I hunt almost every day of turkey season. When I am tagged out and don’t have anyone to take as a guest, I scout new locations to learn how the turkeys move there and then look for mushrooms. I do not guide hunters, I just take friends out on buddy hunts.

What time of day do you usually shoot birds? What methods hunt for you? What doesn’t work?

I have shot many toms first thing in the morning after fly down intercepting them - they respond to light calling and the decoys. I have also bagged many within that first half hour on the ground - that is usually on days when the turkeys want to play the game and it is a classic textbook turkey hunt. But not many after that time until around 10:00. Then from 10:00 to 11:00 is usually as good as that first half hour. After 11:00 if I am still hunting, i am usually waiting on a stuck tom when I cannot move closer. I have never hunted turkeys in the afternoon. However on many evenings I have very gently scouted for toms so I could tuck them into bed.

Each spring I encounter at least one hen that calls almost continuously for as long as an hour from the same location. Last spring a hen was about 50 yards away and she called for a little more than an hour, timed. During that time she triggered the toms to gobble more than 150 times - I quit counting at 150. Then she walked over to my decoy and silently picked around for a half hour.

One method does not work everyday everywhere. It is important to learn to read the birds. Sometimes it is fun to silently wait them out. Sometimes it is fun to hunt aggressively moving onto birds. Sometimes it is nice to sit in a blind with the super lifelike hand painted decoys out and drink coffee while waiting for a tom. Sometimes if hunting wicked country I hunt Indian style carrying only a diaphragm call and a shotgun slipping through the woods and calling while standing behind a tree to hide. Sometimes I run and gun and quickly put out decoys when I hear a gobble. Some days the birds ignore the decoys. Some days they see a decoy and come running. I have seen places where no decoys or calls are necessary because the birds consistently fly down and travel the same direction, so all that is necessary is to hide in the travel path. Then there are the days when absolutely nothing works. I have hunting spots where for some unknown reason I cannot fool a tom.

Occasionally I will get lucky and have two separate toms respond from opposite sides. It is fun when they both try to get to the hen first. That is one of the easiest hunts.

One surefire method that never works is to fall asleep while waiting. I have a very good friend who is 85 years old. He has tried, but has never bagged a turkey. Last spring one evening I put a couple toms to bed in a location that had easy access so I invited him to go the next morning. I explained that when any turkey is as close as the farthest decoy it would be in range, so shoot whenever he was ready. We sat down with me about 10 feet off to the side and behind him. The toms played the game perfectly and in short order a nice longbeard tom was in the decoys. I thought It was great that my buddy was enjoying the show while waiting to shoot. After a while the bird was losing interest in the decoys. I could tell that he was going to drift off. Still no shot. Then I thought I heard the spit-drum of another tom, but I realized what I was hearing was snoring. So I delicately got a stick that would reach my buddy. I gently poked him and he sputtered and for a moment the snoring got louder. The tom looked our way but then relaxed and very slowly started to slide off. So I poked my buddy a little harder and he awoke with a start yelling “Where is the turkey, I’ll shoot it! Where is it?” Of course the tom was gone before my buddy was awake enough to be coherent. I gently explained what happened. After about 10 minutes my buddy said “this spot is not very good, let’s try another day.”

Another sure fire method that never works is to accidentally setup in the dark under roosted birds. They listen and then as it gets light they stare down to see what fool ruined their sleep. As soon as it is light enough, they fly down and hit the ground running away while yelling PUCK!

How many days until opening day?

Sounds like some days for me except for the sleeping part!

I have found that the most of my gobblers over the years are shot around 8am.
I am a big fan of scouting before season to find as many gobblers as possible
Here in PA if you have heard that gobbler so has someone else so you have to plan on someone being there before you especially on public land.
Never give up as it only takes a few minutes to change your season.

I have found that talking back to the gobbler works the best.I have listened to them in the morning and the hen will cut the gobbler off a lot. So I have done the same thing when he gobbles I answer him right back. If he's real hot like gobbling every 30sec i might answer after 3 or 4 gobbles. I have found that more effective than calling to have the tom gobble back to the hen. Nothing more exciting then hearing them get closer and closer.

As I have mentioned before on other threads, I am cursed with turkeys, got the bad ju-ju lol. So I'll be watching this thread and maybe I'll pick up something to help me break the curse.

Catch - does your disclaimer have anything to do with no turkeys?

Willy, we don't have a lot in my neck of the woods, that's for sure. But even back in the 90's my Sister had a farm in Holmes Co and held a fair number of turkey's. I scouted, hunted hard and had some very close calls, just never could connect. I do fine with everything else, figured that in another life a witch put a turkey curse on me.

Also being where the turkey wants to go is a big help. That's where scouting pays off. somewhat like trapping location ,location, location.

Set up as close I can before sun up call softly and sparingly at sunrise, resist answering every gobble. I always stay 1 level below where the bird is at so if he's excited I'm just kind of interested. Never call to loud and often the bird gets excited then and seldom comes in quickly it's normal for the hen to go to the gobbler so if your sounding interested he will wait for you if your shy he will often check you out.

Point the gun in the direction of the bird right away and get comfortable (adjust if you need to) movement is your worse enemy and a poor shooting position in right behind that!

If a hen hangs out that is often a good thing I had a few cluck battles with hens that produced a silent gobble that busted loose when he got a visual on the hen so it's like a live decoy work it.

I like setting up on the edge of thick scrub when I can it increases the "where are you" search that takes a little away from the gobbler concertation that way.

i manage to kill a few. 8 or so a year average. one thing i can tell you is. turkeys have NO rules. they dont know how to read or what they are supposed to do. they are very good at doing nothing and making humans look like idiots.

catch if you need any help or have questions feel free to pm me. i love turkey hunting

Thanks skippy! This is gonna be a good thread!

I've done that twice. And, got lucky both times.

I'll take luck any day.

Couldn't agree more. Can't remember how many I've killed by patterning a tough tom, then finally sitting where he shows up every day, at the same time. Then giving them a headache without ever making a call.

I believe woodsmanship is more important than decoys and calling. They just seal the deal after you've done YOUR part.

Frozen food section, Butterball.

Just need to be where there are turkeys. I bow hunt them so I set up a blind same place, or in the same general area every year. I like to hunt them mid season to late season and late mornings and evenings. I never hunt them early morning ever and have taken many turkeys or the years.

In the fall, I shoot them over my pointers..just like shooting a grouse or pheasant.

Yep...My new box call handmade by swift4me is going to be my ticket..Already in the mail..."Speak The Language"

Wow Mark

Here is the key to killing gobblers ^^^^^^

But most hunters dont want to invest enough time to scout and learn the turkey' movement patterns...

With Turkey seasons approaching and probably open in some southern states I thought maybe we could help some guys with suggestions and tips how to be successful.

Get to know your gun. Shoot it to learn the maximum effective range where there is sufficient pattern density. Then learn to estimate the range of birds and stay within your range limitations. Practice shooting at turkey targets so you can see where the bbs are hitting and how many. When working out to distances there is usually a point where the pattern falls apart.

If needed try different loads to learn what your gun likes. There are usually some rejects, some maybes, and something that shines. Stick with that load.

Invest in a turkey barrel, sights, an aimpoint, or even a low power scope so you can do whatever is necessary to aim precisely.

One guy was having troubles with turkeys. Everything was a struggle. I finally learned that he was staying up late then getting up early to go hunt. I convinced him to try going to bed early before a hunt. It made a big difference.