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Activity Question

aimfirst

aimfirst

Member
Haven't ever focused on hunting turkeys in the spring, always had other work and kids activities get in the way but this year my sons really want to go and we have been watching videos etc to sort of "have a clue" when we go out. Our place to hunt is in southern Iowa and we are up in the QC so we aren't able to scout or monitor activity. Just curious if any of you are in the southern tier are hearing/seeing activity? They have youth licenses and we are trying to figure out our schedule to make it out this weekend, or maybe focus on the next couple weekends after this weekend. Curious if you all have been seeing/hearing much activity and if the action might be good to have a kid have a chance at hearing/seeing some birds. thanks!
 
We have taken my buddies kids out during youth season the last few years. It’s a blast! Just throw up a ground blind and a few decoys and have fun. We’ve always had good luck during youth season birds haven’t been harassed or called to yet.


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Ive been doing quite a bit of scouting when I can. The last week they have really fired up. Yesterday I got video of a boss tom breeding 3 hens. Had to wait until they eased over the ridge before I scooted out of there. Since you wont have that many trips to scout, get to high ground and listen to roost gobbling and mark those areas. If its private I wouldnt walk the ground to look for sign, the gobbling tells most of the story. Good luck!
 
awesome, thank you. Kind of feel the 'pressure' to at least see some and hear some since they are excited and the shows on sportsman channel make it look so easy. I know we have turkey down there, but I just have never hunted much for them but always wanted to. would like to see a few just to get my kids fired up for it. A neighbor from down there has said he has seen turkey numbers drop, but doesn't know why but his guess is seeing more bobcats (north of Bonaparte)....not sure if that is the case or not. we shall see this Saturday
 
sorry, dumb question that my boys asked me last night in preparation for the weekend. Is there a time you should not start calling before? Wait for mornign light or just wait for the sounds of some gobbling? we setup some ground blind 2 weekends ago (just brushed in a few places), so we won't know exactly where the roosting is happening, but just curious if calling too early will tip them off or if you guys wait for a particular time or signal to start. Thanks.
 
Wait to hear the gobbling. If it's close, don't call much (if at all) while they're on the roost. If it's a little further away, I like to give a few soft yelps and see if I can get a quick answer back. If they answer you while they're still in the roost, resist the urge to keep calling to them. They will already know where the call came from, so let them fly down and do a little searching. Good luck!

NWBuck
 
If your youth hunter is old enough to sit still Id skip the blind all together if you dont have the roost found. Get out to where you think they are , wait for a gobble and start moving - fast, you have about 10-20 minutes to set up your decoys and get in some cover. Get in within 200 yards of the roost. Theres a reason they call it running and gunning !
 
awesome, thanks for the replies. my twin boys and I just brushed together a few different spots that we guessed would work and can move in and out of those, but we can also run and gun if we hear them. I don't have any low cut/green fields so to speak so I don't ever see them strutting around, my field is all in natives so it is taller but our brush blinds are on the edges of those fields at timbers edge overlooking firebreaks that hopefully are greening up.

I haven't told them we may be picking ticks out of who knows where afterwards.....want to keep them excited about going.;)
 
You will hear all kinds of different opinions on when and when not to call. In my experience there really is no right or wrong answer. What works today won’t tmrw. Turkeys are strange creatures, just when you think you have them figured out they will throw you for a loop. The only real advantage we have is that they are usually creatures of habit. Going in blind will put you at a big disadvantage but still doable. I personally wouldn’t push too far into the property the first morning. You will gain a lot of valuable information by just listening and taking mental notes on locations of the gobbles. If you don’t bother them odds are they will be in the same general location that evening/following morning.

Nothing wrong with being aggressive either if that’s what the kids want to do. Chasing gobbles around the farm is a fun way to hunt but I’ve had more success through scouting and being where the turkeys want to be. Good luck




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A little trick I do if I'm too close at first light is a couple soft yelps, wait a little to after day break and cackle while flapping my hat to sound like a hen flying down off the roost. Unfortunately I rolled him when he hit the ground and never got him.
 
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