Almost Turkey Time! by Marc Anthony
I love turkeys! There was a time in my life when I would rather hunt turkeys than hunt deer. In fact, I’m not sure what I like better. When you’re on a bunch of hot gobblers, there’s nothing like it! In the late 80’s and early 90’s, I used to hunt the southern states as their seasons started a few weeks before ours did. I then would drive home and start the whole process all over again. One thing I remembered well was the fact that those southern boys really did know how to hunt those birds! I learned a lot from those old timers.
Here in Illinois, we don’t have to struggle with the higher terrain as in Alabama’s Talladega National Forest. With elevations in the 2000 ft. range, it really wore you out chasing vocal gobblers up and down those hills! We still have our obstacles though. One thing I’ve learned about the mature gobbler is the fact that they do have personalities. Figure out his and you’ll beat him at his game. There are many ways to hunt Illinois turkeys, so I can’t possibly elaborate on them all but I would like to point out some tips that may be of help for you.
Decoying is fine and works wonders in many parts of the state, so you may want to try that method. Believe it or not, proper decoying requires some degree of strategy. Placing a hen with a Jake decoy together can really make an old Tom jealous! Placing a hen decoy alone will attract some birds but in most cases it’s just the Jakes that come out first. Patience will allow the bigger birds to come out after the Jakes have “tested” the area for them. Not using a decoy is a very successful way to get them coming also! One thing they can’t stand is “not knowing”. By calling to a Tom and not showing him any sign of a hen, he will naturally want to investigate. The problem is that they are so smart. If you are on flat ground and hiding behind a tree, etc, and he doesn’t see the hen, chances are he’ll bolt. If you call behind a small hill, the hill justify’s why he can’t see the hen. He’ll make the trip to investigate what is over that hill! With you sitting close to the top of that hill, he’ll meet your cannon (my 10 gauge) head first. It’s a great strategy and really knocks em’ dead…no pun intended.
One last piece of advice is NOT to over call! I think this is the sole reason birds get quieter during the later hunting seasons. I’ll guarantee that any Tom within 200 yards of you will hear your hen yelps, even if he doesn’t call back. Many times he’ll come in quiet only to find the hunter carrying on making a fool of himself. Two or three calls is all you need to use if you know you are in the vicinity of turkeys! Wait it out! I’ve killed the biggest bird to date by “dry calling” with no response from the Tom. It took over an hour for him to show his face and when he did, it he had no idea where I was. So in summary, call lightly, call behind a hill when the opportunity arises and be patient. Don’t give yourself away! I’ll promise you he knows just where the call came from. Once making a short series of calls, it works best if you can place yourself about 50 yards in front of the place you called from. By keeping quiet after the initial call, he’ll look at the place the call came from. They usually hang-up around 50 yards or so from where the call came from, so by relocating, you should be right in his face when he arrives!
Happy hunting!