Are you having a successful turkey hunting season so far? If not, here are five tips that will hopefully turn your season around and get you some gobblers.More
Turkey hunting season is up and running here in Texas. This spring hunting season is a great time to keep your hunting skills sharp, try out new gear and stock your freezers with turkey meat. Are you having a successful turkey hunting season so far? If not, here are five tips that will hopefully turn your season around and get you some gobblers for your dinner table.
1. Identify Hot Spots
Have you identified potential turkey hot spots? Turkeys like to roost near water sources and open areas. They like to stay close to their water sources and will choose areas where they’ll have plenty of room when they fly down from the roost in the morning. They like to have an open area so they can see what’s coming. They also gravitate to trees with heavy branches. If you can find an area that has all of the above, that’s a prime roosting location.
2. Use Calls
If you haven’t seen many gobblers, but you know they’re out there, try calling them in with turkey calls. When you use them, reserve loud and frequent calling for the beginning of the session before the turkeys are in sight. As the turkeys get closer, ease up on the calls and let them come to you naturally. If you’ve been observing the turkeys on trail cameras and you know the general vibe of the flock (aggressive toms, shy jakes, etc.) then you can choose your calls accordingly. You’ll want to use aggressive calls for mature toms, but if the flock is primarily shy young jakes, they may not respond as well to aggressive tom calls.
3. Use Decoys
Decoys are also incredibly helpful when hunting turkeys. Just like the turkey calls, you need to make sure your decoys are appropriate for the kind of turkeys you want to draw in. Two male turkey decoys positioned facing each other, in an aggressive display, will attract other dominant tom turkeys looking to assert dominance and get in on the fight. That said, the same display could scare off a timid jake. A hen decoy and/or male turkey decoys positioned as if they’re feeding would be more inviting for a timid turkey.
4. Keep Yourself Hidden
Turkeys have incredible eyesight that’s three times better than ours. When you’re hunting on foot, you want to make sure you’re staying hidden. Once you’ve found your ideal spot, stay stationary as you try to call the turkeys toward you. You don’t want to stumble across them when they’re making their way across the woods, you could scare them off and ruin the progress you’ve made.
5. Try a New Broadhead
If you haven’t tried hunting with our Guillotine or Guillotine X broadheads, consider making the switch. The Guillotine broadheads are specifically designed for turkey hunting. They have a straight blade, which is designed for a clean decapitation, resulting in a quick and ethical harvest. Once you’ve successfully patterned the turkeys and have brought them within range, our Guillotine and Guillotine X broadheads will help complete the harvest.
If you’ve been struggling a bit this turkey season, we hope the tips in this blog will help you turn your season around. Try them out and see if they lead to a freezer full of turkey meat and a successful spring.
Have you been successful so far this turkey hunting season? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!