Hunting Forum

As we all know the spring season is not far off and i am hunting a piece of property that has two or 3 nice broods of turkey. In the past two years i have seen them but never gotton a shot off at one. I hunt in a pop up blind and use a turkey slate call and this year picked up some diaphram calls. I so far have not used decoys. Would these improve my odds? alos in the recent magazine i read on the new "haint call" have any of my fellow hunters used this call and had results?

I've always used decoys and box calls and have called them in but I'm no good at it.. Never been able to master the mouth calls. It seems like I sound like a crow no matter what I'm using. I've gotten a small pop up blind for this spring, now all I have to do is be drawn.

i put them to bed the night before and i the morning be the first hen lookin for company use both a box and crystal

I very seldom use a decoys unless i hunt in a field edge, if you do use decoys always face them toward you so the tom has to walk around it for them to see. The last few years i have not had alot of luck in the morn due to the hens and found that my best hunting has been from 10 to dusk, dont know if this is due to more hunting presure with the change in zones or what yet. I like to carry evry call i can use in my pack. If you are trying to learn a mouth call get one with a CD and use it in the vehicle when you are driving and try to get the call to sound the same i do it every year to tune myself in.

How late do you go out to put your turkeys to sleep?

i sneak out at dusk with a owl call but only use it if they are quiet .i dont get too close. in the morning i go out at least one and a half hours before shootin time and if its not too windy they are pretty vocal long before they leave their roost ,so usually i can watch them fly down ,i flap my hat to imitate a fly down then start calling

Hey.....hey,  I got drawn this year. 2nd season.

my son,father and i all got first season, first time we have all had the same season

Now all we need is a few hot Toms

i got my !st season tag today. looking forward to this hunt may not get to hunt anythiung next year but oh well part of the job. I do use a fly down call also but use ny hands and beat them against my chest to make the wing sound its louder and helps i think. most important is if you get a gobble stay there, I have stayd till 12 and they do come back to it.

random question...what do you mean, putting turkeys to sleep?

know where they are roosted for the night so you can plan for morning, it makes for sweet dreams

in simple terms go out in woods before dark and watch and listen for them to gobble the do that and hens call before they fly up to sleep in the trees and they will still be there in morn to call in and make good table food.

If you have a place to hunt the fields or edges do use decoys, I have found the B-Mobil to be the most efftive with a single hen decoy. Typically the toms will come from 200-300 yds away if they can see the decoys with some calling. Make a fan from a tom that you get and use that instead of the one that comes with it [once you get a tom]. You can spread it out flat and scrape all the flesh from the base area and the cover with a mixture of salt and borax to preserve it.Then cover the base area with gorilla glue on both sides and when hard shave flat and drill a hole in it to use with the b-mobil. It is almost "illegal" how the toms will come to it.Good luck!

i just picked up a she-mobile and quick question, should i put my hen in submissive mode? or should i use the ground stake? also is it smart to use turkey decoys in the woods or practically useless?

I never use the "alert" hen decoys, I use the submissive or feeding. Woods is fine, gobblers will strutt anywhere but more in openings , on a ridge, or field. It is just that if you hunt a field edge they will be able to your set up from father away, gives more oportunities.

just a little tip with a decoy try to always make the decoy face you so the tom will walk around it to ensure the hen sees him.

Well I just finished my season, #2, and I may have well sat in my living room and called!.  Nothing, absolultly nothing would answer. Never herd a tom gobble all the time I was out there. My partner & I went from Webster to Stone Lake to Cable trying to get one to fire up. Every place we set up, the woods were deathly silent as far as turkeys go. Even my friend in St Germain said it's the same over there. Frustrating, what the heck is going on??  Apparently their not in the mood for luv yet.

many hens are nesting around here, two years in a row it appears the first season was the best season