Turkey Hunting, Keep It Sexy

Although the title might have visions of scantily clad camouflage maidens serving you drumsticks, a la Henry the Eighth, dancing in your mind but this is really an article on how to keep turkey hunting simple and focusing on a Gobblers greatest weakness...sex.

If you believe everything you read, turkey hunting is really easy...not.  The problem is that the old gobbler you're going after doesn't read the same articles as you, but he does think.  That big bird has only one thing on his mind in the spring and that's the ladies.  Keeping that one piece of information in mind can and will most often be key to getting that Tom.

You've done your homework, located a bird, put him to bed the night before, the rest is simple...or is it?  Have you ever had a bird so fired up in the morning that he gobbles his head off at the breaking of a blade of grass only to have him just seem to go stone cold?  We all have-  just remember that when he goes cold it's because he's with hens, until he has taken care of business and the hens leave him he's not going to budge.This is where patience pays off: you've called to the bird, and you're set up in a good open area that allows the Tom to strut, sit tight he knows where you are and as soon as he gets lonely you're next on his dance card. Let's talk about calling, you can do it right or you can just make noise.  That Boss Gobbler has one thing on his mind...making little turkeys, it's his sole purpose on this planet, other than gracing your dinner table and wall, capitalize on that. Soft, seductive calling kills birds, not

hammering the call all morning because you think you should be making noise.  Think of it this way, you're in a bar and see a really attractive women, she takes another sip of her drink, opens her mouth and turns into a raving lunatic.  Flashbacks of "Fatal Attraction" go through your mind and you run the other way, out the door, across the parking lot, jump in your car locking the doors for safety.  If that same woman took that same sip of her drink and then casually glanced over her shoulder making seductive eye contact with you...well now it's a different ball game. She just set the hook and is ready to start cranking. 

A turkey hunter's arsenal is not the gun and shells, it's the calls in their vest and having the ability to use them confidently.  There is no perfect call, but there is a call perfect for a given situation.  Be equipped...slate, glass, mouth and box calls will work at the right time and place, some are better for attention getting and some are for seduction.  Practice, learn how to use them with confidence. 
A good call does not make a good caller,

A good call makes a good caller better.  

Call to get a bird's attention, call softly and seductively to kill the bird.  Always remember that less is better than more when it comes to scoring on that Tom. 

Keeping it sexy in the turkey woods can bring that big boy home with you. 

Mark Nethery

www.bluegrassgamecalls.com