INTERSTATE SPORTSMAN

Wild turkey trucking 101
by Ray Brock, the Interstate Sportsman

When the days become noticeably longer and pastel-green buds begin peaking through the drab-grey mantle of the woodlands, you know that spring turkey-hunting season is close at hand. Professional drivers have the best and worst of it when it comes to hunting these wary game birds. If you are a long distance driver, you pass by millions of acres of public hunting land where the wild turkey is abundant. Unfortunately, finding as much time as we all wish we had to hunt these birds is rarely easy.

     Wild turkeys are found throughout the United States. There are four subspecies of these game birds: the Eastern, Merriam, Rio Grande and Osceola that all look quite the same in most respects. Eastern wild turkeys are found primarily east of the Mississippi River, but also occur in the western edges of this great basin. Rio Grande turkeys are found in southwestern states like Texas and Arizona. Merriam wild turkeys are found mostly in the western states. The Osceola wild turkey is the rarest and is found only in southern Florida.

     Most turkey hunting occurs during the spring when gobblers use loud vocal calls to attract ready-to-breed hens to them. Seasons open earlier in the South, in late February in Florida, for example, and as late as mid-May in northern states such as New York and Michigan. Spring hunting seasons are scheduled when breeding activity is at peak levels to give hunters an opportunity to call in an eager-to-breed gobbler.

     It takes many seasons to become a highly experienced wild turkey hunter, but every turkey hunter starts out as a novice. If you have never hunted these animals, you soon discover they have incredible hearing and sight. Learning how to locate birds, setting up to call them, calling them in close enough to kill and knowing how make a clean kill are all skills every turkey hunter must master.

     Locating birds in a new area is fun. I like getting out in my Jeep, driving back roads in state and federal forests, often stopping and just listening for calling activity by resident birds. I have talked to many drivers who take breaks from the road at rest areas in public lands who have often located birds a short walk in the woods from these areas. One word of warning, though, is if you plan to return to hunt the turkeys you have located, once you know where they are, leave them alone until hunting time. If you practice call to them, they may answer then, but be wise to your calling efforts in the future.

     Set-up is a big key to bagging a gobbler. When you are hunting and locate what you hope is a cooperative tom, the first thing you need to do is locate a good set-up spot. Presumably you are wearing head-to-toe camouflage clothing and a head net that blends with your surroundings. A good set-up location is one that breaks up your outline and preferably gives you a little concealment cover. The most common set-up is with your back to a tree with a bit of brush in front of you. However, depending on where you are and the availability of such cover, you might have to lean against a rock or fence post or even crouch down in a weedy ditch. The objective is to blend in and not stand out where you can be easily spotted by the keen eyes of these birds.

     Calling is usually regarded as the most difficult to master of the skills needed to successfully hunt spring season gobblers. Contrary to what many say, calling is not difficult to master well enough to call in gobblers, but it can be as complex as you wish to make it. In nature, the hen seeks out the gobbler when she is ready to mate. Mating must occur each time a single egg is laid. This means that hens come and go during the month-long mating season, laying an egg and then returning to mate again and so forth.

     As is the case in nature, the gobbler is always ready to mate, and if a hen will not actively seek him out, a tom will respond to seductive hen yelps in an effort to find her. If you have never called a gobbler, all you need to do is learn to make simple hen yelps on a turkey call. If you do not move and give away your human presence or make some noise like a cough or banging your shotgun barrel against a tree, the odds of a gobbler strutting within shooting range is about 50/50.
  
   The easiest beginner calls for making hen yelps is a push button box call or a swing arm call. Many companies make these, and they all work well. Get an audio cassette on the different calls to make. Learning to call (and when not to call) takes practice, but like a great pick-up line, when it works, it works really well. For obvious safety reasons, use only hen calls, never male. Making a tom’s call might make another hunter think you are a gobbler ready for him to kill.

     Shooting a turkey is not difficult, but you need to know what your effective killing range is and where and when to shoot. I use a full choke, 10-gauge shotgun that will enable me to effectively kill a gobbler at up to 75 yards. Even the best 12 gauge shotguns that are designed for hunting wild turkey are rarely able to dispatch a gobbler at over 60 yards, with many effectivel only at 50-yard distances.

     Killing power boils down to how many shot pellets you can put into the head of a gobbler. If you body shoot one, it is likely to get away before it dies and you find it. Here is one piece of advice: the instant you shoot a gobbler, run to it as fast you can to subdue the bird if it is still alive.

     Safety is a huge issue when tur-key hunting. Never wear red or blue, two colors closely associated with a gobbler. When traveling in the woods, wear hunter orange and remove it when you set up (where it is legal.)

     Wild turkey hunting outside of your home state is a little more costly. Non-resident hunting licenses cost several times more than they do if you live in a given state. Just as every state sets its own season and regulations for hunting wild turkey, the same is true of what is charged non-resident hunters. You can visit our Web site at www.interstatesportsman.com for a link to any or all states to get the latest information on season dates and non-resident license cost.

     Booking a guided hunt is another option that is attractive to on-the-go-drivers wishing to take advantage of their time away from home. Outfitters offering such hunts provide pick-up rides where you park, furnish fire-arms, have access to prime hunting areas and can ship your birds to your home. They are available all across the country.

     If you haven’t added spring season wild turkey to your “to do” list, or if you think you are on the road too often to get your share of hunting time, think again. Most of us drive through great wild turkey hunting country all season long from February until June. It’s a matter of making the time and effort to take advantage of some great opportunities. Remember: take a kid to the woods and it will keep them off the streets. May God bless you as he has me. If you just ask Him to, He will.