No question about it: turkey hunting will ever be as popular as deer hunting because turkeys don’t have horns on their heads. If they did have horns, I’m convinced that turkey hunting would probably become the number one hunting sport in the country. Even without horns, many diehard deer hunters admit that turkey hunting is a close second to deer hunting. Turkey hunting is fun for most hunters because we love the sound of the gobble at the break of daylight. We love to see a big old tom strutting in an open field and we love to yelp like a hen to bring him within gun range. What do hunters do if they can’t get a tom to gobble or come to a call? Many hunters go home empty-handed. However, if turkey hunters have a few tricks up their sleeves, they can bag a longbeard…even if the longbeard doesn’t like to talk!

While turkey hunting, I discovered a big problem. A tom will gobble his brains out from the roost tree and turn into tommy lock-jaw when he flies down each morning. I remember hunting a tom a few years ago that gobbled 150 times from the roost tree and shut up when he left the limb. I yelped, cutted, and cackled all morning, but he always went the other way. Toms that have been hunted in the season you are hunting in or are old and have been hunted for years, often refuse to talk or come to calls. If you find yourself hunting such a bird this spring, don’t lose hope of tagging a tom. You just need to use tactics and calling techniques others don’t.

I have harvested more than one bird that talked on the limb and flew down in the opposite direction from my location every time I hunted him. If you have a gobbler like this, don’t call at all. A few years ago, I chased a lone tom for several days. Each time I set up on him, he flew down and went in the opposite direction. Out of desperation, I showed up one morning and didn’t call. I sat there, just waiting to see which way he would fly down. After watching him fly down to the same little field two days in a row, I decided on the third day that I would get to his fly down spot well before daylight and wait for him to fly down. That morning, he gobbled dozens of times. I was tempted to unzip my coat pocket and let loose on my slate call, but I didn’t. About five minutes before I expected the bird to fly down, I flapped my hat in the air to imitate a hen flying down. Moments later, the tom flew right into my lap. The rest, as they say, is history. I convinced the tom that I was a real hen by staying quiet and sounding like a hen. Sometimes calling can be more of a hindrance than a help.

Success often comes to the hunter who calls less and is more patient then the next guy.

On other occasions, I have gone head-to-head with longbeards that don’t gobble at all. They might let out a gobble as the sun rises but from that point on, they don’t let out a peep for the remainder of the day. In most cases, the tom wins because he won’t gobble or come to a call. To harvest birds like these, I pattern the bird much like I would a deer. After I locate their roosting tree, I try to locate their feeding area. When I know where they would spend their mornings, I try to determine where they will spend their afternoons and evenings. Turkeys usually have a pretty regular routine. Unless they end up in a turkey fryer or have a near-death experience, they do the same thing day in and day out. When a tom doesn’t talk, I play the waiting game. If I know where he spends his time, I simply wait him out. When waiting, my favorite approach is to set up on the edge of a feeding area a few hours before I expect a bird to show himself and wait for him to arrive. Small fields or secluded two tracks where gobblers often feed or strut for hens seem to be a couple of the best places to play the waiting game. When trying to determine a toms’ routine, I ask local homeowners in the area what time of day they see birds in certain areas. Or, better yet, I place a scouting camera on the two track or feeding area where I know the tight-lipped gobbler hangs out. A camera tells me exactly what time of day a tom travels through an area. If a camera takes several photos of a tom within a few days of each other, the common link between the photos is often the time of day the tom is strutting or feeding in that area. Fields and strutting zones are often a mid-morning or afternoon hangout which means you can sleep in and get to the hunting location a few hours before the tom usually shows up to that area.

Story continues below
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another option is hunting in the evening if you live in a state where that is legal. Toms often mingle around in their roosting area an hour or more before they actually fly up. Being within shooting distance of a roost tree a few hours before dark and waiting for the tom to come to bed often allows you to harvest the bird just before he flies into his tree. Hunting this way isn’t always the most fun, but if you are hunting on the last day of the season with a few options left, this can be a good way to drop a tom. Just like with any style of hunting, hunting a roost tree in the evening isn’t always as easy as it sounds. On numerous occasions, I have been busted by birds approaching the roosting area. In the evening, they are often on high alert. The slightest movement or noise causes them to go to plan B and roost somewhere else.

Wingbone calls are another great late season call.

Sometimes all it takes to loosen the lips of a call-shy gobbler is an out-of-the-ordinary call. In the past, I have gotten call-shy birds to shock gobble to morning dove calls made with my voice, goose calls, and elk bugles. During the late season when toms get especially call shy, I usually leave the diaphragm and box call at home. In its’ place is a wingbone call, a tube call, or a scratch box. 30 years ago, these calls were standard equipment but today, few hunters use these calls which is all the more reason to use them! Wingbone and scratch box calls produce a very soft yelp that sounds more realistic than most other calls. It is almost impossible to call too loudly on either of these calls which is one reason they work when nothing else will. Many hunters call too loudly which sends toms running for the hills. A tube call is a call I never leave home without because it is so versatile. I can gobble, cluck, make goose noises and a variety of other calls with a tube call. Sounding a little different and calling a little softer in the late season is often all it takes to persuade a wise old gobbler to check me out.

Using a unique call like this scratch box can be just the ticket for tight lipped toms.

One way to lure a dominant longbeard within range is to use a different decoy strategy. At times, I can't decide if using decoys is a blessing or a curse. However, in the last couple years, several companies started producing more realistic decoys. Strutting decoys can work great - even on longbeards that are call shy and weary of decoys. Carry-Lite Decoys makes a strutting decoy called Pretty Boy. A real turkey fan can be used with this decoy, making it appear more realistic. Placing a strutting decoy in a feeding area or strutting zone next to a hen decoy is often the only requirement needed to bring a tom in; calling isn’t needed. Other options include using a real hen turkey decoy that has been mounted by a taxidermist. The real feathers and head usually fool almost any turkey. A-Way Hunting Products has a new decoy accessory called Turkey-Skinz that is a real turkey skin that slips over a decoy to give it a realistic look. If you live in a state where electronic calls can be used, another option is placing the speaker from a wireless caller directly underneath the decoy. As a tom approaches, simply hit the yelp button and the sound will come from the decoy; not the big blob sitting next to a tree 30 yards away. Regardless of what decoy strategy you use, trying a unique decoy presentation that isn’t used very often by hunters is one way to tag Mr. Anti-social.

Using a strutting decoy to lure in a tom is also a new tactic that works great.