Bo Pitman's Third Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys

Editor's Note: Bo Pitman, the lodge manager at White Oak Plantation near Tuskegee, Alabama, has hunted for most of his life. Today Pitman lives with his family -- his wife and two children -- at White Oak and pursues a career he loves. Hunters almost everywhere have heard of his turkey-hunting expertise and the often unusual tactics he uses to bag gobblers.

Question: What's the first thing you do when you hear a turkey gobble from the roost?

Answer: Once you think you've learned a turkey's routine and decide to call to that gobbler, you've got to figure out the mood of that gobbler and the flock he's with that morning. If you're going to call a lot, you don't have to move in as close to the bird. You can determine whether or not to move close by how much and how fast the turkey gobbles back to you after you make that first call. If he's slow to respond, then you have to move in there and get in close and tight with him before you call the second time. You have to remember that the tom gobbles to make all the hens come to him. Therefore, the closer you are to him before he flies down, the better your chances will be that he'll fly to you before the other hens get to him. You have to assemble the flock with you as the dominant hen rather than have the hens assemble on the gobbler.

Question: What kind of calling will you do when you assemble the turkeys? Do you call a lot less?

Answer: I do whatever is required to get the turkeys together. If they're really fussing and carrying on, then you've got to give them the same kind of calls. Or, if the turkeys cut and cackle a lot, then you have to use plenty of excited cutting and cackling calls. If the gobbler already has flown off the limb and is with the hens, cut and cackle to the boss hen to attempt to call her to you. She'll often come up, bossing the rest of the flock and stomping like she's trying to run you off.

Question: So you've got to read the mood of the gobbler and the flock and match your calling to their mood?

Answer: Yes, and typically turkeys do lots of calling first thing in the morning because everybody's trying to find each other. That's often the time that you can call them to you.

Question: You try to assemble the flock then?

Answer: Yes, if there is a flock. The flock at the first of the season is totally different from the flock at the end of the season because by the end of the season all the hens are nesting. At the end of the season, the flocks consist of jakes, and the old gobbler may think you're a flock of jakes. Then he'll think, "Oh, no, here comes another fight," and he'll be gone.

Question: Late in the season, do you just want to sound like a lonesome hen rather than a flock of jakes?

Answer: My advice is to leave the calls at home late in the season. There hasn't been a flock of turkeys around in probably two weeks. Because all the hens are nesting, you will sound like a flock of jakes to the gobbler, and he doesn't have the energy to fight anymore.

For more information about White Oak Plantation's deer and turkey hunting, call or write White Oak Plantation, 5215 County Road 10, Tuskegee, Al 36083, (334) 727-9258.

To learn more about turkey hunting, go to Hunting Books at www.nighthawkpublications.com, or write or call Night Hawk Publications, 4112 Camp Horner Road, Birmingham, AL 35243, (800) 627-4295 to order by check or credit card. John E. Phillips has three fine turkey books full of how-to tactics for the novice as well as the expert still in print, including "Outdoor Life's Complete Turkey Hunting," "Masters' Secrets of Turkey Hunting" and "Turkey Tactics."

Tomorrow: Bo Pitman's Fourth Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys

Check back each day this week for more about Bo Pitman's Secrets To Consistently Taking Turkeys ...

Day 1 -Bo Pitman's No. 1 Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys
Day 2 -Bo Pitman's Second Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys
Day 3 - : Bo Pitman's Third Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys
Day 4 - Bo Pitman's Fourth Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys
Day 5 -Bo Pitman's Fifth Secret to Consistently Taking Turkeys

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