Tips for Success in the Turkey Woods - by Brad Biddle

Years ago I learned there were things I was doing all wrong in the turkey woods. The first was I was only hunting a couple hours in the morning and never even considered hunting at any other time of the day. The biggest problem in doing this is most of the early morning action consists of gobblers strutting and gobbling to attract hens. Once they fly down, they tend to follow hens around for most of the morning - leaving us empty handed. Sometimes you will get the occasional loner that will commit, but more often than not they are bunched up which makes it harder to compete with a real hen. Once I started hunting mid-mornings I realized that this was a valuable piece of this puzzle I had been trying to put together to bag a longbeard. Once the early morning breeding process is done, these gobblers many times become lonely and return to places they were gobbling early on or to where they had heard your calls.

Another tip I learned was slowing down and listening in areas where I know turkeys reside. An occasional cluck or soft yelp can let you know turkeys are nearby. Also, listening for a spit and drum from a gobbler and realizing that this sound is like no other in the woods! Once you hear it you will quickly learn to take cover and get your weapon of choice at the ready.

If you have a choice, don't get in a habit to just hunt early mornings. Get out any chance you can to listen and watch. Call aggressively to try and get a response from a midday lonely gobbler. Go back to those spots where you have seen turkeys strutting during the day and spend some time enjoying nature, reflecting on life, and bag that longbeard that has been eluding you since you started hunting.