Calling wild turkeys, spring and fall, can be exasperating for a variety of reasons. I can remember when my Uncle Claude got a caller that worked by scraping the wooden box against the stock of a shotgun. In those days, there were no TV shows or videos to watch so that you listened to other hunters and often followed questionable advice. Instead of the customary “yelp, yelp, yelp,” the caller made a harsh “squalk, squalk, squalk.” Instead of the hen’s yelp sound, it actually replicated a gobbler call and as luck would have it called in a pair of long beards later that day.
Hard Times
Spring turkey hunting can be extremely frustrating. I killed a very mature gobbler during the first half hour of the first time I hunted spring birds, yet also had a dry spell in which I didn’t tag a bird for 10 consecutive seasons. Believe, me 10 years is a long time to chase turkeys with no success and I certainly believed that I “sucked at turkey hunting” as this post from the Realtree website suggests.
Trying Too Hard
Turkey hunting has a mental element that leads to success and the best approach may be to “go with the flow,” to quote a cliche. During my dry spell, I hunted every Saturday, up at 3:00 am. in the mountain well before dawn, and hunting until noon regardless of conditions. The drought broke one opening day when a cold rain fell and the mountain tops were covered in fog. Conditions were so miserable, my “never-give-up” father suggested that we head for town, have breakfast, and return when the fog lifted.
Success at Last
Ironically, when we returned to our hunting grounds, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and turkeys began to gobble. Even more surprisingly, I called in a gobbler and felt like the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. If you find yourself in a rut instead of a groove, check out these 10 reasons that may apply:
Some folks just can’t figure out the turkey hunting tradition for trying. Oh, they’re good bass anglers, even deer hunters, but the little things you have to put together to kill a spring gobbler – or even a fall turkey where legal – are lost on them. Little things are big deals when you turkey hunt. Here are 10 reasons why you suck at it.
