CWTF 2017 Inaugural Member's Edition Magazine

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WHY GOBBLERS HANG UP & HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM ARTICLE WRITTEN BY OTHMAR VOHRINGER Anyone who has hunted North America’s most popular game bird for a season or two, had to learn to deal with the frustration of a big tom hanging up just outside the effective shooting range. The majority of these birds are the older wiser toms, the ones we hunters respectfully refer to as “Boss Gobblers”. They are masters at surviving and that makes them one of the most challenging game animals to hunt. In my opinion, shaped by my many years of observation and hunting turkeys, there are three main reasons why a tom hangs up and for each scenario there’s a solution. Let’s look at each and see how we can outsmart these Boss Gobblers. 1. THE TOM COMES IN BUT THEN DOESN’T SEE WHAT HE EXPECTED TO SEE If a tom comes to your calling he naturally fully expects to see a hen. If he doesn’t he instantly knows that something is not quite right and he will hang up to check it out from a distance before advancing any further. A common mistake some hunters make is to set up where they can see for a long way. While it is nice to watch an approaching tom from a long distance it is worthwhile to remember that if the hunter can see that far then so can the gobbler. Turkeys know what to expect when they hear another turkey. Moreover, turkey ears can judge distance quite accurately and the location where the call is coming from. With that said the tom knows where and when he can expect so see what he came looking for. If he doesn’t he gets suspicious. Wouldn’t you if you heard someone calling you but didn’t see that person anywhere? While decoys help to give a visual stimuli to an approaching bird and might even fool him into coming a little closer it also needs to be said that turkeys, especially older, smarter gobblers, have become quite wary of seeing other turkeys standing motionless around in the landscape. A much better approach is to set up in such a way that the tom has to walk within shooting range to see where the calling is coming from. There are always features within the landscape that let you choose a set up that will force the tom to come close. One of my all times favourite features is a woodland or field corner. Also setting up just below a small crest or on the tip of a thicket will work just as well. Anywhere a turkey can’t see without approaching to within 30 to 40 yards to the decoys and your calling station is a good 20 - canadian wild turkey federation conserve • enhance • protect cwtf.ca
PHOTO CLINTON DAVIS spot. A few years ago I guided a hunter and remember that he was not very happy when I placed him around the corner of an overgrown logging road that the turkeys used as a route from their roosting tree to an alfalfa field. “How am I supposed to see when a tom comes down the trail”? He complained. “Trust me”. I said, “You will see him when he is close enough to shoot”. Sure enough a half hour into my first calling session the hunter almost grabbed his heart when a big tom came walking around the corner looking for that hen he heard a half mile away. Had we set up where the client wanted the tom would have seen from several hundred yards away that there was nothing where he would expect to see a hen. He would have stopped in his tracks and waited for a while and then probably would have walked away. Toms know that turkey hens are not invisible or just sit around motionless. Another tactic I often employ works very well with two hunters. One hunter is situated on the shooting set up and the second hunter who does the calling takes up position behind the first hunter about 20 yards inside the woodlot or similar cover. When the tom approaches the caller gets up and carefully walks in a straight line away from the approaching tom into the cover. Every few steps the caller stops and makes a few soft yelps and clucks, nothing too aggressive. Nothing frustrates a gobbler more then coming to a hen only to find that she is walking away from him. With this set up I had toms falling over themselves running after the hen that dared to walk away. By doing so they will run right in front of the gunner. Just make sure you have plenty of good cover available while employing this tactic otherwise the gobbler will detect you and the proverbial jig is up. 2. THE GOBBLER IS ALREADY IN THE COMPANY OF HENS This is without a question the toughest situation. Coaxing a tom away from hens to follow another one is next to impossible. Since the gobbler already is in lovely company there is no plausible reason why he should risk loosing what he has by looking for another hen that might or might not be interested in him. You can produce the most enticing turkey love talk but the tom will not be swayed to leave his hens. So what do you do? Well, one of several tactics that has proven to work well is rather than calling the gobbler, call the hens. Given the toms jealous nature he will follow the hens. For this tactic a good set up and proper camouflage are very important because now you have not just one set of turkey eyes looking for you but two or even three turkeys looking for you. One suspicious move on your part and the game is over before it begins. Turkeys have incredible eyesight and it often has been said that if a turkey in addition to his eyesight could smell as well as a deer it would become unhuntable. So how do we call hens? Forget all about normal love talk now it’s chitchat time. Listen to the hen, and if more than one is present then listen to the canadian wild turkey federation the new face of conservation in canada cwtf.ca - 21
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