During my latest turkey seminar I began to realize that the average hunter rarely thinks about how family relationship and social status relate to the calls turkeys use in the spring, or how understanding how these relationships should affect which calls hunters use to call turkeys. So, let’s examine the makeup of spring turkey flocks.

Many hunters may not realize that the hen flocks they see in the spring or not just a bunch of hens. What these flocks normally are made up of is one or more adult hens with their year-old female offspring. And the adult hens may also be related. This means that much of the calling being done is between the adult hen and her offspring, between the offspring, and between the adult hens. It also means that most of the birds in the flock know each other’s voices, particularly the hens and their own offspring. Much of the calling hunters hear in the spring is used to keep the families, and the flock together. Many of these calls fall into the Social Contact and Maternal/Neonatal Calls category.

Let’s review some of these calls.

Hen “Family” Calls

The Yelp is often the first sound of the day, a soft, nasal, three to five note call performed while the birds are on the roost before daylight. It is a soft chirp-chirp-chirp … chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp, or a variation. There are usually three to four notes per second, with each note being about .08 seconds in length. This call is used by a bird when it is telling the others it is awake and asking if there are other birds nearby and awake. In the case of spring turkeys, it is often one of the female family members asking if the other family members are still there. I use this call in the morning to see if the birds are still on the roost.

The Assembly Yelp is used by the hen to regroup the young, and this probably carries over to some extent in spring calling. This call usually consists of six to ten or more evenly spaced yelps that are loud and sharp, with two to four notes per second, and each note lasting from .12 to .20 seconds. I often hear hens make a loud, long series of yelps while they are on the strut during the breeding phase. I am not sure if this is an Assembly Yelp or a Lost Yelp. But, I do know that toms often show up in areas where hens are making this call. I use Lost Yelps and Assembly Yelps to get a tom fired up on the roost, and to keep it coming once it is on the ground.

The Lost Yelp is much like the Plain Yelp, but it is often used by female offspring to locate their mother in the spring, particularly after the hens have been bred and begun nesting. When they return to traditional feeding/strutting areas they often try to regroup with each other. This may call contain twenty or more notes, and it becomes louder toward the end of the call. The bird’s voice may “break” as it tries to make the call as loud as possible, which causes it to have a raspy sound. There may be from three to four notes per second, with each note lasting .10 to .15 seconds.

Hen Flock Social Contact Calls

Adult turkeys use many different yelps and clucks to keep in contact in different situations. Most yelps are the same as the “Here I am, where are you?” call of geese and other flocking birds, which is used to keep the birds in contact with each other. These calls are basically variations of the hen “family” calls.

The Plain Yelp is performed when turkeys are within seeing distance of each other. It often consists of three to nine notes, all on the same pitch and of the same volume, with three to four notes per second, and each note lasting .08 to .10 seconds; chirp, chirp, chirp. I use this call when toms are up close, or within seeing distance of the decoys.

The Plain Cluck is used by turkeys to get the visual attention of another bird. It is primarily a close range contact call, again saying “Here am I, where are you?” A bird making this call wants to hear another bird make the same call so they can get together. It is a sharp, short sound, similar to the alarm putt but not as loud or as insistent; tut…tut. The notes of the cluck are often separated by as much as three seconds, which distinguishes it from the faster, closely spaced Fast Cutt. I often hear hens use several soft Clucks and Purrs while they are feeding. It sounds like putt, putt, putt, errr, putt …. putt, putt, putt, errr. I use this call when a tom hangs up nearby, or to stop it for a shot.

The Fast Cutt, or Cutting, is one turkey using the “Here I am, where are you?” but telling the other bird “If we are going to get together you have to come to me.” It is a loud insistent call, and the notes are strung together in bursts of two’s and three’s, with about a second between bursts. It sounds like; TUT…TUT…TUT, TUT. TUT .TUT, TUT…TUT…TUT, TUT…TUT… TUT, TUT… TUT, or any variation of clucks. The rhythm is somewhat like the Flying Cackle, and I have used a Flying Cackle to get a tom to “shock gobble.” I also use this call to bring in a tom that hangs up.

Male Groups; Family and Social Contact Calls

Hunters may also not realize that the males in a tom or jake group may also be related. Since dominance, or social status, is often established when the birds are growing up, and because there is very little squabbling for social status between family members (because social status is already established), it is easy to see how male turkeys who are brothers may stay together as long as the live. Again this means they know the voices of each other. So, they often use the same social contact calls the hens use, except they generally have deeper voices. And because they are males and do not separate to go off and lay eggs, they rarely use the “family calls” such as the Assembly Yelp and the Lost Yelp, or the Fast Cluck. The may use Tree Yelps and Plain Yelps to help them remain in contact with each other.

What this all boils down to is that it is difficult for a hunter to convince a turkey it is a member of its family or flock. However, this doesn’t mean calling won’t work, because you can use hen calls to call toms, and you can use aggressive hen calls, such as a Fighting Purr, to call in hen groups. What it does mean is that hunter should “think” about what they are trying to simulate when they call, and use the appropriate calls to accomplish their task.

My hunter and I quietly waited as the sky became brighter. After several minutes I heard a gobble, followed immediately by another gobble, and then two more. It sounded like the two toms and two jakes I’d seen last night were still together. I let the bird’s sound off for about five minutes, then made two fly down cackles on my slate call, simulating a couple of hens coming off the roost. The toms erupted in a chorus of gobbles.

When they gobbled later the sound of their calls was more muffled. I knew they had flown down and were on the ground. I yelped loudly again and the birds answered back, the sound coming closer. When it sounded like the birds were about two hundred yards away, they quit calling. I blew a series of soft clucks and purrs, trying to convince the toms there was a group of hens feeding nearby, but I got no answer.

I tried everything I could to get the toms to answer for the next half hour, but nothing worked. When the drizzle turned to rain I asked Bob if he’d had enough. When he said yes I picked up the decoys and we headed back toward the Suburban. I asked if wanted to wait and see if the rain would let up. He said he had to get back to the shop but he’d be back tomorrow morning. By the time we got back to the house the rain was letting up, so I dropped Bob off and drove back to where we’d hunted. At the edge of the woods, two hundred yards from where we’d been sitting were two toms, two jakes and seven hens. Now I knew why they had quit calling. They weren’t going to answer me with seven hens nearby.

As a guide and wildlife researcher I have spent several years studying turkey behavior. As a result of my research I learned a lot about when and where turkeys move, which I will talk about in the next issue. I also made several interesting discoveries on turkey calls, and learned that some generalizations can be made about gobbling activity.

1. Some males gobble more than others. Gobbling is an expression of dominance and willingness to breed. Adult toms, because of their higher testosterone levels and social status gobble more than jakes. The dominant tom of a group gobbles more than the subdominants.
2. More gobbling occurs in the morning than in the evening. Toms try to attract hens in the morning, shortly after they wake up.
3. More gobbling occurs when the bird is on the roost than when it is on the ground. Most gobbling occurs from about 45 minutes before sunrise to about 45 minutes after sunrise, with peak gobbling generally occurring before sunrise.
4. More gobbling occurs when there are no hens present. Toms in the presence of hens usually stop gobbling and begin to strut.
5. More gobbling occurs when males hear other males gobbling. The birds try to outcall each other for the attention of nearby hens.

Turkey Calls

An understanding of the different calls turkeys use helps when you are trying to call turkeys. Turkey researchers have described as many as 20 different turkey calls. They fall into six basic categories; Agonistic, Alarm, Contact, Flying, Maternal/Neonatal and Mating.

Agonistic Calls

Turkeys make a number of soft Putts, Purrs, and Whines while feeding. These calls help keep the flock in contact, while spacing the birds out when their heads are down and they can’t see each other. The bird is saying, “This is my space, don’t get to close.” The Feeding Whine or Purr sounds like the call made by a feeding chicken; a soft errr. It may be followed by one or more Feeding Putts; a soft contented putt, putt. I use these calls shortly after I use a flydown cackle, to convince a tom that there are hens on the ground and feeding. I also use it on toms that hang up out of range, to calm them down.

Fighting Calls

Fighting turkeys use an Aggressive Purr. This call is louder and more insistent than the feeding purr. The call is often interrupted by flapping wings, kicking and neck wrestling. Other turkeys hearing a fight often come running to see which birds are fighting and which wins and loses. The loser often drops out of the social hierarchy leaving room for the birds beneath it to move up. Any bird that has a chance to move up in the hierarchy will do so. The sound of birds fighting will often hens, groups of toms and dominants, so they can see which birds are fighting in their area. I use this call to bring in dominant toms when everything else fails.

Alarm Call

When a turkey becomes aware of danger it makes a loud, sharp Alarm Putt of from one to five notes; TUT, TUT, TUT, that is used to warn other birds of danger. The call is a sign that a bird has seen a potential predator, and is usually followed by the bird running or flying away. Do not use this call when hunting turkeys.

Contact and Maternal/Neonatal Calls

Because the Contact Calls are used most often between the hen and her poults they are basically the same as the Maternal/Neonatal Calls. When turkeys use these calls they are saying “Here I am, where are You?” The contact calls of young turkeys are the Lost Whistle, Kee-Kee and the Kee-Kee Run. These are all high pitched calls that change as the turkey grows.

The Lost Whistle is the sound very young birds make. As summer advances the voices of the poults change and the Lost Whistle becomes the Kee-Kee. As fall approaches the young begin to add yelps at the end of the Kee-Kee to produce the Kee-Kee Run. These calls are used by the young when they are trying to locate their mother and the other young birds.

The Lost Whistle is a high pitched whistle; peep, peep, peep, peep. The Kee Kee usually has three notes strung together in a kee-kee-kee. Many callers fail to recreate this call correctly by using only two notes, or by using up to five notes. Maybe the name of the call should be changed to the kee-kee-kee. The Kee-Kee Run is the basic Kee-Kee followed by several yelps; kee-kee-kee, chirp chirp chirp chirp. I use these calls in the fall, after I have scattered a flock.

Adult turkeys use many different Yelps and Clucks to keep in contact in different situations. The Plain Yelp is the same as the “Here I am, where are you?” call of geese and other flocking birds, which is used to keep the birds in contact with each other.

The Tree Yelp is often the first sound of the day, a soft, nasal, three to five note call performed while the birds are on the roost before daylight. It is a soft chirp, chirp, chirp ….. chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, or a variation. There are usually three to four notes per second, with each note being about .08 seconds in length. This call is one bird telling the others it is awake and asking if other birds are nearby and awake. This is the first call I use in the morning, to see if there are toms in the area and still on the roost.

The Plain Yelp is performed when the turkeys are within seeing distance of each other. It often consists of three to nine notes, all on the same pitch and of the same volume, with three to four notes per second, and each note lasting .08 to .10 seconds; chirp, chirp, chirp. I use this call when toms are up close, or within seeing distance of the decoys.

The Lost Yelp is much like the Plain Yelp but may contain 20 or more notes, and becomes louder toward the end. The bird’s voice may “break” during the call, which causes it to have a raspy sound. There may be from three to four notes per second, with each note lasting .10 to .15 seconds.

The Assembly Yelp is used by the hen in the fall to regroup the young. It usually consists six to ten or more evenly spaced yelps that are loud and sharp, with two to four notes per second, and each note lasting from .12 to .20 seconds. I often hear hens make a loud, long series of Yelps while they are on the strut during the breeding phase. I am not sure if this is an Assembly Yelp, Lost Yelp or a Fast Cutt. But, I do know that toms often show up in areas where hens are making this call. I use Lost Yelps and Assembly Yelps to get a tom fired up on the roost, and to keep it coming.

The Plain Cluck is used by turkeys to get the visual attention of another bird. It is primarily a close range contact call, again saying “Here am I, where are you?” A bird making this call wants to hear another bird make the same call so they can get together. It is a sharp, short sound similar to the alarm putt but not as loud or as insistent; tut…tut. The notes of the cluck are often separated by as much as three seconds, which distinguishes it from the faster, closely spaced Fast Cutt. I often hear hens use several soft Clucks and Purrs while they are feeding. It sounds like putt, putt, putt, errr, putt, putt, putt. putt, errr. I use this call when a tom hangs up nearby, or to stop it for a shot.

The Fast Cutt, or Cutting, is one turkey using the “Here I am, where are you?” but telling the other bird “If we are going to get together you have to come to me.” It is a loud, insistent call, and the notes are strung together in bursts of two’s and three’s, with about a second between bursts. I sounds like; TUT…TUT…TUT, TUT TUT TUT, TUT..TUT..TUT, TUT..TUT.. TUT, TUT TUT or any variation of clucks. The rhythm is somewhat like the flying cackle, and I have used a flying cackle to get a tom to “shock gobble.” I also use this call to bring in a tom that hangs up.

Flying Calls

The Flying Cackle is the sound a turkey makes when flying up or down from the roost, or when flying across ravines. Many hunters have difficulty with the correct tempo of this call. Actually, it’s quite easy, the calling of a bird in the air is directly related to the downbeat of the wing stroke. It’s when the bird contracts it’s chest muscles and exhales, it’s the only time the bird can call. If you are trying to imitate this call visualize the action of the turkey as it takes off, first with slow, powerful wing beats, then faster, and tapering off slowly before gliding and landing. I often use this call to get a “shock gobble” from a tom before daylight, so I can locate the tree he is in. I also use it to get a tom to come off the roost in my direction.

Mating Calls

Tom turkeys Gobble to express social status, telling other males they are ready to fight to prove their dominance, and to attract hens. The Gobble is most often heard while the bird is on the roost early in the morning. Studies show that most gobbling occurs from about a forty-five minutes before to forty-five minutes after sunrise. Individual toms also call most frequently at this time. Gobbling is a means of long distance communication and the tom may expect the hen to come to him, if she is ready to breed. Many experts claim that the primary reason the tom gobbles is to get the hen to come to him, not him to go to them. But, I often see toms arrive at the strut where the hens are already calling. Whether the toms are responding to the calling of the hens or not I cannot say. Use a gobble only when you are sure there are no other hunters in the areas, they may mistake you for a turkey.

Hens in the presence of a tom may Whine, causing the tom to begin strutting. The medium pitched single drawn out errr of the Whine or Purr may be used by the hen to get the male to prove how large, colorful and healthy he is. I use these calls when toms are close, to convince them there is a hot hen nearby.

Mating Sounds

Once the tom is near the hen he spends more time strutting; displaying his colorful head, fluffed up body, and spread tail to impress the hen. When hens are within visual distance the less audible sounds of the Spit and Drum can be heard and used to attract them. The sounds of the Spit and Drum have been described as a chump and a hum. It’s believed that both the Spit and Drum are vocalizations. However, after watching toms snap their wings open on gravel, and hearing the sound of the Spit at the exact same moment, I believe the Spit is the sound of the wing tips snapping open or hitting the ground, but I can’t prove it. I do know that peacocks drum by vibrating the feather shafts of their tail together in what is called a “harmonic rustle.” The Drum of a turkey may be produced in the same manner. Toms respond to these calls out of dominance. Groups of toms, and single dominant birds may respond to these calls, but subdominants and jakes my be scared off, because they are afraid of being attacked by a dominant.

Fall turkey hunting is not the same as spring turkey hunting, because the birds are motivated by different needs. To be successful you have to use techniques suited to the needs and habits of the birds at this time of the year. Fall turkeys are not interested in breeding, the toms are not gobbling, and they are beginning to regroup. The hens are interested in security and survival for the young, and finding abundant food sources because of the greater number of birds. If food is scarce the hen flocks may travel more than normal to find food. They flocks are also able to detect danger more easily because there are more eyes and ears. The young are also older and smarter, and their calls have changed, primarily because the birds are older.

Fall turkeys are interested in cover, roosting sites, water and new food sources to fatten them up and get them through the winter. In the fall turkeys search for natural food sources, grapes, cherries, grass seeds, acorns, beechnuts, pine nuts, and other mast. They also look for snails and insects; and grasses that have remained green or recently greened up. In the fall green forage can be found on east facing slopes and in drainage bottoms. Turkeys will also feed on agricultural crops of clover and small grains.

Fall Scouting, Observing, Recording and Patterning

Prior to the fall season you should spend some time and effort locating the food sources. Weather dictates the availability and abundance of natural crops, while weather and the farmer dictate the location of, and the productiveness of the crops. The only way to find the food is to get into the fields and woods. Check out food sources from the spring and previous years, and look for signs of recent use. You may actually see birds while scouting. When you see turkeys take note of the time, place and sex of the birds, and mark the place on a topographical map or aerial photo. Turkeys often use preferred routes and travel at about the same time daily. Try to pattern the birds if you can.

If I discover a pattern I put a blind in the feeding site or travel route to ambush the birds as they come by. Because I hunt private land I often construct blinds of natural materials, or leave a portable blinds in good locations. The birds soon get used to the blinds, and when I use a flock of decoys they often come right in to my calling. This technique takes patience, and many hunters prefer to take a more active role rather than a passive one.

Fall Hunting Techniques

The classic way to hunt turkeys in the fall is to find a flock of birds, often hens and young, get close enough to flush the birds, and scatter them by running into the flock, waving your arms and yelling as you go. Then you set up in the area, wait until the birds begin calling to each other to regroup, then call to get them to come to you. Your calling often gets the lost young to sound off in an effort to find the hen or others of the flock. Once the birds begin calling, others begin calling in return, and the flock eventually gets back together.

Sometimes this works, but the birds may regroup somewhere else. If you set up close to where the birds landed you may end up between two birds calling to each other, and they come right to you. Scattering birds in the fall works but is often unnecessary. If you are close enough to scatter a flock you are usually close enough for a shot, or can get close enough. Wait for a single bird to separate from the flock before shooting, it’s very easy to kill more than one turkey when the birds are close together.

When you are hunting toms in the fall, try to locate the birds the night before, by watching or hearing them fly-up to roost at night. Then you go in the next morning, setup as close as you can to the roost trees (50-60 yards), and possibly get between the birds and their morning feeding area. Then you call the birds in, or ambush them when they walk by.

I use more decoys in the fall than I do in the spring because of the larger flocks I encounter. I use up to six decoys and generally use only hen decoys when I am hunting hens, because I am not simulating breeding or dominance behavior. If I’m after toms I use one jake decoy, more than that may scare off a single tom.

For hunting sites I choose semi-open areas like I would for spring hunting, with a tree at my back to break up my outline, and for protection. Then I string some camouflage material up in front of me. When I hunt private land and know I won’t be stalked by other hunters I prefer to have cover in front of me. I choose a low bush or fallen tree to sit behind and sit on a portable folding stool/backpack. This method of portable hunting, not needing a tree as a backrest, gives me the opportunity to pick up and move if the area is unproductive. I can set up in more open areas by using a piece of camouflage material stowed in the backpack. There is also room for a half dozen Feather Flex turkey decoys. When I get my bird I put it in the pack along with my decoys and head for the truck.

Two of the main factors contributing to poor hunter success are not being familiar with the property, and not observing the game to understand it, and help locate and pattern it. The more time and effort you spend on the property, getting to know the land and observing the animals, the more you will learn, and the better hunter you will be. There are no shortcuts to knowledge; the best teacher is experience.

Choosing A Hunting Area

To be successful as a hunter you need to find areas that offer a sufficient number of animals to hunt; areas with high success rates; or areas where trophies are known to occur, or have come from, in the past. If you are interested in a particular species or subspecies you need to find the areas where it occurs. Once you have determined the general area you wish to hunt, a state for instance, the next step is to determine the county or unit to hunt, then the property, and finally you will want to locate the best places to hunt for the animal on the property.

The first part of locating game, determining the right area to hunt, is what I call research. The second part, the actual location, consists of understanding the animal, and personal experience in knowing the areas to look for the animals or signs of them. I refer to this as scouting. All of these “keys;” research, understanding, personal experience and scouting are necessary to successfully locate the animal and their “high use areas. Without all four “keys” locating is difficult, if not frustrating.

Scouting

The act of locating game animals consists of two primary techniques, scouting and observing. The more time and effort you spend scouting and observing the animals, and recording what you have seen, the less time you will have to be spend patterning and hunting. Once you know where the animals are through scouting; and knowing the sex, size, and time to expect them in certain areas (based on observing and recording in a journal and marking on a map), it’s a matter of determining the right spot at the right time to hunt. While you are scouting, looking for sign, you should also learn the land. You want to know where the food sources are, and what time of the year they are used. You should also look for the roosting areas, watering sites, breeding areas and travel routes.

When you are scouting for turkeys you want to know where the ravines, gullies, streams and fences are; obstacles that a turkey will detour around or maybe not cross. If you know where the openings and fields are you will be able to choose the best places to set up, and you will be able to estimate how long it will take a bird to come to your call. You also want to know the topography, the elevation of hills and valleys, so you know if the birds are above or below you. When you are calling try to be above the bird. Turkeys prefer to come uphill to a call rather than down.

You should know the land as thoroughly as the animals do, so you know where to find them under the current conditions and time of year. If you know the land, you will know where the birds when you hear but can’t see them. If you see them you will know the route either you or the birds will travel, and approximately how long it will take. But, you won’t know the number of birds, their size and sex, interesting characteristics, or when they use specific areas, unless you observe them.

Observing

One of the best ways to understand an animal is to observe it under natural conditions. The only way to know the numbers, size, sex, characteristics, and the time to expect the animals in particular locations is by spending some time and effort observing them. Scouting is learning the land and finding areas used frequently by the animals. Observing is watching, undetected, to learn more about the animals and have a better understanding of them. Observing is not accidentally running into or spooking animals.

An observation site should be a high point with a good view of much of the land, far enough away that you will not disturb the animals during their normal routine. A tree stand at the edge of field, or a hill, is a good site. By choosing the right spot to watch from you are able to see how the animals react to weather, light, hunting pressure, and other predators. You may also have a chance to hear the animals calling and see the body posture and movement associated with the call.

Recording

While you are scouting and observing you should also put your findings in a journal. Mark the places where you see the animals on a map, and mark the trails, resting, feeding, breeding and watering areas The more information you keep in a journal, and the more information you have on your map, the easier it will be to understand the animals and pattern them. Keep notes on date, day, time, sky conditions (amount of light), wind direction and speed, temperature, dewpoint, wind-chill, precipitation breeding phase, food availability, number of animals, sex, direction of travel, activity, size and any other factors that might help you better understand the animals.

Patterning

While observing the animals you may be able to determine regular travel routes and times they use, which will help you pattern the animals and make it easier to choose the right time and place to hunt them. Patterning cannot be done in a few hours, it may take days or even weeks. The more time and effort you spend observing the animals, the clearer the pattern will become, and the more you will learn and understand the animals.

High Use Areas

To locate turkeys you need a good topographical map of the area, or a good aerial photo. These visual aids will help determine where the “high use areas” of security cover, roosting sites, water, food, strutting, and travel areas are before you are even on the property. Then it’s time to get on the property and scout for sign left by turkeys. Two prime areas you want to locate are the food sources, which often serve as strutting areas, and the roosting sites. These are the areas where turkeys spend a majority of their time and leave the most sign. They are also the areas where turkeys are the most predictable, where you have the best chance of ambushing or getting them to come to you. Find these areas and you will find the birds.

Reading Sign

While you are scouting look for tracks, particularly tracks in the 2 ¼ inch and larger range, with a deep or clear imprint of the middle toe with the scales showing. This indicates a large heavy bird, usually a tom. Tracks can be found along trails, in feeding and strutting areas (where wing drag marks may also occur), near roosting sites, and near wet areas.

Droppings are frequent in high use areas of trails, feeding, watering, strutting and roosting sites, and can tell you if a tom is in the area. Large straight or “J” shaped droppings are those of a tom. Bulbous or spiral droppings are those of a hen. Piles of droppings under large trees are a good indication of a roosting site.

Feathers are often found along trails, under roosts, in feeding areas and in or near dusting bowls (small depressions in the dirt) where the birds cover themselves with dust to help eliminate pests. Breast feathers with square black tips are those of toms, while rounded brown tipped feathers are those of a hen. Light tipped tail and rump feathers are those of a jake or tom.

Scratching is another sign of turkey use. Scratches appear as claw marks in the dirt, or large torn up areas in grass or leaves. When a turkey scratches it uses each foot several times, leaving a “V” pattern, with the point of the “V” showing the way the bird was facing. Turkeys scratch when they are searching for left over seeds and acorns, or new succulent green growth and insects. A sure sign of a turkey feeding area is torn up leaf litter with exposed forbes bitten off.

Once you have found the high use areas it’s a matter of more time and effort observing the birds to determine if there are toms or jakes, how many birds there are, the size of the birds, length or number of beards, and other interesting features. Observing on a regular basis will help you determine when the birds fly down, which direction they go, the route they take, where they feed, and where they go to strut, water and roost. You need to record all this information in your journal and mark it on a map (which will help you pattern the birds), so you know where and when to hunt.

Even though the first day of the spring turkey hunt was cloudy, and a cold wind was blowing I headed for the soybean field where I had seen a flock of turkeys appear just after daylight for the last two weeks. I was fairly sure the birds wouldn’t show up because of the weather. Just to be on the safe side I drove to the field forty-five minutes before daylight. I parked on the road, got out of the suburban, and owl hooted loudly. When I didn’t get an answer I hooted again. Still no answer. I waited several minutes as the sky grew lighter and then blew a flydown cackle. No answer. The birds were either not there or not talking.

Luckily, I had been researching this particular flock for more than two years and I had a good idea of where I could find at least two of the fourteen jakes and toms in the area. I got back in the Suburban and drove to a small bean field that protected from north and east winds by the surrounding woods. By the time I got there the sky was already turning gray, so I grabbed my bag of Feather Flex decoys and quickly made my way to the edge of the woods on the west side of the small field. When I reached the gully that ran into the field from the north I put out two hen decoys and two toms decoys, one in a semi-strut the other in a full strut.

I chose a large tree at the edge of the woods, checked to make sure I had a clear line of sight, sat down, and yelped softly on my Haydel’s box call. With the wind blowing I wasn’t sure if I could hear the birds, or if they could hear me. I called intermittently for the next fifteen minutes without getting a response. Then I heard a double gobble. I called one more time and waited. I knew the birds were calling because they kept gobbling every two to three minutes, and each time the sound was closer. A half hour after I set up two long bearded toms walked down the gully, into the field and approached the decoys. If I had been hunting the birds would have offered an easy shot at fifteen yards.

Research

As a guide, writer and seminar speaker it’s my job to know when and where to find game animals on a regular basis. After hunting for more than thirty years I have learned a bit about animals. Reading magazine articles and attending seminars also helped. Then I began to talk to researchers and biologists throughout the United States. After reading several of their research papers I realized there was much more to learn. So, I decided to begin doing my own research.
Like most hunters I have had days when I felt I had chosen the right day, the right spot, and the right time to hunt, and still didn’t see anything. I was fairly sure the weather had a lot to do with game movement because of some of the research I had read. I knew that turkeys often roosted on the downwind side of a hill to get out of cold winds, and from my own experience I knew that they often flew down later than normal on cloudy days. But, I wasn’t sure when or where the birds moved when the conditions weren’t right.

That’s when I began watching the flock of thirty-four birds a half mile from my house. For two years I watched, listened and learned the movement of the birds. From the middle of March to late May I would go out in the evening to find out where the birds roosted. The next morning I would arrive an hour before daybreak. In a notebook I wrote down the date, temperature, wind speed, wind-chill, sky conditions and precipitation. Then I would record the time and number of all the gobbles, any other calls the birds made, how many hens, toms and jakes I saw, what they did and when they did it, how long they did it and where they went, from sunrise to as late as 1:30 PM. What I learned has allowed me to see more birds, find the birds on a regular basis, and get closer to them.

My studies show that several different meteorological conditions affect when and where turkeys move on a daily basis. These conditions include; the temperature or wind-chill (whichever is lower), the wind speed, amount and type of precipitation, and the cloud cover.

Light, Cloud Cover

One of the first things I noticed during the study was that the birds flew down from 10 to 20 minutes later than normal on cloudy days, and the dominant toms usually flew down later than the hens. Turkeys rely heavily on their sight to alert them of danger, and because they are daytime animals, they wake up when the sky begins to get light, and wait to fly down until they can see well enough to detect danger.

Temperature/Windchill

On cold days the birds flew down later than normal, and on occasion they waited until after it had warmed in the mid-morning hours before coming off the roost. Once they were on the ground they often sought areas that were open to the sun, usually out of the wind, where they were warmer because of solar radiation. During extremely cold weather they sought food sources out of the wind, and fed for several hours before they returned to the woods. I often saw them feeding on top of an open corn crib, at a silage pile not far from a cattle barn, and in a field where the farmer spread cattle manure every few days.

Precipitation

A research paper sent to me by Dr. James Earl Kennemer of the NWTF stated that when there had been precipitation during the last 12 hours, gobbling activity was reduced. That started me wondering if rain affected the movements of the bird as well, so I began to pay particular attention to when and where I heard and saw the birds on rainy days, and on days after it had rained. The first thing I noticed was that when it was raining, or had rained during the night, the birds flew down later than normal. If it had rained during the night, but wasn’t raining in the morning, I often saw the birds sitting in open areas out of the wind, especially if the sun was shining, with their wings outspread, trying to dry out.

If it was still raining in the morning the birds often stayed in wooded areas later than normal, and fed and rested in wooded areas with sparse or low ground cover. When the vegetation was wet they preferred to stay on game rails, old roads, and in areas with low vegetation. If the birds came out into the open to feed they used areas with low vegetation; new growth meadows, picked agricultural fields and pastures. But, not all birds are alike. The state wildlife habitat manager and I were reviewing our habitat improvement program one day when we saw a hen standing in the middle of a gravel road in a pouring rain.

I also found that the birds were late on their daily travels if it had rained in the last twelve hours. When the skies were still cloudy the morning after it had rained, the birds flew down later than normal, and arrived at traditional feeding/strutting areas later than normal, later than they did when the skies were cloudy but when it had not rained. When it was both cloudy and raining in the morning the birds flew down even later still.

I didn’t understand why the birds were so late after it rained until I watched them feeding one afternoon. They were in a soybean field about a half mile from a group of white oaks where they often roosted. When they were in this area the birds usually fed in the field on the east side of the woods, moved around to the south side of the woods, and then flew into the trees about 50 yards from the field edge. The next morning they would fly down from the trees and land in the bean field, about fifty yards from the edge of the woods.

On this particular evening the turkeys had been feeding for about a half hour when it started to rain. Within minutes the birds moved into the woods, and as it continued to rain they flew into a group of elms, where they roosted for the night. Because it was raining in the afternoon, before the birds normally roosted, they had stopped feeding earlier than normal, flew up into trees they didn’t normally use, and roosted earlier than normal. Because they were farther away from their traditional feeding/strutting area the next morning, they couldn’t fly down into the field like they normally did. Because it rained during the night the birds flew down later the next morning. When they did fly down they landed in the woods, and eventually worked their way to the soybean field. But, they got there about an hour later than they normally did.

There were several times during the study when it rained in the afternoon before the birds flew up to roost in a one of their normal roosting areas. When this happened the birds flew down later than normal the next morning; they often used different travel routes than they normally used; they were more likely to feed in wooded areas; and they usually arrived at open feeding/strutting areas later than normal.

Wind

When it was not windy the birds often roosted on the upper two thirds of east or south facing slopes. I suspect this was because the prevailing winds were easterly, and because the birds might gain the benefit of late evening and early morning sunlight. When there were strong winds, or when it was both cold and windy, the birds roosted on the downwind sides of slopes or wooded areas, in heavy cover if the could. In areas where there are conifers, turkeys often roost in them during cold weather. On windy days, especially when it was cold or rainy, the birds usually fed in areas out of the wind; low-lying areas, wooded areas, and the down wind side of hills or woods. When they did feed in areas open to the wind they ate quickly and then moved into protected areas earlier than normal.

Gobbling Activity

I also noted there was far less gobbling on windy and rainy days. I suspect that high winds and the sound of the rain make it hard for the birds to each other, causing them to gobble less in response to each other. I also found that the birds responded less to my calling on windy and rainy days, probably because they couldn’t hear my calls.

Spring Turkey Movement

Spring is when turkeys begin to move from their winter to summer ranges. However, this shift doesn’t happen at the same time each year, it depends on the amount of food available and the weather conditions. Depending on where you hunt the summer ranges may be from as little as a half mile to several miles apart. In areas where the winter and summer ranges are only a few miles apart the shift may occur over several days, with birds leaving one day and returning the next. In areas where the ranges are several miles apart the move may take weeks, with the birds advancing only as far as new foods become available. The only way to determine where the birds are on a regular basis is by scouting the area from a week to a day before you hunt.

High Use Areas: Roost Sites and Feeding Areas

The best way to find turkeys on a regular basis is to pattern their movements. In order to do this you need to thoroughly scout the area you intend to hunt, key areas to look for are roosting sites and feeding areas. Studies by several researchers show that turkeys prefer to roost out of the wind when possible, in areas that are open to the early morning sun. I often find roosts on east and south facing slopes, on the east and south side of wooded areas, or in other areas open to the sun but out of the wind. The trees selected for roosting sites are usually taller than the surrounding trees, with large horizontal limbs. Large oak, elm, maple and box elder are used in the midwest, cottonwood and aspen are often used in the prairie states, and pines are used where ever they are available.

Preferred food sources depend on the time of the year. In early spring, before the snow has melted or new green growth has appeared, turkeys often use agriculture fields shortly after leaving the roost. Unplowed fields of corn and soybeans will we be used frequently as long as grain is still available. Grain fields that have been heavily grazed by cattle, or that have been plowed under will less use by turkeys. Fields and pastures where cattle are fed on a regular basis are frequently used by turkeys as they search for leftover food and pick through cow droppings for undigested grains. The birds will also feed on leftover acorns and other mast crops where available. Once the weather warms the birds will begin frequenting CRP and agricultural fields, pastures and open meadows in search of grasses, hay, alfalfa and winter wheat. They will also use south and east facing slopes and creek bottoms where they feed on insects and newly grown forbes. Scratching in leaf litter in wooded areas, where new forbes have been eaten, is a sure sign or a turkey travel route.

Turkey Activity

During your scouting you may see tracks, droppings, feathers and dusting bowls. These signs help you determine whether or not there are birds in the area and how recently. While you are scouting carry along a topographical map or aerial photo of the area and a notebook. Mark the areas where you see sign. When you hear or see birds note the time and weather conditions, and the number, sex and location of the birds in your notebook. Then mark the area on you map or photo. If you can, watch the birds several times before you hunt, so you know the areas where they normally roost and feed. Watch more than one flock if you can, so that you have back up birds to work if you can’t find your first choice.

Know where the birds fly down, when they leave their favorite roosting areas, where they feed when they are in that area, and the route they usually take when going to the feeding area. You should also know where they go after they leave the early morning feeding area. Generally the birds will stay in an open feeding/strutting area a half hour or more before moving to another area. They may move through wooded areas, feeding as they go, and arrive at another open feeding area; or they may stay in the woods. Knowing where they go when they leave the early morning feeding/strutting site will give you the opportunity to hunt the birds later in the day.

Look for birds going to roost the night before you hunt, so you know where to find them the next morning. If you see birds feeding in open areas within a half hour of sunset they will usually roost nearby, and they may return to feed in the same area the next morning. If you don’t see any birds drive around to likely roosting areas and try to get the birds to shock gobble in response to a crow call, owl hoot, pileated woodpecker call, or gobble. Once you have found a roosting area figure out where the birds will likely feed the next morning, and the travel route they will take. The next morning setup along the travel route or in the feeding area. If the weather is nice expect the birds to feed in unprotected areas. If it’s windy, cold or rainy set up in protected areas, and expect the birds to call less, call later than normal, and to move later in the day than they would on warm sunny days.

After listening to and watching the birds for two weeks I knew what their daily pattern was. I was confident that I would be able to get a shot at one of the big toms by setting up between the woods and the pasture. But on opening morning I never saw or heard a turkey!

Since the first week of April I had heard turkeys gobbling in the woods across from the house, but my license wasn’t good until mid-April. Not being able to hunt I had to be content to listen to the birds, and watch them feeding in the corn field south of the barn where the neighboring farmer spread manure every two weeks.

The birds would arrive at the pasture about an hour after sunrise every morning, where they would feed for one to two hours before walking back up the hill and into the woods. After listening to and watching the birds for two weeks I knew what their daily pattern was. I was confident that I would be able to get a shot at one of the big toms by setting up between the woods and the pasture when my hunting season rolled around.

For several reasons I was unable to scout the week before my hunt, and although I didn’t see the turkeys I could still hear them gobbling once in a while during the morning. On the day of my hunt I set up a blind in the gully the birds used as they traveled from the woods to the cornfield. As the sky began to get lighter I waited, expecting to hear some tree yelps and gobbles from the ridge where the birds usually roosted. Although I waited in the blind until two hours after sunrise I never heard or saw a turkey.

I finally crawled out of my blind, walked to my truck, cased my bow, stowed my turkey vest, and started the truck. Determined to find the turkeys I followed the gravel roads that surrounded the woods where I hunted, stopping to glass the fields, meadows and pastures looking and listening for the turkeys. When I had just about given up I saw them; five toms and fifteen hens, feeding at the bottom of a wooded ravine that opened up into a soybean field. As I watched, the hens fed and the toms strutted and maneuvered for position in front of the hens. The birds fed in the field for about forty five minutes then began to move back into the wooded ravine, where they intermittently walked, scratched through the leaves and fed for another half hour before moving farther up the ravine and out of sight into the woods.

That evening I returned to the ravine about an hour before sundown to see if the birds were feeding nearby. If they weren’t I would drive around the woods, stopping near every ravine and ridge, where I would try to get the toms to gobble in response to my imitation of a barred owl call. Even though I didn’t see the birds near the ravine I stopped long enough to blow my owl call. When I didn’t get a response after the second try I took out my Haydel’s box call and shook it, making a loud gobble. There was an immediate response as one of the toms thundered a gobble. From the direction of the sound I guessed the birds were probably roosted in a group of large oaks on the north side of the ravine where they often roosted.

The next morning I moved my blind to the wooded ravine, hoping the birds would roost nearby, and then walk by my blind as they went to the soybean field to feed. The blind was setup and I was sitting comfortably inside it about forty five minutes before sunrise. Twenty minutes later I heard the first soft tree yelp from the birds. Within the next ten minutes I heard at least seven series of tree yelps, but not one gobble. Wondering where the toms were I yelped loudly on my MADD aluminum slate call, then blew a fly down cackle with Knight & Hale mouth diaphragm. There was no response, so I repeated the sequence, making sure the calls were loud and clear. Again there was no response.

Ten minutes later I could hear the sounds of the birds as they moved toward me through the woods. The first thing I heard was the yelping of one of the birds, then the soft putts and purrs of the other birds, and finally the sounds of their feet as they scratched through the leaves thirty yards from my blind. There were fifteen hens, just like I’d seen the day before, but not a single tom. I watched the hens as they moved by. Then, fifty yards up the hill I saw five toms, all of them strutting as they slowly walked through the woods. I had hoped the toms would follow the hens as they within shooting distance of the blind, but the toms had chosen to use another route, paralleling the hens twenty to thirty yards up the hill.

All I could do was watch, listen and try to learn. I hadn’t brought my camera, so I couldn’t even take pictures. I’d found the birds the night before, set up in the right spot and had the birds come right by me, just like I’d planned. But, the toms wouldn’t respond to my calling, and they hadn’t been close enough for a shot. We’ll maybe next time.

That wasn’t the first time I’ve been skunked while turkey hunting. But, the events of that hunt sparked my interest, and made me wonder when and why toms gobble, and when they won’t. Although the birds had been gobbling for weeks, they appeared to have shut down during the week that I hunted. They hadn’t gobbled much on the roost and I couldn’t figure out why. To try to find out the answers to my questions I called Dr. James Earl Kennemer at the National Wild Turkey Foundation and asked if there had been any studies done on turkey gobbling behavior. He said that he knew of one such study and would send a copy of it to me. After reading the study I realized that there might be a number of reasons why the turkeys hadn’t gobbled during my hunt, because gobbling can be affected by temperature, wind speed, breeding behavior, and hunting pressure. To confirm these studies I decided to conduct my own research.

From 1998 through 2000 I spent 250 days and well over 1200 hours watching and listening to the flock of turkeys, and writing down everything I saw and heard. Every morning I would get up and record the time of sunrise, the temperature, wind speed, wind-chill, barometric pressure, sky conditions, and type and amount of precipitation. Then I would get to the woods an hour before sunrise and note every gobble I heard, and the time it occurred. I would also note the time that the birds flew down, and where they went and what they did once they were on the ground. Most mornings I would stay with the birds until about 11:00 AM, or until I could no longer hear or see them. Then I would go home and write everything down on the computer, and graph all my sightings and gobbling activity. The first thing I looked at was how normal gobbling and breeding activity occurs.

Phase 1: Pre-Breeding Gobbling Phase

As the spring days become longer and the weather warms up the toms start to gobble. The earliest gobbling is usually done by adult dominant toms, and as the days grow longer more males gobble. The first gobbling activity may begin as much as two months before the actual gobbling peak; as early as mid-February, in the south and as late as mid-March in the north. At this time both the hens and toms establish dominance. While the hens may not be willing to breed at this time, the toms are and they usually respond to hen calls, and may come in to a hunter. Because this is when dominance is established toms may also come to the sounds of a gobbler, in order to exert dominance.

Phase 2: Primary Breeding Phase/Gobbling Lull

As the days continue to grow longer and the weather warms even more the hens become interested in breeding, and they respond to the gobbling of the toms by joining them at feeding areas and struts. Because the hens are with the toms gobbling activity is reduced. When the hens are close the toms use displaying; strutting, showing their fanned tail and colorful head, and spitting and drumming to attract and keep the hens nearby. With more strutting there is less gobbling.

About a month after the toms begin to gobble most of the hens become receptive and gobbling activity is at it’s lowest. This phase may last from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the number and sex ratio of birds in the area, and the weather. This is when toms are the most reluctant to come to the call, because they are already with the hens.

Phase 3: Post Primary Breeding/Peak Gobbling Phase

As more of the hens are bred they begin to lay eggs. Approximately a month after peak breeding most of the hens have been bred and they begin to nest; and gobbling activity reaches is highest point while the hens nest and the toms continue to try to attract unbred hens. It’s during this phase that toms are most willing to respond to calling.

The Gobbling Lull/Breeding and Hunting Pressure

It has long been thought that the lull between the two peaks in gobbling activity is caused by breeding activity. Although this is one of the reasons there is less gobbling at certain times during the spring, it is not the only reason. A 1978-1981 study conducted in Iowa showed that the time frame of decreasing gobbling activity did not appear to strictly coincide with nesting behavior, and that there were pronounced decreases in gobbling activity due to hunting pressure. When gobbling activity declines it may be a result of breeding activity, a result of hunting activity, or both.

The lack of gobbling during my hunting period was probably caused by the fact that it was during peak breeding that year, when the toms were busy strutting and breeding instead of gobbling and looking for hens. As a result of the hens willingness to breed, the toms stayed with them throughout the day, and roosted with them at night.

Therefore, there was no reason for the toms to gobble to locate the hens; because they knew right where they were. It was probably also the reason I couldn’t get them to shock gobble in the morning and why I couldn’t call them in. There was no reason for the toms to answer or come to my calls when what they were looking for was right in front of them. There was also probably less gobbling because the birds had been hunted for a couple of weeks, and they had figured out that there were hunters in the woods.

How does Cloud Cover, the Temperature, Windchill, Percipitation, and the Wind speed affect the gobbling and behavior of wild turkeys?

The temperatures had been in the 40’s and 50’s for the last week, and the turkeys had been gobbling every morning. But, during the night a cold front had come through, bringing with it cloudy weather and wet snow. I’d gotten up early, left the hotel and drove to the farm where I guided turkey hunts. Once I got to the farm I drove to the bluff where I’d put a group of toms to bed the night before. I got out of the Suburban, placed my Haydel’s turkey diaphragm in my mouth and blew a soft tree yelp; no answer. I tried again, louder; still no answer. Then I blew a loud lost yelp, and waited in silence. All I could hear was the sound of a flock of wood ducks as they flew by overhead; wheet, wheet, wheet. For the next two hours I drove up and down the bluffs, trying to get a bird to answer my calls. I tried a flydown cackle, a peacock call, even a coyote howl, but nothing worked. It looked like I would go home empty handed, and I did. It wasn’t until ten years later that I understood why I couldn’t get a tom to answer my calls.

Research

I began researching turkeys in 1998, to try to find out how gobbling, breeding and daily activity are affected by the weather. During my spring and fall research I would leave the house 1 ½; hours before daylight, drive a half mile to where I research and hunt turkeys in southern Minnesota, and write down everything that happened until I could no longer see or hear the birds. I was there long before the first gobble, and I was able to watch the birds fly down, feed, call, strut, fight and breed. I usually spent three to four hours watching and listening, but there were times when I stayed until 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon. Then I’d return a couple of hours before sunset, watch the birds as they fed in the evening, and watch and listen to them fly up to roost for the night.

During the study I kept track of the time of sunrise and sunset, the sky conditions, the temperature, wind speed and direction, when gobbling began and ended in relation to sunrise, how many gobbles occurred every five minutes, which bird or group of birds the gobble came from, and where the birds were. Then I looked for correlation’s between the gobbling, breeding and daily activity of the birds, and with the different weather factors. The results of my research have taught me a lot about turkey behavior.

Cloud Cover

One of the first things I noticed during the study was that the birds began gobbling and flew down later than normal when there were cloudy skies. Turkeys rely heavily on their sight to alert them of danger, and because they are daytime animals, they wake up when the sky begins to get light, and they wait to fly down until they can see well enough to detect danger. On cloudy days the toms would begin gobbling about 20 minutes later than they did on days when the sky was clear. Both the toms and hens flew down about 20 minutes later than normal on cloudy days. The dominant toms usually flew down and arrived at the strut later than the hens.

Temperature/Windchill

During the study most gobbling occurred when morning temperatures/wind-chills were between the upper 30’s and lower 60’s. Gobbling was severely reduced when the temperature/windchill dropped below 34 degrees, although this may have been because most of the cold days were, cloudy, windy, and rainy or snowy. Because turkeys inhabit a wide variety of habitats they are accustomed to different temperatures and wind-chills. Lovett Williams Jr. told me that turkeys in Florida gobble when morning temperatures are at 32 degrees. I shot my first Merriam’s turkey in Nebraska shortly after it gobbled at 10:30 in the morning, it was 96 degrees.

On cold days the birds not only called less, they also began calling later than normal, usually after it had warmed in the mid-morning hours. They also flew down later than normal. Once they were on the ground the turkeys often sought areas that were open to the sun, usually out of the wind, where they were warmer because of solar radiation. During extremely cold weather they sought food sources out of the wind, and fed for several hours before they returned to the woods. I often saw them feeding on top of an open corn crib, at a silage pile not far from a cattle barn, and in a field where the farmer spread cattle manure every few days.

Precipitation

A research paper sent to me by Dr. James Earl Kennemer stated that when there had been precipitation during the last 12 hours, gobbling activity was reduced. As a result of my research I’ll go a step farther than that. When it had rained within the last 12 hours gobbling activity was almost non-existent. If the birds did gobble it was later in the day than normal, usually after the skies cleared and the temperature warmed, and then there was less gobbling than normal. When it had rained during the night, but wasn’t raining in the morning, I often saw the birds sitting in the open, especially if the sun was out, with their wings outspread, trying to dry out.

If it was still raining in the morning the birds often stayed in wooded areas later than normal, and chose areas with little ground cover to feed and rest in. I watched them walk through the woods on several occasions, and when the vegetation was wet they preferred to stay on game rails, old roads, and in areas with low vegetation. They didn’t seem to want to get any wetter than they already were. When they did come out into the open to feed they used areas with low vegetation; new growth meadows, picked agricultural fields and pastures. But, not all birds are alike. One day when I had the state wildlife habitat manager with me we saw a hen standing in the middle of a county road in a pouring rain.

I also found that the birds were late on their daily travels when it had rained in the last twelve hours. If the skies were still cloudy in the morning the birds flew down later than normal, and arrived at traditional feeding/strutting areas later than normal, later than they did when the skies were cloudy but when it had not rained. It took me a while to understand why the bird were so much later on rainy days. I didn’t understand why the birds were so late on rainy days until I watched them feeding one afternoon in a soybean field about a half mile from a group of white oaks where they often roosted. They birds usually fed in the field on the east side of the woods, moved around to the south side of the woods, and then flew into the trees about 50 yards from the field edge. The next morning they would fly down from the trees and land in the bean field, about fifty yards from the edge of the woods.

On this particular evening the turkeys had been feeding for about a half hour when it began to rain. The birds moved into the woods on the east side, and as it continued to rain they flew into a group of elms, where they roosted for the night. Because it was raining in the afternoon, before the birds roosted, they had stopped feeding earlier than normal, flew up into trees they didn’t normally use, and roosted earlier than normal. Because they were farther away from their traditional feeding/strutting area the next morning, they couldn’t fly down into the field. They had to walk farther than normal to get to the field, and they arrived at the feeding/strutting area later than normal the next morning. There were several times during the study when it rained in the afternoon, before the birds flew up to roost in a traditional roosting area. This usually resulted in the birds arriving late at open feeding/strutting areas the next morning, and they didn’t follow their normal route.

Wind

My studies show that less gobbling occurs on windy days. When the wind is blowing it’s hard for the toms to hear other birds calling; consequently they gobble less in response to each other. When it was not windy the birds often roosted on the upper two thirds of east or south facing slopes. I suspect this was because the prevailing winds were easterly, and because the birds might gain the benefit of late evening and early morning sunlight. When there were strong winds, or when it was both cold and windy, the birds roosted on the downwind sides of slopes or wooded areas, in heavy cover if the could. In areas where there are conifers, turkeys often roost in them during cold weather. On windy days, especially when it was cold or rainy, the birds usually fed in areas out of the wind; low-lying areas, wooded areas, and the down wind side of hills or woods. When they did feed in areas open to the wind they ate quickly and then moved into protected areas earlier than normal.

Barometric Pressure

According to noted waterfowl biologist Dr. Jim Cooper, birds have numerous air sacs in their bodies that allows them to detect slight changes in barometric pressure, and warns them of approaching storms. Some hunters believe birds, including turkeys, feed heavily up to two days before a storm because they know it is coming. This would allow them to wait out a storm and resume feeding after it passes.

Turkey hunters are usually charged with the challenge of making decisions based on the workings of a pea brained, hormonally over zealous idiot, called a tom. Reasonable thinking may apply, but more often than not, hinting notions and vaudeville performances are required to topple his majesty. Some toms seem to beg to be killed, but come with a series of lucky mishaps that routinely save their neck. Those are the best tests and the greatest of toms! Follow us along, on a springtime teaching by Professor tom, at Paradise Valley Hunt Club.

A light drizzling rain was falling as south Floridian, Rick Johnson and I slid quietly through under and around a maze of 25 foot high planted pines. Rick and I were making a move towards the back of a hidden cypress bay, long since surrounded and blended by the surrounding South Carolina Low Country pine plantation. We had a destination in mind, but as anyone knows who has ever trekked through un thinned planted pines in the dark knows, we were hoping to come out into the bay close to where we hoped, but weren’t counting on it. Navigation in these tracts can be tricky before the sun comes up, add overcast skies hiding dawns early light and we were lucky to find the bay at all. A bit of relief hit me when I could verify the open skies of the cypress bay; a familiar tree loomed ahead we moved in to set up.

Rick and I were hunting out of Paradise Valley Hunting Club in the low country of SC http://www.PVHC.net on a fantastic piece of low country land that was holding a super tom in a cypress head at the moment. Michael Scott, a turkey guide for Paradise Valley, had worked this tom he previous day, and seen his exit from the bay. The two of us swapped information, narrowed down the roost area and fortunately, a scouting trip later that same day had given me just enough know how to get right to where we needed to be. Rick and I set up, on the edge of a small grassy opening on the edge of the bay.

I eased out into the opening under the cover of darkness and planted a feather flex hen in a squatting position 17 yards from Rick’s position. My hopes were that the gobbler would use this rare opening in the middle of the thickets to land. At worst I hoped he would see the hen deke and set his sights on her as his first love of the day. A sharp cluck, woke me from my turkey hunters wandering mind. Perched 15 feet above Rick’s head, the real deal, Mrs. boss hen. I could barely make her out huddled tight against the trunk of the pine. Her feathers brushing the coarse bark made an unmistakable sound, I’d been found out. With nothing to lose, I eased back under the tree figuring the hen would certainly spook. She didn’t.

In almost every turkey hunt a line is crossed where, the pre test is over, it’s final exam time, and you are handed a list of questions to answer that while having a wide variety of possible answers, rarely has more than one right one. Decision time, blow the hen out or hope she settles down and can’t see us through the wax myrtle bush hanging over us. I made the call to spook her. Despite the cover between us I felt there was little chance of calming her down enough to insure she wouldn’t spoil the hunt. With plenty of darkness left, over cast skies, intending to keep the birds on the limb later than usual I answered question one with moving until she flew out cackling. Nothing else stirred, that bothered me. Did I make the right call? Silence set in and the rain continued to drizzle.

Fifteen minutes had gone by, and now we were quickly approaching the time that makes a turkey guides mind race, gobble time. Nothing stirred, no birds made a peep. Second guessing the scouting report from my co guide, my decision to spook the hen early, and my always lingering grass is greener syndrome, another cluck woke me up from my minds wandering. 45 yards to our left, one hen clucked again then made three weak tree yelps. In a nervous manner that only a turkey hunter would know, I forced air from my diaphragm to make a cluck of my own. Time to ante up, and get our name in the pot. Out it came in poor rendition, but no one could hear the nervousness in my call, thunder rolled before the sharpened of a finished cluck could be heard! Perched 35 yards directly in front of us twice the distance of our deke, was our tom.

Down the line came a new flurry of final exam questions. Can he see us in our location? Can he see the hen deke? Are there more hens? Are there more gobblers? Should I call again? Should I let the hen fly down to him or try to coax her to the deke with a wing flap and purring? One by one I made my choices as follows. Due to the evergreen nature of a wax myrtle bush we had good cover I assumed that from a perched position it would be extremely difficult for any bird to see us from any angle. This tom had been seen with several hens the day before and with no reason to expect any different today. I had to assume there were several more in the immediate vicinity. I was doubtful that there were anymore toms close by this was due to the fact that this tom was holding so many hens days prior and it wasn’t likely this early in the season that any tom would pick that fight with so many willing hens. Calling was going to be dictated by the hen to our left. I decided due to our position between the birds, the favorable landing area in front of us and the deke that short of answering her every note, there was no need to coax anyone to the gun, it would happen naturally. My only charge was to keep that tom aware that I wanted the tom first by cutting her off each time she spoke.

There is not too many noises in the woodlands during springtime that can match in volume and sheer excitement than a wild turkey gobbling from the limb. At 100 yards it dominates all sound, speeds heartbeats, and crushes pure nerve. At fifty yards, rib cages rattle and the physical function of a gobble can be heard plainly. At 35 yards, it’s almost too much to take, scary in fact. The tom now turned around on the limb, nailed scratching bark, gobbled on top of us repeatedly. We were afraid to move or make a sound. He gobbled again, making the blood pressure rise steadilly. This is the time that the questions begin to become second guesses. 21 seasons of turkey hunting has never landed me a surefire set of rules for how to act when encountering a tom up close and personal. Patience is the only answer when in doubt, do nothing, fly by the seat of your pants. Many times I’ve said to myself, “if my hunters ever knew just how totally unsure I am about what to do next, they would leave me at the truck”. Old gobblers have a way of making you feel like that regularly.

Minutes went by, and then there was silence. No clucking, no gobbling, something was about to happen. With a quick flurry of wing beats, the hen to our left sailed down through the pine limbs in between our deke and the tom. With her approval, all hell broke loose in the pines. Silent hens launched from all around us, all steering for the base of the toms tree. As turkey hunters, we were golden right at that moment! Right in the mix, sure to be a part of the pie, in perfect position to tumble tom minutes into his morning. The boss hen scooted quickly to the base of the tom’s tree purring excitedly, completely ignoring our stationary deke.

There’s probably nothing more appealing to a man than a willing lady at his feet, gobblers take no exception. With one rattling gobble and two wing beats to slow his descent and soften the landing, the tom broke his limb strut and hopped off the limb, obviously focused. Squatted 30 yards from us, slightly obscured by brush the hen waited for the smashing she was about to receive. As if rehearsed by circus acrobats, the two adjusted position, one by air one by ground until with a resounding thump the tom landed directly on her quivering back. Covering her up with his wings he bred her, seemingly, before his feet hit the ground. It was first class wild turkey porn, we were peeping at the scene from the bushes, not guilty in the slightest.

A fully involved full grown eastern wild turkey in your midst deserves a name. He demands notice, he screams until you hear him, and up close his authority is hard to deny. Standing up and turning towards our deke with a wrestlers look, he flexed his shoulders, blew his feathers out and triumphantly gobbled as he chose his next rape victim. I can only liken it to the victory screams of Godzilla after a defining victory over an opponent in a cheesy 70’s monster flic. He was center stage, he was the star, and we were absolutely impressed as was he in himself. We should have killed him at that moment, top of his game, king of the spring, glorified beyond reason, Godzilla was 35 yards away and the hens were closing fast.

In a record paced flurry of breeding no less than 1 dozen hens from all directions moved to the tom. In turn he covered them, bred them and stood for the next hen. Rick Johnson, steadfastly held his gun on the tom, waiting for just the right moment and opening to slip a load of number sixes into his head. Brush, hens, and adrenalin blurred yardage were blocking the shot. At the lowest tone and volume a human can muster we discussed the shot and both said confidently he was still out of range despite the fact we both knew better. We held off the shot and waited.

Back to the questions and final exam we were taking. Shoot or don’t shoot? Now or never? With no reason to suspect that any of the turkeys had seen us and the position of our deke we were secure in thinking it was only a matter of time until Godzilla came and flattened the old feather flex hen. His previous day’s route had taken him this way and with an absolute certainly he knew the hen was there. Answer, wait for a better shot, it’s only a matter of minutes until it happens.

Jakes make a three yelp run that sounds like the hoarsest boss hen that’s ever called in the woods. Calking, is a sound that thrills fall hunters and on this day disappointed two spring hunters. From behind us, out of the very pines we walked in under came a troop. Not a jake, not two or three, but 15 or more stiff bearded 13 lb jakes eased into the bay, now chock full of turkey. Some split left towards our hen deke some stopped 10 feet in front of us, and still others rushed ahead interested only in the toms doings. It seemed, in the numbers they showed they felt it was time to stop this absurd dominance of the Godzilla. They moved in. My heart started to sink, our opportunity was about to be over. I began to suspect I had made a wrong answer.

In a protected retreat, the tom eased away from us half strutting. Rick and I spent the next hour and forty five minutes trying to muster enough vengeance to kill one of the jake offenders. Anything less than Godzilla that morning just wouldn’t suffice. We let what eventually turned out to be 21 jakes walk through and watched as they moved behind that tom the rest of the morning harassing and taunting him. It was an incredible morning at Paradise Valley we weren’t disappointed in the least.

Each spring I go to the woods with another year of experience in turkey school behind me, each year new tests are given and some of them I fail to pass. On this morning, the test had been an intense one and a simple, adrenalin charged misjudgment in yardage caused a wrong answer to emanate from my lips. “Don’t shoot, he’s too far.” That simple answer wrong in fact, let Godzilla live another day and in fact survive the rest of the spring turkey season. Godzilla is well and good at Paradise Valley and has sired a whole new generation this spring, we will play again. Class dismissed!

Now I lay me down to sleep

Rare is the day when a turkey hunter can claim a sure thing. Years of repeated teachings by longbearded shadows in the woods have left many a hunter shy of calling any tom or place a sure bet. Bring in the Killing field, a small non descript patch of South Carolina soil that harbors an incredible lure to these birds we call turkey.

Settled nicely between a major river bottom with its bordering ½; mile of thick swamp and a large planted pine tract, the killing field produces toms year after year. Before I get into why it works so well, lets meet some of the players. The Graveyard Gobbler was the first to tell the secret, a bird high in stature, long in spur, and wary as any I had hunted. His offspring, the “Oak Flat Tom”, “drummer”, and the “walk away tom”, had all refined his skills and kept his haunts interesting to us turkey men. These were but a few of the many toms seemingly locked to the killing fields magnetic draw.

Spring turkey season of 2002 was an awesome one in SC. Birds were flopping all over the Pee Dee and me and my buddies had allot to do with it. Things were so good in fact we realized mid season that we had yet to revisit the killing field. Years prior I had tumbled a tough tom after unlocking the secret to the area and vowed that every year we would be back. We adjusted plans and set our sights on the old honey hole for the following am hunt. It was time to return to the killing field.

It’s important to note here that this “honey hole” is a public land spot hunted by many other folks; rare is the day when these birds don’t see some pressure. Many come close, but few realize just how close they really are to the secret. Wood blindness I guess, but they fail to look at the big picture and then the minute detail of it all. Open your eyes and the secret is plain to see.

Our hunt began with a pre dawn set up ¼ mile from the field. Our tactic was to stay out of the direct action long enough to get an audio education of how we should approach. Like clockwork the toms sounded off through the swamp bottom, letting us know that the killing field was the right place to be. We broke camp and moved into well known areas and made our presentation.

Clucks, purrs, cackles , leaf scratching, fly ups, fly downs, anything is fair and the more the merrier. Our intent. To sound like the mother lode of hens heading into the killing field. With our first calls out, the phone began to ring, on the line, Mr. Tom asking for directions. We obliged with more cutting, cackling, and sweet sexy yelps. Before long the phone was ringing off the hook, seven to ten toms were tripping over themselves to come on over. The combination of widowmaker cutts, shipwreck cackles, and a double suicide clucks made for a combination that was too much, the line was busy!

How do you set up when multiple toms are coming from multiple directions? You make a stand, just like Ol’ Custer and prepare to fight them off. Circle the wagons boys this is it ! Set up in a natural pinch point in the field, we stated our case and watched eagerly past our dekes for any sign of approaching toms. The hens came first, leading the way and investigating this new flock of intruders. Then, one by one toms poured into the field from various directions. A total of seven toms entered the killing field in a three minute period, all were closing.

Calling procedure was backed off to cluck, purr, and scratch only, we love to see a tom strut but experience tells us now is the time for closing calls only. The wait and subdued calling was short lived. Five toms all in a row half strutted into the dekes and it was with no hesitation our gunner laid down two toms. 39 lbs. of gobbler flopping and another 55 lb. or so taking off , what a sight!

Jeff Lee with a double suicide.

Normally this would be enough for a great turkey tale, but in this case it was just the beginning. The total take from the killing fields in 2002 in 7 hunts 6 gobblers and 5 misses ( two by my son and 3 by another hunter who wishes to remain anonymous). That’s 11 toms shot at in one 10 acre patch of woods in 7 days. What’s the draw?

All right here’s why the killing field works, and honestly it’s nothing special, it happens everywhere turkeys live.

The field is surrounded by three types of habitat:

• Planted Pines
• White Oak flats
• Unhuntable swamp bottom

There are many uses for each habitat throughout the day and entire breeding season for the turkeys.

• White Oaks for feed and loafing areas
• Pines for nesting cover and hen roosting
• Swamp for cool mid day haunts security and roosting

Throw a wide open field for dusting and displaying smack in the middle of it all now. Are we getting the picture?

Let’s put a magnifying glass on it, ah ha you can see it all at the same time even when we look at it ten acres at a time. That’s the secret…it’s a micro habitat that provides every possible need a turkey could have all in a ten acre piece of dirt.

The killing field is in essence a turkey haven smack dab in the middle of 3400 acres that are infested with turkey. Without a doubt these features exist in other places on the 3400 acres we were hunting. The difference though is clear, it has everything to offer in a small package which bottles the toms and focuses their travel through the area daily.

Do you have a scene like this in your neighborhood? My bet is you do, you just have to find it. What you are looking for is roosting, feeding, nesting , strutting, and loafing areas all in one small package. Certainly if you have turkeys you have pieces of this recipe scattered all over your lands but where do they all meet. It is this point where the killing fields begin and end.

A footnote: I recently hunted a tom I dubbed the elevator in Western NY. This tom had the perfect set up with all of the ingredients present for a killing field. Amazingly enough and despite the total dominance of this tom, four other toms who were not getting any breeding time in refused to head to greener pastures. With this information in hand, the tom was rolled on the last day of the season by a good friend of mine, in his own little 10 acre killing field. That is another story to be told by the lucky man that broke the elevator and squished the worm (way to go Craig!). My bet next year there will be another right there testing his luck in these new found killing fields of western NY.

Spring of the year 2000 brought with it an incredible turkey season to the clients and guides of our hunting operation at Old South Outdoors. We ended the South Carolina season very successfully, yet not quite satisfied: we wanted more turkey hunting, and this time, we wanted to be the guests! After arranging a hunt with some outfitter friends from Albany, New York (Northeast Outfitters http://www.greathuntin.com), I prepared to introduce two born and bred Southerner friends of mine to the New York wilderness.

An all-night drive through some of the largest, most populated cities in this country had my hunting partners, David Bryan and Gregory Epperson, Jr., less than convinced of my sanity. New York City at night is downright scary to us Southerners, and certainly not what a turkey hunter is seeking. “Just over the mountains boys,” I would say, “lies some of the best turkey hunting I have ever experienced in my life.” It was the truth.

We arrived at the lodge at 3:30 A.M. Our host, Dave Abrhams, was waiting for us with plenty of hot coffee. He seemed somewhat surprised to find us getting our camo ready after 14-hours spent driving through the night. Nevertheless, we started to make our plans for the morning’s hunt.

Daybreak found my flatland feet and lungs fully unprepared, and my mind seriously concerned about surviving the rest of the trip. I was huffing and puffing ,and not very sure of my ability to produce air enough to power my diaphragm call. I felt reasonably certain that Greg and Dave were also suffering the pains of these Catskill foothills.

A few birds gobbled well from the roost that morning, but we could not turn them towards us. We stayed with our set-up, waiting in vain for any quiet birds that might be sneaking in, then made plans for our next move. Paulie, that morning’s guide, made us climb a ridge to an oak flat where he had seen several gobblers during the late morning hours. We set up there — Paulie on camera — while Greg and I prepared to stage a mock hen fight. Greg cranked up first using a custom-made Widowmaker box call. I followed suit on my Quaker Boy “Old Boss Hen.” The sounds of a phony ‘hen war’ filled the Albany woods.

After 30-minutes, I began to question our strategy. As slid over to confer with Paulie and Greg, in true wild turkey fashion a 20-lb+ longbeard slipped in on us unannounced. Score one for the gobblers.

Later that morning , David Bryan, co-owner with myself of Old South Outdoors, connected with a fine 20-pound tom. The bird had a 10-inch beard and 1 1/8-inch spurs. Dave had set up in a low area near a corn field. A liberal dose of patience helped him harvest his first New York gobbler and helped convince him that New York was more than just a big city.

On day two, I set up on a ¾;-mile long ravine just behind the lodge. With Paulie manning the video camera, I broke out my old boss hen call. Some soft yelping at just the right time resulted in three tremendous gobbles that came from about 150-yards down the ravine. I added a fly-down cackle for good measure.

Two-and-a-half hours passed. Booming gobbles continued to sound from what turned out to be three old longbeards. Paulie and I were pinned down by the toms from where the birds were strutting on a shelf in the ravine. The toms weren’t budging and we were to timid to move. Eventually, our gobblers grew tired of the “hen who wouldn’t cooperate” and left.

Paulie and I made a quick tour around the area as I mentally planned my strategy for the next morning. That evening Greg Epperson, Jr. and I returned to the ravine to roost birds. Greg made a few serious fly-up cackles, while I flapped my hat both in the leaves and upon my chest. This tactic has worked for us in the past. We felt confident it would again. Little did I know how well.

The next morning I set up in total darkness. Dave Abrham was accompanying me, mainly because he’d never before seen our fly-up tactic and was interested to see if it would work. I waited anxiously, wondering what my tree yelps might bring. Right on schedule, a mature gobble pierced the stillness of dawn. One bird! I’d expected three! Not to worry. I focused on the gobbling bird and started cranking him up. Louder yelps, clucks, and then a healthy fly-down cackle. This bird was coming in.

My turkey nerves came alive. Ten minutes passed as the tom and I carried on a regular conversation. Double- and triple-gobbles frazzled my nerves. Suddenly, from out of the uppermost branches of the tree where I’d set up on, flew two longbeards. My missing gobblers! A few putts later and this game was kaput. How quickly we can be sent back to nursery school by a longbeard! Dave asked what my plan was now. “Whatever you have in mind,” I said. “You’re the guide.”

Dave chuckled and said, “Come on.”

We hiked up and up and up some more. Here I’d thought I’d planned my way onto an easy bird and now look at me. Dave led me over hill and dale and then down into a swamp where we set up in the thickest, nastiest woods I’d seen yet. Although it wasn’t the open ridges I’d journeyed to New York to hunt, I believed the odds were now in my favor. I know swamp birds!

Dave and I blind-called for forty-five minutes. The recipe was simple, but deadly: cluck and purr. The still morning air came alive. One, two , three, four different gobblers, all of them telling us that the boys were coming in and eager to have a good time. One bird seemed especially attuned to the old boss hen, so I concentrated on him. I met each gobble with a furious yelp and cluck combination. Seventy-five yards and closing. “Yelp, yelp, yelp,” and then an honoring gobble.

I knew this bird now felt he’d come close enough. A little ’shoving’ was needed. So, I threw him a short, sweet and sassy cackle. With no further hesitation, the bird spitted and drummed to within twenty feet of us. I was a wreck: shaking , sweating , and loving every minute of it. When my shot rang out there was silence: no flapping , no running, nothing. Dave asked, “Did you hit him?” It hadn’t occurred to me that I might have missed.

A quick shuffle of our feet and there lay the second biggest gobbler of myhunting career: 21 ½;-lbs, with a 10 ¼-” beard and 1 ¼”-spurs. A regular spitting and drumming machine. I was elated, and grateful that my guide had had a great back-up plan.

Dave Bryan finished up the morning’s action by scoring on yet another longbeard high on top of the ridge. His second bird weighed 19-lbs, sported an 8″ beard and ¾;”-spurs.

Greg never did harvest a New York bird, but it certainly wasn’t due to lack of opportunity. He didn’t know it, but David and I were silently rooting for the gobblers, since Greg had already harvested four huge longbeards in South Carolina and needed to be humbled a bit.

All we can say in conclusion is this: “Thanks, Tom. You haven’t seen the last of these three Southerners.”