How To Scout For Turkey On Public Land

8 Tips For Public Land Turkey Hunting | THLETE Hunting

Hunting turkeys on public land can be downright tough. The uptick in human intrusion and a few sour notes from a slate tin can brainwash a tom and make him very difficult to locate and kill. But, with a petty luck and an understanding of how pressured birds operate, you tin plow the tides in your favor and put a good public land tom on the footing this spring. Hither are viii tips to assist in hunting pressured public land gobblers.

Go on information technology simple: No demand to master every call on the turkey vocab list. A uncomplicated yelp is basically, the "hey, how are ya" or "hey, I'm over here," in turkey lingo. By being overly ambitious, you up the odds of striking an off-central notation and spooking the bird. The easiest matter to do is over-call which can exist a big mistake. Recollect about hens that you accept heard in the wild, more oft than not, all you hear is a yelp or a uncomplicated cluck. Where things get tricky is deciphering a cluck from a putt. A cluck is a vocalization that conveys calmness whereas a putt is a "hey, anybody be alert!" vocalization. If you desire to improve your turkey vocab, learn and be able to distinguish what each sound stand for. As you go more proficient with your calling, you can tackle the purr, kee kee, chortle, and cutt, just unless you lot have them mastered, it is frequently better to leave them out of your calling sequence. I can think 1 public land hunt in particular in southeastern Minnesota where I was set up on a bird well before sunrise. As the first rays of calorie-free broke across the valley, I apace realized that I was not alone on the ridge. Beyond the valley, some other hunter was later on the same bird. I estimate that he was 300 yards off, but by the intensity of his calling, it sounded like he was on the other side of the tree from me. Needless to say, the gobbler did not buy into either of our serenades and afterward he hit the basis, he shut up for good. The lesson here, call less and tone it downwardly; in virtually cases, there is no need to scream at them.
Know when to movement: Sometimes a bird will talk your ear off even though he has no intention of making a move. He may be educated or henned upwardly; regardless, he is not as interested as he seems. Yous have two options on finicky birds, make a movement or walk away. If the bird is in a location that offers an opportunity for a stalk, go later on him on his turf. Past closing the distance and changing the angle of your calling you can fool him into thinking you are an interested hen. If he is in a location that is just to difficult to get at, leave him be and come dorsum in a couple of hours. As mentioned above, call less oft and very soft; a few soft yelps may be all it takes to describe him in. If he gobbles once, shut up and get set up.
Run and Gun: When all else fails, jump in your truck and hit the backroads. This strategy works peculiarly well in the tardily flavour once everything has greened up. Late flavor ways fewer hunters in the woods and easier stalking. Although birds have been hunted, they are still killable, but it may be all-time to leave your calls behind. If you lot tin can spot a gobbler from a distance, you lot tin attempt to get in front of him and cut him off. Pack calorie-free and wear proficient boots, an all our run to get alee of a tom is not out of the question.
Hunt the crappy days: Public lands birds are a strange breed. Some days they will be gobbling to beat the band and others they will not say a single annotation. While you can't brand them talk, there is ane surefire tactic to meet more birds, and that is to hunt the crappy days. If there is rain or excessive wind, birds will congregate in fields and current of air-broke areas. It is widely believed that turkeys exercise this for two reasons, rain and wind create an unsafe surroundings inside the woods by increasing noise and mayhem. It is more difficult for turkeys to elude predators and by heading for open ground, they can monitor their surrounding more efficiently. Second, rain means bugs and bugs hateful food. Turkeys love picking their mode through open fields during heavy rains to take reward of the all-out issues cafe. A rainy late season twenty-four hour period tin be a great time to sneak upwardly on a phone call shy gobbler that has eluded hunters all flavor, by and large he will be on a field edge picking bugs.
Shut upwards: Play difficult to become. A gobbler will non feel whatsoever sense of urgency to investigate if he tin can keep constant tabs on y'all via your calling. Lay off the call and the duration of the call sequence. If he responds, shut up and let his curiosity get the best of him. The in a higher place tactic is not surefire, but many avid turkey hunters agree that more birds come in this fashion than whatsoever other. Rarely practice public state toms come up running from the roost in the morn; y'all accept to coax them a bit. If he sounds off and you lot figure he is within 100 yards, get ready. It is very mutual for public state birds to close the final distance without making a sound. Look for his caput to cautiously come bobbing into view. Patience is the key to this tactic, you cannot move a muscle. The gobbler volition be on the picket equally he moves in.
Avoid using blinds: In my experience with eastern gobblers, a blind is a big red flag on public land eastern toms; they accept seen the same routine field-edge setup too many times. Focus on natural hides and funnels to up your odds and avoid using bulky ground blinds if possible. Hunting from a blind may very well piece of work for you, only don't exist afraid to ditch information technology if you are getting busted.
Chase minor tracts: The large well known public hunting grounds will get hitting first. By focusing on small tracts of country (200 acres or less) you may very well not only find yourself alone, merely you accept a adventure at toms that have not been hunted at all. And so don't overlook the fifty-acre piece of land that everybody else has driven past, it could be the key to punching your tag.
Accept the afternoon shift (where legal): If yous ask most turkey hunters when they prefer to exist in the wood, they volition say sunrise. The birds are gobbling and it is easy to locate them earlier they fly downwards from their roost. However, pressured birds know when they are virtually vulnerable to hunting pressure and being that most hunters are in the woods at dawn, turkeys become wise to the aforementioned former tricks. By switching to the midday or afternoon shift, hunting pressure will be reduced. By focusing more on strut zones and travel corridors, you can narrow downward your search for a big public country tom. Birds volition likely exist gobbling less, but with fewer people in the woods disturbing them, they are frequently easier to kill. Some other plus to hunting the mid-twenty-four hours/afternoon is that toms are more apt to exist alone. As hens break away to nest afterward fly-downwardly, a tom will exist scrambling to find a willing hen to supersede his lost flock.