John's Journal...

What to Do When Three Turkeys Gobble

How to Nail Down the Toms Before You Leave

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Click to enlargeMost of us when we hear a turkey gobble immediately make a beeline to that turkey. Wenever stop to wait and listen to see if an area has any other gobbling turkeys in it. Remember, all turkeys don't gobble at the same time every morning. On many a morning, if I go to the first turkey that gobbles, I'll spook the tom closest to me because he hasn't gobbled yet. But what do you do when you hear three or more turkeys gobble? I've learned to plan my morning hunt instead of chasing the first turkey that gobbles. Here's how. 

If the season closes at 12:00 or 1:00 pm, or if I finish hunting and decide to return to camp in the middle of the day, I'll go back to my waypoint that I've marked with an X that morning. Looking at my hand where I've written the directions I’ve written about where each turkey has gobbled and the approximate distances to each, I'll get a compass reading, walk the approximate distance to each turkey I've heard gobble at daylight and mark each location as a waypoint on my GPS. Once I've covered the amount of ground I've guesstimated, I'll mark that spot as a waypoint and give the waypoint the name of No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 turkey. Then on the following morning, I can go to the area where any one of those three turkeys has gobbled the day before and know with some degree of confidence that I'll end upfairly close to one of the three gobblers' roost trees. When I use this tactic, I always try to move to one of these three locations using my GPS in the dark. If I move in too close, I won't spook the turkey off the roost. This strategy enables me to build on the information I've gained from the day Click to enlargebefore, and I feel I increase my odds of bagging a gobbler by at least 50 percent.Click to enlarge

Although not everyone gets to hunt where they have three turkeys gobbling in one morning, if you're lucky enough to have this many birds on the property you hunt, remember, you may have to take two strikes before you hit a homerun. Always plan your hunt for each turkey you hear at first light. Know the locations of these turkeys, and understand how to reach them from your position. The time you spend at first light locating and planning your hunt for each one of the three gobblers always will prove more important than getting to any one of those gobblers quickly. Think about how much fun you'll have if you bag a gobbler and then can give away the instructions to two more gobblers to your turkey-hunting buddies. Turkey hunting doesn't get any better than hearing three turkeys talk at first light.


Check back each day this week for more about "What to Do When Three Turkeys Gobble "

Day 1: GPS to Success
Day 2: When “Stuff” Happens
Day 3: Gobblers to Give Away and Gobblers to Keep
Day 4: Why to Choose the Best Turkey Instead of the Closest Turkey
Day 5: How to Nail Down the Toms Before You Leave

 

Entry 449, Day 5