Turkey Time: Understanding Gobblers and Keys to a Successful Hunt

Words by Reed Jackson | Images courtesy of @alabama_land

Spring is an exciting time to be in the woods. Overcast gloomy days transition into bright, blue sky days, and here in Alabama amazing weather follows. Crappie are biting and the turkeys start doing “turkey things.” 

When the turkeys start gobbling, hunters flock to the woods trying to match wits with the “King of Spring.” Day in and day out, skilled hunters try their luck and come home with more defeats than victories. Having the right calls, knowing the woods, and understanding the turkey can help you to become a successful hunter.

Understanding the Turkey

First, lets understand the turkey. The male turkey, the tom, starts establishing a pecking order with his winter buddies. In this time, younger and less dominant males are dispersed over distances with the prime real estate saved for the “boss gobbler.” Prime real estate includes good trees for roosting, clean woods to see and escape from predators, water, open areas to put himself on display, food sources, and most importantly, hens. 

The boss will gather up his harem of hens and spend the spring breeding them and fighting off suitors. To gather up his hens, the tom will start gobbling from his spot on the roost just a little before daylight.  When the hens hear the gobble, they will usually fly down and go towards him. When he sees them and knows its safe, he will fly down and begin another day of courtship. 

This is where we run into technical difficulties. We, as hunters, are trying to reverse nature. We attempt to call the gobbler to us using calls to sound like a hen instead of hens coming to him. Sneaking up on them is very difficult, so calling works best. The biggest problem here is a turkey must worry about so many things in the wild and that makes him naturally cautious. They worry about birds of prey, coyotes, dogs, bobcats etc…, and when they nest snakes, opossum, skunks, crows, raccoons, and other nest raiders.  Because of this, turkeys are always on high alert.

Know where you hunt!

The lay of the land is important when pursuing a big ol’ long beard. If you let a creek, river, or other obstacle get between you and the bird, the likelihood of him coming to you is low. You should know where the fields are for him to come feed and strut. Places where ambushes against him are difficult—that’s where he likes to be. Where does he go after he flies down? What’s on the other side of the ridge or thicket? All this information is vital for success. 

Look for places where a turkey comes to dust. When they dust, they make bowls in the dirt, leaving a hunter an indication that this would be a good place to sit and wait. Later in the day, a lone tom might come by to check out the dusting spots. Look for sign and tracks around clear cuts where nested hens might be. The toms like to keep check on their hens after the deed is done. 

Knowing the land also means you know who else is on it or supposed to be there. Always be careful and make sure you see your target clearly. Do not shoot into a bush and do not shoot at what you think is a turkey. You need to see the bird’s eyeballs, then it’s clear to smoke his head!

Calling

Calling is not as important as knowing the land, but it’s what makes turkey hunting fun. Hens rarely call constantly, typically just enough for the tom to know they are around. He will often gobble at them.  Turkey hunters do it all for the gobble. A common mistake is to call too much. This is where it gets fun and flirtatious. Think of it like going out to find a date. The more talking you do and the louder you get, whomever you are talking to is going to lose interest and walk away. Be seductive, soft, quiet, and patient. Play hard to get. If he gobbles at your calling, stop calling and let him get worked up. If he is really interested in you, he will start to gobble more out of frustration. The calling you have done has already left a GPS imprint in the bird’s mind and he knows exactly where you are. Don’t call anymore, scratch in the leaves if he can’t see you. Make it sound like you are there feeding and have other things to do. If his gobbling hasn’t attracted other hens in the area, he will fly down and come looking for you.  

While this is all going on, remember to be still and avoid non-natural noises. Their eyesight and hearing has evolved to pick up threats and flee immediately. When you sit down to gobbling turkey you need to know his options. What’s he going to do if he doesn’t fly straight to me?

Types of Calls

There are several kinds of calls to use. The easiest call to learn and be able to use with enough skill to go to the woods is the box call. It’s a narrow wooden box that can be 6”-12” long with loose lid shaped like a paddle. With chalk, rub the underside of the paddle, the side that touches the box to help with friction.  When you slide the lid across the top of the box, sounds will come out. The yelp and cluck are the easiest sounds to make and that is how you start. 

Pot calls are calls that are circular and fit in the palm of your hand. They come with different surfaces like slate, aluminum, glass, and ceramic. Strike across the surface with a wooden dowel called a striker. Small, penny-size circular motions will produce a yelp, and firm short strikes pulling the striker toward you make a cluck. Gently, with very little pressure, drag the striker toward you for a soft purr. That’s enough to be dangerous. 

The call that takes the most practice is the mouth call. Latex framed to fit in the roof of your mouth, the mouth call works as air pushes across it with certain pressure, making every sound a turkey makes. The mouth call allows you to be hands-free in the woods—and that could be the difference in success and failure.

A final thought 

There is no certainty in anything you have just read. This is a playbook. To be successful, be decisive and know when to change things up. Fly by the seat of your pants. These are wild animals, and we have to use tendencies, but each bird is an individual and is going to do what he wants to do.  

Turkey hunting is personal: you vs. him. Chasing these birds really is one of the best times you can have in the woods. One secret I can share about this subject is this: be where the turkey wants to be. It’s a lot easier to call him to his stage than to call him where you want him to be. We overthink things so much, just remember a turkey is not an intelligent animal, but, like you, he does not want to die. 78

For great hunting, fishing, and outdoors supplies, please visit Pat’s Archery & Outdoors in Jasper, Alabama, 306 Hwy 78 West, (205) 387-7678.