War Lord: David Hale

EDITOR'S NOTE: David Hale of Knight and Hale Game Calls in Cadiz, Kentucky, has hunted high-pressured turkeys for many years.

David Hale reports that, "If a crook comes into your house and you know he's in the house, you'll go out the back door to keep from getting hurt or to get help. Then once the crook leaves the house, you'll return. Turkeys do the same thing. If there's too much calling pressure or hunting pressure, the turkeys will leave their homes (roost areas) and move to another region where they can see hunters coming.

"Turkey gobblers have certain regions where they strut, drum and are visible to hens without ever actually having to gobble. This same type of place is where a turkey can see a hunter approach. Often these strut zones are on hills or ridges where a tom can see all the way down the ridge and on either side of the hill. These strutting areas are the best spots to take a gobbler that is feeling a lot of hunting pressure because the turkey feels secure in these areas and can see the hens as they approach.

"One of the sites where I like to hunt these kinds of turkeys is where I can find two high points of land on a ridge with a saddle in the middle. Often a turkey will strut and drum on one high spot, walk down through the saddle and strut and drum on the other high point. If I take a stand in that saddle, I'll get a shot at the gobbler either going or coming. Even if a turkey doesn't gobble in the morning, he'll move to that strut zone and call his hens using strutting and drumming to let the hens know where he is. Many hunters don't understand a turkey doesn't have to gobble to get hens to come to him.

"When a hen is ready to be bred, she'll move close to that strut zone, especially when hunting pressure is intense, listening for the tom to drum and strut. When I get to the strut zone, I only call about one-tenth as much as I will in an area where the turkeys haven't been pressured. I'll usually cluck once or twice, perhaps give three soft yelps and then wait a full 10 minutes before I call again.

"I've watched gobblers in high-pressure regions and am convinced that the least amount of calling I can do to let the turkey know where I am, the more interested the bird becomes in finding me. A gobbler will come forward two or three steps, strut and drum and keep looking for the hen. When he doesn't see her, he'll walk two or three steps and strut and drum once more. He's trying to get close enough to see her or let her spot him without actually having to commit himself to going to her. The key to taking this gobbler that is being pressured is to be patient. Don't rush the turkey into coming toward you.

"Most of the time when this tom finally does move to within gun range, you won't hear him. He'll sneak in to where you are and see you before you spot him. Remember, the turkey is dodging the hunter to survive. That bird will be as cautious as he can in hopes of seeing you first. The more you can become accustomed to seeing a blinking eye or the least movement of white and define a turkey sound, the more likely you are to see this bird before he spots you.

"Turkeys don't leave an area when hunting pressure builds, and they become silent. They have nowhere else to go. You still can kill plenty of turkeys with a large number of hunters in the woods, if you'll pinpoint the toms' strut zones and hunt them."