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What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
#6201609
02/27/16 08:18 PM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 62
Mrs. Mahan
OP
Outdoorsman
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OP
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Posts: 62 |
I wrote a blog post this morning on Spring Turkey Hunting with Decoys I know that everyone has their own techniques for their areas. But I'm curious, what are some of the techniques ya'll use while turkey hunting to bring home a big tom? (Such as a favorite call or decoy, or favorite place to hunt, something that ensures you'll see some action) [img] https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/...1050798138_n.jp[/img]
Last edited by Mrs. Mahan; 02/27/16 08:23 PM.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6202077
02/28/16 03:20 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 981
scubaarchery
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 981 |
Nice bird.
I hunt two ways. Morning I try to set up between the roost and where the turkey want to go. I use 4 decoys I put a hen laying down a strutting jake behind her then a jake and a hen nearby. In the mid morning I run and gun by traveling the high ground. If I hear a gobble I normally do not set up decoys because the Tom may be too close. I use mouth and slate calls, sometimes they gobble at one sometimes both.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6202086
02/28/16 03:24 AM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,862
HuntnFly67
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 6,862 |
My favorite turkey technique is to wait for the feeder to go off in November and pull the trigger once I feel confident a big buck isnt coming in.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6202254
02/28/16 07:00 AM
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 20,988
BuckRage
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 20,988 |
Sit between roost and travel then run and run. Can't wait.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6202262
02/28/16 10:57 AM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 1,236
Gamblinman
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Pro Tracker
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Mid Morning...set up in a turkey rich area with a strutting tom, a breeding hen right in front, and a loafing hen decoy. Call until I strike a bird, and let the show begin.
Gman
" I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt turkeys because I have to."
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: HuntnFly67]
#6202350
02/28/16 02:14 PM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 62
Mrs. Mahan
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Outdoorsman
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OP
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My favorite turkey technique is to wait for the feeder to go off in November and pull the trigger once I feel confident a big buck isnt coming in.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6203358
02/29/16 12:01 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,788
wal1809
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I am fortunate the rancher sees their habits. He doesn't know the exact spot they roost but he tells me their travel routes early morning. So all I have to do is listen for them going to roost. In the morning I set up decoys as close as I dare to the roost. Right before daylight I call. Usually they gobble back. Of they do, it's on. Late season of they don't gobble back then it will be a long day. I use and old box call, unknown brand. I also use diaphragm calls, whatever Academy sells.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6204613
03/01/16 02:18 AM
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,429
BDB
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Run & gun. I like the challenge of showing up in woods known to have a parcel of turkeys roaming the place. Get high or in a good listening place. When I hear them sounding off...off I go toward them. The fun is over quick or most times its mid to late morning when its over. If I do not hear them sounding off at first light I just run and gun till I strike a bird. Sitting around has its place but its not for me. I sat long enough back in deer season...time to put some boot leather down!
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: BDB]
#6204646
03/01/16 02:34 AM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 62
Mrs. Mahan
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Posts: 62 |
Run & gun. I like the challenge of showing up in woods known to have a parcel of turkeys roaming the place. Get high or in a good listening place. When I hear them sounding off...off I go toward them. The fun is over quick or most times its mid to late morning when its over. If I do not hear them sounding off at first light I just run and gun till I strike a bird. Sitting around has its place but its not for me. I sat long enough back in deer season...time to put some boot leather down! Interesting! I've never known anyone to hunt turkey on foot, but it sounds fun!
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6204677
03/01/16 02:50 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,484
kmon11
junior
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junior
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,484 |
Have killed lots of turkey early but most have been later in the morning or throughout the afternoon. If I do not get a response early I will settle in somewhere I know turkeys like to be or if on a unfamiliar place for a while and take some good naps calling some when I wakeup enough. More than once have been woken up by a gobbler in range looking for that hen that was talking there earlier. Somewhere around 10 I will start hunting in earnest again having given the gobblers time to get tired of chasing those no longer receptive hens that they have been with since before daylight and are looking for more hens. Those later in the morning can be some of the easiest to call in. Run and gun is fun also but I do not run nearly as well as I once did.
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6204879
03/01/16 06:36 AM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,096
Cajun Raider
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At age 71, my "run and gun" is now "sit and ambush." Key is knowing their habits.
Don't talk the talk if you didn't walk the walk.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: kmon11]
#6205020
03/01/16 01:48 PM
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,788
wal1809
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
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Have killed lots of turkey early but most have been later in the morning or throughout the afternoon. If I do not get a response early I will settle in somewhere I know turkeys like to be or if on a unfamiliar place for a while and take some good naps calling some when I wake up enough. More than once have been woken up by a gobbler in range looking for that hen that was talking there earlier. Somewhere around 10 I will start hunting in earnest again having given the gobblers time to get tired of chasing those no longer receptive hens that they have been with since before daylight and are looking for more hens. Those later in the morning can be some of the easiest to call in. Run and gun is fun also but I do not run nearly as well as I once did. One of the videos I posted was of my nephew's first bird. The day before we had a gobbler lock up behind a barbed wire fence at the 50 yard mark. He simply would not cross that barrier. The next day was the last day of the season. We set up early and the gobblers left the roost and headed out into a field 400 yards away and they wouldn't even gobble at the sound of the call. We moved spot and called for an hour. We moved again, called and thought we heard a gobble from a long way off, across the county road with barbed wire fences on both sides. That bird called again but we could tell it was closer. 45 minutes later he was standing in the middle of a very busy oilfield gravel road, fanned out and gobbling. He still had 75 more yards to close for a shot. He eventually just appeared through the brush. My nephew was able to pile him up. That was a lot more fun than shooting him myself. That hunt falls right in line with what you stated. I couldn't believe we got one from so far that late in the morning. I had never hunted so late and only did it because I didn't want to give up on getting my nephew a bird.
Last edited by wal1809; 03/01/16 01:49 PM.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6205181
03/01/16 03:28 PM
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273
blackcoal
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,273 |
I wear a lightweight camo outfit made from empty cereal boxes and set my phone alarm for 30 minutes before sunrise in my specific area, about three minutes before the alarm I get in position, take aim on the biggest gobbler in the frozen section and when the alarm sounds I cut loose. If I'm stealthy enough and quick, I can get out of the Kroger's and into my truck before the store employees figure out what happened. Lot easier now that the stores stay open 24/7.
The Greatest Enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.--Stephen Hawking
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6205190
03/01/16 03:34 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,032
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,032 |
let them jump up on the windmill tank... line three up in the scope and fill your tags all at once
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6205363
03/01/16 05:34 PM
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 6,061
Wilhunt
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 6,061 |
Being as I feed all year the turkeys will usually come by feeders as well as the deer. I do set up 4 decoys and wait for a gobble or sighting. Like to use the slate calls. I hunt early in the morning as preference but do have luck late afternoon. We were at the lease last Saturday watching a feeder from about 150 yards when 5 jakes/gobblers showed up. We used a box call and brought them within 40 yards of us. it was 6:40 PM.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: kmon11]
#6206232
03/02/16 02:42 AM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,544
thedoveshooter
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
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Posts: 1,544 |
Have killed lots of turkey early but most have been later in the morning or throughout the afternoon. If I do not get a response early I will settle in somewhere I know turkeys like to be or if on a unfamiliar place for a while and take some good naps calling some when I wakeup enough. More than once have been woken up by a gobbler in range looking for that hen that was talking there earlier. Somewhere around 10 I will start hunting in earnest again having given the gobblers time to get tired of chasing those no longer receptive hens that they have been with since before daylight and are looking for more hens. Those later in the morning can be some of the easiest to call in. Run and gun is fun also but I do not run nearly as well as I once did. I do about the same as kmon1. I shot a nice tom last year after taking a nice mid-afternoon nap up against a post oak. I woke up, hit the call once, and four toms came rushing in from less than 50 yards! It happened so quick I wasn't quite sure what happened. lol
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: BDB]
#6206489
03/02/16 11:22 AM
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 981
scubaarchery
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 981 |
It's great to kill them off the roost when they cooperate but run and gun is the most fun. I don't like to sit in an area and wait. That's the fun of turkey hunting, you don't have to...
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6207462
03/03/16 12:03 AM
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Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 947
JMalin
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 947 |
Run and gun is great when they are talking and not henned up, but I've had better success just sitting tight. I've been busted more than once by birds coming in silent while covering territory trying to locate a tom.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6220533
03/12/16 01:40 PM
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Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 215
Tophers
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 215 |
Run and gun style or sit tight in a strut zone and wait.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: Mrs. Mahan]
#6233429
03/23/16 03:21 AM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 62
Mrs. Mahan
OP
Outdoorsman
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OP
Outdoorsman
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 62 |
Well I talked to my dad about where the turkeys roost so that I could try the run & gun technique. Unfortunately they are roosting on the next property over. There's 2 groups that come to the turkey feeder every evening right at 6:30. Looks like I'll be hunting turkey out of the ground blind again this year.
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Re: What's your favorite turkey hunting technique?
[Re: thedoveshooter]
#6233946
03/23/16 05:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 446
Kevin Heath
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 446 |
Have killed lots of turkey early but most have been later in the morning or throughout the afternoon. If I do not get a response early I will settle in somewhere I know turkeys like to be or if on a unfamiliar place for a while and take some good naps calling some when I wakeup enough. More than once have been woken up by a gobbler in range looking for that hen that was talking there earlier. Somewhere around 10 I will start hunting in earnest again having given the gobblers time to get tired of chasing those no longer receptive hens that they have been with since before daylight and are looking for more hens. Those later in the morning can be some of the easiest to call in. Run and gun is fun also but I do not run nearly as well as I once did. I do about the same as kmon1. I shot a nice tom last year after taking a nice mid-afternoon nap up against a post oak. I woke up, hit the call once, and four toms came rushing in from less than 50 yards! It happened so quick I wasn't quite sure what happened. lol I have killed several after a nap too!
Some days you're the pigeon, other days you are the statue!
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