First Season/Year for Turkey's Completed

Well my first season of ever hunting for a turkey is complete. I wasn’t able to harvest a bird but I still walked away learning some new things as well as having some questions about what I could have done differently. This is a bit long winded but I’m hoping for some feedback from some of the turkey veterans here.

I ended up sitting 4 times, hoping for 5. 3 were mornings, 1 afternoon and one missed opportunity on an afternoon.

Morning one(Wednesday), windy and clear. Saw 6 hens and 3 Toms. Wins made it tough to hear any gobbling. I noticed right away that the Tom’s were henned up. 3 hens got close and one busted me peeking over my cover.

Morning two(Thursday), I set up in a new spot where I saw 3 Toms and 3 hens the previous morning. No wind on this day. Some gobbling early but no birds showed up.

Afternoon (Thursday), didn’t get out early enough, 6 pm, and 4 Toms were already in the field on the edge I set up on in the morning. Got halfway down the field and got some good gobbling from my yelps but 4 hens came in and shut me down. Got a bit closer but got condemned about getting busted if I got closer so I sat and watched the Tom’s put on a good show. Something about watching those feathers dragging on the ground! Left after seeing them leave the field with the mindset that they would be there in the morning.

Morning three(Friday), cold, rainy and windy. Knowing the weather was going to be what it was I thought for sure the birds would be there in the morning. The wind had my decoy spinning around alot. Only one hen came thru and didn’t stay long. Left a bit later hoping the afternoon would yield better results.

Afternoon two(Friday), I got our around 4 and setup in the samespot as the morning. Ended up seeing 2 hens and that was it.

Overall in was glad to see the birds in did but always seemed to be a step behind the birds.

A couple questions I have walking away are this…
– If this area was an area I saw these birds frequently, should I have spent the time calling that I did? I made some yelps every 15 minutes. Would they have shown up without my calling?
– Should I have been more aggressive and did some run and gunning? This would have been new to me and I wouldn’t have known where to start. The wind a couple days may have worked in my favor?
-In some of my walking around I did see some trails that were heavily traveled. I’m thinking I should have maybe set up near one of these spots? One thing I didn’t do was plan a full day off. I will be changing that next year.
-I only used a single hen for my setup. Would a Jake or strutting Tom in with my hen been a better scenario being Tom’s were already henned up?

I have found a new addiction for the Spring and look forward to next year! I believe I may wait for an over the counter tag to see if I can go after the hens are on the nest and the Toms are looking for a lonely bird. I may have a slight bit of envy for the rest of you that fill your tag but my hope is to learn more from all of you.

Sorry for the long post, I’m probably over thinking things big time.

With out getting to indepth when you found these Toms strutting in the fields after they moved off you could have investigated the site and saw what is called a strut zone. This is an area where toms strut frequently for the hens and ware a strip in the ground.Toms will cone back to these favorite spots if not disturbed to badly. Also when the toms and hens moved off on you the hens will loose the toms at some point in the day and the toms get lonely and may come back to the the strut zone.Running and gunning works best if you know the land well,other wise you get busted trying to get close to birds. Try to intercept the birds going some where and use the terrain to hide your movement. Good luck this a very addictive sport I’m sure some of the turkey guru’s will chime in at some point.

Turkey hunting is addicting as it comes. For some reason the heart pounds harder for a big ol gobbler than it does for some whitetails.

I think it’s good that you had some questions and plenty of observations from your hunts. There’s alot to be learned, but don’t second-guess yourself too much. It’s impossible to know if doing this or that might’ve changed anything, and in the end that experience is the investment it’ll take to down your first gobbler somewhere down the road. I hunted for 3 seasons before I ever killed a bird, and continue to learn from each and every hunt. Sounds like you were on the birds, so that’s a great thing. It’s much tougher when there seems to be nothing going anywhere you go, so I’d say congrats for a good first season!

Joel