Why You’re Not Killing More Turkeys

Turkey hunting can be challenging, regardless of your experience level, but especially when you’re just starting out. If you’re trying to become a consistent turkey hunter, there are likely a few things keeping you back. Here are a few points to consider if you want to become a stone-cold-killer in the turkey woods.

Let me get this out of the way. Yes, the patience point often gets overstated and oversimplified, but it’s true. Turkey hunting, or hunting in general, requires patience. We all know this truth, but fail to practice it. While patience is important, I’d argue that timing matters more than anything. Knowing when to stay put, when to run-and-gun, when to swing your gun barrel, when to time a call, when to shoot, etc., all factor into your success (or lack thereof) in the turkey woods. Patience is part of that timing.

Early in my hunting career, I would leave turkeys that quit gobbling too soon or bust them by standing up. I hadn’t developed the patience to realize that those longbeards were headed my way. Similarly, I wouldn’t spend enough time at midday spots that were loaded with turkey sign.

These are common themes I often here from some of my hunting buddies who are new to the turkey woods. You have to experience a successful hunt that requires a ton of patience before it clicks. No amount of YouTube videos, podcasts, or hunting articles can do that for you. You earn it from sitting until your legs go numb. Or you have to go through your entire Rolodex of hunting spots before you strike that willing bird. But when it finally happens, there’s no better feeling.

Don’t you spin your wheels with a bird that’s un-huntable. Whether he’s henned up with a flock, on the wrong property, or he’s just not willing, no amount of calling will bring him to your setup. It can be hard to leave these scenarios, especially with longbeards that gobble their brains out, or you see them strutting around a pasture you can’t hunt. Barring some divine intervention, these situations are a lost cause. You can always drop a pin and revisit these spots later in the season.

Instead of wasting the time you do have, try to find a willing bird. If you have limited time, you probably need to troll for longbeards. Try to hit as many spots as you can to strike up a willing bird by yelping or getting him to shock gobble. Don’t expect to hear anything on your first few or even several spots. No, the odds aren’t great with this approach, but the more spots you can hit, the better. When you do happen to strike a bird in these scenarios, things tend to progress quickly.

You can’t hunt turkeys that aren’t there. It doesn’t matter how great a spot looks; if you don’t see any sign (or turkeys, for that matter), you’re wasting time. This is especially true for public land turkey hunting. You can bet all the classic turkey spots have been pillaged by mid to late season. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find good turkey hunting.

Pressured turkeys hole up after the first few weeks of the season. You’ll have to glass or get some boots on the ground to find them. The same goes for silent gobblers. Look for areas with fresh scratching or droppings. If you find them, plan on spending some time in these areas while you call softly. Alternatively, you can stash your calls away and mimic turkeys scratching in the leaves if you’re dealing with tight-lipped birds.

It’s also important that you scout unconventional turkey spots, too. You can avoid rabbit thickets, but look for places that might offer enough security and food for turkeys to hang out. These locales could include small bowls on the backside of a ridge, recently thinned pine stands, small drainages off of a major creek, or even small blocks of timber near a cutover or field. These spots don’t often stand out from the road, so you’ll have to cover some ground to find them.

Another reason you aren’t killing more turkeys probably deals with a lack of woodsmanship, which only comes through intentional time in the woods. The best turkey hunters I know aren’t just good callers (some of them aren’t even that), but they understand turkeys and turkey behavior. Even the best turkey calls won’t help you if you don’t know how turkeys behave. As much as you practice calling, you should learn what turkeys eat throughout an entire spring, how they navigate the landscape, and how they might react to hunting pressure.

You should also pay close attention to real turkey sounds. When you encounter a hen, try to mimic the sounds she makes. If you’re successful at tagging a bird, reflect on how the hunt played. Did he respond to certain calls? What “sealed the deal” for it? Did you notice anything about how the turkey approached your setup? All of these factors change throughout the spring. You have to change with them. Learning as much as possible about turkeys can help you do that.