In a lifetime of outdoor activities, I have seen my share of wild turkeys. From roaming the oak-covered hills of central California as a kid, to exploring the farmland edges and river bottoms of Idaho, encountering turkeys during my outdoor travels has been a regular occurrence. One thing I noticed early on was that when I bumped into turkeys, they were not making a sound. Whether it was a single bird or a group, they were completely silent. These early quiet encounters heavily influenced the way I hunt turkeys.
During spring turkey hunts, I understand that calling in interested toms is a big part of being successful. Setting up a good decoy spread also goes a long way in bringing birds close. However, when it comes to calling, I’m a huge advocate of calling only sparingly. If you do some preseason scouting and locate where the birds roost, you may just be able to bag a bird without making much sound at all.
Whether I hunt new land or find myself at one of my favorite turkey spots during the opener, I approach the hunt the same. I like to get into my hunting area a few days before I hunt it. I’ll track birds, find where they spend the day and hopefully locate a roosting tree. Like most animals, turkeys will travel open areas like old fire roads, two-tracks or heavily used game trails. I look for fresh tracks and scat in these areas and try to quietly hike in to hopefully locate birds. Despite the overwhelming urge to do a little calling during these scouting trips, my goal is to silently hike in, gather my information and leave without being detected. If all goes well, the birds will never know I was there.
Locating a recently used roosting tree is very important in hunting almost silently. In the areas I hunt, roost trees can be quite large and will possess several straight branches that can hold a 20-pound bird. The area around the trunk will have plenty of feathers and droppings on the ground, indicating a regularly used roost tree.
If time allows, I’ll make repeated scouting trips to the hunt area, helping me to establish a clear pattern of bird movement. Once I have a good idea of turkey locations, I’ll spend some time looking for where I’ll sit for the hunt. This includes mapping out how I’ll hike into the area in near dark conditions. I like to sit obscured in the shadows, in areas with an open area directly in front of me. The open area is important for moving birds to spot my decoys.
Every turkey hunter has their favorite decoys and set up. I’m no different. My go to decoys for a spring tom turkey hunt is a lone hen decoy, paired with a lone jake decoy. Believe it or not, I purchased the pair of cheap turkey decoys at K-Mart for $12.99 many years ago. I’ve used them on several hunts with great success.
If you know anything about the behaviors of springtime toms, you know that if a tom sees a jake anywhere close to an available hen, that will open the gates of turkey hell. I once saw three toms physically beat a jake so severely that after the event, I was convinced the jake was dead. After the toms left, he got up and stumbled off with a broken wing and a missing eye. If the goal is to get an interested tom close, in my opinion, you can’t beat pairing a hen decoy with a jake.
A couple of years ago I was invited on a hunt by a buddy and his son. He said he had located a roost tree on a friend’s property, and he had put the birds to bed the previous evening. The next morning, we arrived near the area an hour before sunrise and quietly hiked in. My buddy suggested we split up. He headed for an open meadow surrounded by several large oaks a short distance from the roost tree. Honestly, that didn’t leave me much, but I hiked another 200 yards and set up on the other side of a small hill, also within view of the roost tree.
I found an open area on the sage-covered slope and set up my hen and jake decoys. Before light and before I had finished setting up, my buddies kid started calling. He filled the meadow with loud hen clucks and purrs, taking small breaks in between calling. For the next forty-five minutes he kept it up and didn’t stop. With my clear view of the roost tree and my decoys set up within view of the roosted birds, I left my turkey call in my pack and kept silent.
Right at shooting time, a single tom turkey flew down from the roost and landed thirty yards in front of me. The calling from the meadow got louder. Less than a minute later, the entire tree shook as every turkey in it flew down and landed within feet of my decoys. I patiently waited for the largest tom to clear the other birds. More calling from the meadow. Finally, close enough and free from the others, I shot the big tom 20 yards from my set up, harvesting the 23-pound turkey without making a sound.
For me, hunting turkeys involves all the aspects I love about hunting. Scouting, tracking and finding the birds. Picking the perfect spot to set up and placing the right decoys in a location where roosted turkeys can see. Moving through their territory silently and unseen, being in place as the sun comes up without them ever knowing. Finally, harvesting a big tom when everything is done right. When it comes time to chase the long bears, from scouting to hunting, silence will always be my greatest skill.
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