Tips From The Turkey Guide

The famous turkey hunter Will Primos is said to have been the first to refer to the sport as "Advanced Cowboys and Indians." This being the case a hunter becomes the Indian in the game when he picks up a bow and arrows.

The archer faces a hunt with all odds in favor of the gobblers. If the hunter is skilled and lucky enough to call a bird within bow range, the hard part is still to come. The bow must be drawn and the arrow threaded accurately through the trees and the brush. Nine out of ten, the turkey wins.

One beautiful day last spring, I got lucky and won. Hunting the Adirondack Mountains just a few miles from home, I grabbed my hunting bow and headed into the woods in mid-morning.I wanted to check on a gobbler discovered two weeks before. He never gobbled before 10:00 A.M. but, became quite vocal for the remainder of the morning.

After parking my truck, I moved into the trees and up the side of the mountain for several hundred yards. Sitting down on a old oak stump I took up a "listening post." I had no intention of calling and tipping my hand until the bird gobbled.
About 10:00 the old bird sounded off, right on schedule. He was four or five hundred yards to the northwest and a little higher up the mountain than I. Rapidly I moved in the turkey's direction for half the distance, to one of several ambush sites I had scouted.

I set up four silhouette decoys and clipped a few small branches to push into the ground for a make-shift blind. After nocking an arrow and propping my bow upright in front of me, I was ready to call. Using a diaphragm mouth call I softly made four or five hen yelps.

Immediately, the calls were answered with a thunderous double gobble followed almost at once with a tripple gobble. The gobbles were so close together, they were a little suspicious. I called again to be sure. When the gobbles came back this time they overlapped and I knew for certain, two mature Toms were coming to my calls. Great.. it's hard enough to draw the bow with one turkey watching, it was almost impossible with two.

When the two big gobblers were within sixty yards of my position they circled to come in behind me. I was not surprised. Such a move was expected and room had been left to turn in my crouched position.

As the two gobblers broke cover at thirty yards they were only a few feet apart. I could not believe what I saw. Both birds were great trophies, with beards over 11 inches long. If I had the chance, I knew I would take either in a heart beat. In order to get the chance however, both birds would have to step behind trees at the same time. Chances were not good.

My decoys finally gave me the break needed. The Toms both responded instantly when they saw the fake hens. One moved directly toward the decoys and the other went into a full strut. With his tail feathers fanned and his wings dragging the leaves he began to slowly turn circles in his tracks. Just as his tail feathers blocked his view of me the other gobbler stepped behind a tree. I drew back on my bow.

Focusing on the displaying bird I aimed at the base of his beard and released the arrow as the gobbler turned back toward me. I almost shot his beard off as the broadhead sliced through his breast, severed the spine and pinned the big bird to a tree. He never took another step.

As I stood to recover my gobbler the other big bird took to flight. I waved good-bye as I watched him fly over the mountain top. Perhaps we will meet again one day in another game of "Advanced Cowboys and Indians."

Tip: Many hunters make the mistake of only scouting for turkeys early in the morning and just before dark in the evening. The only thing they learn is where the birds are roosting at that time. The first time he returns to the spot and hears no gobbling, the hunter assumes incorrectly that the birds have moved out of the area. Turkeys do not take vacations. As hunting pressure increases the birds become less vocal but, they have not gone far. Often gobblers that are silent on the roost will begin to talk later in the day. It makes sense when you think about it.

By the time the season is a week old the mature Toms have learned that gobbling from the roost attracts more turkey hunters than hen turkeys. They do not gobble anyway,because most nights the Toms are roosting right next to their favorite hen friends and can hear their soft purrs and clucks. When the hens fly down at first light the gobblers simply drop out of the trees and join them. If any of the hens are "in the mood," mating takes place early and by 9 or 10 A.M. the hens start to wander off to their nests.

Soon the gobblers start to get lonely and begin to wonder if there is any "new action" around. They start gobbling to check it out. Most hunters are out of the woods and having breakfast by mid-morning, they usually are complaining over their eggs that there are no turkeys around. These hunters just never seem to realize they are missing some of their best opportunitiesto tag a mature old gobbler.

Tip: In my story at the beginning of this article I said I was not surprise when the two big birds circled my position on their final approach. How did I know it was likely? As I faced the incoming gobblers the sun was directly behind me. Turkeys do not like looking into the sun any more than people do. Any time a hunter places himself between the sun and a turkey the hunter should anticipate the bird will likely circle to put the sun at his back. Whenever possible I try to sit in a shadow for concealment and so I cans see better into the sun.

Tip: Turkey decoys are helpful when hunting with a shotgun, they are essential when hunting with archery equipment. When a gobbler comes into bow range the decoys need to be in a position to focus the turkey's attention away from the hunter.

My own preference is for silhouette style decoys and I like to use three or four when bow hunting. (For a more involved discussion on decoys see "The Mystery of Decoys," Spring 1999 issue of Lake Ontario Outdoors.)

Tip: If a bow hunter takes the time to set his decoys at know distances from his blind they work great a yardage markers.

Tip: Always use a string tracker or arrow stopping device when bow hunting for wild turkeys. I personally like a string tracker and do not shoot unless the string is attached to the arrow.

A few of the turkeys I have hit with an arrow have gone down on the spot. Most have flown or run over a hundred yards after taking a fatal wound. Arrow hit turkeys do not leave much of a blood trail and can be very difficult to recover without a tracking device.

Note to My Readers: After announcing my retirement from actively guiding and producing turkey calls under the name, Sportsman's Choice Game Calls, I have received many inquiries from hunters who would still like to get my calls.

I am very pleased to announce that my son Ken Orne and a great turkey guide and friend Doug Buschatzke have taken over Sportsman's Choice. They are producing all of my old favorite calls and a few new ones. To get prices and place orders, Ken or Doug can be reached at (315) 363-5990. Over the internet the products can be found at www.sacotech.com.