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John's Journal... Entry 192, Day 3

TIPS FROM DIXIE'S TOP TURKEY HUNTERS

Brad Harris, David Hale and Jim Clay

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you hunt turkeys in the South, you have to deal with several subspecies of birds under different hunting conditions and a wide variety of terrain. In ...
* Florida, you'll hunt palmetto swamps and pastures,
* Virginia, you'll hunt the mountains and the valleys,
* Texas, you'll hunt arid desert lands,
* Mississippi and Louisiana, you'll hunt along flood plains,
* Alabama, you may hunt pine plantations,
* many sections of the country, you'll hunt crop lands and
* other regions you'll hunt in deep woods. To have success hunting turkeys in the South, you must use many tactics and understand the differences in the turkeys and the terrain you hunt. I've interviewed some of Dixie's top turkey hunters to give you situations and strategies that will help you take more toms this spring.

GLEARN TO HUNT AROUND WATER WITH BRAD HARRIS OF NEOSHO, MISSOURI, PUBLIC-RELATIONS DIRECTOR OF OUTLAND SPORTS:

Question: Missouri where you live and hunt, Brad, homes many lakes and rivers. What do you do when you have a turkey across a lake gobbling to you, and he's the only bird you've heard all day?
Brad Harris: As long as I have a turkey gobbling in answer to my calling, then I'll continue to call to him. Last year when you and I hunted in Missouri, conditions were tough. The only bird we could find to call to was across the lake from us. As you know, we called to that bird for about an hour. Finally we began to walk away from him while we were still calling. The turkey flew across the lake and began to gobble while standing on a small peninsula that went out into the water from our side of the lake. All we had to do was move close to him and call a little. He came running. If a turkey is across a large body of water from you, try to sound like more than one hen. As long as he gobbles to your calling, you've got a chance to make him fly across the water."

HUNT SOUTHERN FIELDS FOR TOMS WITH DAVID HALE OF CADIZ, KENTUCKY, CO-OWNER OF KNIGHT & HALE GAME CALLS:

QUESTION: David, since the South homes so many fields, how do you hunt for field toms?
DAVID HALE: Field turkeys are some of the hardest turkeys to call because a gobbler in a field is out in that field so he can watch his hens approach. Even if he comes to the edge of that field, he should be able to look into the woods and see a hen that's 50 to 60 yards away. So instead of crawling up to the edge of the field and trying to get a turkey to come to you, which more than likely he's not going to do, set up 60 or 70 yards away from the edge of the field. Then begin to call the gobbler. Usually a field gobbler will have a harem of hens with him, which means he can really be a tough turkey to call. One of the best tactics I know of to break that turkey out of the field and get him to come to you is to use the fighting purr to simulate a gobbler fight. Many times a mature gobbler will come running out of a field to see what he thinks is a gobbler fight. Another tactic that often works is to build a blind in the center of the field where you know the turkey normally feeds and struts and leave the blind there for several days before you sit in it. Then the turkey can become accustomed to it. Go to your blind long before daylight, and put a hen decoy out in front of the blind while the day is still dark. Get in the blind. As the sun comes up, start giving some feeding calls. Many times the turkey will walk to you in the middle of the field."

CLIMB FOR MOUNTAIN TURKEYS WITH JIM CLAY, AVID TURKEY HUNTER FROM STEPHENSON, VIRGINIA:

QUESTION: What do you think the biggest differences are, Jim, in hunting turkeys in the flatlands and in the hills and mountains?
Jim Clay: There's a tremendous difference in how the sound of a turkey's gobbling carries in the mountains and on flat ground. On flat ground, you can go to every turkey you hear. In the mountains, you may have to walk steadily for two days to get to some of the gobblers you can hear. Often you'll hear a turkey gobble and think you only have to cross one ridge to get close enough to him to call. But actually you may have to cross three mountains to get to that bird. Another problem with hunting in the mountains is that a sound of a turkey's gobbling can be distorted. A bird can be gobbling 300 yards from you, and you may not hear him. Yet another turkey may gobble 1/2-mile from you, and you'll hear him as clear as a bell. One of the real secrets to taking mountain gobblers is where you set up to call. Most people know that to hunt turkeys in the mountains that you hunt ridges. However, many hunters don't realize that the best way to call a turkey is to walk 30 or 40 yards off one side of the mountain and call down that side of the mountain. Then go back to the top, walk over the mountain, and call down 30 or 40 yards on that side. You'll locate and take more turkeys with this strategy than if you walk down the top of the mountain and try to call to both sides from the top. I also like to use loud calls like box calls, wingbone calls and tube calls when I'm trying to take a turkey in the mountains.

To learn more about John E. Phillips' turkey-hunting books, click here.

TOMORROW: RONNIE STRICKLAND

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about TIPS FROM DIXIE'S TOP TURKEY HUNTERS ...

Day 1 - Successful Turkey Tactics with Eddie Salter
Day 2 - Cecil Carder and Allen Jenkins
Day 3 - Brad Harris, David Hale and Jim Clay
Day 4 - Ronnie Strickland
Day 5 - Jim Crumley and Preston Pittman


John's Journal