Turkey hunting's biggest mistake is easy to make
By Larry Myhre | Posted: Wednesday, November 08, 2006
It was pitch dark as we began the climb to the ridge top last spring in the Loess Hills southeast of Sioux City. The 12 gauge, fully dressed in camo, hung over my shoulder and the green beam of my LED light illuminated the pathway in front of us.
My daughter Renae and her son Eric walked single file behind me in silence. When I stopped for a breather, they clustered around and I whispered, "I don't have a clue what's up there. I've never hunted this piece of timber before, but we'll get up top and listen for a gobble."
The whole turkey hunting experience was completely new to them, but hunting unfamiliar ground was something I've had to do a lot of in the 20-plus years I've been chasing the bearded birds. It's a fact that scouting is one of the most important ingredients to turkey hunting success. Familiarity with your hunting grounds is important, roosting a bird the night before is ideal; but, the fact is if you do much traveling in your turkey hunting and seldom hunt the same place twice you have to learn to deal with the unknown - and make the most of it.
We climbed to the top of the tree covered ridge and followed a game trail deeper into the hills. Finally, I stopped at the head of a side draw which in the darkness fell away to our south. I could tell it was deep and full of trees. It was about that time of morning when toms will respond to an owl hoot so I brought the call up and sounded the notes of a barred owl.
Almost immediately there was a gobble. I looked at Renae and Eric and they both pointed down the canyon into the hollow. That had been my impression as well. The bird, I felt, was about 100 yards away, almost too close so I didn't hoot again. Instead, we quickly set out a decoy and took a seat with our backs to a tree, Eric and I in front of one, Renae to our left in front of another.
We sat there another ten minutes before I gave a few tree calls on the diaphragm.
The tom jumped right on that, bellowing out a rattling gobble that nearly blew my hat off. Problem was, the bird was behind us and maybe only 20 yards away. I scrunched around and peeked behind my tree, spotting about three big cottonwoods right behind us and the outline of four turkeys sitting in the branches.
This was not good.
We had made a common turkey hunting mistake.
We had set up too close to the birds. They knew we were there and, although they would answer the calls, there was no way any of those gobblers would walk right in. At first light, one blew out of the tree and flew across the valley. I'd guess that was an old, experienced bird. The others pitched out of the tree and onto the ground and all but one ambled off in the other direction, gobbling from time to time. One started to come in, moving a few feet closer before turning to join his friends. That was the end of that hunt, and, it turned out, our only chance at a gobbler that day.
So, here's what we should have done. When the gobbler answered the owl call, I should have waited a bit and then followed up with another. I'm guessing that when the turkey answered with a gobble he was facing away from us. They always sound farther away when they do that and in the woods in rugged terrain, echoes make it hard to determine exact location.
If I'd realized where the birds were, I would have carefully backed down the way we came, set up the decoy out of sight of the roosting birds and then called them in. Chances are it would have worked.
Estimating the distance between the gobble and you is very difficult. It can be more complicated if the bird is facing away from you when he gobbles whether he is still on the limb or on the ground. Foliage will further muffle the sound as will a light wind. All of these things should be taken into careful consideration when you are trying to close in on a turkey.
It's better to err on the side of setting up too far away than too close. You need to get close enough to call him effectively, but not so close that you spook the bird. Trying to get too close has cost me a lot of missed opportunities over the years.
One time I even found myself directly under about 20 roosting toms in the dark. It was a few years ago on the Rosebud. The evening before I watched a whole line of turkeys cross a field at sunset and enter some tall trees along a creek. They were heading to the roost and there were a bunch of them.
Next morning found me walking up the creek in the dark, carefully picking my way through the underbrush and dodging through the trees. It was just getting light as I neared the spot where I felt the turkeys would be roosting so I stopped and began digging for the owl call.
Then I looked up. Silhouetted against the sky was a large round object in the tree, looking very much like a green garbage bag full of trash. It was, of course, a turkey. Then I saw others. Lots of them. I had walked right under their roost. I simply sat down, my back against the tree and contemplated my bad luck.
Of course they knew I was there. They began leaving the trees, one by one and flying down across to a clearing on the other side of the creek and then hotfooting it up the hillside. Some of them had gobbled before flying down so I knew there were a few birds upstream that might not be spooked.
A quiet series of yelps proved that. A gobbler answered immediately. And then he answered again, closer, as I yelped again.
He was on the other side of the creek and came walking right in to stand at the creek's edge looking intently in my direction. He was big for a Merriam. Over 20 pounds. It's the only time I remember bagging a bird after getting too close.
So when you are out there this spring, remember that the biggest mistake you can make is to be discovered by the bird. They have excellent hearing and even better eyesight. It's all very simple. It's OK to be heard but it's not OK to be seen if you are going to fill that turkey tag.
My daughter Renae and her son Eric walked single file behind me in silence. When I stopped for a breather, they clustered around and I whispered, "I don't have a clue what's up there. I've never hunted this piece of timber before, but we'll get up top and listen for a gobble."
The whole turkey hunting experience was completely new to them, but hunting unfamiliar ground was something I've had to do a lot of in the 20-plus years I've been chasing the bearded birds. It's a fact that scouting is one of the most important ingredients to turkey hunting success. Familiarity with your hunting grounds is important, roosting a bird the night before is ideal; but, the fact is if you do much traveling in your turkey hunting and seldom hunt the same place twice you have to learn to deal with the unknown - and make the most of it.
We climbed to the top of the tree covered ridge and followed a game trail deeper into the hills. Finally, I stopped at the head of a side draw which in the darkness fell away to our south. I could tell it was deep and full of trees. It was about that time of morning when toms will respond to an owl hoot so I brought the call up and sounded the notes of a barred owl.
Almost immediately there was a gobble. I looked at Renae and Eric and they both pointed down the canyon into the hollow. That had been my impression as well. The bird, I felt, was about 100 yards away, almost too close so I didn't hoot again. Instead, we quickly set out a decoy and took a seat with our backs to a tree, Eric and I in front of one, Renae to our left in front of another.
We sat there another ten minutes before I gave a few tree calls on the diaphragm.
The tom jumped right on that, bellowing out a rattling gobble that nearly blew my hat off. Problem was, the bird was behind us and maybe only 20 yards away. I scrunched around and peeked behind my tree, spotting about three big cottonwoods right behind us and the outline of four turkeys sitting in the branches.
This was not good.
We had made a common turkey hunting mistake.
We had set up too close to the birds. They knew we were there and, although they would answer the calls, there was no way any of those gobblers would walk right in. At first light, one blew out of the tree and flew across the valley. I'd guess that was an old, experienced bird. The others pitched out of the tree and onto the ground and all but one ambled off in the other direction, gobbling from time to time. One started to come in, moving a few feet closer before turning to join his friends. That was the end of that hunt, and, it turned out, our only chance at a gobbler that day.
So, here's what we should have done. When the gobbler answered the owl call, I should have waited a bit and then followed up with another. I'm guessing that when the turkey answered with a gobble he was facing away from us. They always sound farther away when they do that and in the woods in rugged terrain, echoes make it hard to determine exact location.
If I'd realized where the birds were, I would have carefully backed down the way we came, set up the decoy out of sight of the roosting birds and then called them in. Chances are it would have worked.
Estimating the distance between the gobble and you is very difficult. It can be more complicated if the bird is facing away from you when he gobbles whether he is still on the limb or on the ground. Foliage will further muffle the sound as will a light wind. All of these things should be taken into careful consideration when you are trying to close in on a turkey.
It's better to err on the side of setting up too far away than too close. You need to get close enough to call him effectively, but not so close that you spook the bird. Trying to get too close has cost me a lot of missed opportunities over the years.
One time I even found myself directly under about 20 roosting toms in the dark. It was a few years ago on the Rosebud. The evening before I watched a whole line of turkeys cross a field at sunset and enter some tall trees along a creek. They were heading to the roost and there were a bunch of them.
Next morning found me walking up the creek in the dark, carefully picking my way through the underbrush and dodging through the trees. It was just getting light as I neared the spot where I felt the turkeys would be roosting so I stopped and began digging for the owl call.
Then I looked up. Silhouetted against the sky was a large round object in the tree, looking very much like a green garbage bag full of trash. It was, of course, a turkey. Then I saw others. Lots of them. I had walked right under their roost. I simply sat down, my back against the tree and contemplated my bad luck.
Of course they knew I was there. They began leaving the trees, one by one and flying down across to a clearing on the other side of the creek and then hotfooting it up the hillside. Some of them had gobbled before flying down so I knew there were a few birds upstream that might not be spooked.
A quiet series of yelps proved that. A gobbler answered immediately. And then he answered again, closer, as I yelped again.
He was on the other side of the creek and came walking right in to stand at the creek's edge looking intently in my direction. He was big for a Merriam. Over 20 pounds. It's the only time I remember bagging a bird after getting too close.
So when you are out there this spring, remember that the biggest mistake you can make is to be discovered by the bird. They have excellent hearing and even better eyesight. It's all very simple. It's OK to be heard but it's not OK to be seen if you are going to fill that turkey tag.
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