Rookie Turkey Hunter

[rblau]

Hey All,

This is my first turkey season, and my father-in-law and I are headed out to Klickitat this Saturday to give it our best.  I have found the information in this forum to be very informative and insightful.  I know that you guys have probably had your fair share of newbie questions, but I am hoping you will be willing to share your advice again.  I have watched a turkey hunting DVD and had some conversations with some of the wise souls I know.  I have got all my camo gear and a Primo crow call.

Any advice for a rookie turkey hunter?

Anyone willing to advise where to go in Klickitat?

Anyone in this forum live in SW Washington?

Thank you all in advance for any info. provided.

God Bless,

Ryan

[popeshawnpaul]

I never had much success with a crow call and keep it at home now.  I just bring my box call is all.  I think when I first started I was afraid to call.  Don't be afraid to try.

I got no clue where to go in the Klickitat. 

[MuleySniper]

A crow call works good for us most of the time during the day, but I think a coyote howl works better 
MS

[10Key]

As to where to go, I can't be of much help. What I can tell you is that the birds aren't where they normally are this time of year, due to the crazy weather we've been having. Try hunting the lower elevations first and go from there. The birds I got into near there were only vocal first thing in the am and they shut up for the rest of the day.

[Machias]

Never leave home with out my coyote howler and crow call.  Crow calls work outstanding here, if blown forcefully and acurately.  Slow down, right now they are really henned up.  Don't over call.  Be patient.  Call softer, act like a real hen.  Certain times of the year the cuttin hen works great, but watch the hens, they rarely run around the woods calling as loudly and as excitedly as you see on TV.  When they are calling and gobbling and then stop.....don't MOVE, lots of gobblers will stop and circle in and watch the area for a few minutes, lots of guys get anxious and bust the bird that way.  If you spook a bird, come back the next day from a different angle and with a different call.  Best of all this time of the year, you get an answer after 1000ish you have a very good chance of bringing that bird in, all or most of the hens will have left him and he'll be feeling lonely.  Good luck.

[rblau]

Thanks all for your comments so far.  It looks like there is a mix of advice for the calls, I have a crow call, my father-in-law has a coyote call, and I am going to be looking for a box call to borrow.  I will be as patient as I can out there and will work from the bottom up.

Thanks Guys,

Ryan

[wastickslinger]

I carry all kinds of locators. You just never know what will make them gobble. (coyote howler, crow call, owl hooter, duck call, goose flute, shaker gobbler, heck even the car horn or door slam will make them gobble).

As far as calling them in. I use a slate and diaphrams. My slate usually is killer. I have been using diphrams for the past few years and they are tough to get down but very usefull (hands free for the kill).

We had a few very aggressive hens last week in the woods. My advise it to listen close and take note. If a hen wants to battle, then battle back. That tom will get very curious and turned on at two old hens yaking at eachother. If the hens are talking soft then you better talk soft back. If a tom answers your hen call right away or even cuts you off with a gobble, keep being aggressive and call right back, he is very excited. If he is slow to respond (every 3rd or 4th yelp at him), slow downand be patient. There is a real art to figuring out what they want to hear and when. Time in the woods and many blown set ups will acually really help. I have learned more from listening to birds and just playing along than anything I have picked up from TV.

Last tip, a lesson I have learned the hard way many times. If you know a tom was close but he quit gobbling at you, Dont get up right away. They will come in silent the last 100 yards often. When a bird quits gobbling for me I will try and sit for a half hour and cluck a bit and keep my eyes open.

If all else fails, call a bit, fall asleep under the, and wait for a gobble to wake you up. I had that happen last year. Scared the piss out of me. 

Good luck to ya!!!

[Intruder]

What Machias & wastickslinger said...... both gave great advice. 

Think stealthy and subtle... don't overcall.   

No clue on the area you're hunting.  1 suggestion though.... try to get out on a high vantage point and listen.  Do it right before dark... listen for birds gobbling when they roost and do the same thing in the morning.  Get out there before sun up and just try to pinpoint a gobblin bird. 

[Wacenturion]

When I hunt Klickitat, by far the best locator call during the day is a woodpecker call.  It's as loud as it gets and get resonses from shock gobbles along ways off.  Get one....they are fairly cheap.  Also the birds don't hear them much as most are using other types of locator calls....well at least until now anyway...lol.

[Wacenturion]

Oh....might add.....since you may be walking and scouting the areas while hunting...DON"T use turkey calls.  Use your locator calls to hear one.  Then try and pinpoint his location and slowly work your way to within 40-100 yards, depending on cover and lay of the land.  Then pick a good spot, set against a tree at your back, let everything quiet down for 15 minutes or so in case he heard you....remember that you probably sound like a deer or something.  Then start soft calling and not to frequently.  Be patient...if he answers and is coming ....be patient.  More birds are not taken because someone got to anxious and gave themselves away.  If you move....do it in super slow motion...i.e getting gun up, moving head etc.
Patience is a virtue......you need a good serving of it.
If the bird remains in the same area and does not come...relocate.  Alot of time those gobblers have a comfort zone....get within it and they are dead if you don't screw it up.
Good luck!

[Intruder]

Not to stir the pot here..... there's a long thread of comments in another topic regarding stalking birds.  You can read through it to see the various opinions voiced.

I request however..... Please do not attempt to sneak in on the bird to shoot it.  In the cases where folks are talking about moving into position it is to call the bird in not to try and sneak close and shoot it.  This is a really dangerous tactic as well as being disruptive to other hunters.  Callin em in is where all the fun is anyway....   

[rosscrazyelk]

Listen to the birds. I got into it with a hen last week. She came over to kick my ass and brought some jakes with her. Unfortunately no Big TOM

[Machias]

rosscrazyelk is right on, that is a very good tatic when they are henned up.  Mimicing a hen can get her into a fightin mood and bring one over to you.  It has worked for me several times!

[Wacenturion]

Intruder makes a good point...

When I said...."Alot of time those gobblers have a comfort zone....get within it and they are dead if you don't screw it up."


What I meant was..within the comfort zone sitting and doing as I said above.  They'll come to you...ABSOLUTELY did not mean to suggest stalking the bird and shooting it.

As Machias and others have said....pulling in hens can be alot of fun, and some times they are trolling gobblers in tow.  Just mimic their exact calls, gradually getting louder....really pisses em off sometimes.....and a good opportunity for practicing hen calls and their cadance.

[rblau]

Not to stir the pot here..... there's a long thread of comments in another topic regarding stalking birds.  You can read through it to see the various opinions voiced.

I request however..... Please do not attempt to sneak in on the bird to shoot it.  In the cases where folks are talking about moving into position it is to call the bird in not to try and sneak close and shoot it.  This is a really dangerous tactic as well as being disruptive to other hunters.  Callin em in is where all the fun is anyway....   

Consider the pot not stirred, I have read many of the threads here, but certainly have not seen all of them, I will try to find that one.

As far as sneaking up on a bird, my understanding of ethical and safe turkey hunting involves hiking around listening for birds and once you find one, post up and call it in.  I have read about several accidents in other threads and I don't plan on being involved in one.  Although I am new to hunting, I always strive to see what the right way is to do something, and do that, I will never put myself or another hunter at risk.  Thanks for the warning, I take gun safety extremely seriously.

Ryan

[Jerbear]

    I live next to the Klickitat Wildlife area.  The turkey season this year is not like years past.  The weather is keeping them tight lipped.  I was out this a.m. and called over a pretty wide area.  The crows were quite loud.  I used two different calls.  Not a sound.  This has been a frustrating year.  The weather is supposed to break next week, so perhaps it will get better.  Will send you a PM later today.
Jerbear

[Coasthunterjay]

A crow call works good for us most of the time during the day, but I think a coyote howl works better 
MS

sorry NO!

if you wqwant to locate them at a far distance....maybe....and at night while there roosting maybe...during the day while your hunting.
NO! a coyote call will defenantly help you to locate the turkeys for about 2 seconds while they gobble and then they will beet feet and get the hell out of there. I have nown coyote calls for locating turkeys to scare them and shut them up more so than actualy help you so as for a beginner turkey hunter i would stay away from them.

Otherwise. as for locating turkeys, i have really liked a crow call. (i like the M.A.D. crow call. has a good deep cahhh to it and you just blow as hard as you can three times and it is bullet proof)...it wont really spook a turkey, but irritate the hell out of a turkey, because crows will pick on turkeys and are a nusence to them.

As for an owl call. they work, but i have also noticed that you can spook alot of birds sometimes with using this and then you will loose them, because they will go quiet....better used early morning before dark if you decide to hunt that early.....with an owl call you might get one or two reactions from a set of birds as you move in, to set up for a good call (if you hear a bird i feel it safe enough to move closer to it, but not onto it....especially if i cant see it) just get closer so that you can start working your box call or slate, what ever you have and see what happens. but dont use a owl call repeatedly in one area...... or you might make talking turkeys shut up.....

But from what i have seen which was shown to me recently to work the most repeatedly time after time, Very very, well. was a peacock or woodduck call.....works very well....

I have used this call in canyons, for long distances, short distances, everything and when you  cant get birds to react to a crow call or an owl call, use a peacock call and GOBBLE, Gobble, gobble, will be all you hear.........

But use several locating calls. If one doesnt work, then try another, then move on to another bend, or canyon. every turn locater call.........if you find an area that just looks good. lots of sign everywhere. sit there for a half an hour and turkey call, every 5 minutes or so.. hit the box....not crazy calling, just enough to maybe catch a group of birds walking by....and get there reaction. then move on and wait again, but make sure you walk away from where every other hunter has been...the farther you get off the beaten path the more birds you will get into......remember turkeys move fast, so you can either get them into you quickly or you can scare them away quickly....

AND MAIN THING, BE QUIET, NO TRAIL TALKING OR LAUGHING. SAVE THE TALKING FOR WHEN YOU GET TO THE TRUCK.....TRUST ME ON THIS ONE.....AND IF YOU CAN HEAR A TURKEY, BUT CANT SEE IT AND YOU KNOW IT IS GETTING CLOSER MOST TIMES IT CAN SEE YOU SO MAKE AS LITTLE MOVEMENT AS YOU NEED TO(HOPEFULLY NONE), AND MAKE SLOW MOVEMENTS.......

HAVE FUN, AND MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SHOOTING AT, WHEN YOU PULL THE TRIGGER!

[Machias]

I would have to disagree with you.  Birds that gobble at a yotey call do not gobble, and then go, "oh crap, I just gobbled at a coyote, I'm outta here!"  I have listen to birds and coyotes go back and forth for over an hour.  The birds did not leave the area. This was well after flydown.  For me a crow call is the ticket, if I need a gobble, I can usually pull one out of a gobbler with it, but have on occassion used a coyote call.  I killed my biggest bird ever when I flushed two mallards off of a small backwoods pond.  They circled, quacking wildly, and as they got overhead of this gobbler he sounded off.  But I have used the occasional coyote call and then set up and called in a bird.

I will add this, back in my home state of MO, when the peacock call came out everyone thought it was the rage, because it worked, until everybody and their brother was blowing the thing.  The second spring it got very little reaction from the birds.  Someone up above mentioned they leave their crow call at home, I would suspect those birds in his area have been crow called to death.  Not many guys use the peacock call here, I suspect that is why it is good at pulling gobbles out of birds.  Keep in mind, I see it alot here and drives me nuts, don't be out calling before the season, these birds wise up quick.  In MO by the second week, in general, gobblers will not answer a box call.  Try a soft slate and bada bing, the silent bird a few minutes ago opens right up.  They are sensitive to pressure and over calling!!

[Coasthunterjay]

Birds that gobble at a yotey call do not gobble, and then go, "oh crap,

thats not what i was saying, i was sayig that a yote call will scare them.....and i have seen this personnaly, and then seen the turkeys that we were after running away........

[Machias]

I understood what you were saying Jay, I just don't believe turkeys associate the howls of a distant coyote with danger, in my experience.

[tlbradford]

They are sensitive to pressure and over calling!!

100% agree.  Too much of a good thing is particulary true with turkeys.  I rarely use a crow call anymore because there are a ton of crows where I hunt.  An elk chirp works well for me.  I also use a coyote chirp that has been great the past year.  I prefer a real high pitched noise to get them to shock gobble.

I have had turkeys feed close to a stand when coyote hunting on numerous occasions when I started the stand off with a howl, so at least in my areas, I have not seen turkeys run away from a coyote vocalization.

For beginners, here is a web sight with some of the best written articles on turkey hunting tactics and behavior I have come across on the web. 

http://www.trmichels.com/  Turkey Hunting Articles are about a 1/4 of the way down on the page.

T.R. Michels does his homework and explains things in a great way to help you apply it to turkey hunting.  I reread a few of my favorite articles at the beginning of each season as a refresher course. 

Alex Rutledge has some great articles on the HS Strut website as well.

[Intruder]

While I'm not sure if turkeys ever get frightened by the calls of natural predators I certainly think that turkeys can get educated to shock calls be it a crow, yote, owl, whatever.  I tend to try and be more subtle.  While I still use a crow call occasionally I tend to use duck and goose calls too. 

Kenny Morgan.... a call maker, guide, and turkey hunting author from LA. claims that using shock calls that sound like predators can scare em.  At the very least he claims that it puts them at a higher state of alert (if that's possible).  There may be something to that.... but I am convinced that they do become conditioned to a scenario where they hear a shock call and then a bunch of yelps shortly after that.  Especially if it's associated with the sound of a 4-wheeler driving around      

[rblau]

Update.

We did end up making it out to Klickitat last Saturday, but were not successful.  We neither heard nor saw any birds (except a pheasant).  I did learn a lot about the area and will be much more prepared the next time I head out there.  I was unsuccessful with a crow or owl call, so I am going to be looking into boxes an slates in the next few weeks.

While out there, I did see a small herd of elk (6) and could make out one bull.  I also saw about 10 deer.  All in all, it was good to be out in nature and learn about the area and the habitat.  There are some really nice folks out there near Lyle.  We will be heading back out towards the end of May, perhaps we will be more lucky then.

Ryan

[wastickslinger]

Jay, the whole point of a crow, owl, coyote, or whatever is to scare them into a gobble. It is called shocking. You shock them and then you take a different approach and call them in. I have killed many turkeys. I bet 50% of them were first located with a coyote. 

[bowtechforelk]

Ryan I am from SW and I have been to Klickitat a couple times. I am planning on making a trip on Saturday.

[Coasthunterjay]

well i wish you all the best of luck, with what ever locator you decide to use...........

[wastickslinger]

I agree, what ever works go with it. I have got out of my truck and slammed the door and had one gobble. After a scramble set up he was on a rope and in my lap in a matter of a few minutes. You just never know.

Jay, let me clarify about the howler. I usually give a few barks and it does the trick. I dont go off on a howling spree, unless they are roosted and I really want to make em gobble.

[tlbradford]

Jay, let me clarify about the howler. I usually give a few barks and it does the trick. I dont go off on a howling spree, unless they are roosted and I really want to make em gobble.

A "quick" sound is what I prefer, no matter what it is.  You don't want to be calling when you should be listening.  wastickslinger, what are you doing slamming your door?