Turkeys - Can they be still hunted?

Hobie1026

Hobie1026

Active member
I've never been turkey hunting. All I know is it involves sitting against a tree and calling them in. I don't own camo or turkey calls and I don't have the patience to sit still.

However later this season I'll be hunting in an area that could be described as a target rich environment for turkeys.

Has anyone ever tried still hunting turkeys? Just walking slowly through the trees and sneaking up on them? Can it be done or would I just be tossing money away on a tag?

Any thoughts or suggestions from turkey hunters would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Hobie
 
Hobie1026 said:
I've never been turkey hunting. All I know is it involves sitting against a tree and calling them in. I don't own camo or turkey calls and I don't have the patience to sit still.

However later this season I'll be hunting in an area that could be described as a target rich environment for turkeys.

Has anyone ever tried still hunting turkeys? Just walking slowly through the trees and sneaking up on them? Can it be done or would I just be tossing money away on a tag?

Any thoughts or suggestions from turkey hunters would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Hobie
Click to expand...

Many years ago I was deer hunting the way you are talking about. As I was hunting I heard a turkey chirp. I located the turkey sitting in a tree and shot it, it worked great.
 
Well it would be a lot easier to sit there and call them in thats the prime way to go, but if you don't have the patience for it then you could try the sneak up approach however it is much harder. I would suggest getting some camo for that if your gunna try that cause they will for sure see you otherwise.
Sneaking up on them can be done it is much harder but either way good luck!!
 
huntinmatt said:
Well it would be a lot easier to sit there and call them in thats the prime way to go, but if you don't have the patience for it then you could try the sneak up approach however it is much harder. I would suggest getting some camo for that if your gunna try that cause they will for sure see you otherwise.
Sneaking up on them can be done it is much harder but either way good luck!!
Click to expand...

Thanks. Well, it's mostly the calling part that I'm worried about. Do they make any kind of idiot-proof turkey call that would work in the Fall if I found a good spot to set up?
 
Hobie1026 said:
I've never been turkey hunting. All I know is it involves sitting against a tree and calling them in. I don't own camo or turkey calls and I don't have the patience to sit still.

However later this season I'll be hunting in an area that could be described as a target rich environment for turkeys.

Has anyone ever tried still hunting turkeys? Just walking slowly through the trees and sneaking up on them? Can it be done or would I just be tossing money away on a tag?

Any thoughts or suggestions from turkey hunters would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Hobie
Click to expand...

Is it legal to hunt them with your dogs there? I've had good luck hunting fall turkey with my pups.
 
Has anyone ever tried still hunting turkeys? Just walking slowly through the trees and sneaking up on them? Can it be done or would I just be tossing money away on a tag?
Click to expand...

Over the 26 years I've been in rural Wisconsin, I've gotten 7 or 8 turkeys. I suffer the same dilemma, I don't abide sitting very well. In each instance, I walked upon the turkeys, with little skill, and much good fortune.

It can be done, but not by serious turkey hunters. Don't count on finding and getting one, bring a sandwich. :)

Mostly, I just walked through the bits of woods we have down here in a hilly, small field, family dairy farm country. All were shot with a Hercules 12ga, 2 3/4", full choked, 30 inch barreled single shot. Most with #5 or #6 shot; one with #8--because the day before a grey squirrel had chattered away at me until I vowed to kill him and had the shotgun loaded for him when I came upon the turkeys. They were in dense bushes and I was about 25 yards away in a fringe area. When one moved away from the group, I tried a head shot. He went down, the others left, and it took a while for him to expire.

That darned squirrel may still be there. :)

But I had time and lived within walking distance, and...younger legs.
 
I don't see where turkey hunting by calling them in takes a tremendous amount of patience. Call for a few minutes in one area and if you get no response get up and move a few hundreds yards and try again. Sometimes when you have one coming in to the call and he gets hung up it can try your patience.

As far as a "idiot proof" turkey call. I think the easiest to use is a good box call. Easier than a slate or mouth calls. I have an old Ben Rogers Lee box call that I've had for 40 years. Actually signed by Ben Rogers Lee. It's worked very well for me. I also use some various mouth calls.
 
In the fall they are not as easy to call as in the spring. But it can be done.

I feel that in the fall the most effective way to hunt them is to scout and pattern them. They will generally roost in the same trees so it is possible to set up where they come by, coming in or out of the roost. Don't get close to the roost, you can make them move the roost somewhere else.

Its easier to get them to come to you when you are where they want to go anyway. :thumbsup:
 
I've never hunted turkeys but I've heard that in the fall you can run in like an idiot and bust them up . I think the more chaos the better, if legal a dog would help I think. Then you sit down and try to call them back to you as they relocate.
 
Yep the best way is to bust them up and they naturally want to get flocked back up. It can be very hard to get a good break without a dog and if they aren't separated you'll struggle to call them.

I'm a decent caller with very little patience and I kill them.

There are plenty of ways to kill a turkey but calling them in is the most rewarding in my opinion.
 
I don't know about most rewarding because I've only been successful one way but taking a turkey on the wing is good fun and watching your dog try to figure out how to fetch up a gobbler is even more fun.:cheers:

I've had good shots 3yrs in a row on fall turkies while pheasant hunting, the distance I am from the truck is my deciding factor on whether or not i pull the trigger.
 
Last edited:
Dry creek beds is the only way I've successfully snuck up on them. It was simple; I could've shot a pile of 'em in that scenario. I've called them in on 3 different occasions. Those experiences were much more rewarding than putting the sneak on them. I've never seen anyone perform the "call-back" during the fall season. Also, I've never had a turkey call I liked. Sitting isn't my style either.

Between crappie fishing, baseball, and my dislike for the flavor of turkey, I may never become a good spring turkey hunter:)
 
The Kansas fall turkey season begins Oct. 1. Turkeys generally do not respond to calls and decoys in the fall. Those tactics, however, are very effective in the spring season when the turkeys are mating. Fall turkey involves more sneaking up or hiding where you know they roost while they are out feeding. During our fall season either gender may be bagged while spring is male only. I would say fall turkey is more challenging. But one nice characteristic of a solo turkey is that if it does flee from you, it will usually stop once you are out of sight. Sometimes you can pop up over a rise and there's the turkey you were stalking just milling nervously about, a condition you can remedy. A group of turkeys is harder to stalk because there is usually an older hen who acts as a lookout while they are exposed in a feeding area. She won't miss a thing with her keen eyesight and hearing. I wouldn't bother trying to sneak up on such a group.
 
Agree with Brit. Turkeys do not respond to calling in the fall, only in the Spring. I turkey hunt every Spring, and am successful at tagging a bird every Spring because we manage for turkeys somewhat. Fall turkey hunting is more like deer hunting. You can sit around or try to stalk them. I used to buy fall tags but now I hardly bother. If you're in an area where you expect to see turkey, I'd suggest purchasing a tag. They're easy enough to sneak up on if you stay low and behind cover (e.g. you spot some on the other side of the treeline) and provide a good amount of meat (although I could argue the cost of a turkey tag is somewhat outrageous, at least here in KS).

Spring turkey hunting doesn't take much patience, just planning btw. If you know where they're roosting, you can have a bird down and be back at the house by 9 am. I almost strictly bowhunt for turkey anymore. It sure is fun lopping their head off with a Magnus Bullhead! Spring turkey is probably my second favorite hunting, next to the uplands. I'll go out sometimes just to watch the birds from the blind, even after I've filled my tag.
 
To say turkeys don't or won't respond to calling in the fall is completely false. You just have to force them into a situation where they need to call.
 
kansasbrittany said:
Dry creek beds is the only way I've successfully snuck up on them. It was simple; I could've shot a pile of 'em in that scenario. I've called them in on 3 different occasions. Those experiences were much more rewarding than putting the sneak on them. I've never seen anyone perform the "call-back" during the fall season. Also, I've never had a turkey call I liked. Sitting isn't my style either.
Click to expand...

If they are feeding near the edge of the field, you can just use the dry creek bed like KB and others have said to sneak into shotgun range and pop up and yell surprise... Like jumping ducks off a pond... No waiting in that scenario. :laugh:

If the dry creek sneak won't get you close enough, then use it or something else, like a hedge row, to conceal your movements and get ahead of them. Basically you just find the turkeys, see which way they are already going, and go get set up ahead of them. There's no need to call if you are not confident in your turkey calling skills. Just find a good hiding spot within shotgun range of where you expect them to pass you and wait for them.

They follow creek beds, paths, hedge rows, or even a cow trail for at least short distances. These small bunches of turkeys are not too tricky to figure out. In most of these instances, it would be better to have camo because otherwise they might see you before they get in range.
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
To say turkeys don't or won't respond to calling in the fall is completely false. You just have to force them into a situation where they need to call.
Click to expand...

Not familiar with this. Can you provide more info? Thanks.
 
If a turkey gets separated from its flock they use calling to get back toegther. If you break the flock up they'll call and respond to calling.

Fall turkey hunting with dogs and calls is an old tradition.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top