In many ways, spring gobbler hunting circa 1984 bears little resemblance to turkey hunting today. Back then, decoys were not part of the picture, turkey vests had yet to become fashionable and no one in his right mind would have considered using a gobble tube to call up a tom—that is, if the gobble tube had even been invented. It was a time when making a gobbler sound off on the roost in the evening could be as simple as slamming the car door.

In fact, when Outdoor Life Field Editor Charlie Elliot wrote about exactly that in an article back then, hunters around the country copied the grandfather of modern-day turkey hunting. Car doors slammed along back roads from the heart of Dixie to New York’s Catskills—and birds gobbled in response. Nowadays, spring toms are a lot more reluctant to gobble out their evening roost locations.
 
So what do you have to do to roost a bird in the evening for the next morning’s hunt? Here are a few ideas for locating longbeards.... [ Read Full Post ]

Some may think of it as the most fundamental of all turkey hunting tactics, yet setting up on a gobbling bird is also something that many hunters get absolutely wrong—and it can cost you your bird. [ Read Full Post ]

I, admittedly, enjoy turkey camp debates—even the heated ones. Perhaps my favorite is the one that begins something like this: “Been out there scouting every day, but I haven’t heard a thing. They’re really quiet this year. I think they’re henned up.”

Well, I don’t buy it. If there are gobblers in your hunting area, they will gobble early in the season—they can’t help themselves. If you’re not hearing birds, move on and find them.

So, I’ve come up with 3 rules for scouting turkeys that I try to abide by as each season approaches. For you guys who’ve already been chasing birds, give these hypotheses a thought. They work during the season, too. [ Read Full Post ]