TURKEY-TAKING QUIZ

Pulling A Gobbler Away From His Harem

EDITOR'S NOTE: The game of turkey hunting is played in the turkey's backyard and on his terms. The strategies required to bag a tom turkey often may make war games look simple. The hunters who have amassed the most techniques, encountered the most turkeys and know what to do when the turkey doesn't do what he is supposed to do, will come home with bronze barons for dinner more often than other hunters.

8. One of the toughest turkeys to take in the spring is a gobbler that is traveling with a harem of hens. Calling a gobbler away from his harem is difficult. What can an outdoorsman do to call a gobbler away from his harem?
a) bust up the flock, scatter the turkeys and call then gobbler in to the hunter
b) try and slip in close enough to the flock to shoot the gobbler when the bird is standing away from the hens
c) attempt to call the hens to you hoping they will bring the gobbler with them
d) do some soft clucking, purring and yelping to sound like the most alluring hen the gobbler ever has heard
Answer: c) attempt to call the hens to you, hoping they will bring the gobbler with them -- Hens have a pecking order just like gobblers do. Many times the boss hen -- if she hears what she believes to be another boss hen trying to lure away her gobbler -- will go to investigate her rival with the idea of running the rival off. In so doing, she will pull the flock to the hunter. The sportsman who can sit still and be calm enough to let hens walk by him may get a shot at the gobbler.

9. The worst thing that can happen when calling to a turkey is to have the gobbler circle you and come up behind you. You can hear the turkey strutting and drumming not 12 feet from you. What's the best tactic to use to take this turkey?
a) sit still and hope the turkey walks in front of you
b) roll over on your stomach and try and shoot the turkey
c) jump up and try and shoot the turkey
d) use your mouth caller and try and call the turkey to the front of you
Answer: a) sit still and hope the turkey walks in front of you -- Rarely can a turkey hunter jump up and shoot a turkey before that turkey runs off. Even the hunter's rolling over gives the woods wizard too much notice of danger to catch the bird unprepared. If you try and call to the tom, the turkey will have to be out of his mind to figure he couldn't see a hen that he could hear that close by. So once again, patience is the key to getting a shot at this bird. Most of the time in this situation, only the most skilled hunter will be able to sit still long enough to bag his bird.

10. The best tactic for fall turkey hunting is scattering the flock and trying to call the turkeys back together again. What age bird does this tactic usually help take?
a) jakes (one year old gobblers)
b) longbeard gobblers
c) any type of gobblers
Answer: a) jakes (one-year-old gobblers) -- The jake is a young, inexperienced bird. His No. 1 concern is being separated from the flock and finding mama. So after the flock is scattered, the jake is most often the gobbler that the hunter will have a chance to shoot in the fall.

11. Why do you use the owl hoot when hunting turkeys?
a) calling turkeys
b) locating gobblers
c) keeping turkeys from coming too fast and too quickly
d) locating hens.
Answer: b) locating gobblers -- Owl hooting will encourage turkeys to gobble. Many times when the turkey hunter is trying to move in closer on a gobbler to call to him, he needs to be able to keep up with that turkey's location without giving hen calls that will make the turkey come to him. So the turkey will gobble to the hunter's owl hooting and give away his location without actually coming to the hunter.

TOMORROW: THE NO. 1 TURKEY CALL