The “teaser” temperatures in the 80s recently woke us all up to the fact that opening day of spring gobbler season is about to happen! Daytime temperatures are finally settling back to a more normal and more comfortable level, and the snow (I hope!) is gone for the season. Now, it’s a matter of double-checking our gear, taking a shot or two just to verify the sights are still on, and maybe slipping out for a final morning or two of trying to locate a vocal gobbler.
If you do get out for some last-minute scouting, you would be well advised to leave your turkey calls at home! The last thing you want to do just before the season opens is to educate a willing gobbler that the calls he is hearing are really from a human. It would be OK to use a locator call, such as a barred owl, peacock, or coyote call, but don’t be tempted to purr, cluck, or yelp on a turkey call — save those calls for the opening morning!
Recent reports of sightings of gobblers and strutting gobblers with hens have been on the increase in the past week or so. As usual, hearing gobblers sounding off from their roost at daybreak has been hit-or-miss, with total silence some mornings and numerous birds gobbling on others. Perhaps the late arrival of warmer weather has some of the turkeys still holed up in their winter hideouts. Actually, research has shown that turkeys often do have a winter range and a spring range. Tracking devices were attached to birds that were netted for the research, and the results were quite interesting. Birds often traveled up to 5 miles between their winter range (often in hollows or valleys with heavy conifer cover for thermal protection) and their springtime destinations for strutting, breeding, and nesting. One bird was recorded as traveling 25 miles between the two ranges! So, chances are the cold, snowy weather we had been experiencing may have delayed the birds’ movement to their springtime hangouts. Nonetheless, on Saturday, May 2nd, at 30 minutes before sunrise, the legal shooting hours begin and go until noon.
With only a day or two left until the season begins, scouting can become critical to your game plan for opening day. If you are not fortunate enough to have located turkeys before opening day, sitting and waiting may be your best approach. Feeding areas, such as grape vine tangles, oak, forests, or nearby cut corn fields, are good choices. If you have located a strutting area, then you really have a prime spot. Patience is the name of the game here; with some limited calling and an abundance of waiting in between calls, it can be very effective. If, however, you cannot locate any birds in your usual hunting spots by the day or two leading up to opening day, then running and gunning may be your best alternative. Here, you need to enter the woods well before daylight to listen for a possible gobbler calling from his roost. If you don’t hear any gobbling, you can begin calling, waiting for a response. If you hear nothing, move on to the next spot you want to call from. Give it a good 20 to 30 minutes before you move to the next calling location, just in case a wary old gobbler is coming in silently.
Decoys can be effective, especially early in the season. A single hen decoy will draw the attention of an incoming gobbler and will focus his vision away from you. Perhaps even more effective is a single hen decoy lying on the ground in the breeding position with a jake decoy standing closely behind her. An interested gobbler, once he spots the setup, will often close the distance quickly as he comes in to challenge the jake.
If you are mentoring a youth hunter or taking an adult hunter who is relatively new to turkey hunting, using a pop-up blind is a wise move. Turkeys have extremely keen eyesight and will easily spot any movement of a fidgety hunter. The blind will also mask any movement you make while working on a call or instructing the new shooter.
Safety is a key element of spring gobbler hunting. Remember to “Always Positively Identify Your Target — and Beyond!”
