In the near future (3 weeks before season) go to property , 1 1/2 before light, and just listen, he will gobble before light and fly down, he lets all the hens know where he is. Move to 100 yds or so from him, not too close, listen, turkeys will "tree talk" then they will fly down, he will have a spot where he will want to go, his strut zone, your best chance will be to get between him and his hens or strut zone, with out bumping him. Listen to hens, mimic their talk. If hes "hened up", his hen will leave him at mid morning, he will be looking for the next hen, second best shot at killing him. Just scout them now from a distance. Look for dust bowels, turkey scratching in leaves, his strut area will be somewhat open, there will be lines on ground from his wings dragging. If you figure out where they roost, where he wants to strut, you set up 30 yds in good cover, you will have a great chance. Go watch the Hunting Public guys on YouTube. You were smart getting a few tags , sometimes he will fly right down to you, other times you will have to stalk and ambush..just have fun..but try to call him in and enjoy his strutting, drumming and spitting, and then blow his head off..
I want to call him in So if he starts gobbling from the roost, do you attempt to call at that time or let them take the lead? If I can have an encounter I'll deem it a success, but I would love to be the beneficiary of beginners luck as well I'm going to eff it up regardless, just hope I learn something the first eff up
That's why its great you have multiple permits, learn from mistakes, like I said, you are already ahead of where I started, you have birds on property. Yes talk to him while he is on roost. But just enough to let him know you are , when you call, start lightly, if and when he cuts you off, he knows where you are. Go quiet, listen for fly down, big bird makes a lot of noise flying down, wait 15 min. call again, he might answer, might not, its all part of the game, patience will kill more Toms then skill. Have you shot gun with choke in?
Got 2nd and 4th season whiteside. Hoping to snag one of the 14 first season tags left Tuesday morning 8am if not I’ll grab a 5th Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
No, if there are toms in your area and they see a jake with the hens that’s as good as it gets imo Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Guess I picked the right year to try spring turkey. Friend who is giving me the decoys above was out sick today, was talking with another coworker telling him I was supposed to be getting the decoys today, he said he had 3 or 4 at home I could have. His father inlaw passed away last year and he was an avid outdoorsman where the coworker is not. I'm going to have a whole rafter/flock of turkey decoys at this rate. So far 6-7 decoys, 3 turkey calls(2 box and a fighting purr) and also getting a crow call for locating. Cost me a 12 pack of PBR and a bottle of hot sauce thrown in. All I've had to purchase is an owl call, 2 mouth calls, some chalk and a couole boxes of shells. Also got a cheap ghillie suit.
Don’t drag all those decoys out, 4 is plenty. A set of feeding hens, bedded hen and the jake standing over her, you’re all set.
Not dragging them out as an option by any means. I will probably sit in a box blind first day, was thinking 2 decoy sets. One on each side. I have no clue what I am doing, not ashamed to admit it and not ashamed to go for it.
Got 2nd season so I’ve got 10 days in a row to kill a big Tom. So pumped to hunt a new farm as well. Good luck Y’all.
Just by reading you guys talk about multiple tags and seasons or regions etc...I dont even want to know how it works in Illinois. I buy one license. 2 Toms and it runs like 3 weeks anywhere in the state. Bow, shotgun, doesnt matter. Is everything stupid and bureaucratic in Illinois? Sent from my SM-G960U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
We have 2 zones, North and South with 5 seasons in each. We can get 3 permits total, 2 via lottery and a 3rd after the 3 lotteries via OTC ssles of what was left in each county. Permits are county and season specific. Think you can take a tom, jake or bearded hen in spring and anything goes in fall archery. Here's what the seasons look like
Think I'm going to get a 4th or 5th season permit tomorrow. I messed up getting a first season, didn't pay attention to season dates at all when I submitted first app(2nd lottery). Figured earlier was better but I have to burn a weeks vacation time to do it. November and the rut, no problem whatsoever, but first spring turkey. I get 3 day weekends as long as I request off in advance, so could still hunt Friday first season then have 3 days 2 more times. I'm torn on what to do, hunting from 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1pm and using a weeks vacation for half day hunts or utilize days off for 7 potential hunts, maybe a day or two of vacation squeezed in.
There have been a few years where I only hunt one morning on a tag. I get three day weekends almost all year if I don’t sign up for overtime but still other things come up. No way I’d burn some of my rutcation for a turkey lol I like the late seasons because mushrooms are also growing so it I have two excuses to not do anything else Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I picked up a 4th season and will likely cancel my vacation days. I'll still have my rutcation, 3 weeks a year so I can either save up and take first 2 weeks of Nov. off or ttake some time off for a week of fishing
