My turkey hunt with my hoyt starts next week. Got all my gear ready today, had the blinds out and it got me thinking. I have been chasing these birds with a bow now for probabaly four or five seasons and I still have yet to shoot one. Seems every year I see alot of birds but nothing comes within 30 yards. Obviously I'm a novice caller and even though I havn't gotten one in range my uncle has hunted with me and called one into range but the bird spooked before I could draw. He has turkey hunted for twenty years and has killed a ton of birds. So what is the issue ??? Blinds I have are some of the best out there, Double bull. Always wear all black in the blind and we have food plots we hunt on that always have turkeys. Decoys I have are the Primos Killer B full strut decoy and the Primos She Mobile Hen decoy. We also have atleast six old decoys that include hens and jakes but none of those are in strut or have a fan. I have used a bunch of combinations from a strutting tom and a hen, a strutting tom and two hens, a jake and a hen, and a strutting jake and a hen. I have taken away the males all together and just used hens. I have taken away the fake fan on my Killer B and used a real jake fan. Calls are slate and glass with multiple different strikers. Also have the flextone series cluck n purr and I forget the name of the other one. I have the knight and hale hale fire gobble call. I have called birds from well over 150 yards away and they turn and walk away when they get half way to me. Like they lose interest when they see my decoys or they know its a setup. I have had toms off to the side of the blind in the woods but the would not enter the field and come to my decoys. Can't figure out what is the deal......... Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
It really depends on what part of the breeding season you will be hunting. If the pecking order is not yet established as to what bird is boss. I would try 2 feeder hens and a strutter decoy hoping to instigate a fight. If it's pre- breeding or breeding stage I like to use a hen mounted by a jake. For the full blown breeding stage I would use a lone hen or possibly 2. At this point most most hens will feed in the morning and go sit on nests in the afternoon. So a lonely tom will be excited to see a receptive lady friend.
I have only ever hunted the first two periods of the season. So my assumtion is thats the best time to hunt because they havnt been called at by every hunter in the area. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
And I would agree uneducated birds are generally easier to get in range. But at the same time if your calling to a subordinate tom who may have already gotten his butt kicked by the boss tom then having a strutting Tom in your spread will do you no good and would probably scare him off. But if you were calling to the boss Tom in the same scenario and had a strutter out there he would probably come in looking to defend his territory
Well I'm in Minnesota so I would expect our birds to act the same ... Just remember when calling less can easily be more ...and if nothing seems to work try and go to them you run the risk of bumping them but what do you have to lose
