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John's Journal... Entry 188, Day 5

MARK DRURY'S TURKEY-HUNTING TACTICS

Afternoon Hunting

EDITOR'S NOTE: Longtime, expert turkey caller and hunter Mark Drury of Columbia, Missouri, the creator and founder of M.A.D. calls, also produces videos for Drury Outdoors, "Outdoor Life" and other well-known outdoor companies.

In the states that permit afternoon turkey hunting, I've discovered a tactic that's almost sure to work. Turkeys like to get out in fields to feed, strut, and eat bugs in the afternoons. If possible, position yourself on a rise where you can see many fields, clear-cuts or pastures where turkeys may be. Then use a spotting scope to locate turkeys and watch what they do. What you usually see, if you find a flock, are gobblers and hens feeding together. However, look for a gobbler strutting. He'll usually be off to the side of the other turkeys and doing a lot of displaying. This gobbler is a subdominant male and probably hasn't mated that morning. He's trying to impress some of the hens, so they'll leave the gobblers they've been mating with and permit him to breed them.

Once you spot a gobbler like that at a great distance, put on all your camouflage gear, circle him, and try to sneak within calling distance. Set up in the edge of some woods looking out into the field, and begin your calling with a series of yelps. Pause 10 to 15 minutes between yelps to give the impression of being a hen that doesn't belong to the flock and has just walked near it. Usually, you'll get the attention of the gobbler that's been displaying. He'll look for you, but he won't come to your calling. Once you're comfortable in a good shooting position, give a really commanding cackle as though you're ready to be bred, and follow this with a series of yelps. After you cackle and yelp one to three times, that subdominant gobbler will usually break from the flock and come to you on a dead run. Remember he's looking for a hen that doesn't belong to the flock and hasn't been serviced that morning. Since he's the subdominant gobbler, he's going to try mating with that hen before one of the boss gobblers decides to mate with her or before she's sucked into the flock. This technique works really well in the afternoons or in the late mornings. If you can find a gobbler that continues to strut, and if you can get close enough to call him without going out into the field, he'll usually be an easy turkey to take. But every gobbler is different, and each situation calls for a different tactic. That's the reason I like to hunt turkeys.

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

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about MARK DRURY'S TURKEY-HUNTING TACTICS ...

Day 1 - Turkey Hunting in the Rain
Day 2 - Don Shipp's Tips For Calling Turkeys In The Rain
Day 3 - A North Missouri Turkey Hunt
Day 4 - Morning Henning and Gobbling
Day 5 - Afternoon Hunting


John's Journal