 HUNTER’S
SPECIALTIES’ PHD GOBBLERS
The Head Thumping PhDs
EDITOR’S NOTE: Any turkey hunter who tells you
he knows everything about taking a turkey will lie to
you about something else. Turkey hunting is a continuing-education
program. Every spring you learn more than you have the
spring before. There are several ways to learn the sport
of turkey hunting, including videos, television shows,
books, magazine articles and newspaper articles. But
the very-best way to learn how to hunt a turkey are
from the turkeys themselves, especially the PhD gobblers
that know as much about the hunters who hunt them, as
the hunters know about the turkeys they are trying to
take. I’ve just completed my fifth turkey-hunting
book, “Hunter’s Specialties’ PhD Gobblers.”
In the book I’ve interviewed some of the greatest
turkey hunters in the nation - the Hunter’s Specialties’
Pros - and each pro tells us about three different gobblers
and what they’ve learned from these PhD gobblers.
For the next few days, you can read excerpts from the
book. You can buy the book from us by calling (205)
967-3830 or emailing us at john7185@bellsouth.net
for $24.95 each plus $4  shipping
and handling. I’ll sign and date the book for
you if you’ll send a check or a money order for
$28.95 each or use PayPal- john7185@bellsouth.net.
Rick White of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been an avid
turkey hunter for 27 years and in that time has met
many PhD gobblers. He has helped design the Alumi Strut
Call and hunts all of the days during turkey-hunting
season. White travels the country giving seminars on
turkey and deer hunting and works both sides of the
video camera to help film hunts for Hunter’s Specialties’
Video Productions. He has won seven Iowa State Turkey
Calling Championships. White loves to compete because,
“The level of competition gets better and better.
Having good quality calls like the ones we make at Hunter’s
Specialties helps me be consistent when I call.”
“If you watch an old movie about times when children
went to school in a one-room schoolhouse, often you’ll
see a teacher with a thimble on her finger,” White
says. “If a child’s being naughty or not
behaving, the teacher will walk up behind the child
and thump him on the head with the thimble to get the
child’s attention and to correct his behavior.
Well, I’ve had many PhD gobblers thump me on the
head when I’ve made the same mistake over and
over again early in my turkey-hunting career. I never
will forget my first head thumping.  The
turkey was gobbling his head off on the roost. I’d
give him a few clucks and purrs and a tree call, and
the bird would scream back to me with a gobble. When
he flew down and hit the ground, he gobbled good, and
I thought for sure he was coming to me. But then he
started gobbling less and less as dawn turned to daylight.
Finally, he quit gobbling at all. After 10 or 15 minutes
of not hearing the turkey gobble, I decided that either
the turkey had gotten with hens and left or had somewhere
else he needed to be rather than come to me. When I
got up to go look for another turkey to hunt, I flushed
the gobbler I could have shot, if I’d only waited
10- or 15-more minutes. You’d think I’d
learned after that first encounter to stay on my stand
longer after the turkey quit gobbling, but I didn’t.
I had my head thumped many times by silent gobblers
before they finally taught me the technique I still
use today to take a bird like this.
“Here’s the system I’ve learned that
works best for me to take silent gobblers:
* “remember that just because a turkey quits gobbling
doesn’t mean he’s not coming to your calling.
* “don’t forget that turkeys have short
legs, take much smaller steps than we do and can’t
walk as fast as we do. When they’re coming to
you, they won’t reach where you are as fast as
you think they will.
* “sit still longer than you think you need to,
particularly if you’re not a good judge of time
like me. Often when I think 30 minutes has passed, I
only will have been sitting still for 10 minutes. I
always wear a watch when  I’m
turkey hunting. Then when the tom quits gobbling, I’ll
look at my watch and make a decision to stay on the
stand for at least 30 more minutes by the clock –
no matter what. You’ll be amazed at how many gobblers
you’ll bag when you force yourself to remain on
your stand 30-minutes longer than you think you should.
Thirty minutes seems like a long time, especially when
you’re sitting still and waiting for a gobbler
to appear.
“You can learn to turkey hunt. Although several
PhD gobblers have taught me this lesson, and I’ve
spooked quite a few gobblers before I’ve learned
this lesson, I now know how important waiting 30-minutes
more than you think you should is to take more gobblers.”
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