How do you turkey hunt and why?

[bearpaw]

IT"S ALMOST TURKEY SEASON!
Everyone has their favorite turkey hunting methods. I put a few options in the poll and can add others that are mentioned.

I've probably hunted most methods possible but my favorite method is calling without decoys on public or private land, anywhere I can get a response. I like this method because it doesn't tie me down, when I'm calling I like to be able to move if I feel it's needed and I don't like having to go back after decoys or pick them up before I move. I've never bow hunted turkeys myself, just with clients, but I'm thinking about trying this year if I get enough time to hunt for myself.

Tell us how you hunt, your favorite methods, what works best for you, and why?

[Rainier10]

I use a whole bunch of the options above.  I am hunting with my kids and I am actually not hunting.  I am just out there for them.

It is on private property, where I have seen birds before, in a blind with calls and decoys, using a shotgun.

[Karl Blanchard]

Strictly run and gun for me.  I want to cover lots of country and hunt active birds.  Nothing better than cat and mouse with mature tom turkey.

[rtspring]

Bow! Spot and stalk.  Induce a gobble then stalk him down!!!  Its dang near as fun as elk hunting.   

Trust me you will fail....  Ah but when you connect it is awesome.. 

[jasnt]

I like calling with out decoys. Mostly public land.  I too like to be able to run and gun. I like team hunting and sending the caller back 50-100 yards. I've hunted them by spot and stalk and still hunting or ambush but I prefer calling responsive birds. I do tons of preseason scouting. Not only patterning but also I start putting them to bed end of March.  After work I head straight to my hunting area and rush to a high point I can where I can hear for a long ways. I pack my gobbler call and as soon as it's getting dark(sometimes they gobble first) I do a gobble. Often I'll get a few min of return gobbles(one or 2 from each tom or group of toms as they roost) I just take note of all the roosting areas and where the toms seem to be roosting. By April 15th I've got plenty of birds located and patterned to be sure me and mine have a good season. others in the group do the same to other areas. Together we can get on birds all over even if my area gets pressured to much or my friends area gets hit hard we aren't out with out a clue. It's all of our back up for when your fav spot turns in to a parking lot.

[Big game archer]

For me there is nothing better than calling in mature toms on public land, particularly in the mountains at high elevation. Pretty challenging but very rewarding! I usually start my day using a decoy but will often abandon it if I have to make quick move to close the distance.

[lewy]

For some reason decoys do not work for me, have had far more turkeys see the decoys and run for the hills than act interested. I like to run and gun, cover lots if ground pick up a few sheds along the way

[kirkl]

I mainly run and gun till I find em then it's hide and call if they wanna play.

[lokidog]

Whatever method and where ever I can find them.  I checked eleven boxes  and would have been twelve if crossbow was on there.  I could probably have checked ML as well since I did miss one once that way.   

I do like to run and gun, usually not using a decoy.  I prefer private, but public land works OK too. I've gotten one in most of the ways mentioned, including staking out a chicken coop that the birds like to hit in the morning. 

[kevinlisa06]

Run and gun for the wife and I.

[Camp David]

A lot of methods. I'm blessed with being able to hunt on private land I also hunt a lot with my bow. Getting them off the roost has been successful at times. I like to hunt out of a ground blind and "cold" call; my decoy success has been marginal. The blind allows me to see them with out being spotted; turkeys don't seem to worry about the ground blinds at all. Turkeys can be creature of habit and  its possible to set up an ambush if they are not being responsive to calls. Finding and setting up near a popular evening roost and strutting zone can be a great way to take a nice gobbler.

[Henrydog]

Find the Roost and come back for fly down.  I love the anticipation of the sun coming up knowing they are there.  I love the noise when they start calling from the trees and the confusion of fly down

[turkeydancer]

I've had great success not tying myself down to one method, but prefer sneaking into their kitchen and setup in the direction they want to travel, and then calling them in ... usually calling sparingly, but let them tell me what they want (take their temperature).  If they move away from the calling, then I may just get ahead of them and then wait them out.  To me there is no incorrect method to give a tom a piggyback ride to my truck.   

[dawei]

I run & gun albeit slowly as I am an old fart, (soon be 66). I hunt the Klickitat in places Jerbear took me. After having my shooting shoulder replaced in 2008 I now do all of my turkey hunting with a 20ga. Ammunition & choke technology have really improved by leaps & bounds compared to when I started turkey hunting in the 1970's. Sometimes I use decoys but not always. Do use a blind when available.

[WaltAlpine]

Mostly run and gun in the Fall and Call from a blind or with my back to a tree in the Spring.
it's the most fun I have except playing with my grandson!

[BGLEMIN]

Love to run & gun also. If I can get a tom to commit off the roost, then I'm eating turkey. However, by happenstance I discovered a little trick for those hen heavy toms. So many times I've setup on a tom with hens in the roost only to have them fly down, breed and move on. One day I was just flat tired from early mornings, and putting on the miles, that after the flock left I just stayed near the roost. Around 10am a single gobble echoed within 100 yds of my location. I excitedly yelped back, being cutoff mid sentence by this eager gobbler. He came charging in before I even thought of calling again and met a load of #5 shot. When I recovered this bird I was shocked at who it was. It was the boss I had been calling to earlier, I knew this bird well as he was missing three tail feathers.

Over the seasons I have tested my hypothesis that henned-up toms would return to the roost after the hens went to the nest after being bred. The data, i.e., toms harvested, has led me to believe this tactic works. In total, I have witnessed 13 toms taken in this manner.

I believe it's important to make sure you're calling to these toms while on the roost and shortly after fly down. When the gobbling stops and the drumming begins, quit calling. Boss tom is busy breeding at this point. Hopefully he'll think about those sweet yelps & purrs from that hen he's yet to meet and he'll wander back to see if she's still around.

It makes sense to me that a roost tree is essentially like a rub tree for a bull or buck. It is where presence and territory is established. It signifies, "Hey ladies, meet me here!!".

[270Shooter]

I run and gun most of the time. I normally hunt central WA so turkeys are sometimes harder to pattern and find. I also hunt the klickitat area sometimes as well. If I can roost on I'll certainly be back early the next day to try and call him off the roost, however this has never worked for me, must be doing something wrong. When all else fails I like to sleep in and hit the woods about 930 or 10 and if I can get one to gobble mid day it's game on. 10 to 2 is the time they are the most callable for me.

[Fshnpole]

Depends on the season.  In the fall I like to spot and stalk, which isnt always easy on turkey but alot of fun.  Most the birds I hunted last fall were making alot of noise throughout the day so that made it alot easier.  I have tried calling in the fall but have had little luck.  Spring time I like to move and call till i get a response then get within about 100 yards set up a dec and bring him in.  Every now and then I bust some that come in silent while I'm moving but nothing beats having a big tom come into a decoy and start spitting and drumming.

Forgot to add archery, always use to use my shotgun but the last few years bow only.  Just dont use those silly turkey broadheads, like gobbler guillotines.  All they are good at is advertising.  I use my same deer broadhead if you hit the bird where the wing meets the body no damage to the breast and never had an issue with a bird taking off and way more fun than shotgun.

[turkeydancer]

 
I find that most people call too often and too loud while the toms on the roost like I used to in my early days of turkey hunting.   I find I get more toms when I play on his natural curiosity and sex drive by just letting him know I'm there with a sleepy tree yelp which he'll usually hammer and then wait until legal shoot and do a few hat slap like the hen just flew down.  I've actually had a tom fly down and land on my boot, and quite often fly down just feet from me.  If they flew down further away, I'll let him gobble 3 times to my 1 response giving him soft, quiet, and sexy clucks, purrs, and yelps.   If he doesn't come in, I'll turn it up a bit with louder yelps and some excited cutting.  And if that doesn't work, I may take a nap then start some occasional calls while waiting him out when he has breed his hens and they return to the nest.  If that doesn't work then it's time for a little "running" and calling.  Later in the day, I'll move back towards the roost and some occasional calling and waiting him out again.
 
   

[tlbradford]

The goal for me is to locate and set up close to them to call.  I wouldn't hunt turkeys if I wasn't calling them in.  That is where I derive all of my fun.  Decoys have worked well for me with the exception of one time where the wind blew one over when a tom was on it's way in.  I feel it is extremely important to match your set-up with how they are behaving during that point in the season.  I also do everything I can to make the decoys as lifelike as possible.  Adding real tail fans, painting them, setting them up so they have some movement are all things I try to do.