Dukats Journal of Hunting

Have you ever found that perfect set up within range of a group of lovesick gobblers strutting til their heads turned blue?  You sneak in and start purring on your slate only to have Mr. Tommy Tom Tom go silent and disappear in the opposite direction?  Merriam's turkeys seem to be famous for it.  If you don't find one in the first couple weeks, they are too wise to be fooled even by the best turkey caller.  Now what? 

If your anything like me, by the time April rolls around, you'll do about anything to get back out hunting again.  For me it's an annual 20 hour drive to Nebraska to chase the wily long beards.  The problem is, I usually don't make it until early  May and the turkeys have usually been educated by numerous hunters by that stage of the season.

Very seldom can I coax a mature gobbler away from his hens and the mere sight of a ground blind sends them scurrying in the other direction as soon as they get within a few hundred yards.

How then, do you get close enough to bag your Thanksgiving dinner?  The blinds, calls and the decoys go back to the house and it's time to break out the binoculars and the spotting scope.  Obviously this isn't a solution for all types of turkeys, but if your hunting in an area you can get to a high point and do some glassing you've got a shot a killing a gobbler.  Merriams seem to be the best suited for this type of turkey hunting, but I've hunted Easterns, Rio Grande's and Gould's down in Mexico the same way.

This is when turkey hunting can sharpen your skills for your fall big game hunt.  Get out the glass and find that tom that has been eluding you.  Turkey's are pretty easy to spot, but remeber, they can spot you almost as easily.  Keep a low profile and treat them as you would an elk or a deer, keeping movement to a minimum and staying in the shadows. 

For the majority of turkeys I have killed in this manner, it has been on the fourth or fifth sneak that I finally found them where I wanted them.  That means three or four chances to blow the stalk, so take it slow and easy and eventually they will walk right into you.  

The second major key to this strategy is knowing the lay of the land you are hunting.  You need to know every nook and cranny, where you can make up ground and where you can't.  It's a great way to work on your bowhunting or stalking skills, not to mention learning  an area inside and out.  It may take you quite a few miles, but eventually your hard work will find you face to face with old Mr. Jellyhead, just make it count because he won't give you many chances.