John's Journal...


First 30 Minutes of Turkey Hunting with Chris Kirby, Larry Norton and the Late Doug Camp

Day 3: The Late Doug Camp’s Turkey Strategies for Hunting Public Lands

Editor’s Note: What you do in that first 30 minutes of a turkey hunt often determines if the turkey will come to your calling, if he won't come to your calling, or if you will or won't bag a bird that day. The first 30 minutes of any turkey hunt usually sets the tone for the rest of the hunt. Let's look at how avid turkey hunters approach that first 30 minutes, and what they do to bag their birds. The late Doug Camp of Talladega, Alabama, the president of Camp Calls, had hunted turkeys since 1955, before many people were able to hunt turkeys, and had taken turkeys in three states. He also guided hunters to turkeys, and most years he hunted every day of turkey season.

Click for Larger ViewClick for Larger ViewIf I'm hunting on public lands and hear a turkey gobble, I try to get into position to call that tom – usually within 100 yards or less of his roost tree. But I won't call to the turkey while he's in the tree, because I don't want that bird to keep on gobbling and call in other hunters. If you can't hear the bird fly down, you still can tell when he's on the ground, since the volume of his gobble will be reduced greatly.

Once the bird's on the ground, I'll cluck softly to him. If he doesn't respond, then I'll yelp softly to him. I always begin my calling to a turkey very low, and I call infrequently. I want to hold something back in my calling repertoire to give to a gobbler later. I always can increase the volume of my calling and the aggressiveness with which I call. But, once I make my loudest, most-aggressive calls, giving the soft calls often isn't as effective. If I can call a turkey to within gun range by just clucking or soft yelping, then that's the only call I'll use. One of the best secrets of productive turkey hunting is to use only as many calls as you must to get a bird to come to you.

You must understand the mentality of a public-land hunter. He's trying to get a tom to come to him as fast as possible to keep someone else from taking the bird. So, during that first 30 minutes he hunts, he'll burn that turkey up with calling. That's why many public-land turkeys get so call-shy after the first 2 or 3 days of the season.

Click for Larger ViewClick for Larger ViewBut I've learned you can't rush turkeys. Turkeys do what they want to do when they want to do it. If you try to hurry them up, you'll run them off more times than you'll call them in to you. Remember, if a gobbler wants to see a hen and knows that hen is close to him, he'll walk over to where she is and visit with her. If he doesn't want to see her, he won't come to any calling. All you're going to do is make him call-shy if you call a lot.

To learn more about turkey hunting from the masters, get these Kindle ebooks by John E. Phillips, including: “The Turkey Hunter's Bible,”click here; “PhD Gobblers;” click here; “Turkey Hunting Tactics,”click here; and his latest eBook “Outdoor Life’s Complete Turkey Hunting,”click here, or go to http://www.amazon.com/kindle-ebooks, type in the names of the books, and download them to your Kindle, and/or download a Kindle app for your iPad, SmartPhone or computer. Check back at www.nighthawkpublications.com after March 24th for a reprint of John E. Phillips’ popular, sold-out book, “The Turkey Hunter’s Bible” 2nd edition.

 

 

 

Share this page with a friend!

About the Author

John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.

Tomorrow: More of Doug Camp’s Turkey Hunting Tactics on Public Lands


Check back each day this week for more about First 30 Minutes of Turkey Hunting with Chris Kirby, Larry Norton and the Late Doug Camp"

Day 1: Quaker Boy Calls and Mossy Oak Pro Staffer Chris Kirby Explains His Turkey Hunting Strategies
Day 2: More First 30 Minute Turkey Hunting Tactics with Quaker Boy Calls and Mossy Oak Pro Staffer Chris Kirby
Day 3: The Late Doug Camp’s Turkey Strategies for Hunting Public Lands
Day 4: More of Doug Camp’s Turkey Hunting Tactics on Public Lands
Day 5: Turkey Hunter and Guide Larry Norton on Using Patience with Hunting Turkeys

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. Content theft, either printed or electronic is a federal offense.

 

Entry 761, Day 3