Ontario Spring Turkey Setups - 2017

[Cairnsy]

Hey All,

I've been out turkey hunting for the past few years and had some success... one bird so far .
My Gun setup has worked great for me, so i have no plans of changing up(this year anyway)...I am shooting a mossberg pump with a short barrel and turkey choke(mossberg choke)... the ammo used was 3" Hornady turkey magnums...this setup patterns great out to 50 yrds but starts to open up after that.

First year setup:
saw birds in the area for some time and decided to jump on it. (No scouting the night before)
Ground blind
Jake and hen decoy(hunter specialties)
box calls for distance(wetbox)
mouth call for approach

after a couple hours of talking back and forth, 1 jake was killed.
Second year:
No scouting - but hunting a friends property and he says theyre just crawling all over up there
same setup with no success
hens came into decoys but no toms/jakes

Third year:
same property
Sat in forest very still wearing full camo
Slate and mouth call (HS i believe)
Funky chicken - its an odd looking decoy, but no bird in the forest could possibly feel threatened by this thing so i figured if i got a bird in range they would come charging.

Talking back and forth for what felt like an hour, from where the noise was coming from i believe the turkey was hung up on a fence or a creek. it was a shame cause it sounded like a beast

I'm curious to hear about other peoples tactics that worked for them, or stuff to avoid doing while out there.

Cheers
Cairnsy

 

[striker89]

I can safely say I educated one bird extremely well. He busted me twice. First time I got into the blind nice and early, had the decoys out, birds are talking... Gotta pee. I can make it.
I shut up and let it get a big brighter out.. Gotta pee, I can make it.
Start calling again, birds are still talking, I hear a couple come out of their trees... Gotta pee. I can make it.
Just after sunset... Gotta pee. I'm not gonna make it.

I stand up, turn around take 5 steps into the bush, do my business. Turn around slowly, and see a bright red head sticking up over on the tracks 80 yards infront of the blind.

The next time he made it over the tracks, same bird but hung up 55ish yards out infront of my blind. Something must have looked wrong to him or I must have moved because he skirted the decoys in a circle. No matter what I did I couldn't get him to take interest.

I did bag a jake on the second day of the season though.

 

[4n2t0]

There really aren't too many turkey secrets. Scouting dramatically increases the chances of bringing home a bird. If hens are showing up then you're doing something right, where they go gobblers are sure to follow. Make sure you don't call too much. What does that mean? Right? If I get a gobble response to my call I'll wait a long time allowing the gobbler to seek out my location. Gobblers will often stop and fan when they hear a call but that's no good when he can't be seen or is too far away. Maybe the occasional cluck to keep him coming but ultimately patience pays off.

 

[buckchaser]

Wild turkey hunting is 90% scouting and 10% calling. If you can identify roosting areas, strutting zones, feeding areas, etc. you are well on your way to being into birds consistently. By hunting in these areas at the right time of day you are putting yourself in position to be successful. Calling "can" bring in birds from long distances (I have done it), but the vast majority of my birds are taken from areas I have carefully scouted before using calling to coax the bird in.

A few other tips:

1) Hunt open fields in light rains or just after a rain. The birds will be out in them during these weather conditions.

2) Get into the timber, especially during midday. I find birds are more likely to be vocal and responsive in the timber vs open fields, where their incredible eyesight allows them to check out your setup from a distance. If something doesn't seem right the bird will "hang up" or just leave. In the timber birds have to come to investigate those "hen sounds" and this puts the odds in your favour. Be ready though - chances are you won't see the bird until it is basically in range.

3) Get tight to the roost in the morning. I get in early (an hour before shooting time) and try to get within 50 - 75 meters of the roost. Sit tight and only offer a few light "tree yelps" when the toms fire up. Chances are you will have him in your lap when he flies down or failing that the hens might lead him right past.

4) Bring a laser rangefinder. I have seen several birds missed (and one unfortunately wounded/lost) by guys shooting at birds out of range. Turkeys are big birds and it is very easy to believe that tom strutting at 60 meters is only 40 meters away.

 

[Crashman]

I agree with buck chaser, scouting is key. If you put in time before the season opens you will have tag filled very early on opening day. Keep calling light, after you have heard a bird or he has responded to a locator call, point the calls away from him to mimic the hen moving away, and I do not call unsolicited once I have a talkative bird; meaning he calls and I wait a few seconds and then call back--lightly. I don't call, then call again and call again and again...etc. If it sounds like he has hung up, make a lateral move on him, make him think the "hen" might move away. And if you get a bird that likes to hang up, sit in front of the decoys rather than behind and have a buddy behind the decoys call for you. Turkeys aren't smart, sometimes they are just hard to kill because they are so dam nervous.

 

[redneckchris]

This worked for me, it's a whole turkey skin I skinned out and preserved with borax from the year before
Once I'm able to coax a Tom into the field and he gets a look at this he usually comes in for a closer look

 

[Runningfool]

Redneckchris that picture says one thing to me....I CANNOT WAIT FOR TURKEY SEASON!

 

[219F]

basically it boils down to being where the birds are. Sounds simple but really that is all there is too it. If there is one thing I believe that a lot of folks make a mistake of is giving up on the day too soon. Particularly later on in the season hunt the afternoon. The hens will be on the nest and/or bred so they have wandered off leaving the Tom to his own making him a lot easier to work, henned up Toms are a PITA. As far as calling goes it is easy to call to much but really hard to call to little, I try and gauge the birds mood and play on that. I use pretty much everything, mouth calls, box calls and pots. All my hunts are open fields so I run anywhere from 1-5 AvianX decoys and always at least one feeding hen. If I know the Tom in that area is dominate i run a Jake or if I want to get some photos a Strutter.

 

[jjohnwm]

One thing I found useful was to place a hen decoy at the maximum distance at which you are willing to shoot. Use your laser to locate it and then you will have a marker by which you can gauge when the tom is within range. If I'm hunting in the trees then I just laser a few of them in my field of fire so that I know how far the bird is when he shows up, but when hunting open fields the "distance decoy" is very helpful. If you have a jake decoy closer to you, that's where the tom will come; if he hangs up, the distance decoy helps you decide whether or not to shoot.