I have been turkey hunting for about 20 years now and ive studied turkey throughout this time and concluded the following. When turkey hunting you only to remember one thing when calling, CADANCE, CADANCE, CADANCE, your pitch doesn’t matter at all due to the fact not one hen has the same tone. It also is good to know what your basic calls mean
Yelp- is basic vocalization a hen will use to communicate as a “where are you” call.
Tree yelp- a softer form of the yelp to help locate roosted turkeys in the surrounding area.
Cackle- 10-15 sharp rapid clucks made when they fly down or fly over bigger barriers.
Purr- soft purrs are often used to maintain contact with the flock when traveling or feeding, on a side note a rapid/loud purr could ensue when birds are fighting for dominance.
Plain Cluck- a soft-medium pitch call in 2-4 series displayed as a “come here” call usually mixed with a yelp.
Those are your basic calls when turkey hunting, these meanings are based off of what I have observed, no specific scientific proof.
Hunting the roost can either make your hunt easy or make you extremely discouraged. Plain and simple it is due or die time, they fly down and start your way or fly the opposite direction with their hens. So to begin we need to find the roosting site, this can be done anytime of the year. In most cases turkey have a select roost area they will be in for many years, so if you are out and see turkey fly up or hear them cackle up there is a good place to begin your scouting. If you don’t have a clue you can simply go on morning in the spring and listen, this will give you the general direction of the roost by you may have to do some pre-dawn walking to get closer to fully pinpoint the roost tree DO NOT BUMP THEM. Listen closely for the fly down, and you will develop their pattern on what way they fly down (this comes into play later). Now that the roost is pinpointed, and they are patterned I like to go mid-day scouting around that area to find good strut zones. You want to look for flats, tram roads, or general open areas, turkey aren’t going to be strutting their stuff in the middle of a ticket. Now that all the scouting is done let’s talk about the approach on the morning of the hunt. The walk in you want to avoid noise if at all possible, so best to avoid thick areas tram roads are the best way in my opinion but if you don’t have any just take your time walking in and you will be fine. Ideally I like to set up between 75-100 yards on the fly down side of the roost directly in what I think is their strut zone. If it doesn’t happen on your first attempt, just pay attention to what the turkey do and adjust your set up on the next hunt. If you avoid spooking the turkey and follow these tips, you should have no problem bagging that gobbler off the roost.
So many people get caught up rambling on this topic. Honestly their is no right or wrong way! What works in one situatuion may not the next, but I am going to Giving my "Go To" when it comes to decoys.
I always carry 2 hens and a jake,but in the truck I like to have a full strut tom and a puffy jake. My first set up on a roosted Gobbler I will display 2 hens and the puffy jake, I do this so hopefully the gobbler im after thinks this jake has his hens. In this situation some people ask why not use a full strut tom, I dont for 1 simple reason- What if the gobbler I set up on isnt the Domiant gobbler? Then possibly the full strut decoy is going to scar him off or hang him up out of range.
The woods set-up, is a different story I only like to place one hen decoy out in front of me on an opening or road I this he will come down. I only use one because depending on how thick it is, I want that gobbler to be hunting for me.
The general mid day set up, I rarely use decoys, but if I do I use the woods setup like stated above or if im in a field I will go to a lone hen or a single hen and jake. I do this because if the gobblers hens had left to nest he maybe curious and come check out this lonely lady.
Flock in the feild set up, If I see a flock of turkey in a field I will get infront of them and either use no decoys or the whole flock I will do this because hopefully the boss hen will come to them and "combine Flocks"
I Hope These decoy tips help you on your next turkey hunt!
To some this may be obvious, but I am going to explain shot placement on a turkey when using a shotgun.
When I finally have that gobbler in range I always try to get im out of strut before my shot, thus preventing missed shot placement.
A rule of thumb when aiming at the bird is put your bead where the black and red meet, this will give you a higher chance of hitting the main neck bone.
