Spring turkey season is set around one specific event: mating season. Gobblers are out with the goal of showing off for females and passing on their genetics. Similar to a large game animal in the rut, these birds are out with one goal this time of year. This makes hunting them extremely fun, as they are interactive and motivated to come running to your calls.
Preparation: The Essentials
Camo: It is incredibly important to cover every part of your body in some form of camouflage. You've probably heard hunters talk about turkeys and their vision. Six cone cells house the remarkable capacity for color vision in a gobbler's retina, which is among the most intricate of any animal. In comparison, the human eye only has three. This is where we discover the justification behind choosing our camo carefully. On that note, taking care of your turkey camo is the next step to not getting yourself busted. Some laundry detergents and fabric softeners can leave a mild residue on your gear, resulting in the slight glow of a blueish color that a gobbler can quickly detect as unnatural. So choose your detergent carefully, avoid softeners, and be sure to sit still!!
Depending on where you are hunting, you may want to tailor your gear list for certain situations. Specialized gear can include waterproof boots, especially if you'll be crossing potential creek bottoms and other water sources; tick prevention, which can come in many forms and is often very useful when you're crawling around in the grass and brush in the spring; and possibly the most important of them all, depending on your location: snake boots and guards!
The main essentials are almost always the same: good quality, comfortable boots, calls, a gun, choke, and turkey shot, binoculars, face covering, a comfortable turkey vest, decoys, and your license and tags!
Research and Regulations
Not only do regulations change from state to state, but they can also change per zone and season. Be sure to check the regulations before each hunt to make sure you are always within the guidelines. For instance, while some states only permit the harvest of male turkeys, others permit the taking of bearded hens. While there are many different ways for hunters to pursue a spring turkey, some methods are inherently dangerous and even illegal in some states.
Scouting: A Key to Success
Like with any successful hunt, scouting is paramount. From finding where they are roosting to where they are sourcing their water, and everything in between, proper scouting is the key to success. Depending on where you are hunting, tailoring your scout to the area will give you a leg up on your chances of success. Using OnX is a great tool. OnX gives you several different views of maps, and you can see landowner’s names when needing to ask for permission to hunt on private land. Finding roosts and water sources are two of the most important things you can do to set yourself up for success. Setting up close enough to the roost so a big bird can hear you and you can hear him is a great way to set yourself up for a little bit of action! Look for ridges on the map. Because hens can hear and see them from a distance, toms like to strut around and gobble in these areas. Mark all access points to the places you’ll be hunting. Places that are likely to be busier with people are much less likely to have turkeys around them. Your scout should be your mission to gather all the information that you possibly can: potential strut zones, water, people, listening for sounds and gobbles, driving by, walking the area on foot, looking for tracks, and little lines in the sand that indicate wing drags. Also, note if there are multiple turkeys or a group of them, note how large the feet are, and study maps!
Different Methods of Turkey Hunting
Run and Gun: Mimicking turkey calls to lure gobblers within shooting range requires patience and skill. Practice all the time, watch tutorials, and perfect your craft! Being a strong caller may be the single most important thing you can do to better yourself as a turkey hunter and your chances of a harvest!
Decoying: Using decoys to attract curious gobblers can be highly effective, especially in open fields. There is controversy among some hunters on the ethics of using male decoys, as it seems to be nearly impossible for a big tom to resist the temptation to come in and square up on a potential rival.
Ambushing: Ambushing sounds simple, but it usually proves to be a pretty challenging way to hunt. It requires a lot of skill and knowledge in a particular area. Ambushing typically consists of strategically positioning yourself along known turkey travel routes, dust bathing spots, feeding areas, around water sources, or below roosting trees, and waiting for gobblers to pass by.
Spot and Stalk: Stealthily stalking gobblers in their natural habitat, requiring keen observation and quick reflexes. Hunters will use natural vegetation, excellent ninja skills, and camo to be successful with this method.
Flock Busting: Disrupting turkey flocks to scatter them, then calling them back in one by one. This method is usually more common in the fall turkey season, but it can be occasionally useful in the spring too. If you happen to stumble upon a flock of turkeys and spook them, remember this method and use it to your advantage. Turkeys naturally want to gather together, and calling them back can often be successful.
Fanning/Reaping: This is probably the most controversial method of turkey hunting. With fanning, the hunter hides behind a turkey fan to mimic a strutting gobbler, drawing in dominant birds for a close-range shot. Hunters are shot every year with this method by others, mistaking them for big toms. The ethics and safety involved in fanning are heavily debated and often heated among hunters.
Whatever method you choose to pursue gobblers this spring, stay safe, follow the regulations, respect the resource, and consider sharing the love of the sport with our youth!