Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs seasoned turkey hunters

Couple things I notice about the guys I run into that consistently kill turkeys and the guys I run into that don't:

10 often older but regardless have had access to lots of turkeys to screw up over the years
2) DO tend to call well and like a turkey, may have a lot to do with 1 since allows hunters to imitate what they hear.
3) Some are patient, some move around a lot, both are woods wise and SLOW in the woods
4) nearly ALL rarely if ever hoot or crow to stimulate gobbling, especially at first light. Most wait for the turkey to start gobbling on their own, even if it is 30 minutes after gobbling light. If used, it is used later in morning
5) mostly uses cutting to stimulate a gobble, however would prefer that the first sound a turkey hears from them is yelping from their setup
6) Have a very good knowledge of the land they hunt but seem to do very well on properties they have never been on.
7) All seem to gravitate to the UPHILL side of every turkey they wet up on. If they don't know the land they ask "how can we get above him".
8) Usually are not afraid to get as close as couple hundred yards from turkey with truck in case a quick move is in order later in morning
9) unless a gobbler is roosted the morning before, usually listens from the bumper of the truck on the highest hill overlooking good areas to listen
10) is not afraid to move a mile to get around on the other side of a bird for better position


The worst infraction of some of this was a hunter I heard on a neighbors and we were working the same gobbler in a bottom. He crow called CONSTANTLY, and the turkey responded well until the last I heard him AND the turkey, he seemed right on top of the gobbler, in the bottom with him. He never sat down to call at all, even when he was right above him.

The most reflective was when 3 of us were moving to get in front of 3 gobblers and 6 hens we saw leaving a field going up hill. After a mile drive and a 200 yd walk, we came to a freshly graveled section of road. All 3 of us split to the sides to avoid stepping on the "loud" gravel. None of us said anything about it, I just noticed that it happened.

One day I hope I'm considered a seasoned turkey hunter!

Turkey hunters stop whenever they hear a loud noise of any kind. Anything they think might cause a shock gobble. I catch myself and see others stop when ever we hear an owl hoot, whether turkey hunting or not. It's almost instinct.

If your piddling make sure you don't walk in the road. Rule #27, Don't leave tracks.

Idk about 4,8, and 9, but the rest are spot on. Maybe 8 and 9 are a large private land thing.

As far as 4 goes, I inow several turkey killers that won't make a sound and several that do. My personal take, if I'm hunting pressured birds, I wait as long as possible to let them do their thing on their own. But...... I've seen way too many birds fire off to my hoot, after sitting in silence with crows all around them for the first 10 minutes, to not let at least one or two loose on a quiet morning.

I believe I've used or use all of the techniques you mentioned, but I wouldn't consider my self a seasoned turkey killer or an expert by any means.

Number 1 should be.

1. Hunt some where that has turkeys.
2. Patience

I blind squirrel could kill a turkey if you have 1, and 2

One day I may be considered a seasoned turkey hunter. Right now I still screw up a lot.

What if you do almost every one of those to a perfect "T" and still don't kill turkeys? What does that make you?

What ever it is Matt, i'm in that boat.

Ok, makes me feel better.

Probably don't have any turkeys

All very valid points. I have many friends who like to trek in 10+ minute walks to listen for birds because they "know" where they roost. Rarely does this seem to pan out when I am with them and we have to make the trek back to the truck to go listen else where. I prefer to listen from next to my truck just so I can move quickly if need be.

You can scratch 8 and 9 off your list if those are requirements for a 'seasoned turkey hunter'. Maybe that's the case where you hunt, but it doesn't apply everywhere.

And #4...if your hoots sound decent, there ain't nothing wrong with 1 or 2 owl hoots during twilight. No more than that though.

Most "seasoned" turkey hunters i run into have 2 things in common;

1) access to lots of turkeys
2) time to kill them

I don't care how good a turkey hunter you are, if you ain't got birds to hunt or are stuck at work every day, you ain't gonna be very successful.

Time and patience. I have #2, not a lot of #1 at this stage in my life with work and kids. I would say as a % very few turkeys that are sat down on are killed right off the roost. You have to have the time and patience to stay with them and be ready when they are even if that's from daybreak to 2pm in the afternoon.

^^^ this. Tactics aside, this right here is the secret to killing your limit. Turkeys & time; just so happens that a lot of these folks also employ good tactics, but ... Even if you suck, if your land has a bunch of turkeys & you've got time (esp to pattern them), then you can sit in one spot, never make a single call, and kill birds. A friend of mine was just telling me about a guy that saw gobblers every day crossing through a gap in a pasture into another field @ 4pm every day; he killed his limit at this gap. Furthermore, my brother (who happens to be a pretty good, seasoned turkey hunter) killed 4 last year by a) building shooting houses & b) situating them on "known" hot spots. He had all the time in the world last season, and went & sat in those houses & didn't ever even issue a call. Gobblers walked right in front of him, and he killed them.

BINGO

Yep, #11 and #12



Deaf and blind?
Subject to the BAD juju, you pissed off the turkey gods at some point - probably gave one a pass that didn't deserve it or something. You should have visited PCP - I hear he has developed a cure for jinx's.



Nobody said it was a requirement, nobody said it applied everywhere, nobody said there was anything wrong with not specifically following these observations. They ain't rules. Just my observations of the guys I have hunted with that have killed a lot of turkeys.

Not dissing anyones tactics but the true "hunters" I know wouldn't sit in a blind, kill one without calling, bait or sit a chufa patch. There is a difference between a turkey hunter and a turkey killer. I prefer to be a turkey hunter and have passed on turkeys I didn't think were "fair" kills, sneaking up on one in a road accidentally, slipping or sitting a chufa patch, having one run over me running away from an approaching vehicle. You couldn't pay me to turkey hunt if I had to sit in a shooting house and wait for them to walk by. That is what I dislike about deer hunting. Again simply MHO

what gobbler said^^^^^^

Welp, I'd be curious to hear what outdoorobsession (and others) has to say about your opinion, but I'll say this -- I agree with you that this method is not my PREFERRED method, but ... He killed 4 birds last season...

How many birds did you kill last season?

As I've stated, my brother is a seasoned turkey killer; he's killed 'em straight up, with a lot of the tactics you've described... But I do credit him w/the wisdom of his plan, as it was on predominantly pasture land where maneuvering around on these birds was severely limited; he'd tried years previous... Again, hard to argue with results...

BC posted about putting his wife in a blind this season & had instructed her to sit all day to kill a nice bird... If memory serves me right, she killed that bird... Besides turkeys & time, a LOT of birds die by "seasoned" hunters that aren't hard headed & tied to one or 10 "tactics"; they're flexible, and will kill the bird by any means & tactics necessary...

I'm not proud; if dressing up in a yellow bird suit & strutting & clucking & farting around in the middle of a field killed gobblers, I'd be the first one in line at the costume shop to buy that damn bird suit!! LOL