So the annual Missouri spring turkey season is almost upon us. If you are like me, you take to the woods during the three-week season trying to ambush a turkey with an arsenal of calls and a decoy setup. Placing a game camera along a thin timber edge near an established wildlife trail can show you the presence of turkey and the timing of their activities.

Experience is the best teacher for turkey hunting. Sitting still behind a bush I set up at the edge of a field and called a tom within 13 feet of my position. A Montana Decoy tom sat out in the open and a Montana Decoy hen sat three feet to my right along the timber. Resting my gun barrel on the branches of the bush I sat behind,  completely concealed. I called the tom from across a small field and waited in full camouflage behind that bush. Unfortunately in my inexperience I took the shot when he was too close and missed him completely.

During a fall archery hunt I shot a nice hen on a wooded timber lot and never recovered the bird even after I found her feathers and a blood-soaked arrow. She must have died in the thick brush or disappeared into the woods before she expired. I never found my turkey.

The open fields and close timber offer different hunting scenarios. If you are an experienced field hunter, chances are you will set up an inconspicious ambush point at the edge of a field or out in the open. Wood savvy hunters choose the timber itself to conceal themselves for a spring turkey hunt.

This time of year the timber sheltered toms make the most of their visual advantage. They have a keen sense of sight and startle easily. Even camouflage can’t conceal movements that a hunter makes. That unbelievable sight ability allows a turkey to spot a hunter before that hunter can see him That is bad news for most  inexperienced hunters.  Wary turkey won’t even approach the most realistic decoys when they detect the slightest movement on the hunters’ part: even that blink of an eye, high winds that affect decoys, swatting annoying mosquitoes, etc..  This can be tough hunting to say the least.

Two basic choices for spring turkey are still-hunting and stalk-hunting. Still-hunting puts you at the mercy of that one location for the day or a few hours. If you do the foot work to find a productive turkey yard with a large active flock, this kind of hunting should produce an opportunity to take a bird at the very least. Other factors like food and water sources, hunter or predator intrusion, amount of light and shadow or use of hunting blind, hunting stand placement, etc. will weigh into the harvest success rate. Most important for determining these choices are how those options will offer the hunter an advantage on distance, cover and visual aid for the hunt and harvest of a spring gobbler.

Consider the most undisclosed setting for a turkey seeking a spring soul mate. A full woodland of trees to play hide and seek, timber offers a point of shadowed seclusion from which to watch the open fields. At sunrise, weather permitting, turkey hit the ground running. They travel toward the sound of the most persistent turkey song. Sweet hen calls and thundering gobble competitions bring the birds together to fight for dominance or mating rights. Hens fight each other, toms spar;, they all hear the call of attraction and respond.

Luring a turkey out into the field is not always possible. If the open land decoy set up and calling is not working the fowl up like you’d planned, try getting into the timber with another plan. Set up in a bowl (lower depression in the ground) or sit in your hunting blind and wait. Since ability to spot movement is the first line of defense that keeps a turkey from coming into shot gun range, put yourself out of sight. Sound is also a key part of turkey hunting. The wrong sound on your call will certainly spook a turkey. If you can call hens but not toms, don’t be discouraged. The hens themselves will work as live bait for a gobbler who is in the area. Let the hens gather and stay the course until you can see or hear a tom close enough to shoot.

Sitting behind fallen logs and using a tree stand will offer great cover if you can keep still. Later in the spring turkey season the leaves in the tree canopy can offer better cover for tree stand hunters.  Your ability to sit completely still is key when hunting turkey any time in the season.

 

 

© April 2008