Memories of Wild Turkey Hunting
- Earl Dolan
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
The best word to describe Wild Turkey hunting is CHALLENGING. Wild Turkeys are very smart, cautious birds with excellent eyesight. The key to a successful Wild Turkey hunt is preparation. Weeks before opening day of Wild Turkey season, I organize my supplies. These include: 1) three turkey decoys (two hens and one jake). A hen is a female turkey, a jake is a young male turkey with a short beard, and a gobbler is a full grown adult male with a very long beard); 2) a camouflaged light-weight, full-body leaf suit, complete with a mesh face mask and gloves. The purpose is to make myself look like a 5’8” tree with a lot of leaves; 3) a Combo backpack/hunting vest/seat into which I pack a variety of turkey calls (Diaphragm mouth call, glass or slate scratch call, wood box call, and gobbler flextone call; 4) a 12 gauge shotgun and two boxes of 3 inch, #4 shot turkey loads, and, most importantly, 5) a Maryland hunting license.
I have also read many magazine articles about turkey hunting, talked to friends about their turkey hunting experiences, and stealthily watched turkeys strutting around in fields and woods in the early mornings and late afternoons.
It is very important to learn the habits and behaviors of wild turkeys if you hope to harvest one. Turkeys eat seeds, nuts, berries, and insects. They roost high up in trees. There is nothing louder in the forest than hearing a big, fat turkey coming off the roost and trying to fly through closely spaced trees with a very wide wingspan. If you have nodded off, as I sometimes have done, you will definitely be startled awake! April is normally the beginning of breeding season and gobblers are trying to attract the hens by fluffing their feathers, strutting around with their chest out and gobbling loudly. It is such a mesmerizing display that I sometimes
forget that the reason I’m here is to bring dinner home.
Another favorite time I have preparing for a turkey hunt is to just listen. Early in the morning and late in the evening, the turkeys are coming down from, and, getting up into, their roosts. A really cool sound is to hear turkey gobbles echoing through the quiet forest. The evening before opening day I listen for gobbles and try to pinpoint the area where the turkeys are roosting, as that is the location where I will set up the next morning.
The first day of turkey season is here and I am hyped! I did not sleep well the night before as I was strategizing how I was going to bag my turkey. I rush around and dress in my “tree suit”. Then I recheck that I have placed all my turkey calls in my backpack. I grab my hen and jake decoys, my shotgun and shotgun shells and walk out the door. It is pitch black outside! I head back into the barn and grab my flashlight, then I venture off into the dark, quiet woods. Being as quiet as possible, which is difficult because I’m stepping on dry leaves, I head toward the area I heard the turkey gobbling the evening before. It is very quiet in the forest.
All I hear is my heavy breathing and pounding heart.
My plan is to set up about 50 yards away from the spot I heard the turkey gobble from his roost in the tree. As quietly as I can, I clear away fallen leaves and brush that would block my view and place my decoys in my chosen spot. Then I tiptoe back to the tree where I have cleared leaves and plop myself down. At this point I load my gun (it is not safe walking through a dark forest with a loaded gun). Now all I have to do is wait patiently and hope that Mr. Tom Turkey will show up.
As I wait, uneasy thoughts whirl around my head and I start second-guessing myself. What time is it? How much longer before sunrise? Am I in the right location? Should I move a little closer or farther away? Then, I hear it! A male turkey gobbling! My heart started racing more that it had when I was walking through the woods. I remember that one of my hunting buddies told me the sound of an owl or crow will stimulate the male turkey to gobble. I make a mental note to add two more calls to my collection.
Now it is time to scratch one of my hen turkey calls. But which one? I have four with me and I left four more back at the barn. My hunting buddy told me to only use the hen call two or three times, then wait. Don’t overdo it. I scratch one hen call three times, then wait. To my utter amazement and joy, the male turkey gobbles back! Oh Boy, this is easy! Mr. Tom Turkey is going to fly down from his roost, walk right into my decoys, and I will have a clear shot! I hear the male turkey come down from his roost and it is loud. It sounded like he fell right out of the tree and crashed through many branches before hitting the ground! He gobbles two more times, and I answer back with one hen call. He gobbles again. Okay, it’s only a matter of seconds before dinner is right in front of me! I slowly raised my gun into shooting position. I wait a few seconds, then a few minutes, then 10 minutes. No turkey! Fifteen minutes later I hear a gobble about 100 yards BEHIND me! How did that happen?!?! My hunting buddies were right! They said wild turkeys have excellent eyesight. That old Tom saw me raise my gun and he quietly walked right around me! I was outwitted by that clever bird!
Over the span of 10 years and many hunts, I have only successfully harvested five Wild Turkeys. Time and time again, I would see the bird walk toward me, I would raise my gun, and then I never saw that turkey again! Along with my growing frustration came the growing admiration I had for these wily birds. When I sit in my man cave and look over at the stunning taxidermist-mounted gobbler I finally outwitted, I reminisce about the challenging and fun times I had hunting Wild Turkeys. I am grateful that the Lower Shore Land Trust has been successful in preserving our rural heritage ensuring that the Wild Turkeys will continue to
challenge us.
