Mid-Day Turkey Hunt

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get after some gobblers. Traditionally, most turkey hunters get into the woods before daylight and try to hunt turkeys as they fly down from their roost. I'm a bit of a non-traditionalist and believe you can be just as effective during the middle part of the day, if you adjust your tactics. There are a couple of techniques that you can use during this time, run and gun or sit and wait. Running and gunning is when you try to locate a tom using yelps or calls such as a crow or woodpecker. Sit and wait is when you set up in an area you know turkeys frequent and call, hoping to draw a bird in or intercept one in travel. I was fortunate enough to have a top notch caller with me on the hunting excursion, Bucko. Bucko is 14 and has already taken a pair of toms and participated in turkey calling competitions, which makes him more experienced than me right now. Needless to say, I felt a whole lot better about his calling ability than my own right now.

We headed out behind his house to try the run and gun technique out around mid morning. Bucko was hitting his woodpecker and crow calls to try to see if we could get a tom to shock gobble at us. We thought we might have heard a few gobbles from a nearby tract of timber. There was a grassy field that had a pocket of young trees in it close to the timber, so we set up a hen decoy and crawled into the stands of young trees. Bucko hit some yelps and clucks, however no tom showed up. Because of the lack of activity, we decided to try another piece of property that we knew turkeys frequented.

At the second property, we decided to employ a sit and wait technique. We set up on a ridge that was bordered by a swamp, a corn field, and a grassy hay field. There was a massive stump, about 3 feet high and at least 4 foot around with a 6 foot section of log laying next to it, and it looked like the perfect spot to set up and conceal ourselves. Bucko placed the decoy out in front of us at 15 yards, and the hunt was on. Not fifteen minutes after we sat down, Bucko had a hen yelping at us. The next hour was pretty exciting, as the hen kept answering Bucko's calls and seemed to be closing the distance. The wind was fairly gusty that day, so it was difficult to judge where and how far the hen was from us. Between gusts, we were able to concur that she was approaching from the edge of the swamp, along a ridgeline. One of our goals was to try to entice a boss hen, because often they will challenge other hens in the area and have a silent tom in tote. Well, it appeared we had found a boss hen, because she was getting all fired up and laid down a gauntlet of calls. She would yelp-yelp, cut-cut-cut, yelp, yelp , yelp. This bird had no qualms about mixing it up. I was really impressed with Bucko's calling skills, as he mimicked her every sound for a solid hour with perfection. After about an hour of turkey talking, we thought we heard a couple clucks within 50 yards, from the direction the hen would have approached from. That was the last we heard of the bird, as she promptly fell silent. What caused her to hang up all of a sudden? Did she catch a glimpse of small movement from us? Was she uncomfortable with something? Looking back, I believe she may have gotten cold feet. Our decoy was set up in a spot, where from her approach it was not visible. I think she was looking for a visual confirmation and there was a cluster of trees blocking the decoy from her. Regardless, I was just as fired up as the ole boss hen was. Once she grew silent, I thought any minute she would pop her head over the hill with a Birdzilla Tom in tote. The anticipation gets the adrenaline flowing, especially when you have have a bird answering you for an hour.

As we walking back to the truck, we saw a huge tom crossing a field across the road, as if he was taunting us....you'll never get this, you'll never get this..lalalala. Well, he may have been right on this particular afternoon, but I have a feeling redemption will be had shortly. To make matters worse, I saw about a dozen turkey's in various spots on the drive home. I honestly can say I now have turkey fever, and the only cure is to skewer a nice Tom. With two more weeks to go in the season, I remain optimistic that I will have a chance to let the Hoyt makes things right. I really enjoyed having Bucko out there in the woods with me, that kid can flat out call. His season ended a few weeks back, but I think he would like to see one go down for his own redemption. He was taunted by turkeys just out of range for a week straight, but he hunted them hard and gave it 110%. Even though the day ended without a bird slung over my shoulder, the time spent in the woods made it a success. Also, by getting our youth active and involved in the outdoors, ensures that we will keep the sport going strong for generations to come.

3-D Archery Practice

Recently a friend of mine, Mike, introduced me to a 3-D course in our area, Country Woods Archery and 3-D range (Saint Johns, MI). I have had my bow for a few months now, and jump at every chance I get to practice. Until I made the trek to Country Woods, my practice consisted mainly of shooting at targets from known distances (20-60 yards). I had shot an indoor screen course a few times at another archery shop in the area, Arrowhead Archery (Eaton Rapids, MI), and really liked the concept behind 3-D practice. The screen course features animals in different hunting situations, and your objective is to identify the vital area, and place your arrow within it. After your shot, the "target zone" displays on the screen and your shot is scored depending on where your arrow hits. This really appealed to me because it trains you to identify the vitals on various game animals.

Since the weather here in MI has finally broke, outdoor 3-D is a new practice option available. I have shot the outdoor 3-D at Country Woods twice now, and am really impressed at the quality of practice it delivers. There are 30 targets in the course and they are each at varying distances (20-50 yards) within the woodlot. Whitetail deer, turkey, javelina, bear, elk, caribou, mountain lion, and wild pig are among the targets featured at the range. Also, the course features 3 elevated platforms as well as a couple of different blind shots.

One of the practice skills that I hope to improve on by shooting 3-D is distance recognition. It is easy to group arrows tightly at a known shot distance, but more difficult if the distance is unknown. Mike and I decided to utilize his rangefinder at the course, but not in the manner most of you might think. Both of us hoped to sharpen our distance gauging abilities, so we would both shoot at the target, and then tell each other what distance we thought the target to be at. Then, Mike would scope the target with his range finder to give the actual distance. Most of the time we both were within 5 yards of our guesses, but a few shots appeared to be closer or farther than expected. This really helps you improve your distance estimation, and I hope to see the results this fall on stand.

As mentioned earlier, the ability to identify an animal's vital area is crucial when bow hunting. Like indoor screen 3-D, the outdoor targets feature vital zones which are identified by a series of rings. Each ring corresponds to a given point value, and that is how you score your shots. Not only does this hone your vital zone recognition, but it gives you a way to measure your improvement, plus adds a little friendly competition amongst pals. I would encourage anyone who shoots a bow to try out 3-D archery practice. It presents you with the traditional benefits of practice such as form and repetition, and adds new elements like distance estimation and vital zone recognition. By shooting your bow throughout the off season, you should become more accurate in your hunting pursuits.

Turkey on the Hit List

Yesterday, I was down at the family farm doing some plowing. On my way to the fields, I saw a flock of 4 turkeys in a field that borders one of ours. Later on that afternoon, I saw this same flock in the same field, but about 100 yards away. I looked like there might have been a couple of nice toms in the flock, but they never got close enough for me to tell for sure.

Well, on my way back to the farm from the field, I saw a familiar turkey limping across the same small field where I had saw a turkey a few days back. Wouldn't you know it, this turkey was limping his way across the field, and headed on a collision course with the John Deere. Not being able to run very well, the turkey took to flight about 10 feet in front of the tractor and landed in a swamp across the road. This was the same limping turkey from Sunday morning and he was crossing in the same exact spot, but this time headed in the opposite direction.

I have decided to nickname this turkey "Gimpy" because of his pimp limp and have made him the inaugural selection for my hit list.. I think I have his travel route figured out now and the first chance I get, I am going to set up on the edge of the small field where he crosses. I have hypothesized that he roosts on the opposite side of the road from the small field because when I have seen him in the morning, he is headed from that area. Last evening, I saw him heading back towards the suspected roost. Not knowing exactly where his roost is (I believe it is off of our property), I am planning on ambushing him along his travel route in the early morning or late evening. So far, I have only encountered him in my truck and in the tractor, but am looking forward to meeting him when I have the ole Hoyt in hand.

Quick Afternoon Turkey Hunt

My turkey season started today, and I was able to sneak in a quick afternoon hunt. I decided to go out on some property where a couple buddies of mine had heard some gobbles a few weeks back. I wasn't able to hit the woods until 5pm, so I had to adjust my tactics accordingly. I set up at the base of a cluster of trees, which concealed me pretty well. There were a couple larger trees around, and hopefully I would be able to draw my bow while these were between a turkey and me. I decided to hunt on top of a ridge, which was bordered by a swamp, a pasture, and a corn field. Birds frequently roost in this area, and I know that lone toms tend to roost on the highest ridge in a given area. This ridge seemed to have all of the above characteristics. Late in the afternoon, most toms are with hens. Because of this, I hoped to catch one on his way back to his roosting area, and not necessarily call one in. I kept my calls pretty laid back, just soft and short series of yelps every 15 minutes or so. As the afternoon turned into evening, I had yet to hear a single gobble, other than the local pet jake. I think part of the reason was that fence was being built for a cow pasture not too far from my spot, and may have kept the turkey's out of the area. About 8:30, I packed it in and headed for the truck. With a month of turkey season left, I did not let this outing discourage me. After all, any time spent in the woods is time well spent.

Turkey's Everywhere

The weather here in MI has finally broke (crossed fingers), and it seems the turkeys are out in full force. This past weekend, I went down to my Grandpa's farm to get equipment ready for the planting season, as all the rain that fell during the last week put a hold on fieldwork. On my drive down to the farm Saturday, I saw plenty of turkey action. Not 25 yards from a major highway, two nice toms were in full strut trying their best to seduce a hen not far away. I also saw two lone toms, each in full strut on a hilltop for all the ladies to see. When I arrived at the farm, my Grandpa informed me that he had saw a turkey heading across the field (hen or jake) in a spot where I had saw one earlier this year. Sunday morning on my way over to the farm, two hens crossed the road in front of me, heading into a swamp on our property. Now all these turkey sightings had really started to get me fired up, as my season was only a day away. Then, just down the road from my Grandpa's, a lone tom was limping across a small field. I could tell the bird was injured, most likely the result of a battle with another tom. He had a decent sized beard, probably 8-10", and was good sized. All these sightings really have given me high hopes for the season, and I seem to have identified some frequently used travel routes. Hopefully, a nice tom will decide to stroll down one when I'm posted up!!