Turkey Hunting Articles
Do You Know Your Tracks?
Every game animal leaves its mark; imprints in soft soil, sand or snow. These calling cards reveal a historical presence. New or old, they can be read like a book. Learn to recognize them and you can glean a great deal about the game you're hunting. With practice we cannot only learn to identify the type, size, and sometimes sex of the animal, but also their direction of travel and how old the track is.
On Edge for Spring Gobblers
Edge ecosystems provide a perfect combination of food and cover for both game and non-game species. To most people edge effect is a relatively mundane ecological process; to turkey hunters it is a literal natural wonder. When the birds choose not to gobble, or choose to gobble but not to cooperate, the edge can offer an opportunity to ambush unsuspecting birds as they go about their daily routine.
Bag Your Bird on Opening Day
There's nothing more discouraging than arriving at your favorite hunting spot on the opening morning of turkey season, and not being able to get a bird to gobble. That's exactly the situation I found myself in back in April of 2008. The fact that the temperature was hovering right around the freezing mark and there was a heavy frost on the ground probably didn't help matters any. Despite the lack of gobbling activity, I knew from my time preseason scouting that birds frequented this field and it was a popular strutting ground for at least one mature gobbler.
Getting and Keeping Your Kids Involved in Hunting
I have accumulated a lot of special memories over the course of my twenty years of hunting. I can still vividly remember the details of my first successful deer hunt, my first turkey, and my first good buck with a bow. But all of these events pale in comparison to watching my eight year-old son squeeze the trigger on his very first deer - a big, mature doe; or watching him harvest his first gobbler this past spring.
Mounting Your Own Turkey Tail and Beard
As I pulled the trigger on a 25-pound gobbler strutting down the end of my gun barrel, I had visions of his stunning tail and ground-dragging beard adorning the wall of my den. I could already feel the memories of the hunt rushing through my mind each time I passed by the handsome display. I approached the downed bird and took care to preserve every feather as I carried him to the truck. When I arrived at the taxidermist, my thoughts of which wall I was going to hang the fan mount on were interrupted by the shocking $150 price tag. I never envisioned paying so much for something that looked so simple. Fact is, mounting a turkey tail and beard is simple.
Hunting High-Pressured Longbeards
The first rays of the morning sun had just cleared the trees and began to cast a glow on the field of native warm-season grass as we quickly set up on our second turkey of the morning. Our first attempt had been foiled when our decoys were out-competed by a group of eight hens and a jake, keeping the gobbler just out of gun range. Now, just 20 minutes later, we were repositioned along the edge of the same field trying feverishly to spot the source of intense gobbling. With every series of yelps and clucks, the old tom would quickly remind us that he was patiently awaiting our arrival.
Branching Out For Timber Turkeys
When most of us think of turkey hunting, we picture green fields and forest edges alive with songbirds and new leaves. This, after all, is where we generally set up our ambushes. It's where the classic game is played. But there are times when turkeys don't want to play the classic game - at least not out in the open.
Fall Turkey Hunting Tactics
"There is something about running right into the middle of a flock of wild turkeys, screaming like a madman that just doesn't seem natural," I thought to myself as I watched the group of twenty-something hens and jakes fly off the ridge in all directions. For a guy whose turkey hunting experiences had been limited to the spring months, the whole idea of "busting up a flock" didn't make a lot of sense. However, I had been assured that when chasing birds in the fall, it was a perfectly acceptable practice.
Reverse Slope Gobblers
I once read that the Duke of Wellington was notorious for utilizing reverse slopes when deploying his troops. The famous general, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, would hide his forces on the far side of a hill or rise so that he could maneuver unseen, and ultimately conduct battle or ambush on his terms. If I didn't know better, I'd say the Duke was a turkey hunter.
Turkey Hunting: Scouting Early Equals Opening Day Success
Very few hunting sports have grown as quickly as turkey hunting has in the last few decades. When I started turkey hunting, tagging a longbeard wasn't as difficult as it is today. Toms used to come running every time I let loose on my favorite box call. If I made a mistake or two on a tom, most of the time he could be called right back into shotgun range. Gaining permission to hunt was a piece of cake.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Choosing and Using Blinds and Stands
Blinds and tree stands are all the rage with today's hunter. Used for almost all big game species, ground blinds and tree stands, not to mention freestanding hides are huge on the deer hunting scene. These portable structures are the cats meow. All sorts of blinds allow us to essentially vanish inside a tent or box-like structure. Stands allow us to hunt at an elevation less easily recognized by game. Ground blinds are becoming very popular. Manufacturers catering to the discerning hunter offer a bevy of different designs.
Planning Your Spring Turkey Hunt
Planning for a spring turkey hunt can be an ordeal. Everything from pre-season scouting to acquiring and practicing calls, gathering topographic maps and researching turkey behavior are commonplace. Following months of research I was finally on my first wild turkey hunt for Merriam's.