John's Journal...

Matt Morrett Explains His Secrets to Taking More Tom Turkeys

Day 4: Matt Morrett Tells How to Hunt High-Pressured Turkeys

Editor’s Note: Matt Morrett of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a professional hunter and a member of Hunter’s Specialties’ Pro Hunt Team, has won the World Friction Championship five times, the Grand National Championship once and the U.S. Open Turkey Calling Championship seven times. I had the privilege of interviewing Morrett for the first time immediately after he won his first World Championship at the age of 17. He’s constantly learned more about hunting turkeys and hunts them all over the United States.

Click for Larger ViewIf I hear another hunter yelping to a turkey I’m calling to, I walk away and try to get as far as I can from that turkey and that other caller. First of all, I respect that other hunter, and I want him to have a chance at that tom. I don’t want to interfere with someone else’s hunt, and I hope he’ll do the same if he hears me calling to a turkey. Click for Larger ViewBut turkey calls have gotten so good that often you can’t tell the difference between another caller and a live turkey. For instance, the Ring Zone call exactly duplicates the sounds that a wild-turkey hen makes. Many turkey hunters suggest that when you’re competing for a turkey, you should call really softly and only call about every 15 minutes. But I do just the opposite, because I’ve learned from observing turkeys that when a hen’s excited and ready to breed with a gobbler, she sounds excited. Think about this for just a minute. If you’re working a gobbler, and he only hears a hen call back softly every 15 minutes or so, but he’s trying a make a decision whether to go and see that hen or not, and then another hen starts cutting, cackling and talking excitedly like she really wants to see him, to which hen do you think the gobbler will go?

I like to keep a gobbler fired-up with excited cuts, cackles and loud, demanding yelps. You’ve got to remember, during the spring of the year, that tom really wants to breed with a hen. I think the more you can sound like a hen and be excited, the better your odds will be to call-in a gobbler on public land. I personally think the sound the Ring Zone makes is perfectly matched to the sound that a wild-turkey hen would make. The Ring Zone sounds more like a wild turkey hen than any other call. Therefore, if you give excited calls and sound like a hen on the Ring Zone, the gobbler has to believe that you’re an excited hen ready to breed. I believe that the more you sound like a hen and the more realistic you can sound like a hen that’s ready to breed, the more gobblers you’ll call-up this spring. I try to call aggressively and sound as much like a hen as I can.

Click for Larger ViewOne of the advantages you have when you use Hunter’s Specialties’ calls is that you know the Hunter’s Specialties’ Pro Staff is in the woods every day of turkey season all over the nation. We’re not only hunting turkeys, but we’re trying to learn how to hunt turkeys better and create more-realistic calls that will give you an advantage that you haven’t had previously. Click for Larger ViewThe Ring Zone call is a classic example of scientific research and testing to try to produce the most-realistic sound of the wild turkey that can be made by a human. Too, the Squealing Hen call has been developed after hunters watched gobblers breed hens for many years. You can use that call to call-in henned-up gobblers or those gobblers that only will come a certain distance (out of gun range) and won’t come-in any closer.

 

 

 

Learn more about hunting turkeys from some of the top turkey hunters in the country, including Matt Morrett. Get your copy of the Kindle eBook, “PhD Gobblers” by John E. Phillips by clicking here. Amazon Prime members can receive the book free for 5 days.

 

 

 

Tomorrow: Matt Morrett Tells How to Make Turkey Calling Easy


Check back each day this week for more about "Matt Morrett Explains His Secrets to Taking More Tom Turkeys "

Day 1: Matt Morrett Gives You Some of His Top Strategies to Help You Take Turkeys
Day 2: Matt Morrett Names the Toughest Turkey Hunting Problem to Solve
Day 3: Learn Matt Morrett’s Ultimate Calling Secret to Bring-In Turkeys
Day 4: Matt Morrett Tells How to Hunt High-Pressured Turkeys
Day 5: Matt Morrett Tells How to Make Turkey Calling Easy

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Entry 657, Day 4