Five Keys to Turkey Hunting Success

I’ve had the opportunity to hunt worldwide, from noodling catfish to hunting axis deer in Hawaii. All require a lot of time and preparation for the best opportunity for success. But there’s something different about spring turkey hunting in my home state of Michigan that gets me fired up. 

Spring in the Michigan turkey woods is a magical time. Is it the time of year? Is it the waking of the woods as you sit huddled under a tree or in a blind? Is it hearing the woods come alive to be broken up by the morning thunder of a gobbler? Well, yes. It’s all of that. 

Turkey hunting is unique because it’s one of those hunts you get to interact back and forth with an animal. While there are other hunts that you use calls to attract your quarry to you — like duck hunting and white-tailed deer, to name a couple — when you are talking to turkeys, you need to know the language. One accidental "putt" can end your day before it even begins. A level of preparation goes into bagging a spring gobbler that is unmatched in the hunting world.

So, what does a successful amount of preparation look like for chasing gobblers? Let’s break it down for you here.

This is the key to knowing how far you can reach out and shoot with your setup to ensure a quick and easy kill. There’s a lot of science that goes into finding the correct combination of these three essentials, but stick with what you have and master the knowledge of your tools, and you will be ready and have the necessary confidence to harvest a bird when that time is just right.

There’s something fun about “putting a turkey to bed” the night before you go back to hunt him in the morning. It’s this step that makes turkey hunting unique. I can’t think of another type of hunting that allows you to watch your game go to roost, and most times, he will be there come sunrise. Sidenote – always have a plan b, c, d and e. 

Learn where turkeys want to be based on the time of the year, weather and if they are henned up or not. Put an X on the spot, and you will at least hear some gobbles – getting close is up to you.

When it comes to talkin' turkey, there's a specific "language" you need to master: purrs, putts, clucks, and more. There are many notes and combinations to learn and to know what they mean. This is how you can be effective. Listen to real birds. Hens are sometimes the worst callers, but it is all in the cadence that keeps the toms coming in for action. 

Ever sit in traffic and wish you were anywhere but there? Yeah, same, but that’s a perfect time to pop in a diaphragm call and let it rip – your spouse will thank me later for not recommending you do this in the house. A lot of time and effort goes into perfecting the calls we need to make to attract birds and sound like a real live hen – don’t waste another traffic jam without a call in your mouth!

You can do many things to be prepared, but preparation is vital if you want to bag a nice tom this year. Get after it and Stay Green. 

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