments

First Canadian Hunts Turkeys in Wisconsin

The gobbler raucously ushered in the sunrise causing the Albertan hunter to shiver. It had to be excitement because it’s a lot cooler from where he came, so considering this was the first turkey he’d ever heard no turkey hunter would think there any other reason for the quaking.

All the way from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Kody came to West Central Wisconsin for his first-ever wild turkey hunt. To my knowledge and that of the turkey Maven within the Wisconsin DNR Kody is the first Canadian to attempt the spring turkey hunt here.

Kody and Charlie met each other seven years ago as contributors on the Outdoor Life forum. At first, they exchanged good-natured jabs and humored filled stories then moved on to email exchanges and phone conversations. There are those who think it odd or even a bit dangerous to hunt with someone you only know via “technological conversations.” However, I have not found that to be the case rather when someone is or thinks they are anonymous the real person is on display for all to see. Whereas, in person, we are all more careful to maintain the veneer of respectability.

The adventure started as soon as Kody arrived to pick up his rental car, incredibly customs was not a problem rather as events were to unfold it was the map provided by the car rental folks. Since Canadian I phones don’t work in the states, Kody would need to rely on this sketchy map, in the dark as he attempts to navigate to Charlie elk’s humble, very rural adobe.

Kody stops at the local BP station in “town” to inquire with the young lady minding the store if she could fix his Apple phone. Older folks always think any young person can fix anything tech, but in this case, the poor lass was helpless to help, so she offers the use of the station’s landline to call me. After giving Kody detailed direction a feeling of what could go wrong stuck with me. In hindsight, I realized he would likely miss seeing the sign for my road and drive to who knows where. Sure enough, he has Kim call me from her house in a neighboring micro-village. After I convinced Kim this was not a con, Kody really was from Alberta here to turkey hunt she agreed to keep him there so that I could personally retrieve him.

Finally, Kody and I are shaking hands slapping each other on the back; that is after I pull Kody away from showing Kim all his grandkid and horse pictures. Later as we sit in the trophy room drinking introductory adult beverages, Kody remarks about how friendly everyone is so late at night. Of course, that is because Wisconsinites are the most heavily armed folks in the nation, so everyone has learned to be very polite. “Even more than Texas?” Yes indeed, Wisconsin has more CC permits issued per capita than anywhere else and a strong castle doctrine to boot. At 9:30p we’d roll up the sidewalks, that is if there were sidewalks. “She might have had a gun under her table as we talked…” Very likely so Kody.

Knowing Kody was coming to hunt I had tried to avoid killing the gobbler at the start of this post. He is one of those birds that roosts in the same general area every morning gobbling his head off; this is not to say he would have given me a chance to kill him if I’d tried. Rather it’s the temptation to a veteran turkey hunter is hard to resist. Kody had never hunted or for that matter seen a wild turkey. Whenever I mentor a new hunter, right or wrong, I try to arrange a full flavored hunt; there is so much more to a turkey hunt than a kill. Now we are about 50 yards from the roost tree of a very robust gobbler and his henchmen who are ushering in the morning with all the fanfare any veteran turkey hunter appreciates; we are what is called “tight” on these birds. Getting in this close was not hard because Kody is a veteran of many other species, so he is nimble and quiet while on the move. There is nothing between these birds and us, turkey hunting mornings like this are intoxicating. For a good 45 minutes as the sun starts to crest the ridgetop, I’m starting to think a turkey for the new guy on the first morning is a real possibility. As happens more often than not the turkeys begin pitching off roost flying to wherever they hear hens. The real hens had beaten my calling.

Time to move, we started trolling our way through the valley and busted a few turkeys still on roost an hour and a half after sunrise. We spent the morning on setups working some birds here and there. At one point as I led the way up a field crest, a couple of gobblers were strutting within gun range. I immediately dropped back below and motioned Kody to sneak up; he got a good look at those birds as they impressed him with their getaway speed. Turkeys run 35 mph, fly 50 mph, see like us with eight-power binoculars, and they can see 358 degrees around. The only chink in that defense is their sight is only two-dimensional requiring them to juke their heads constantly to focus.

Kody checking the most visited area tourist attraction.

After lunch, a trip to see some tourist attraction and the gun range were in order so that Kody could shoot my Benelli M2. He shot it well, and he was deeply impressed with the tight pattern produced by the Carlson turkey choke with Fiocchi nickel plated lead shells. Kody is a guy who relishes new, different things. The lush green woodland with all the sounds of life. Northern forests are generally very hard to move through and devoid of all the noisy small critters operating on the

Kody is reading the history posters.

background canvas, some locals take it all for granted. Kody noticed it all, asked lots of questions making him a real delight to hunt alongside.

We set up in the afternoon on a wooded point that extended into a corn field we called, snoozed and called some more. Of course, all turkey hunters know what happen when we stood up to leave. That’s right, three turkeys crested the horizon and busted us. Another 5-10 minutes of sitting still while staying awake may have produced a shot.

The next morning we had to set up further away from the gobbling birds due to thin aerial cover and they had moved their roosts to the tree we had called from yesterday. A rushed or forced set up rarely makes an ideal situation but once you are there with the gobblers right uphill, few choices remain. Besides turkey hunters are almost always optimistic, that is until 20/20 hindsight kicks in as the birds leave going straight up the hill away from you.

As we snuck up that hill, Kody whispers “this is real hunting, I understand why turkey hunters are so addicted.” Just then it happened again, three gobblers in strut right in front me. In my mind, Kody came

all the from Alberta, so any possible shot is his to take. I back away and down for Kody to get into position, again they vanish in a blur of feathers. Many times disturbed turkeys are easier to call in, with Kody in the lead we move up the rest of the way to the previous day’s afternoon setup.

Within ten minutes of settling in and laying out a set of kee kees and lost yelps, a very nice gobbler comes running towards us. A stern cluck stops him to turn and look at the decoy; he takes a couple of steps towards us then abruptly stops with neck extended straight up. Kody’s heart must have been beating overtime because his shoulders, head, and gun were bobbing like a cork in some big waves. The tom stood there stationary for quite some time studying the situation; this was the first time I ever wished for a turkey gun capable of shooting 60 yards. It was tempting to have Kody take the shot and hope for the golden BB, but that is not the way I hunt and happily not the way Kody hunts. The gobbler sauntered off in spite of my purr-clucking pleas to come 15 yards closer.

During the close encounter, my phone kept vibrating this is why I hate cell phones while hunting. However, I have continually carried it afield just in case mrs. elk needed me back quickly. This time, it was not mrs. elk rather it was Shane who had wounded a tom at 8 am inquiring if I would drive up with Vic the turkey dog to help him recover the bird. Vic and I have provided many successful turkey recoveries to bowhunters. My only hesitation, this time, was one a turkey was on the way in and two Kody only had 2 and half days to hunt so I did not want to burn up any of his hunting time. When asked Kody did not hesitate to agree to help find that bird, besides, we were tired of sitting in the same place watching a dirt field without any turkey life in visual range.

When we met up with Shane Simpson, founder of Calling all Turkeys and Joe Slaton—Linden, CA 2015 NWTF national gobbler calling champion. Kody was duly impressed with my pro turkey connections. Shane brought us up to speed with the day’s earlier event by explaining and show video of the shot. The gobbler being hit hard probably had not gone too far after reaching the woods. Took Vic to the last blood, he immediately scented and went after it. The cover was thorny and think with several fallen trees. As I typical of turkeys under stress they usually hunker down tight in stuff like this and rely on staying still to keep them out of sight. Vic’s tracker showed me that he went directly to what turned out to be the turkey squatting against one of those fallen tree tops. However, Vic is a pointer, and I could not lay eyes on him nor could he see me due to the thick cover, so he came back. I made what I consider an operator error; Vic pointed that tree with me standing there and the turkey hiding on the other side. We walked around all through all the brush and brush piles; a few rodents darted about so I thought Vic may have just pointed them. The offseason is hard on Vic as I train him not to grab turkeys he finds spring and summer, come the fall season I train him back to holding turkeys. When Joe spotted the turkey, I repeated the mantra to myself “trust your dog,” I knew better but failed my dog. Gosh, darn it. I’ll do better next time Vic.

Those few days flew by and too soon it was Monday noon with Kody thinking more about how to find his way back to the airport and less concerned about the gobbler sounding off on the opposite hilltop. As with all the good times in life they eventually they end, it’s one of those bitter-sweet things.

Kody is a great hunting partner and guest. He is a good hunter who is polite, considerate and came bearing healing flowers for mrs elk. He took the time to visit with her to bring extra joy to her day. We are both grateful he chose to visit us.

How I Kill Afternoon Gobblers, the lessons of many years

March 26, 2016 by Charlie Leave a Comment

The thing about afternoon turkey hunting that gives hunters fits is the lack of, or significantly reduced gobbling. Spring turkey hunters have a tendency to assume if they hear no gobbles, there are none in the area. I started regularly killing afternoon birds when I realized toms make other more subtle calls which I needed to be closer in order to hear.

After I spend a morning camped out on my rear, some afternoon strolling/trolling feels good. Fortunately, a walking turkey sounds very much like a walking human, so long as the human stops, pauses, slows down and does not walk in a straight line from here to there and if the person makes turkey sounds it becomes even more naturally convincing. Old-time hunters used to call this moseying, not run and gun.
In my area of west.central Wisconsin public land offers the most productive afternoon turkey hunting. The nesting habitat is better than private so hens will be more likely to be loafing, nesting, laying and uninterested in the toms.Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands for

Nesting turkeys prefer more open, almost park-like woodlands or edges of short grassy fields. Rarely will hens nest in brushy areas that diminish visibility. The incredible eyesight of a turkey is its number one defense. Clearly, it is not in their best interest to get into places of reduced visibility; this makes for ideal trolling conditions.

Trolling for turkeys involves moseying along making turkey calls. Think of it as if you were moving along searching for a buddy calling out their name occasionally. In this case, we’re looking for a gobbler who in turn is looking for company. So the hunter should yelp (hey anyone here?), cluck (I’m here, where are you?) purr with leaf scratch (yum this is tasty, and I’m content). Keep in mind the response may be a gobble, but more likely it will be a single course sounding yelp or cluck. Hearing the quieter turkey sound indicates, of course, the turkey is probably close by, so setup immediately and try to engage in conversation with the bird. Don’t be afraid to call, err on the side of more calling rather than less. Keep it soft and conversational matching the mood of the turkey with just a bit more urgency.

Another all too common springtime afternoon situation is the gobbler or gobblers strutting in a field with disinterested hens. The gobblers are openly competing for that lady’s attention, but well guys it can be frustrating, to say the least. Like nearly every other hunter I’ve tried sneaking along an opposing edge of the field, setting up and calling to the gobblers as they get more excited with each of my calls. Only to have those disinterested hens lead them off to parts unknown. Oh, well, what’s new in turkey hunting?

In this situation, I try, the edge set up and call first. Not sure why, it rarely works, it’s just that starting with the least aggressive strategy first seems to make some sense.

My experiences continue to demonstrate the fall turkey hunting tactic of scattering or break up the birds usually works better. Depending on the position of the field turkeys I wait for them to get into a position that gives me a chance of separating the hens and gobblers. The goal is to get them to run or fly off in different directions. Ideally, hens one way the gobblers go in another direction. Most spring turkey hunting articles conclude when turkeys are bumped they leave the county, and the hunt is done there for the day or week, this is not true. Years of fall turkey hunting have taught me flocked up turkeys rarely move off more than 300 yards and most of the time much less than that.

During my young hunter days, I would rush the flock by running, yelling and occasionally shooting just make more noise for a better scatter. Somewhere along the line a little more wisdom developed in my head, my running skills declined or a combination thereof, not sure which. Nowadays I “walk” the turkeys out of the field then setup to call the gobblers back.

How walking turkeys works. The field hens are more alert to my approach so as soon as they detect me moving in, they start moving towards the cover. The strutting gobblers are distracted competing with each other and ideally don’t notice the hens moving away at first. When the gobblers are looking/facing away from the hen’s direction I then yell or whistle. Toms then start of drift out of strut peri-scoping their heads up at this point it’s time to blow the whistle again in a solid, loud blast, wave and move directly to them. Since turkeys are birds that don’t “think” more times than not they keep going the direction their body points. As soon as the birds are in the cover, I move in and setup. Wait about 20 minutes before calling. If the turkeys start calling before that time, answer back.

Scattered turkeys will usually respond within about 45 minutes from the start of calling. Spring gobblers are known to respond faster because they are more vocal and driven with urgency. Keep in mind the gobblers who walked into the cover at this point are eager to reunite with the hens they abandoned.

Good hunting.