John's Journal...

Use Your Hands and Knees for Gobbling Turkeys

Day 4: Champion Turkey Caller Preston Pittman on Using a Ben Rodgers Lee Tactic – Stay Low to Move Close to Gobblers

Editor’s Note: Three secrets will help you to consistently take turkeys – location, location, location. Probably hunters bag 90 percent of their turkeys by sitting in places turkeys want to walk to anyway. And, calling to these birds may make the turkey decide to walk by that spot that day.

Click for Larger ViewPreston Pittman, of Pickens, Mississippi, the founder of Preston Pittman Game Calls and winner of numerous national, regional and state turkey-calling contests, says, “Several years ago while hunting in Florida, I called-up three Osceola gobblers. John Phillips bagged one, and the other two gobblers ran into a burnt-pine plantation about 150 yards away. Since I cut and cackled to the gobblers right after John had shot, within about 10 minutes, they began to gobble again. Click for Larger ViewBut because they wouldn't come back to me, I used an old Ben Rodgers Lee tactic of staying low to move close to the gobblers. I believe 75 percent of all turkey hunters will have to use some form of crawling to get in and get a shot at some time in their turkey-hunting careers. But always keep safety foremost in your mind.

“In this pine plantation where the Florida turkeys were holding, the trees were no more than 6 inches in diameter. I could see in all directions. However, that meant that the turkeys also could see me. The closest limbs were 6-feet above my head. In this freshly-burnt timber where I could see in all directions and knew no one other than John hunted on the property, I became a hen turkey. I kept my head low to the ground, and my fanny up, just like a turkey would, and even shook my rear end. Click for Larger ViewAs I moved closer to the turkeys in this hiney-high position, I scratched in the burnt pine needles, threw dust in the air like a hen would and didn't move in a straight line but rather to the left and back to the right. Once I got within calling distance, I gave soft clucks and purrs. The two gobblers broke into an all-out gobbler fight before the bigger bird beat-up the other gobbler. The loser came running straight toward me, and I took him when he was less than 30-yards away. The terrain and the lack of hunters enabled me to use this weird tactic to take the gobbler that day. A master turkey hunter figures-out what a turkey wants to do, and where he wants to be. Then that outdoorsman gets to where the gobbler is going before the gobbler does."

Tomorrow: Avid Turkey Hunter Bo Pitman of White Oak Plantation on How Not to Spook Turkeys


Check back each day this week for more about "Use Your Hands and Knees for Gobbling Turkeys "

Day 1: What to Consider Before Moving on Turkeys
Day 2: Eddie Salter and David Hale Explain How to Move on Gobblers
Day 3: Gary Sefton Explains His Hands and Knees Relocation Tactics
Day 4: Champion Turkey Caller Preston Pittman on Using a Ben Rodgers Lee Tactic – Stay Low to Move Close to Gobblers
Day 5: Avid Turkey Hunter Bo Pitman of White Oak Plantation on How Not to Spook Turkeys

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. Content theft, either printed or electronic is a federal offense.

 

Entry 607, Day 4