April 2023 - 28

Turkeys often travel long distances when they hear calls from hunters.
Hundreds of hours
photographing and hunting
these colorful birds has
taught me they vocalize
for a purpose.
ON THE HUNT
Wrapping a tag around a gobbler's leg is
best done by calling. Basic calls are easy to
master. Many turkey hunting videos can help
you with the skills to bring in birds. What
they can't teach you is when to call and when
not to. The biggest foibles mirror that of elk
hunters, calling too often. Gobblers emulate
laser guided missiles in pinpointing the location
of a vocalizing hen. Hundreds of hours
photographing and hunting these colorful
birds has taught me they vocalize for a purpose.
Like elk, they do it to keep track of one another
or to connect with another bird. Calls have a
purpose, but when overdone, it spells danger.
Just like elk hunting, calls are useful for
locating a gobbler. Once a gobbler responds to
my call I try to close the distance and set up.
You're playing the role of a hen. Many times
just moving a little closer tells long beards she's
interested but playing coy.
28 | April 2023
It's amazing how far gobblers will travel to
a call. Years ago I was walking down the edge
of a hayfield, occasionally stopping to call.
Finally, I heard a single gobble from across
a deep canyon on the far hillside. Moving to
the end of the field, I slipped into a patch of
trees to set up. I scraped out a few seductive
clucks on my box call. Instantly, a series of six
or seven gobbles responded across the canyon.
Waiting for a couple minutes I sounded off
with a couple purrs. Below me less than 50
yards away the long beard double-gobbled,
then gobbled again. He was coming on the
run. Setting my box call down, I raised the
shotgun up as he busted out of the brush at
10 feet. I couldn't believe it. He'd flown across
the canyon and run up the steep hillside below
me. Moments like that define the thrill of
hunting wild turkeys.
Such situations require you to be sitting
with the shotgun against your shoulder and

April 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2023

April 2023 - 1
April 2023 - 2
April 2023 - 3
April 2023 - 4
April 2023 - 5
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April 2023 - 48
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