Experts reveal 10 ways to botch a good turkey hunt
I sometimes forget how wily a gobbler can be, and it seems to cost me dearly every time. Like most spring turkey hunters, I've made some silly mistakes in the past, and boo-boos needn't be big to pull the curtain on a perfectly good turkey hunt. Even the little ones can get you busted or spoil a sweet opportunity.
My good friend John Burk summarized the perils of the sport best as he stood dumbfounded at the anticlimactical end of a spring turkey hunt gone sour.
"It has always amazed me that a 20-pound bird with a brain the size of a pea can at times be so tricky to hunt," said Burk, a regional biologist with the National Wild Turkey Federation. "Just when you think you have a bird figured out, it teaches you a good lesson."
Spring turkey season, which is currently under way all across Texas, is set to coincide with the birds' breeding season. The main idea is to use a turkey call to lure a lovesick gobbler close enough to make a lethal head shot with a shotgun. About 40 yards is pushing the limit for a 12-gauge outfitted with a full choke and high velocity turkey loads.
In real life, tom turkeys attract hens by gobbling. Spring turkey hunters attempt to reverse the process by using a hen call to tap into the turkey's line of communication. The objective is to simulate a female turkey that is playing hard to get.
Sometimes it works like a charm. Other times it doesn't.
The best turkey hunts end almost as quickly as they begin. The gobbler falls for the trick and comes barreling in with its colorful plumage ruffled -- strutting, spitting and gobbling in a haughty display of self importance intended to impress the girls and discourage lesser suitors.
One shot. Lights out. End of story.
Lufkin's Brian Zbylot experienced one of those fairy tale hunts earlier this month in Trinity County. Zbylot was hunting with Brett Todd on the morning of April 6 when they located a gobbler track in the road. The hunters set up on a nearby ridge and made a few hen calls.
Moments later a boss gobbler appeared at 20 yards. Zbylot dropped him with a Benelli 12-gauge. The gobbler is sure to be one of the best taken in East Texas this season. It had a 13-inch paint brush for a beard, 1.5-inch spurs and weighed 24 1/2 pounds.
Not all turkey hunts end so easily, nor are all gobblers so easily fooled. Veteran spring turkey hunters like Micah Poteet and Sean Willis were quick to agree.
Poteet and Willis are wildlife biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department who practice what they preach. The hunters have already spent their 2009 eastern wild turkey tags. Both killed gobblers on opening morning on public land in East Texas.
I asked Poteet and Willis to name a few common mistakes made by spring turkey hunters. Though some of the errors occur more frequently than others, each can be just as costly as the rest. What follows is a random list of blunders that can make a spring turkey hunt go sour.
* Going cold turkey: Poteet says some spring turkey hunts are doomed before they ever get started because hunters invest limited time in scouting or don't know how to identify good turkey habitat. This is especially true when hunting on public land in East Texas. Not all of the property is conducive to holding turkeys.
"Scouting is very important, and scouting time should be spent as wisely as possible," Poteet said. "You don't want to spend time looking for turkeys where there are none because the habitat is not suitable."
The best eastern wild turkey populations on public land in East Texas are found on national forest lands where control burns have helped create an open understory beneath the forest canopy. Scouting ahead of time will give you an idea of whether an area is holding birds. Plus, it will help familiarize you with the area's geography.
* Lack of patience: When a gobbler answers a call and suddenly goes silent, the natural inclination is to assume the bird has moved off in the opposite direction. Many hunters are unable to resist the urge to move closer. Often times, this results in "bumping" or spooking a bird that may have moved within shooting range had the hunter stayed put a little longer.
"I have been guilty of that one several times myself," Poteet said. "You take a few steps and the next thing you see is him running or flying off. Those birds that come in quiet can get you in trouble in a hurry."
* Inappropriate dress: A wild turkey has exceptional eyesight and can detect movement extremely well. Willis says hunters who leave body parts like their face, hands or arms exposed run a high risk of being detected before the turkey moves in close enough for the shoot. Full camo is a must. Shotgun barrels and stocks can be painted or fitted with a glove so the metal does not reflect in the sun.
* Poor setup: How and where you set up to call a turkey can mean the difference in being able to close the deal or not. Willis says a common mistake is setting up at a location that does not offer a bird the path of least resistance into shooting range. This can cause a gobbler to "hang up" well out of range -- the bird reaches a certain point and refuses to come any closer.
"Setting up on the opposite side of a creek, thicket, fence or any other obstacle can really hurt your chances," Willis said.
* Calling too much: Every bird is different. As a rule, the least amount of calling you do to a responsive gobbler the better. This is especially true when hunting on crowded public lands.
"The more times a bird gobbles, the better the chances he might attract a hen or another hunter," Poteet said. "If you feel like a bird is coming, it is probably best to not call anymore at all, or to call very little."
* Moving too close to a roosted bird: The closer you can get to a roosted bird, the better the odds of calling in the bird successfully once it pitches down. Willis says it is a common mistake to push the envelope in this situation.
"Sometimes it can be hard to judge the distance between you and a bird that is gobbling on the roost," he said. "A bird perched on a limb facing away from you may sound farther away than it actually is."
Move too close and he could see or hear you. Either way, your chances are shot.
Also, it is never a good idea to use a flashlight when approaching a suspected roosting area.
* Unprepared for the shot: Never try to move on a bird you can see or one that you can hear strutting behind you. If you suspect a bird is approaching, shoulder the shotgun in advance and position the barrel on one knee pointed in the direction where you expect to see the turkey.
"You need to be ready before you actually see the bird," Poteet said. "Try to move on a turkey that you can see and chances are good you will get busted."
* Improper decoy positioning: A decoy is a good tool for helping attract gobblers or shifting their attention away from your location. Decoys that are placed too far away, or in a direct line between a hunter and gobbler, can at times do more harm than good. Willis and Poteet agreed that decoys should be positioned off to one side, even with or behind the hunter.
"Whenever possible arrange the decoy so the gobbler is not looking directly at you when he is focusing on it," Poteet said.
* One-call caller: Often times a gobbler may respond to a box call or a diaphragm call but not well enough to commit. Hunters who refuse to try different calls could be cutting their chances short.
"Always try to keep an open mind," Poteet said. "If he gobbles at a box call but won't come, don't be afraid to try a slate or something else. Often times a little different pitch or tone can make all the difference in the world. Be flexible out there."
* Giving up too early: One of best times to kill a gobbler is from midmorning through midday, but not many hunters are persistent enough to take advantage of it.
"A lot of hunters who haven't heard anything by 8 a.m. tend to give up and head to the house," Willis said. "Once the hens go to the nest about midmorning, the gobblers find themselves alone, and they become a lot more receptive. If you can get a bird to gobble at midday, the chances of killing that bird are pretty good if you have the patience to wait him out."
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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