Editor’s Note: Today’s column comes from David Rainer of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The subject of his story, turkey hunter Tom Kelly, will need no introduction to most turkey hunting enthusiasts.

Incredibly, Tom Kelly is about to complete his 70th season in the Alabama turkey woods with no signs of slowing down.

Kelly, whom I consider the poet laureate of the turkey world although he is far too modest to suggest such, started his turkey hunting career as an 11-year-old under inauspicious conditions. During his turkey hunting career, he’s seen Alabama’s turkey population go from virtually nil to today’s half-million.

“I started turkey hunting in 1938,” said Kelly, who now lives in Spanish Fort. “And, of course, there weren’t enough turkeys to count. I can remember my grandfather telling my daddy that it was a pity to start it, because by the time he gets grown there ain’t gonna be any. It’s like telling a kid Santa Claus is going to die next week.

“In the beginning, good gosh, there was so little turkey hunting. In fact, I’ve got the November 1944 edition of Field and Stream. In it, they listed all of the hunting regulations for every state in the union and the Canadian provinces. There were also migratory bird regulations. All of that was on two pages. That year, 1944, there wasn’t but three states with a spring turkey season. I think it was nine or 10 states that had a turkey season, but only three with a spring season – Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. And I don’t think the Mississippi and Arkansas seasons were but two weeks long.    I fiddled around with the number of licenses sold by counties. There were a few turkeys around here (southwest Alabama) and up around Talladega. In that year, in the entire United States, there wasn’t but 1,500 spring turkey hunters. It was only three states and the seasons were short. And now, you go to one banquet and there’ll be 1,500 folks.”

Not only was there few turkey hunters, the birds were few and far between back then. Kelly, who now has 10 books to his credit with the publication of last year’s “A Fork in the Road,” said successful turkey hunters were especially revered during his early hunting years.

“If a guy killed a turkey every year, people gathered around his doorsteps to worship him when he went out to get in his car,” he said. “If he killed two a year, you tried to get him in the Catholic Church so you could canonize him. And, anybody who killed three was cheating. He’s baiting them up. There ain’t nobody that good. It can’t be done. Just ain’t no way.

“I suspect in 1960 that two-thirds of the turkeys killed in this state were killed on deer drives, running in front of dogs. The guy running the hunt would stand up in front of the group and say, ‘We shoot buck deer, turkey gobblers and bobcats.’ And everybody on a stand had one barrel loaded with buckshot and one barrel loaded with No. 6. The first turkey I ever killed was looking back over his shoulder for the dog. Now, that ain’t the way we told it, but that’s the way it was. It’s something about turkeys that seems to make a guy lie, by nature a liar or not, he’s just gonna lie.”

Kelly, whose working career consisted of everything from cruising timber to running paper mills, considers the current environment the golden age of turkey hunting and beginners are able to take accelerated courses in hunting technique.

“I’ve said this for a long time – a kid starting now will see more turkeys and get to fool with more turkeys in the first five years than I did in the first 20 years,” he said. “The way to learn to do this is be stupid in front of turkeys. And now there are so many more turkeys to be stupid in front of than there used to be. In one respect, I think they might have been easier to kill in that you might be hearing the only turkey gobble you’re going to hear all week. But, on the other hand, he might be hearing the only hen he was going to hear in 10 days. Now with the competition – I’m talking about the hen competition – he gobbles four times and there’s six or seven hens under his tree. You’re dead. There ain’t nothing you can do except hope they walk your way when they leave.

“Now you didn’t hear as many turkeys when I started, but I think the ones you heard and got to were easier to work. He didn’t have the distractions. There are places now, especially that second week of the season, that it’s damn near hopeless. You yelp and he gobbles and there are hens under his tree almost instantly.”

When Kelly was a youth, he had free range over the countryside, although there was very little game, mainly rabbits and squirrel, as well as doves and quail. If you were lucky enough to live along the rivers and coast, you could add a few ducks to the bag.

“There weren’t any deer or turkeys, but you had squirrels and quail,” he said. “I think it’s a different stage in the succession of the timber. When you begin to get as much timber as we have in the state now, the quail just don’t do well. Turkeys began to come back as we began to have more and more timber. Plus, we don’t have poor devils out there trying to raise a family on 40 acres of Norfolk sand. He raises the family with his shotgun. Those guys killed a lot of turkeys, and deer, too.

“It is no longer socially acceptable to violate game laws. You will still hear guys in the midst of a cocktail party bragging about shooting 40 doves, but not much. It’s not socially acceptable to do it any more.”

Kelly, who runs a turkey hunting school at Westervelt Lodge each spring, said there was a noticeable difference in the number of turkeys and turkey hunters in the early ‘60s when an extensive trapping and relocation program by the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (Game and Fish back then) was in full swing. The majority of turkeys were trapped in southwest Alabama and transplanted around the state. The relocation program has been so successful that with the addition of Morgan County next year every county in the state will have a turkey season.

Kelly said turkey biologists like Lovett Williams have revealed a great deal about turkeys that could only be realized with extensive research and the use of telemetry.

“Lovett Williams’ new book, “Turkey Hunting and Management,” is the finest thing that’s ever seen done,” Kelly said. “A guy like me, anything I know about turkeys I bootlegged by hunting turkeys, carrying a shotgun, on company time. Because of guys like Lovett, we know way more about turkeys than we did 50 years ago, and we’ve got way more timber.

“We’ve got some things happening now that if I was asked about it 30 years ago I wouldn’t have believed it. I was asked last year to go and hunt on a place within nine miles of where I live in Spanish Fort. The land used to belong to Scott Paper Company. It is a solid pine plantation. There is one knob on it with six or eight big live oak trees, and there are a couple of little creeks with nothing but black gum and sweet bay. It is so full of turkeys; they’re just everywhere you look. The guy told me he quit coming out there because he’d been out there with a turkey gobbling his brains out and he couldn’t see him. Now I don’t know what they’re eating, but I can assure you it’s not acorns. They may be getting on the telephone and having pizza sent out there, I don’t know. I killed a couple of turkeys out there and they were hog fat. So they’re eating something. People who say turkeys can’t live in pine plantations, that just ain’t so. Now, they ain’t nearly as much fun to hunt out there.”

Despite the encroaching human population, Kelly thinks Alabamians will be able to enjoy turkey hunting long after he’s gone.

“I think we’re going to be hunting turkeys 100 years from now,” he said. “Now we’re not going to be hunting them on Bienville Square or on the outskirts of Fairhope, like we used to do. But turkeys are adaptable creatures. I believe they could make it on the State Docks. I believe they could make it on the soybean that fell off the grain cars.”

Kelly considers right now the most productive time to be in the turkey woods.

“To me the last two weeks of the season are the best,” he said. “The hens are going to the nest earlier and staying on the nest a lot more. When the hens are staying on the nest, the turkeys begin to gobble again in the afternoon. When the hens are on the nest all the time, they quit gobbling on the roost because it doesn’t do any good anymore. Everybody says they’ve quit, they’ve gobbled out. It’s all over and done with, I’m sorry I ever took this thing up anyway. You can still make a turkey come to you. A turkey I hear on the roost that I go to and sit down, that gobbles after I sit down – which  means I haven’t screwed him up yet, but I’ve still plenty of opportunities for stupidity, but I ain’t done any yet – I will probably call up two-and-a-half out of 10. I won’t kill two-and-a-half out of 10 because I’ll still do some dumb things.

“Those turkeys you call to on the ground and he gobbles – the last two weeks you can call up six out of 10. The odds get that much better. Now you can still dumb it up. But that time of year, you’ve got to be careful because the leaves are getting thick. Anything you can do in a minute and a half, you’d better do it. And if all you’ve got to hide behind is a spruce pine cone and two blades of grass, you’d better take it. Some of those birds will come in in two or three minutes. You’d better be ready.”

Kelly also heard the tales that if a gobbler answers you, he’s going to come to that area at some time during the day. Kelly said he’s not sure if that’s true.

“My grandfather used to swear that if a turkey ever hears you yelp he will come there if it takes to 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” he said. “If he does, the heck with him because I’m gonna be gone. I ain’t mad at turkeys. No turkey has foreclosed a mortgage or insulted my daughter. I ain’t sitting there until 3 o’clock in the afternoon listening to blue jays. I give him a reasonable amount of time, but after that, the (heck) with him.

Despite all those years in the woods, Kelly still marvels at the wild turkey and its knack for making even the most seasoned hunter look like a novice.

“After 70 years, a turkey will still do things to me that I wonder, ‘how in the (heck) did he do it?’ ” Kelly said. “I think where the fascination lies is that every time you go something happens a little bit differently - every time. And they’ve got a genius for making you look stupid.”

Weather conditions have an enormous influence on duck hunting success. To make the most of their days afield, waterfowlers must understand weather patterns and how they affect bird behavior.

Foul weather, for instance, is usually considered a duck hunter’s greatest blessing. But to be consistently successful, even under these favorable conditions, a hunter must know how storm fronts influence ducks. On the flip side of the coin, sunny “bluebird” days are considered a duck hunter’s bane. Yet the hunter who knows how fair-weather conditions affect duck behavior will often bring home a limit.

Sunny, cloudy, windy, calm, freezing, warm - let’s focus on conditions waterfowlers often encounter and some tips for hunting ducks successfully no matter what the forecast.

Storms

A low-pressure system in the weather forecast indicates rain is on the way–bad news for most, but not for the duck hunter. Along with a stiffening wind, storm fronts increase cloud cover. Ducks stop feeding at night and move more early and late in the day. There’s no glare off gun barrels and upturned faces, and no distinguishing shadows to reveal the silhouette of a waiting hunter. The hunting picture begins to improve.

As winds intensify, ducks move to protected areas–river backwaters, lake coves, green-timber openings, the lee side of islands. Rain and/or sleet intensifies their scramble for shelter, limiting and defining the places they are likely to be. More and more birds move into fewer and fewer areas. The savvy hunter is a step ahead of them, setting out decoys and preparing to shortstop their weather-driven migration.

Changing winds also work in the hunter’s favor. In our part of the world, they usually begin in the south, then blow round the compass–southeast, east, northeast, north, then finally northwest–as the low is replaced by a high-pressure, fair-weather system. Sanctuaries at the onset of the storm lose their protection as it progresses. Ducks settle into one lee then are forced to find another. They fly throughout the day and lose much of their cussed wariness. Most fly low as they work the slower air near ground. In the right place at such a time, a hunter with a few decoys is sure to find a bit of duck-hunting heaven.

As the weather changes, the successful duck hunter remains mobile, adapting to changing winds and changing lees. A well-camouflaged duckboat is a special asset now, providing easy access to every inch of shoreline, transportation for the hunter and his equipment, and a ready-made blind that melts into the landscape. If water isn’t too deep, chest waders serve the same purpose. Moving from place to place, you can hunker down in a wet marsh or stand by a cypress without getting wet. A waterproof parka and gloves complete your weather-proofing, keeping you warm and dry.

Fair Skies

Clear, warm, windless days can make duck hunting tough. Ducks can now fly and raft, dabble or dive anywhere they please. Direct sunlight makes upturned faces glow with electric intensity. Even a perfectly camouflaged duck hunter is often revealed by the outline of shadows, and the slightest movement stands out like black on white. If the weather pattern holds for several days, birds quickly learn hunter patterns–where they like to hide, when they like to gun, and where the safe zones are.

In this situation, remember that ducks may come and go where they please, but they never do it at random. The flight lanes they establish, the fields and woods they feed in, the places they raft are purposely chosen, usually because they offer respite from hunter disturbance. By patterning the movements of birds in your area, you can overcome the disadvantages of blue-sky hunting.

The best way to do this is to simply go duck hunting. Set out a few decoys in a place you’ve chosen to the best of your hunting ability, then watch the comings and goings of birds throughout the day. Resolve to stay put, even if shooting isn’t good. Note the time the ducks start flying and the routes they follow; the places where they fly high and fly low; the time they return; and the places they raft up. Once you’ve determined their flight, feeding and resting patterns, you can position yourself to intercept on future hunts.

Freezing Weather

Extreme cold is both a blessing and bane. When shallows ice over, ducks concentrate in remaining areas of open water. Caloric intake must increase to compensate for lower temperatures, so twice-daily feeding becomes the norm. At temperatures below 20 degrees, you’ll start noticing afternoon feeding flights in addition to the usual predawn movements. Unfortunately, freezing weather also makes boat travel more difficult and tests one’s ability to withstand winter’s cold. Hunters must cope with the frigid temperatures in order to be successful.

Part of that coping is knowing where water will be open in freezing temperatures. This may be in the main body of a creek or river where currents prevent ice-up; in a sheltered backwater area protected by levees or high banks; or in shallow green-timber flats that receive some current from adjacent streams.

One area I often hunt is in the bend of a small bayou. When the water’s up, it runs across the inside bend of timber. This creates a three-acre sanctuary of unfrozen water right in the middle of the frozen pin-oak bottoms. During winter’s worst weather, it’s wall-to-wall ducks.

Most avid hunters work unfrozen river channels during frigid weather. They boat the river until they scare up a flock of ducks, then they move in and set up where the ducks flushed. Often, decoys are set in strings at the edge of willows, high banks and other sheltered spots. The boat is hidden in cover with a camouflage net stretched over it. The hunters stand in waders next to trees. The ducks they flushed will soon return, and when they do, the fun begins.

Snowstorms & Fog

When visibility is limited by fog or heavy snow, callers have a field day. In this situation, it pays to keep your call sounding whether you see ducks or not. Poor visibility may keep most ducks grounded, but those that are caught en route automatically set their flaps and start listening for friendly calls. Few duck hunting moments are as exciting as hearing unseen mallards answering a call in fog.

Snow Cover

Cold alone won’t drive ducks from an area where food is plentiful, but if snow gets several inches deep or becomes glazed with ice, ducks must move elsewhere to find their groceries.

Here again, it pays to know where ducks are likely to go when conditions get bad. If woods remain open and acorns are plentiful, ducks accustomed to feeding in fields may gather in flooded timber when snow piles up. Cornfields are so attractive, they may continue drawing dense concentrations of birds even when blanketed with snow. Hunting diving ducks like scaup and buffleheads often remains productive even though mallards and other dabblers have been forced to move out.

The smart waterfowler matches hunting tactics to the weather throughout the season. By applying scouting techniques and a little reasoning about duck behavior, he develops an instinct for determining where and how to hunt no matter what’s going on outside. Blue skies or gray, the odds are in his favor.

As I tried desperately to locate a tom willing to investigate my lustful yelps, a pleading hen yelp broke the mid-afternoon air.

Every now and then I would get the courtesy gobble as a tom would announce his presence and then follow his hen to abide by her wishes while moving out of earshot.

I was hunting an area that had produced many birds in the past.

I knew if I covered enough ground I would eventually find a bird willing to come to the call.

It was now roughly 2 p.m. as we headed up another hill, one more to add to an already long day of hunting the opening days of turkey season.

It took awhile before a distant gobble broke through the oaks, but when it did we sprung into action.

The tom would gobble repetitively and then move, the same as all the toms in the morning had done, but with different scenery.

Obviously this tom was with at least one hen that was not nesting, and she was keeping his full and undivided attention.

We advanced our position towards the gobbling tom and were greeted by a large black bear coming down a trail to investigate the source of the calling.

The curious bear circled us at a distance of less than 20 yards and desperately tried to pick apart the brush in search for the hen.

Waiting for the bear to move off was imperative, as we did not want him to run and spook our chance at this tom.

Crossing numerous ridges, I would call and then move along further to try another location.

I decided to give a quick cut on a diaphragm and was instantly greeted with a barrage of gobbling thunder.

My hunting partner excitedly pointed into the direction of the call, and I decided to reconfirm my suspicions with another call.

Sure enough, the gobbling was true and coming closer. We had to move quickly as we raced over to a tree on the edge of a small opening.

Not having much time to set up properly, I leaned against the tree with just enough time to raise the gun into shooting position.

I’d been chasing call-shy toms all day with barely a glimpse of something that would resemble a turkey. Finally the fruits of my labor were being rewarded.

The excited toms gobbled nonstop as they made their way closer. The first bird on the scene was a jake, then another.

I kept my cheek pressed firmly against my gun as I looked down my barrel, keeping the fluorescent bead securely locked on the neck of each bird that passed from left to right.

For a split second I was wondering if this was not just a band of smaller toms, and then realized we were in luck.

Bringing up the rear was a long beard in full strut, proudly displaying his beauty and dominance for the unseen hen.

As the tom strutted closer in all his pride, his efforts were rewarded at 25 yards with a single shot from my Benelli and a load of No. 5s.

I had just practiced what I’d been preaching at countless turkey hunting seminars; you can’t fill your tags if you’re not in the woods.

A quick glance at my watch informed me that it was just after 5 p.m. as we captured some photos and placed the tom in my backpack for the walk out.

This day had begun many hours earlier, with the warm spring sun breaking over the Cascades and greeting us with yet another day of turkey hunting.

It was the third day of the season, and of course the hunting was tough as the toms were being led in many different directions by lovesick hens.

One key factor that many hunters don’t realize is that toms and hens usually don’t hang together all day.

Toms will be heavily entangled in their daily mating rituals, but once the hens decide to nest, a lovesick tom will start seeking another companion.

I’ve become accustomed to the traditions of early season turkey hunting.

I knew this would be the toughest time of the season to hunt, but definitely the most rewarding as well.

With most hunters spending much time indoors through the winter months, we’re anxious to get back into the woods and hear the gobble of a mature tom, and I’m no exception.

Walking and calling was generating plenty of responses, but nothing willing to break away from an actual feathered girlfriend.

The only way to succeed in these tough conditions was to be willing to travel further, call more often and stay out longer.

Persistence is the name of the game when hunting these types of conditions.

I hunt primarily out of a backpack solely because I want to stay as long as possible in the turkey woods.

Having a full-time job and using vacation time to hunt really enforced the fact that I need to be persistent and give it 110 percent in the field.

Being prepared and having the ability to stay nourished and comfortable out in the field will more than double your chances of knocking down a mature tom when many hunters have thrown in the towel for the day.

Remember that tom I harvested earlier?

I didn’t mention that he was joined by six other toms, each one of them gobbling and racing to find the source of the calling.

I’ve managed to bag most of my birds between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. I really enjoy hunting this time of day for mainly one reason: no hunters.

Granted, I’ll get up at first light and head out to an area to either locate or work a bird in the roost tree.

When this plan produces no results, I know I have a pack that contains enough water and food to keep me in the field until dark if needed.

As a hunter you need to figure out the turkeys’ schedule to be successful.

This may take some time, but when you realize where they may be at certain times of day, you can eliminate much unneeded walking to unproductive areas.

Call loud, call often and let the toms know you’re still in the woods.

You can’t harvest what you can’t locate, and they don’t know that you’re there if you don’t broadcast your presence.

People may debate this fact, but I’ve found nothing but success while doing this.

If I hear nothing, then I keep moving until I get a response. When toms do respond during the middle of the day, usually they come on the run.

Spend more time in the field during the spring and more than likely you may find yourself purchasing more turkey tags in the future.

Bending down to lift my pack, I could definitely feel the wear and tear of seven straight days in the wilderness.

Sore muscles, blistered feet and a sticky coating of sweat seemed to cover every inch of my body.

We were here by choice, though.

After years of hunting accessible lands that posed no difficulty for the average hunter, we had decided to head in a little further.

I hoisted the pack, scanned the area and then began the long walk out to the trailhead, a mere 6 miles off. Success was with us too: my partner and I were packing out our second elk.

As the hindquarter of the elk weighed heavy on my shoulders, I knew we had made the right decision to hunt deep in the backcountry.

I’d been fortunate enough to bag an elk on the first day of the hunt, and my partner had just sent an arrow to its mark two hours earlier.

Where to hunt

It started a few years earlier on a finger ridge perched high in the Pacific Northwest’s Blue Mountains.

At sunrise, I gave a long locating bugle and got a response from a receptive bull.

Feverishly working our way towards the bugling bull, we cut the distance to a hundred yards.

Instantly everything came alive as the herd bull finally broke the morning air with a spine-tingling scream.

Peeking through a small opening I could see a handful of cows and a decent raghorn. The wind shifted slightly and the herd started to move deeper in the “hole” that lay below us.

I looked over at my hunting companion, Steve Scott of Medford, Ore., and without saying a word we picked our gear and jogged toward the sounds of the breaking brush.

We made our way down the center of the finger ridge.

A few hundred yards later we broke into an opening and that was when it all became crystal clear: After many years of chasing bulls we realized we had been hunting the wrong areas. It was like someone had just pulled a great curtain back and all the secrets of elk hunting lay before us.

We were standing in elk heaven! We had bulls to left and bulls to the right, bulls below us and bulls behind us. We worked four different bulls that morning and finally sat down by a stream around noon to grab some lunch before making the long trek back up the hill.

It would take us a solid two hours of climbing up a vertical ridge without stopping to reach the truck. As our quads burned from the climb, we made up our minds to get the gear we needed to be able to stay comfortably in the wilderness, and experience this type of elk hunting every day.

This is the only way we hunt for elk now, and many elk have fallen since that day. Just like the two mentioned above.

Gear

Getting away from roads and people will boost your odds of harvesting an animal with your bow or gun.

I can honestly say that every year we venture into the backcountry, we have an opportunity to harvest at least a cow almost every day. Most people are not willing to venture too far away from their comfort zone and will not walk more than a mile from their vehicle.

Many times when you commit to venturing into the great unknown, count on at least a 12-mile jaunt.

It sounds crazy until you experience the sights and sounds of being in elk everyday.

Having a mature bull come to your calls rather than turn away at the sound will get your blood pumping, and this kind of excitement will push you further than expected. Below are few items that have really turned my hunting around.

With these things, I can hunt long into the day while most other guys head back to camp.

Whoever said that hunting is the best in the morning and the evening never hunted the backcountry.

The hunting is good all day!

• A good frame pack should be first on your list. Find one that fits your body.

  Look for a snug waist belt that helps manage a heavy load, and comfortable straps to rest on your shoulders.

  Personally, I like the moose type bag that I can fit an elk quarter into. These attach easily with some pins and can be rinsed out easily.

• Alaska game bags are a must have. They’re light, compact and don’t take up much room.

  Hunting with a buddy is a good idea. You can carry two game bags and your partner can carry two.

• Carry a good knife and a stone. No reason for carrying three knives and a multi-tool, which may add unneeded weight.
• A hydration pack and a water filter can save weight too. Be sure never to drink from a stream no matter how clean it may look.

  Unless I’m dying of thirst, I’ll use a filter.

  If you do plan on drinking from a stream, Imodium AD is very lightweight and there are plenty of leaves to help clean up.

• A Therm-a-Rest self-inflating pad has been the best investment I’ve made for backcountry elk hunting.

  It not only makes for a softer bed, but also keeps in much-needed body heat.

• Another necessity is a quality sleeping bag. Look for something lightweight, 3 to 4 pounds.

  A good mummy bag with a built-in hood is like a condominium in the wilderness. A good stocking cap will conserve body heat at night too.

• A good windproof lighter can greatly increase your odds of making a fire.

  Matches are good, but once they get wet, you’re gambling with your ability to survive.

  I do carry a small pack of matches that I wrap in a Ziploc bag. A fire serves a dual purpose, warmth and security.

• Cooking can be done easily with a small butane stove that lights easily and can boil a quart of water within a few minutes.

  When hunting with a friend, one should carry the stove and the other a lantern that is also compatible with the fuel container.

• A small water pot that will hold about a cup and a half of water is all the dishes I carry.

  I can boil water for coffee singles and freeze-dried meals.

The meals are not the tastiest, but between those and MREs (Meal Ready to Eat), that’s about all you need.

No canned good — too heavy.

Pack hunting

Hunting with camp on your back will keep you mobile and in the hunt if done correctly.

Don’t overdo it, however. Too much weight will ruin your hunt and make for a miserable time.

Find out what you can sacrifice to be comfortable and prepared. Granted, I know guys who are more serious than me.

They count the ounces of what goes into their packs, and I don’t blame them.

The first time I ventured into the wilderness to hunt from my pack, I was so overloaded I stopped and stripped it down to the bare minimum.

A well-equipped pack should weigh about 40 to 50 pounds. This will hold you over for two to three days. Remember, when you’re loading your pack to head into the woods, you only want it heavy on the trip out. The main benefit of backpack hunting in the wilderness is that you don’t have to hike in and out every day.

We get ourselves into a great area, move off a few hundred yards and settle down for the night and then in the morning, we are right in the middle of all the action.

Backcountry hunting is definitely not for every one, but for those who have thought about it, give it a try.

It’s a true hunting experience you’ll never forget.

Many years ago I watched an elk hunting video with Larry D. Jones and Dwight Schuh as they manipulated bulls with soft cow talk and harsh bugles.

I was captivated by all the elk bugling and excitement that these two generated, when in the woods.

At that time I was hunting elk in southern Oregon and had chased a few around but had never experienced the type of action that I was witnessing on the television.

I soon realized I didn’t know what I was doing when I entered the elk woods.

In fact, the more I learned about elk calling and herd talk, the more I realized how little I knew.

I immersed myself in every video and book I could lay my eyes on and studied and practiced calling techniques and tactics.

Now it’s a different story and I can honestly tell you that every year in the woods is comparable to living “Elk Fever.”

Knowing what to say and when to say it can easily bring a bull directly into bow range.

Granted, there are those lucky few who buy a cow call and seem to call in a decent 300-inch bull on their first try, but this is more a matter of being in the right place at the right time than skill and effort.

Unfortunately for them, getting another such bull may take a lifetime.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be lucky than good any day of the week too, but it just doesn’t work that way for me, so I am forced to climb into deep, bottomless holes and try to lure a bull into archery range with a variety of soft, seductive mews and calf talk coupled with an occasional bugle or two.

Sometimes it works, and when it does finally come together, you don’t even feel the earth under your feet.

Which is a nice feeling since you don’t notice the blisters on the bottom of your feet either.

I have had many days filled with trial and error — well, mostly error. These mistakes and rewards have taught me valuable lessons.

Here I will break down some of the calling tips and techniques that have brought others and myself success over the past decade.

Keep in mind these tips will work, but first you have to put yourself in a good hunting area. Your hunt is only going to be as good as your spot.

If you are not getting a response from the elk, then it may be time to try another location.

There are a few key things to take into consideration before you start calling. You need to be aware of your surroundings.

Mainly this applies to areas that are easily accessible to other hunters.

Once you get a bull fired up, you are inviting every hunter within earshot to your location. I have had many bulls blown out from under me due to this.

Elk like to move mainly from deep, mild temperature bedding grounds to open feeding areas in the late afternoon.

Once you locate the herd, run these questions through your head before you spring into action: How many hunters are in the area?

Have these elk been pressured and pushed here?

How many elk are in the herd and how many satellite bulls are roaming in the immediate area? What is their travel pattern looking like?

You want to cover all these basics before rushing into a calling situation.

If I know there are other hunters in the area, I am more likely to take it easy.

I don’t want to do any bugling that may invite a hunter to my location and have him walk through the herd and end my hunt early.

Elk that have been pressured by calling are not likely to answer a call.

If you do get a response, it might be as the bull rounds his cows up and moves them and himself out of the immediate area.

A herd that contains quite a few elk can be more of a problem than a bonus — more elk mean more eyes, ears and, even worse, noses.

Calling techniques

As for calling techniques, let’s start with bugling. Every new elk hunter owns a bugle; whether or not they know how to use it properly is another thing.

Years ago, the bugle used to be a great way to bring elk in close.

Bulls were accustomed to other bulls “bugling” their way into the herd, and the herd bull would defend his cows and come after the intruder, often creating a shot for the hunter.

Now that every hunter owns a bugle, elk have grown accustomed to the instant onslaught of bugling and feverish cow calling that occurs when archery seasons open in late August and early September.

The rut usually peaks about the second week of September and finishes well after the archery season has closed.

Bugling activity from active bulls really starts to pick up during this time.

Activity in highly pressured areas may pick up more after dark as nocturnal herds spread out in the cool air to fight for breeding rights.

Using the bugle to your advantage

From a high vantage point, you can often lay out a long series of tones and pitches that simulate a mature bull seeking other elk.

This is not necessarily a call for a fight or to take over the herd, but basically as a way to say “Hello, where are you?”

Elk are social animals and are very communicative while keeping in touch with one another.

It is very common to get a response from a bull during early morning and late afternoons stretching into dusk.

During cooler weather when rutting and bugling activity is at its prime, calling can last all day.

The bugle can be used as an aggressive call, seductive or warning.

Usually what will bring a bull into a hunter’s call is curiosity to basically size up the competition.

If you ever watch a herd of elk, the smaller bulls are usually quiet and constantly sneaking their way around the herd to try and get a chance with a receptive cow.

Once the herd bull bugles, though, the smaller bulls will usually look in that direction and clear out before being seen. They are familiar with the herd bull.

Let your presence be known but don’t be overly aggressive with your calls.

A bull with a large herd which has been fighting satellite bulls all evening can easily push his cows out of the immediate area instead of respond.

A bull with a couple cows does not want to compete and chance losing his cows that he may have just gotten. More than likely he will leave too.

However, sometimes a bull has just lost his harem and is looking for a fight. If he keeps answering your bugle, keep bugling.

The only time you would need a cow call would be to stop the bull for a shot.

Take the bull’s “temperature.”

If he sounds big, try to tone it down a little and give him the feeling that you’re an easy target for punishment.

Couple this with a few soft cow calls, and the bull will think he can come in and take what’s his.

Cow calling

Everyone I know owns the Hyper Hot Cow Call by Woodswise.

While it is a great call and can be very deadly when used correctly, the key to any cow call is to be realistic and not too loud.

If you have a cow call that is slightly nasally, this is realistic to elk.

Once you’re in close to a herd, a cow call may not be much use.

A hyper cow call may create some excitement, but as soon as you begin to make some noise, you are going to have every eye looking in your direction.

Usually the lead cow (or sentry) will come in close to investigate; this may bring the bull in too. The cows control the herd and the bull.

Where the cows go, the bull follows. If the bull is unresponsive, then try to pull a cow to you with some soft cow calls.

Sometimes this will get a cow to feed or walk into your direction which may bring the bull in closer too.

Keep it soft and simple. Mimic whatever the cow does and all the herd talk might create some curiosity to bring the bull to within range.

If the bull hangs back and the cow comes within 30 yards, hit your bugle and make the bull think a smaller bull is in the herd.

Not being one to give up a cow, usually the bull will come charging in your direction in no time.

Tactics

There are many different tactics, but if you are sensible about your approach your odds of calling in a bull greatly increase.

I suggest watching instructional videos.

You may need to go back a couple years to find a good one.

More of today’s elk hunting videos are made up of mostly kill shots with very little focus on the actual calling techniques that are used to bring an animal into range.

The main thing is to keep it simple and as real as possible. It’s not a bugling contest.

A loud bugle will shut every bull in the woods down for fear of both their lives and herds being taken from them.

Soft and seductive calling when you are in close will usually create a shot opportunity.

Perched high in our vantage point, we tried to hide from the falling rain and occasional lightning strikes that had quickly moved in and overtaken us without notice.

Hunting in the popular Blue Mountains of Oregon meant lots of elk and an equal number of hunters.

Many of our attempts to lure a bull into archery range using a call had failed, and now we were forced to change our tactics and go with the spot-and-stalk.

Situated between the rocks, my hunting partner and myself watched a distant herd of elk feed across an open hillside as the shadows grew longer.

There was no way we could make it over to them before nightfall, so we watched intently and made a plan to intercept them in the morning.

Due to the hunting pressure in the area, we knew we would have to leave well before light to reach the herd.

Hopefully they would be in the same general location.

With just a couple days left to hunt, it was crunch time, and competing with other hunters bugling their way into the herd we had been tracking was not on the agenda.

Even though we were sitting a few miles from a road, we knew that other hunters were among us, and we needed to come up with a plan in hopes of filling our last tag.

Too many hunters had converged on the area we usually frequent and educated most of the resident bulls.

With the industry pushing so many elk calls in today’s market, everyone who steps into the woods seems to be blowing some sort of cow call or bugle.

The only problem with this situation is that elk will become educated to calling and shut down during hunting hours.

When this happens, the only alternative for a hunter to fill an elk tag mybe to put on a successful spot-and-stalk in an attempt to place an arrow into an animal.

The basics

Most of us know the drill: Glass a bull from a distance and try to sneak in closer to call the bull into range.

The outcome more often than not is the bull retreating at 60 miles per hour in the opposite direction.

Obviously, that bull will have been worked with a call recently, or even been shot at.

His warning senses will be on full alert, and unless he sees an elk he’s not likely to investigate the source of the calling.

He’ll just retreat to live another day.

To get in close, today’s archery hunter needs to take a few things into consideration — herd location and pattern, wind and scent — and you must have patience.

When calling bulls, you’re trying to make something happen, essentially forcing the issue and inviting the bull to come into your location either aggressively or seductively, depending on the situation.

Spot-and-stalk hunting relies solely on the movement and bedding or feeding pattern of the animal, and trying to sneak within bow range without being detected.

This is where scent control is most important.

Getting within your effective archery range is even tougher when you can’t call an animal towards you.

You have to get in closer to the herd, and just the smallest amount of human scent will give your location away.

Scent-control clothing is essential to archery hunting, and even more important in a spot-and-stalk situation.

Picking a target

During early morning hours, elk are very active with breeding activity. A hunter can easily advance on a herd simply by listening to the elk talk.

Try to slip in close and get a shot at an unsuspecting bull as he tries to enter the herd or mingle with the cows.

For most bow hunters, a cow will be more than sufficient to fill the freezer.

In a good herd, cows are plentiful and usually spread out, sometimes making a shot possible.

If you’re not too picky, a cow or spike can be an easy target for a spot-and-stalk situation.

Cows and younger, immature bulls make up a good portion of the herd and can spread out, creating more shot opportunities.

A feeding group of cows and spikes can make for a great spot-and-stalk situation.

Cows are not particularly interested in all the bull activity.

An elk cow’s main objective is to eat and reproduce, and which bull does the job is sometimes left up in the air.

Occasionally they may lift their head to observe what is taking place around them, but unless they smell or see something, their schedule remains the same.

The tricky part of this equation is all the extra eyes, ears and noses.

One small whiff of human scent and the herd can scatter, leaving a bowhunter to watch a hundred hooves tear down a canyon.

Always be aware of wind direction by using a small bottle filled with talcum powder or ash.

When sprayed into the air, the powder will flow in the direction of the wind. During an average year expect to refill your bottle twice.

It’s almost a habit to constantly check wind direction.

If you do happen to bust the herd, you’ve only got one option: Run! Run directly after the herd and try to get closer.

A herd on the run will usually travel a couple hundred yards and then try to regroup.

All the noise and chaos created from the herd will disguise your movement and actually help in getting in closer.

Without calling, this may create a shot opportunity too.

Another great spot-and-stalk technique is to follow a herd to their bedding area.

Elk usually like to bed in a circle and face in different directions, basically circling the wagons to catch an unsuspecting predator.

Sneaking into a bedding area can sometimes create a shot as elk rest. Pay attention to your own sense of smell.

Once you smell elk, you’re close, very close. Nock an arrow and take a look around — you might be standing in the middle them without even knowing it.

Today’s bowhunter has to be prepared for any situation. You’ll find yourself in more spot-and-stalk hunting situations due to increased hunting pressure on public lands.

If there are hunters in the area, any calling that strikes up a bugle may invite other hunters to you and decrease your chances at an elk.

Keep the calls in your pocket and try to sneak in close for a shot.

You can find well executed spot-and-stalk situations by staying back a little more than usual and paying close attention to herd movements and activities.

Sometimes it may take a couple days to figure out a pattern that may produce a shot opportunity.

When it does present itself, you’ll realize how just how rewarding spot-and-stalk elk hunting can be.

Many of us spend March practicing our turkey calls and scouting. We also pattern our guns, check our camo, but still manage to hit the woods unprepared.

That’s because spring is a volatile time in the weather world.

How many times have you left the truck with the stars shining overhead only to have a downpour or cold snow soak you to the bone?

Here’s what I bring to stay dry, comfortable and safe while turkey hunting:

• Backpack: With a pack I can carry my decoys, extra calls, shells, hydration pack and strap my turkey seat to the back.

  After bagging a bird, I drop it in the pack and walk out hands free.

• Packable rain gear: While there are many good brands, I carry a packable set of Mad Dog rain gear.

  The parka and pants fold up to nothing and are perfect for sudden rain storms.

• First aid: It’s best to get a small kit that has a few items and add things as you see fit. Kits are available at most sporting goods stores.
• Area map: Many programs out on the market today can produce highly detailed topo maps of the area you plan to hunt.

  I like to use a larger Zip-Loc bag to keep my maps dry and readable.

• GPS: GPSs are capable of such accuracy that they’re worth their weight.

  From basic to advanced they all do the same thing: mark your movement from point A to B, keeping track of you and keeping you safe to hunt another day.

• Headlamp: Walking into the woods in the dark and being able to keep your hands warm is a great asset.

  Many new headlamps use a LED lighting system that really disburses the light.

• Hydration: I like to carry a 2-liter hydration pack which features a hose that wraps around to your chest and a mouthpiece you bite down on to suck water.

  These packs come in different sizes, are very durable and can last for many years. Camelback and Platypus both make good hydration packs.

• Boots/footwear: Make sure your pair is form-fitting, feels good while you’re putting on the miles and waterproof.

  There is a big difference between waterproof and water-resistant; look for boots that offer Gore-Tex or Sympatex material.

  Lug soles provide best traction and won’t clump in wet, muddy ground.

• Optics: A good pair of binoculars can aid in determining the size of a trophy bird.

  At a distance you can tell if the bird you’re watching is a tom or a hen and how many may be approaching you.

  With a quick glance you can take a good look at the spurs and beard length.

• Camera: Take the time to capture some great photos to share with friends and family. Always turn on your flash, even on sunny days. The flash acts as a fill, and will help delete unwanted shadows, especially under your hat.
• Clippers: These are great $5 tools to clip brush and debris from your set-up.

  Collapsible turkey seat: You won’t believe how much comfort seats add, helping you sustain those long, agonizing waits for a turkey to come to the decoy.

  They also get your body off the ground and help keep you warm.

Now’s the time to get in your preseason turkey scouting.

It may seem early, but before you know it, you’ll be walking out the door in your favorite camouflage. Heck, Hawaii’s season already has begun and Florida’s starts Saturday, with Alabama and South Carolina’s set to follow March 15.

Where to hunt

Create a backup turkey-hunting plan now in case your first spot is already booked.

First things first, If you are interested in hunting a piece of private land that you have seen birds on, make your connections now.

Keep in contact with the property owner and offer to help around the property if needed.

Lots of people are resorting to hunting on private ground to avoid the masses who hit public land opening day.

If you hunt public land, get familiar with the area.

Nothing’s worse than going back to your favorite spot to find out it’s been logged or marked with fresh new “No Trespassing” signs.

Take the time to drive through your old haunts and look at the area.

Recent storms may have taken down the old roost tree you’re accustomed to and you may need to do some homework to find the new one.

Develop a backup plan

Most of us have a favorite place we like to start the season. All of my favorite spots have become someone’s “new” spot.

And the new spot I discovered last year was at least six other guys’ “old” spot, even though I never saw a soul while scouting the area for the month prior to opening day.

I like to have at least three other spots I can go to without a lot of travel time in case one is overrun.

Develop plans A, B and C before you even make your first call.

Patterning birds

This time of year turkeys are traveling in flocks and are fairly visible.

As we get closer to the rut, they will disband and the jakes or smaller toms will band together in bachelor groups.

Mature toms will gather a harem to begin breeding season and will stick with them.

If you’re seeing birds in a general area, mark it down. I like to drive around with a good topo map that I bought at G.I. Joe’s.

With this map I can use a highlighter to mark certain areas and then cross reference with public-lands maps.

Turkeys will travel when pressured, so if you are seeing them in an area, they will be close come opening day.

Locating call

Use spot-and-stalk tactics when you’re out in the woods.

Calling to a tom now will only educate him to your calls, and if he sees you, he may go silent during the season.

If you must call, use shock-gobble calls such as crow, owl, coyote, woodpecker and others to pinpoint a bird’s location.

Keep a journal

Along with your map, keep a small notepad and keep tabs on travel patterns of different flocks in your hot spots.

Turkeys like to keep a schedule and you can get a good clue of when they fly down and when they hit the strut zone by taking notes.

This will tell you when and where you need to be on opening morning.

Bull’s eye!

That’s what we want to call out after we feel the recoil of an arrow leaving our bow and finding its mark.

However, there is much more involved to hitting your mark than simply tossing a broad-head or two during hunting season.

One way to achieve the perfect shot is to practice.

Not all of us have the time or resources to attend every 3D-archery shoot in the state, but many of us do have a local archery shop or property that is equipped with an adequate shooting area of 20 yards or more.

This is where you can spend quality time in the offseason, fine-tuning your equipment and, most important of all, building your shot placement confidence.

Some bowhunters will shoot at a hay bale no more than a few feet away just to get their muscles accustomed to the tension of pulling back a bowstring.

Twenty or thirty times a day, they practice not on distance but merely form and release.

More often than not your back is creaking more than the limbs on your bow.

Many times the equipment is performing its task. Your bow is sighted in, but you have not shot an arrow since last hunting season.

A bad shot may be result of poor shooting form rather than equipment failure.

It’s only fair to the game animal you plan to hunt to make sure your archery tackle and shooting skills can perform a quick and lethal shot to ensure good penetration and a quick recovery.

Besides, every archer needs to knock the dust off the bow from time to time.

I try to take advantage of every 3-D shoot or course that time allows. For an average of 10 dollars you can shoot a round of 40 or more targets.

Shot scenarios are usually set up to resemble actual hunting situations, including brush, limbs, rocks and other natural barriers that you’re likely to experience when drawing back on an actual animal in the field.

During a typical year my family and I travel to fifteen or more shoots throughout the Pacific Northwest and northern California.

By shooting all year, I build up my distance-judging skills and shot confidence, by far the most important parts of being able to take the perfect shot.

Another key thing to consider are shot angles, bone structure and anatomy of the animal that you’re about to harvest. Just because you put a hole in an animal does not necessarily mean that it is going to perish quickly or even at all.

I have been on both sides of the scenario. Sometimes you make a shot and the animal expires within 30 yards, if not less.

And sometimes, you make a shot, it looks good, there’s plenty of sign and you track the animal for hours only to find it hundreds of yards from where you made the hit.

If you hunt primarily from a treestand, you may want to do some practice from an elevation that is equal to your stand.

At extreme angles of 30 degrees or more, distance is often cut in thirds or even half.

Many treestand hunters practice on the ground and then find themselves shooting over the back of an animal even at a mere 10 yards.

At that angle you have pretty much eliminated the arc that is formed when shooting level.

For a 20-yard shot you would use a 20-yard pin. At 4 or 5 yards, you would use your 50 or 60-yard pin.

You are closer to your target, thus eliminating the arc completely.

Another key factor to consider when hunting is to stay focused. Shooting at foam deer or elk is completely different than the real thing.

One thing I try to do is pick one spot on the animal. Look for an area where the hair might be scruffed or parted. Focus entirely on that spot.

Once I draw back, I look for that spot and then settle the pin on it.

Relaxing, I squeeze the trigger of my release and hold my bow in place until the arrow makes contact with the animal.

Focusing on the shot and not on the size of the animal will help calm your nerves as well.

Being aware of the bone structure on animals is key.

Bones on a deer are not as dense, and with today’s modern archery equipment, you are more likely to penetrate a shoulder blade of a deer.

Elk on the other hand are much larger and the shoulder bone resembles more of a steel plate than an easily penetrated object.

On an elk you definitely want a broadside shot. There’s less obstruction and the chances of getting a pass-through are much greater with this shot.

If your target is walking broadside, try to make the shot as the leg moves forward.

The vitals on an elk are pretty generous, giving a little room for error.

A clean double lung shot with a razor-sharp broadhead will put your prize on the ground in no time.

A shot that is quartering towards you is definitely one you don’t want to try. Let the animal turn broadside before releasing your arrow.

On a quartering-away shot where the animal is facing away, basically look through the animal and pretend you’re going to shoot it in the opposite shoulder.

This will place your arrow through the vitals and usually put the animal down quickly.

Depending on how confident you feel about your shot placement, you should always give the animal at least half an hour, maybe more if you think you may have hit it a little further back than you would prefer.

Giving the animal time to expire will keep it from spooking and running further than planned.

Also it gives you time to settle down and realize what just happened.

Take your time and don’t pursue a wounded animal right after the shot.

A well-hit animal can travel hundreds of yards if spooked. Stunned and confused they usually won’t travel too far.

However, if they see a hunter, they are more inclined to head for the farthest ridge.

To help get the “perfect shot,” you might use a range finder. A pocket-sized range finder has greatly increased my confidence and shooting ability.

When I find myself in a set-up situation, I can easily reach into a side compartment and one-handedly pull out the range finder and get the precise distance (plus or minus 1 yard) at any given time.

I never step into the woods without one anymore.

Find one the fits your needs and your budget as well — it could easily be one of the best archery investments you will ever make.

Again, the best way to get the “perfect shot” is simple — practice, practice, practice.

Spend some time tuning both your equipment and your skills. Soon you will feel confident every time you take to the woods to hit the bull’s eye. 
Practice at your local 3-D range or even in your backyard will greatly increase your confidence in your ability to make the shot when it counts.

The author shot at this elk target five or six different times at different angles, keeping in mind the best places to hit the animal for a quick recovery. 

When you are getting ready for the whitetail season you should begin scouting in late summer by watching likely food sources. Does, fawns and bucks will be loading up on succulent grasses, clovers, ripening grains, berries and sedges at this time. Bucks don’t always use the same food sources as the does, they often stay closer to their bedding areas. If they use the same food sources as the does they may appear either earlier or later than the does. By cruising roads with a good set of binoculars near agricultural crops and meadows during the morning and evening you can learn which fields the bucks use.

If you are there early enough in the evening you may see the bucks arrive and be able to determine where they came from. If you stay late enough you may be able to see them go to either another food source or back toward the bedding area. Because buck’s don’t travel very far at this time of year their bedding area should be nearby.

When you see bucks at early morning food sources stay long enough to see which way they leave. In the morning deer usually work their way slowly from open areas, to high grass or brush and finally into heavy brush or woods where they feed and bed intermittently throughout the day. Once you know the route they take back to the bedding area you can setup along it during the hunting season.

The buck’s rub route usually winds through several doe use areas before ending up at a night time food source, then through other doe use areas as the buck moves back toward the bedding area early in the morning, before daylight. You should find several rubs along the evening rub route, and scrapes in transition zones, near food sources, along field edges and near doe bedding areas.

Following the buck’s route back to the bedding area in the morning can be difficult because they often travel under cover of darkness in the early morning which makes them feel secure enough to travel in the open, where there are few trees and consequently few rubs and scrapes, until they reach the safety of the trees in their bedding area during daylight hours.

If you have time to watch buck rub-route trails you can learn not only where, but when the buck uses the trail. Finding the rub route and knowing when the buck uses it helps you choose the right time and place to hunt. If you don’t have time to watch the trail you can use a Trail Timer or Game Camera to let you know what time the buck comes through the area.

If you don’t use a timer or camera to find out the buck’s travel time the best strategy is to find it’s bedding area and setup as near to it as possible, using different stand sites for morning and evening and varying wind conditions. By getting close enough to the bedding area to watch it but far enough away so you don’t alert the buck to your presence you increase the chances of seeing the buck during daylight hours.

By spending extra time and effort Observing, Scouting, Patterning and Recording the food sources, and travel and rub routes prior to the hunting season, you cut down the amount of nonproductive hunting during the season. Then you will know where to find the buck and at what time, so you can use techniques to ambush or attract it to you.