MARK DRURY'S TURKEY-HUNTING TACTICS

Don Shipp's Tips For Calling Turkeys In The Rain

EDITOR'S NOTE: Don Shipp of Clinton, Arkansas, an avid turkey hunter and caller, has won three Championship turkey-calling titles from 1997 through 1999.

QUESTION: What have you learned about hunting turkeys in the rain?
ANSWER: Turkeys don't gobble nearly as well in the rain. I like to go to areas where the turkeys are more visible, such as in fields or on roads. You can get a turkey to gobble immediately after a rain. You have to know your terrain and where the birds probably will be. They're going to come out in the open because they're uncomfortable staying in the woods.

QUESTION: Tell me about a time when you took a turkey on a rainy hunt.
ANSWER: About three years ago, we were on some hunting property when the rain hit. I knew of a thick wooded area where we had taken some turkeys two days earlier. There were some roads nearby, and I felt a gobbler might leave the woods and walk out onto the road. I soon spotted a tom moving away from us. We went around him and began calling. He started to strut and came on in toward us. On rainy days, the best thing a hunter can do is figure out where the turkeys want to go.

QUESTION: Do you ever deliberately go out into the rain to hunt turkeys?
ANSWER: When you're guiding, and you've got hunters who have paid for their hunts, you don't really have a lot of choice about hunting in the rain. You've got to take them out. But that's why you've got to know where to look for the turkeys.

QUESTION: What are some advantages to hunting in the rain?
ANSWER: When there's thunder, the turkeys are going to gobble quite a bit. You can move in much closer to turkeys when rain is falling because they can't see or hear you as well as they can on a sunny day. Rainy days are also good days to scout prior to the turkey hunt. You've got to learn where the turkeys are in the rain.

To learn more about hunting turkeys and the experts' tactics, click here.

TOMORROW: A NORTH MISSOURI TURKEY HUNT