Hunt late afternoon gobblers

This jake isn't huge but he's a legal bird

 

Many people think the only time to hunt gobblers is at the crack of dawn. Nancy and Roger Kerby of Honor know better.

Both of them have day jobs, and Roger can occasionally sneak away from his welding job for a bit of hunting. Nancy, a nurse at an Empire doctor's office, did the same thing several years ago during the first turkey season in Area K.

They got home about 4:30 p.m., jumped into their camouflage clothing, and Nancy grabbed the shotgun. Roger always goes for the last season simply because it offers him more hunting time while Nancy likes the earlier hunts.

Kerby knows his hunting area intimately

 

Roger hunts deer in the fall in Leelanau County, coyotes in the winter and gobblers in the spring. He knows what is state land, private land and what belongs to the Federal government as part of the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore property along Lake Michigan.

Knowing the terrain is a key to successful turkey hunting, and he had been preseason scouting for gobblers before the late-seasom opener. Nancy couldn't get away on Monday so they headed out Tuesday afternoon.

They cruised down some of the same roads, scoping out the state and federal lands they hunt during the fall, and it took 30 minutes to spot a big gobbler out in an open field. Much of this land offers long-range spotting conditions, but the hardest part is moving in close enough to call to a gobbler.

It was that in-between time when the gobblers are off on a stroll and before they meet up with the hens at fly-up time. This bird was by himself, on the move, and they watched for several minutes to determine his direction of travel.

Knowing travel routes tell them where to set up to intercept birds

 

"We got him figured out, turned around, and drove around the mile-square section," Nancy said. "We knew where we could get into the timber, get fairly close to him, and with luck, call him right in."

They parked the vehicle, uncased her shotgun, and she loaded up, checked the safety, and they headed off at a fast walk. Five minutes later they spotted the gobbler at a distance. He was still heading in their general direction, but had stopped to watch traffic out on the road.

Roger gave a soft yelp and the gobbler greeted them like he'd been waiting for a long-distance phone call. The bird went into a strut, danced around in a circle, and gobbled again. He didn't seem ready to head their way so they decided to duck into a nearby gully and move closer. This bird acted like he expected the hen to come dancing his way.

They ducked down into the gully, and ran down it for 100 yards while remaining out of sight of the gobbler. They finally ran out of cover, and stopped. The bird was still 150 yards away, and he was still at full strut, wingtips dragging in the dirt, but wasn't coming any closer.

Nancy got set up for a possible shot, and Roger climbed a hill just behind his wife, and they sat motionless watching the bird display. Finally, the bird decided perhaps the hen he had heard wasn't coming, so he gobbled again. Roger stayed silent, let the old boy get himself worked up a bit.

The longbeard gobbled, and still Roger remained silent. The bird strutted, his tail spread in a broad fan, and gobbled again. He then double-gobbled, and his head was flashing red, white and blue.

Roger decided the bird might be ready for a little persuasion. He stroked out a soft yelp, and it was immediately answered by another double-gobble. He stayed silent,and the bird gobbled again, and one more soft yelp got the bird lined up and headed their way.

He strutted, gobbled, and came 20 yards closer. Roger stayed silent, and the bird gobbled two more times, and took a few tentative steps in their direction. He gobbled yet again, and Kerby whined and clucked, and that did the trick.

Watching gobblers and figuring out where they'll go is the secret.

 

The bird had his running shoes on, and came charging right up to within 25 yards of Nancy as she sat with her knees up and the shotgun to her shoulder. The bird stopped 25 yards away, his head tucked into his shoulders, went into a strut, and as his tail fan started down, Roger whispered "Get ready" and clucked softly.

The gobbler's head shot into the air as he tried to spot the hen, and with one shot Nancy downed her gobbler. The bird had a 10 1/2-inch beard and weighed over 20 pounds.

"The neat thing about turkey hunting," Roger said, "is working the bird. They don't always come to the call this well, but when everything comes together, it is a wonderful afternoon in the woods. And best of all, hunters have very little competition for birds."

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Cleaning my turkey calls

The vest hangs where I can't see it from my desk, but I had to go over that way today, and I was a goner. It may as well have had a Pick Me Up sign hanging off it.

Oh well, the turkey bug bit me bad this morning. Each one of my calls came out, and each one was carefully inspected and cleaned. My favorite diaphragms were washed in warm water and allowed to air dry.

All mouth calls work best when kept cool, and there's nothing wrong with keeping your clean diaphragm calls in the refrigerator. Cool temps keep the latex reeds in better condition.

It's time to work on your turkey calls before hunting season begins.

My vest is cool, and when I'm not hunting, I wash the latex reeds and insert a flat (not round) toothpick between the reeds to clean and separate the latex. A few callers I know store their diaphragm calls in the cool and dry basement when not in use, but I don't go that far. Mine never hit the fridge but I keep them away from heat in my vest.

I don't do too much to my box calls. I dust them off, including the paddle and lips of the sound chamber, and make certain there are no twigs or anything else inside them from last season.

A light sanding of the paddle and the edges of the sound chamber will remove chalk residue. It may need a bit of tuning after a light sanding. Just don't use any force when sanding. Keep it light and gentle.

Keep all-wood calls dry and remove excess chalk and any dirt.

Many of my calls require the use of chalk although I also use chalk-free calls ,and I try to lightly remove as much old chalk as possible. Once they are cleaned and dusted off, I allow them to sit on a shelf near my desk. They are thoroughly dry when the time comes to use them, and I try not to let them get damp or wet. Too many wood box or push-pull calls have been ruined by using them in rain or snowy conditions.

My aluminum, crystal, glass or slate calls require little care. I clean the surface with a soft, slightly dampened cloth, and then they are wiped completely dry moments later. The peg or striker is another story.

It took me some time to learn, because I like to experiment with pegs, but gradually it dawned on me that certain pegs perform best with certain calls. I've used wood, plastic, glass and graphite pegs or strikers, and they all work ... on certain calls.

I've yet to find that one peg works on all calls. Use the wrong striker, and you'll sound more like a ruptured duck than an amorous hen.

Clean calls work better, produce truer sounds, and can make gobbler go nuts.

A major problem for some people is they keep all the strikers together, and invariably try to use the wrong peg on the wrong call. The sounds that come forth are not those of any turkey any of us has ever seen.

My trick, if that's what it is, is to keep the peg with the proper call. I try to wrap each call (including my box calls) in an old soft dark colored washcloth. A thick rubber-band is used to keep everything tight so it doesn't rattle or make an odd sound while walking to a spring hunting location in the darkness.

Many hunters have learned to put a layer of dry washcloth across the top of a box call, and then wrap the paddle in another layer of cloth. Rubber-band it tight, and you won't have those telltale squeaks or raspy noises coming out of your vest if your arm bumps the call.

One tip on using a wash cloth. Use an old one that has been washed many times, and choose a dark color. Do not use a blue, red or white wash cloth for obvious safety reasons. A dark brown cloth works well for me. and dark green is my second choice for cloth colors.

A cagey old gobbler, who has made it to three or four years of age, may not hear human footsteps in soft soil or pine needles, but they will hear an untimely squawk if the box call or push-pull call makes a noise at the wrong time. Sometimes the sound may not spook the bird, but why take any chances?

Now is the time to sew up holes in your vest after all of your calls have been made ready for the hunt. Barbed wire or sharp tree stubs have a habit of ripping holes in a hunting vest. If a favorite call falls out, and is lost, you'll never forgive yourself for not doing it when time permitted.

All of this can be done at home in an hour or two. Use that time wisely, make certain all decoys and stakes are ready to go, and when the season opens, grab a bag of decoys, the hunting vest and shotgun (don't forget the shotgun shells and license) and it's off to the woods you go. Double-check that the shotgun shells are No. 4, 5 or 6 and nothing larger or smaller in shot size.

And best of all, your equipment will be in perfect working order when you need it to be that way.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors