Show Notes:

Spring turkey hunting is fun, versatile, and exciting. No matter what your hunting style is, there is a strategy that is a good fit for you. Today I talk about the four major strategies for spring turkey hunting. This is not an exhaustive list, but most spring gobbler hunting approaches will fall under one of these main headings.

Take Aways:

• The Blind Sit. This approach involves just picking a spot, going there, calling, and spending the morning hoping there are turkeys around that might come in to you. This works best when you have limit scouting time and limited hunting land.
  • A hunting blind can be helpful here.
• Scout and Sit. A strategy that focuses on finding the best parcel and the best location before the season starts and then hunkering down and spending the morning in the spot you deemed to have the best prospects. This works best if you have enough time to scout and a good handle on the local turkey habits, or if you are unable or unwilling to cover a lot of ground. 
  • A hunting blind can be helpful here.
  • Finding where birds roost and then calling them down to you falls under this category.
• Running and Gunning. This involves covering a lot of ground using a logging road, gas well road, or some kind of trail you can move quietly and easily on. You stop and call every few hundred yards hoping to strike up a conversation with a gobbler. This works best if you have a lot of land you can hunt, limited scouting time, or arrive in the woods later in the morning.
  • Some people like to use ATV’s for this. Whether it’s legal or not in your area, it destroys the peace of the woods and nullifies the best part of hunting. It is not the way of a true sportsman. 
• Active Recon. This strategic approach involves getting to a high listening post early, listening for gobblers to sound off before flying down from the roost, weighing the options and moving to get ahead of where you think a bird is going, and then trying to call him into you. This works best if you have a significant amount of land, some hills, and area able to get in the woods before the gobblers wake up. 
  • In some states it is illegal to stalk turkey sounds. This approach is not doing that. It is orienting yourself in the woods to give you the best chance of calling a turkey to you. You are NOT listening for birds and trying to sneak up on them and shoot them, legal or not, that approach just doesn’t work anyway. 
• There is no right way, wrong way, or best way. It is a matter of finding the best fit for you and the land you are able to hunt.