# A Hearty Congrats To All !! & A Big List Of My Best Tactics



## Thunderhead (Feb 2, 2002)

_1st off, CONGRATS TO ALL YOU SUCCESSFUL TURKEYS SLAYERS _!! :coolgleam
I'm just a 2 fingered typer so I can't possibly slap all of ya on the back. lol 

I've seen alot of questions the last few days, but with guiding everyday, I'm just too pooped to add my 2 cents. 

I'm by no means an expert, but, know enough to be dangerous. 

Here's some of my best Gobbler killing secerets I've learned over the years.
Hope it helps and Best of Luck !!

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Pre season scouting has always been the best way to ensure a successful hunt. 
Here's a few things I've learned along the way.
Birds will pretty much use the same trees over and over again till disturbed. Look for the obvious signs. Gobblers will usually sleep in separate trees but still somewhat close to the hens.
Search for feathers, turkey dung, scratchings etc......you'll know the roost trees when you find them. 
Tom Turkey droppings are shaped like a " J " and are about 2" long whereas hen droppings are round and circular in shape.
Birds also like to pitch down into fairly open areas in the hardwoods, so look for clear cuts with big trees nearby. Pines in high country and cottonwoods or big ,live or dead oaks with the large " open arm " type limbs in the low lying areas are a good bet in bird country. 
Food and water play an important role in locating roosting trees so keep that in mind while scouting.

Look for scratchings and loose feathers which will tell you the way the birds are heading to their feeding areas or dusting bowls. The leaves will be kicked back in the opposite direction that they're going. A Gobbler track is about 4" long from the heel to the tip of the middle toe. Also, the tips of the feathers from a Gobbler are black. The tip of the hen's feathers have a lighter, brownish color.

An owl call or rooster pheasant cackle at night is a good roost locator. 
Right at sun up, nothing beats a crow or pheasant cackle.
Midday calling I'll use all of the above. If all else fails, a loud sharp cluck every 20-25 seconds on your slate will usually entice a silent Tom into cutting loose.

Another good tactic to roost birds is to scan field edges an hour or so before dark. Birds are getting in one last snack and will be heading to bed soon. Watch where they go into the woods. The roost will more than likely be within 100 - 150 yards or so.

One tactic that works very well once you've located an active roosting site is to wait till the birds are roosted and take a loud noisy stroll right thru the middle of'em. 
Bust the flock in all directions. The birds will roost alone and in unfamiliar trees. 
Come morning they'll be ready to rejoin their friends after spending a long, lonely night.
Set up close to where you busted'em and at daylight start off with a few very soft tree yelps, followed by a fly down cackle.
No locators are needed in this situation, you already know that they are somewhere close.
Once down, a few soft cuts, clucks, and a purr or two for good measure will more often than not, put a bird in front of you.

Everybody likes to entice a Longbeard to cut loose with a thundering gobble, it's fun !
But, using a yelp before season is one of the worst mistakes a hunter can make. I hear this constantly at the various hunting shows and seminars I attend around the country each year. 

Guys will locate pre season birds by yelping with their box, slate or mouth call. 
NEVER use a yelp or hen sounds to locate a bird before season starts. A gobble call, owl hooter, crow, pheasant cackle will do the job without actually calling in a bird.
As a rule of thumb, a mature Tom will only be called in 2, maybe 3 times in it's life. If you locate with a hen sound , he will answer and eventually come in to find no hen. 
Strike one.
In my opinion, a Longbeard is the wariest of all critters, don't educate'em.

A few more rules I follow are that I never call from the road. This happens alot on state ground.
Alot of rookie hunters will call from the road. If this is happening in your hunting area, get out in the woods and call from different locations.
Location being the key word here and very important ,especially on hard hunted birds. While hunting, call from a location where a turkey hasn't been called to before. Cluck, cut and purr. Yelp sparingly and call softly.
Try something he isn't used to hearing alot.
Don't be afraid to try new things and be different than everyone else. 
Use locators and calling techniques that are new to you, chances are that they're new to the turkey too. 

A wise old Turkey hunter from Ma. once told me that the bird is the one true judge of your calling. He also added that " Every deer thinks a man is a stump, every turkey thinks a stump is a man. " Words I live by in the Turkey woods.
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Using Dekes :

Here's what I do :

Set your dekes close to your tent. No more than 10-15 yards. Your tent will not spook the birds as long as your quite.

If I think the Tom will be comming in from my left, I'll face each of the dekes facing right to give the impression that they are walking away from him when he appears. He'll run to catch up with them. Or visa versa.

The Tom deke should be facing somewhat towards you cause when the Gobbler sees him, the first thing he'll do is square off with him with his back to you, giving you the oppertunity to draw without being seen.

BTW, I always use feeding hen dekes, an alert hen will cause him to do a double take on the situation.

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Blown Shots :

Move your blind 60-70 yards. Try to stay within 80 yards give or take of the roosted birds. Tree yelp softly once or twice. Remember, when a hen yelps on the roost, her beak is closed, so quietly is the word here.

If they answer, do not do it again, they know your there. Even if they don't gobble at the tree yelp, they will still know your there........
When they fly down, a series of clucks is what I'd do.
Yelp sparringly, if at all.
Maybe a soft assembly yelp, followed by feeding clucks. If no response, assembly yelp again, a little more urgently this time, followed again by contented feeding clucks.

An assembly yelp is a series 15 - 22 yelps by a hen to gather her brood or family to her. Boss hens do this alot. Hens will also call to a gobbler this way.

If the hens answer you...........cut them off and talk over them. 

Say the real hen yelps twice...............you cut her off and yelp 5 times and throw in a dis-pleased cut. Piss her off and she'll come looking for you, bringing the Toms with her.

Remember, you might speak perfect Russian, but, if you have no idea what your saying, it's just gobbly-****.

Intensity, volume and emotion are the keys here. Knowing what to say and when to say it only comes with instruction or experience.

All calls and callers are not made equal. Put the same call in 2 guys hands, it will not be the same.

Ever hear a recorded automatic monotone voice recording ?
It's english, but not human.
Same with the birds. They know a phony when they hear it.
Especially the older wiser Toms with some birdshot in their butts.

Emotion in your calling is the key here. Just like we use it to express anger, happiness, urgency or to ask a question.
This is they way a guy needs to learn to call and actually talk to the birds.
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What I'm seeing is that after flydown, the Toms are hangin tight to the hens till about 9ish. 
After this, she's gametime. My best action is comming between 9 and 3.

I've been doing a series of yelps ( on a slate ) in a cadence of 7- 8, followed by a few clucks, wait 30 seconds then again with 12 to 14 yelps, followed by a few clucks. Just loud enough to get out there 100 yards or so. Louder on windy days.

I'll wait about 15 to 20 minutes and hitt'em again with 4-5 yelps followed by a few clucks, then wait 10 -15 seconds then 7-10 yelps followed by a cluck or two.
Every once in awhile, I'll break the 20 minute wait between calling sequences and throw in 2-3 lone yelps.

Using this technique, since the beginng of season, I've managed to call to the gun 12 Longbeards and 7 Jakes.
One of them a honker with a 14 1/8" beard. 

They'll hear me call, then gobble within 50-75 yards of my position to get a bearing on the "hen". This is the time to call sparingly. If he's comming closer, lose the yelps and cluck very, very little. If at all.
He'll show. He's looking for you now. Every situation is different, so you have to read his body lauange. You might need to cluck very softly to bring him into gun range after you spot him.

The idea here is to pick up any wandering Toms within earshot.
I'm set up 25 yards out on a fence row sticking out of the middle of a very long woods next to a dusting bowl.
The roost is at least 200+ yards away.

No dekes here fellas. Any Toms comming to the call will think that the hen is on the opposite side of the fence and come right in to take a look. His last.........lolol

Just thought I'd throw this out there, it seems to be working extremely well.

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These comments are based on my experience. This is what I've learned in the field:

Talking The Talk :

First and foremost, to call in a bird ya gotta know Turkey vocabulary. What are they saying to each other and why. Am I calling too loud? Or not loud enough? How many times should I yelp. There are many types of yelps and all say something different. Clucks, cuts, purrs and whistles, all play an important part in fooling that Longbeard this late in the season. Moreso than in the first season. It's the volume, intensity and the cadence of the calling that's important.
Now, I don't actually speak Turkey per say, but I've been around long enough to have a pretty good idea what's going on in their little pea brains. 

Hen talk, the difference between subordinate Jakes and Toms talking etc........A hen that is saying " you come to me" works very well. She's basically calling for a Tom.
I've watched them do this. Walking back and forth in a field just yelping her head off. Quite a sight..........and an important lesson when a big Tom materalized right behind me and finally I realized what was going on.

Sometimes calling the hens as they become less tolerant of strange hens in their midst will work. Sometimes not.
When to move on'em and why. This does work. Even in crunchy leaves. Just ask DHunter. 

What that Tom has to hear before he will commit, if he decideds to commit. There are certain things you can do to improve your odds and get him to come, even with hens.
It's a jelously, dominance thing. 

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This works great, but requires 2 guys.
Get there EARLY. 
Have one guy set up 60 -80 yards out of sight and the guy gunning for the bird on the opposite side of the roost, again, 50-80 yards so the Tom is between you.

The first guy starts with a couple of tree yelps to get the Toms attention, followed by a fly down cackle and a few more yelps, cuts and clucks. The Tom says, Ha ! Hunter !
Flys down , walks the opposite direction, right into the other guy. Lights out.

OR

Have the first guy who is also the shooter in this deal 50 yards from the roost with his partner behind him and off to one side another 30 or 40 yards.
The object here is for the first guy to start calling with tree yelps right at the crack of dawn, now your flydown cackle,
cluck a few times then STOP.

Wait 2 or 3 minutes and your partner picks up where you left off with a couple of soft yelps and a cut or 2 for good measure. Call softly. This will give the impression that the hen is walking away. The Tom will think he's being left behind and if all works right, walk right into the first hunter while looking for caller # 2. Good Night. 

Sometimes when I'm doing this and I'm the decoy caller, I'll use a mouth call to yelp and then cut myself off with a Primos Gobbler Shaker, imitating a Jake. This will get that old Boss riled up plenty.

If your by yourself, rest your gun up against a tree, do all of the above, and slowly walk away yelping softly for 30 yards or so. Stop and get back to your gun and stay quite.
Again, your giving the impression of walking away.
This will only work as long as he can't see you.

As always, keep a heads up for other hunters stalking you while your using that gobbler call.
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Best Late Season Trick In My Bag :

Sometimes a '****, cat or whatever will raid a hen's nest.
When this happens, she will slowly walk thru the woods yelping and clucking. 

Here's what to do. Walk thru the woods anywhere from 50 to 150 yards yelping and clucking. Be aware of your surroundings. I've had Toms walk right up on me doing this and they took off before I even knew they were there. Walking and calling is a deadly tactic.

Nothing aggressive, you've just lost your eggs and your bummed. When you get to where you want to go, set up your deke, ( or no deke, this will still work. ) Get 20 yards from where you called last and wait. DO NOT CALL AGAIN. Your going to be tempted, but don't do it.

It might take 20 minutes, an hour, or maybe as long as 2 hours. The Toms heard you. They WILL come. With this system, you MUST have patience. As a rule, the Toms will come in silent and then open up with a gobble when they get to the location where they heard you call last to try and find the hen they heard.
Usually the Jakes will appear first. The Tom's will follow shortly. It's uncanny, but those birds will actually step right in your track where you called last.

If you've done your homework and know there's birds in the area, have faith, it'll happen for you. Sit back and enjoy the woods while waiting. This system takes time to work, but work it does.

Remember, keep your eyes peeled and stay focused.

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Finding Roosts :

I watch the ares where I'll be hunting an hour before dark. 
You'll see the birds start to filter into the woods as it gets dark. Be there first thing in the morning before fly down and listen to where all the gobbling is comming from.
That's a roost area. Turkeys love big dead trees in the middle of the woods or where 2 dirrerent types of the woods come together. Example, pines butted against hardwood.
You can also walk into where they were roosted WELL after fly down, noonish or so, and look for droppings and feathers to pin point the exact trees they were in.
When scouting the area, look for feathers, droppings, a Tom will have big turds in the shape of a "J hook " hens leave your basic Turkey pile. Find alot of this at the base of a tree, and you've located a Roost. My daughter and I once found a roost of 5 dead oaks that had so much Turkey poop you could actually shovel it. Must have been using that roost for years. Gobbler feathers are a shiney bronze color with a black edge, hens feathers are duller with a brown edge. Look for scratching too. Birds will scratch as they wander, the leaves piled up are behind the walking bird. Be on the look out for dusting bowls too,Turkeys will wallow out bowl shaped impressions in the ground and cover themselves with sand and dirt. These are good spots to set up on in the middle of the day. 

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What NOT To Do 


Never use a yelp to locate a bird before season starts. A gobble call, owl hooter or my favorite, a crow call will do the job without actually calling in a bird.
A mature Tom Turkey, as a rule of thumb, will only be called in 2, maybe 3 times in it's life. If you call , he will answer and eventually come in to find no hen. 
Strike 1. Don't educate'em.

Never call from the road. This happens alot with state ground.
Everybody calls from the road. If this is happening in your hunting area, get out in the woods and call from different locations.
Location, location, location. Very important here, especially on hard hunted birds. Call where a turkey hasn't been called to before and cluck, cut and purr. Yelp sparringly and call softly.
Try something he isn't used to hearing alot.
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## Michael Wagner (Jul 17, 2007)

Excellent help, Thank You, I am going to copy and print these for next year. Mike


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## huntr4life (Nov 30, 2005)

WOW, thats a lot of info to take in, but some priceless advice to a rookie turkey hunter. thanks for sharing!!!


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## skyhawk1 (Jun 20, 2006)

this should be a sticky...mods, you know what to do.


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## spiritofthewild_06 (Mar 20, 2007)

I've told you this before, and I'll tell ya again, Tom, Your my Hero!:lol:


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## LoBrass (Oct 16, 2007)

Write an article (even if you do it with 2 fingers). Any magazine in the country would print that for cash. Include a couple of good photos for a kicker check!
Awesome.


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## FSUfishin (Jan 25, 2008)

That's going into my hunting library. Woods and water would buy that for sure. Better than lounsbury's article this month. :lol:THANK YOU!!


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

Thanks TH. This information will be useful trying to get the last couple birds of the season in the bag. My wife and two brothers still have to get there tags filled. Hopefully one in the morning!!


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## melvvin (Nov 21, 2007)

Thanks for all the great info. Don't feel bad about your typing your using one more finger than I do.


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## JimmyontheSpot (Jan 10, 2001)

Good information. I still haven't gotten my first bird yet, maybe this weekend.

I might be counting my chickens, but I need to know what happens after you get the bird? How difficult is it to pluck all the feathers? Or do you just breast out the bird? Any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated.


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## old graybeard (Jan 19, 2006)

Some pretty interresting ideas, Thanks for posting TH


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

TH, 

What do you do when you have a Tom coming across the field gobbling his head off? I had one this morning do this while I was trying to get one in for the wife. He stopped out at about 150 yrds strutting, gobbled a couple times and then left the field. I didn't see any hens with him. While he was stopped out in the field I let out a few clucks and a couple short yelps. Should I have just kept quiet. I did have a decoy out but he couldn't see it yet cause the decoy was in a dip.


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## Bwilson (Feb 22, 2008)

I have told you once you need to write a book or somthing. Second this should be a sticky (till published) for those rookies who need a hand. If i had this a week ago I wouldnt of made some calling mistakes i have already made. You say youre not a expert would turkey whisperer be a better term ?


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## bigmike (Oct 21, 2004)

Very good stuff that I printed off for some oter hunters. THANKS This is why this site is the best because of people that help others like you.


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## double lung (Sep 7, 2007)

chris_kreiner said:


> TH,
> 
> What do you do when you have a Tom coming across the field gobbling his head off? I had one this morning do this while I was trying to get one in for the wife. He stopped out at about 150 yrds strutting, gobbled a couple times and then left the field. I didn't see any hens with him. While he was stopped out in the field I let out a few clucks and a couple short yelps. Should I have just kept quiet. I did have a decoy out but he couldn't see it yet cause the decoy was in a dip.


Did he hear your clucks and yelps when he was stopped? Usually if they come to where they heard the calling and don't see the hen they will strut and spit and drum for a few minutes, then gobble several times in a row to say, "I'm here, where the heck did you go?" If they don't get an answer or see a hen, they usually leave right after those 2 or 3 gobbles. Remember, nature's way is for him to gobble and her to come to him. We're fighting the natural order of things as soon as we try to call in a tom turkey. 

You might try answering with a series of yelps right after he gobbles the second or third time. If that doesn't work, hopefully he will gobble again and you answer again, then hit a gobble shaker so he thinks the hen is hung up with a jake and will not come to him. Lots of times he will come to take the girl from the jake. If he gobbles at your jake gobble but still doesn't come, cut him off with another jake gobble. If he still hangs up, try yelping softly over your shoulder to make him think they're walking off into the sunset together. 

I would also suggest putting your deke somewhere they can see it from as far off as possible. The deke in the dip probably hosed you as much as anything. 

I two different Merriams hang up on me at about 60 yards and 100 last week after they had come long distances to get there. Both stood and gobbled, facing straight at me, 3 times in a row. Knowing they were getting ready to leave, I called over my shoulder with a short series of QUIET yelps. Both birds came into range, and were killed at about 30 yards. One of them had already turned to face away from me, had gone from full to half strut, and was definitely leaving. After I called, he ran 4 steps toward me, then walked slowly to 30 yards looking for the hen. 

I ain't no expert either, but I hope this helps


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## chris_kreiner (Sep 6, 2006)

Thanks DL, We got him tonight. I will post the results later.


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## eddiejohn4 (Dec 23, 2005)

Thanks Tom, I will take your advice ,learn it ,live it.


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## Thunderhead (Feb 2, 2002)

chris_kreiner said:


> TH,
> 
> What do you do when you have a Tom coming across the field gobbling his head off? I had one this morning do this while I was trying to get one in for the wife. He stopped out at about 150 yrds strutting, gobbled a couple times and then left the field. I didn't see any hens with him. While he was stopped out in the field I let out a few clucks and a couple short yelps. Should I have just kept quiet. I did have a decoy out but he couldn't see it yet cause the decoy was in a dip.



Put down the shotgun and grab the '06.  

If he was comming, just let him come, the calls did their job. I see that you got him ! Congrats to the wife. :coolgleam


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## double lung (Sep 7, 2007)

chris_kreiner said:


> Thanks DL, We got him tonight. I will post the results later.


:coolgleam:coolgleam:coolgleam

Let's hear the story!!!!


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## stinky reinke (Dec 13, 2007)

chris_kreiner said:


> TH,
> 
> What do you do when you have a Tom coming across the field gobbling his head off? I had one this morning do this while I was trying to get one in for the wife. He stopped out at about 150 yrds strutting, gobbled a couple times and then left the field. I didn't see any hens with him. While he was stopped out in the field I let out a few clucks and a couple short yelps. Should I have just kept quiet. I did have a decoy out but he couldn't see it yet cause the decoy was in a dip.


This happened to my buddy last spring, except the wind blew just enough, made the jake decoy move-the gobbler spotted the movement and came a runnin'.


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## Swizel Chest (Aug 3, 2007)

TH's advice was the difference between three hunters going home empty handed and two going home empty handed. That probably doesn't sound like much, but we didn't get a Tom into gun range until the last hunt before we had to go home.

ThunderHead had suggested we surround the roost and wait them out. That is kind of what we did. I had a hen almost cuddle up with me in my blind. We had two hunters about 80 yards apart east and west, and another about 80 yards to the south. We were careful to take precautions so as not to take shots towards each other. Anyway we struck up a tom and he came in from the opposite direction of where we expected. My brother was calling and when he got close to my brother I was able to keep calling making it sounds as if the hen had moved. He walked right into my brothers cloud of number 6!

Worked like a champ. Thanks Tom.


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## outdoor junkie (Sep 16, 2003)

Great advice thunder. Priceless. Kind of new to the turkey thing(3 years). Done alot of reading on the subject. But some of you ideas I've never seen mentioned anywhere before. The idea of walking through the roost area and scattering them really caught my attention. That sounds like a really good tactic I will definitly try. Thanks a bunch.


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