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WEB EXCLUSIVE: This Week in the Outdoors: Turkey season at hand
BY Luke Clayton, Special to Star Local News
The woods and fields are greening up and spring breeding for wild turkeys is once again at hand.
Texas gobblers are sounding off from the ranch country around San Angelo to the Piney Woods north of Clarksville to the creek bottom in Brown County, and many places in between.
There is simply nothing more exciting in the outdoors than to have a big gobbler respond to your hen yelps and close the distance, coming ever closer and closer until he appears, adorned in colors that Monet could not duplicate. To my way of thinking, there is nothing more beautiful than a strutting gobbler with a background of bluebonnets and Indian Paint Brushes.
I’m especially excited about heading down to Hill Country to hunt a few days near Ingram with the Nature Blind (natureblind.com) folks. These blinds look exactly like tree trunks and are roomy enough for three hunters. I’ll be hunting with my new Mathews Helium bow and I’ll appreciate the protection of a huge tree trunk to conceal my movements from the birds.
I’ve hunted turkeys for the past quarter-century and have had the privilege of spending time afield with some truly great turkey hunters.
It’s one thing to shoot a gobbler in the fall from a deer stand with a rifle, but that’s not real turkey hunting. This is turkey shooting, not hunting; it lacks the thrills and challenges of calling a bird within bow or shotgun range during the spring season.
One day, gobblers will be gobbling their heads off in response to everything from the sound of a slamming pickup door to the yelp of your box call, the next day they might go completely silent. Sometimes, even when hunting great turkey country, you will think there is not a bird within 10 miles; that’s the essence of spring turkey hunting and a couple reasons why the endeavor is so exciting.
Jake decoys can be very helpful when tricking a mature gobbler into closing the distance to your hen decoy. There is nothing a big boss bird despises more than a young whippersnapper approaching what he believes to be a receptive hen (your decoy).
From all accounts, this looks to be an excellent season with lots of mature gobblers.
Recent rainfall across much of the state should insure this year’s hatch is a good one. This spring should be in sharp contrast to the dry conditions this time last year.
I remember a dry and dusty, but productive hunt that outdoors writer Bob Hood and I enjoyed early in April last year. We both took long beards, but we also ate a lot of dust hunting in the cedar break country of north Texas.
Late last month, Hood and I were hunting javelina at Ranger Creek Ranch (rangercreekranch.com) in Knox County and noticed plenty of big, mature gobblers.
Spring turkey hunting in this area of the state should be especially good this spring.
Mike Ford, who owns Rio Rojo Rancho in Red River County, says the big eastern gobblers in his section of the woods have been sounding off the past few days. Thanks to a very successful restocking program, the eastern birds are once again plentiful in many parts of their native range in eastern Texas.
“The timber and fields around our ranch in northwest Red River County is full of turkeys and there are many hotspots with strong numbers of Eastern birds,” Ford said. “On other areas, the birds are not doing as well.”
Last year’s hatch appeared to be at or above normal and there are plenty of young and older gobblers available this spring.
Rainfall this time of year is crucial for a good turkey hatch and Ford says there should be plenty of weeds and grasses to protect the newly hatched poults, thanks to abundant rainfall in February and early-March. The opener of the season for Eastern turkeys was pushed back to the middle of April this year; hopefully the birds will still be active. The late opener could prove beneficial to the hunter because many of the hens will be on their nests. Competition for breeding rights to hens should be high, resulting in gobblers that are up, moving and coming to our calls.
Tips for a successful spring turkey hunt
Locate your gobbler before you hunt.
Use an owl hooter or crow call and get the bird to sound off from his roost late in the afternoon. Then, set up a couple hundred yards away the next morning and begin calling.
Use decoys.
A single hen decoy set in an area with good visibility such as the edge of a field or clearing will help greatly in getting the gobbler within shotgun or bow range. A Jake decoy positioned beside the hen decoy often helps bring a big gobbler in.
Wear camouflage from head to toe.
Have shotgun or bow in shooting position before you actually see the approaching gobbler and then simply adjust your line of sight to the bird. This will help avoid unnecessary movement.
If a gobbler hangs up, try changing positions.
He will often think the hen he’s hearing is on the move and rush in to catch up with her. Go to your downed bird immediately after the shot. Turkeys leave little or no blood trail and are difficult to track. You want your bird anchored where you shoot him.
Don’t quit hunting too soon.
If you don’t harvest your gobbler during early morning when he flies down from his roost, stay in the woods. After the hens are bred during early morning, they will often head to their nest. The gobblers will be searching for other receptive hens. Many turkeys are harvested between 10 a.m. and mid-afternoon.
Take the time to pattern your shotgun.
Sketch a target roughly the size of a turkey’s head and neck on a piece of paper, back off about 30 yards and draw a bead on the junction of the head/neck. Inspect the target and locate the center of the shot pattern. Take several shots at clean targets to determine exactly where to hold in order to place the majority of the shotgun’s pellets on the bird’s head.
Listen to Outdoors with Luke Clayton at: catfishradio.com. Email Luke with hunting and fishing news from your area via the website.
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