# Public land turkey tips



## jliv07

Hey everyone! New member of the forum here, however I have enjoyed reading posts on here for quite some time. I haven't seen a recent thread addressing my question here, however if there is one, I'd love to look through it.

So I'll get right to the point, last year I hunted the general turkey season for the first time ever, and had a blast. Saw lots of birds, but never sealed the deal. With the experience I gained last year, I'm feeling like this year I have a bit of a better chance. That, and the fact that I drew the early tag for the northern region. As you all know, the internet is full of plenty of turkey hunting advice. However, I would like to ask you who have hunted turkeys in Utah for some of your best tips and tactics. I imagine I will end up hunting the same areas I did last year, which would be the foothills and canyons in Box Elder and Cache counties. Does anyone have any tips they would be willing to share? Whether it be about scouting, locating, calling, decoys, etc? One key thing I would like to hear some advice on would be how to manage other hunters on public ground (being a waterfowl hunter, I've had many a duck scared off by other hunters).

I have a decent amount of gear: mouth calls, a box call that produces ok yelps, a new slate call w/ 2 strikers in the mail, 2 inflatable decoys (which I don't know if I like or not), a crow call, a trail cam, and quite a bit of camo. Oh and a 12 gauge ;-). I know the basics - hold still, don't over call, stay hidden, but I realize how difficult it can be to get a bird to come right up to me. Any advice you would be willing to share, whether on this thread or in a PM would be great!


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## BPturkeys

Sounds like you're on your way. Not much more to tell you except get back out there and have a ball. Couple BIG mistakes most new turkey hunters make..they call too loud and often and they won't hold still! Gettin busted by turkeys is only a scratch your butt away:smile:


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## katorade

On public land birds if you know calling will scare them dont call, and be aggressive and stalk them, they can't smell use it against them!


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## jliv07

Thanks for the advice. So how do you best use your time throughout the day? Obviously be in position well before light. But how long do you wait? If you aren't hearing anything, do you move after a couple of hours? How is the time in the middle of the day best used? And by what time should you be set up by evening? 

And is it a legitimate strategy to try to stalk around and when you hear / see something, just sit and wait?


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## BPturkeys

Typical turkey's day... fly down off the roost, mill around that area for a short while and then move off to an area to feed. They hang around that area feeding for a while then find an area to "loaf" (stand around under some trees for example) for a while, then move back out onto an area(sometime the same area as the morning feeding area) and feed until it's time to return to the roost. Feeding area may be 1/4 to 1 mile away from the roosting area.


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## hawglips

I like to keep it simple. 1) locate the turkey, 2) set up on the turkey, 3) call the turkey into shotgun range. Don't try to out-guess a turkey, but react to him. 

Start early and locate a gobbler on the roost before flydown. They usually gobble good in Utah on the roost. Try to stealthily move to about 100 yds from him if possible, set up, and use soft-calling to try to coax him to you. After they are on the ground and you're trying to locate one, use a loud box call to try to pull out a gobble from one, and do the same set up routine after that. If a plane flies over, listen carefully and you just might hear one gobble at that. A long whistle is a good locator call in Utah also. 

Respect his eyes and ears, and don't freak out if he's with hens. If he's with the girls, try to call the girls in and he'll follow. Girls can be fickle, and you never know whether they want more company or not, but go easy and sweet with the calling and your chances are better.


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## 12many

Welcome to the forum, Turkeys are smart, take some time to find where they roost this will ultimately pay off the next day your out. Sounds like your got a good jump on these things and putting in your time. Good luck


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## BPturkeys

12many said:


> Welcome to the forum, Turkeys are smart, take some time to find where they roost this will ultimately pay off the next day your out. Sounds like your got a good jump on these things and putting in your time. Good luck


By all means locating where they roost is important, but I wouldn't go all the way to "ultimately". In most cases your success depends upon knowing where they actually hit the ground, and the direction they normally march off, when they fly down. If you don't get them that first morning and they are roosting there the next morning...if they don't get disturbed there's a good chance they'll be back...get close to where they fly down or in the pathway they exit the area. Really, few birds are just randomly called in as they fly off the roost. Those old hen's have a plan and if you're not set up for an ambush...well you know. It's kind of like the end of an old recorded song, the gobbles just slowly fade away.


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## hawglips

> few birds are randomly called in off the roost


Actually a significant percentage of the birds I kill are called in right off the roost with no idea of what the birds habits might be. It's just a matter of learning a couple basics.

For example, a few years back I had a streak of seven straight roost gobbling birds that I got set up on that died right off the roost. Five of those were on ground I'd never hunted before. Last spring I got set up on three gobblers on the roost. Two went home with me within ten minutes of flying down. The other took a couple hours. And two of those were on land never hunted before.

My point being, quite often, the best time to kill a bird is right off the roost. And you don't have to know anything about where he might be heading. I hunt a lot of new land during any given spring, and figure that not knowing anything about the birds or the land adds to the experience. In fact, I think folks shoot themselves in the foot trying to predict the turkey. Just set up well, call softly, and your chances are as good or better then than any other time of day.

Just keep it simple. Locate him, set up on him, and call him in. That's the essence if the sport, traditionally. And still the best approach, IMO.


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## jliv07

Thank you all, this has been fantastic advice. One question - will gobblers voluntarily gobble all night long? Or just in the last hour or so before morning? If you put a bird to bed the night before and come back the next morning and can't hear them, should you just call softly to see if you can get a reaction? Or use a locator call? And if you can't get a gobble, is it better to stalk around quietly to see if you can locate another group? Or is this where the patience comes in, and it is better to wait the ones out (that you hope are still there)?


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## hawglips

If you put a gobbling Utah bird to bed, chances are good he'll gobble in the morning also. A coyote is a good shock gobble call if you need it. Whether to sit tight and wait, or try to find one is the age-old question. If I'm hunting big Utah public land, I like to go find one that's willing. But it always depends on circumstances.


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## High Desert Elk

Jliv07-
It depends on the bird. I've found that most all the norms are not the norm. Usually only the birds that have not been pressured act like the tv show guys say they should. It also depends on terrain. If you are hunting River bottoms, they behave a certain way. If they are mountain birds, they behave another. Some birds stay in their roost well into the dawn of morning, some hop off right at legal shooting light. Some come in quite, while others come in living up to the name thunderbirds. I've used decoys to coax some in, other times they turn tail and run from them. Sometimes they see the deke and hang up just out of range.

Best thing I can say is trial and error. Sorry it isn't any better than that. I have had my fair share of screw ups. But, I will say this. A couple of locator calls to get them to shock and a couple of different slate sounds. A good locator I use is a raspy hen box and an owl. Use the owl in darker conditions and the box in daylight. Sometimes an owl won't do anything but the box will. Again, depends on the bird.

Sounds like you're off to the right start. Calling turkey's is kinda like calling to waterfowl, so use that experience to your advantage.


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## jliv07

This was a very helpful post, guys. I'm bringing it back to life to ask one other question. The two decoys I have are cheap inflatable decoys...I feel like birds shyed away from them last year (in fact, one hen ran at first sight of the inflatable hen). I feel like since I am an inexperienced caller, that I may need to rely on a decent decoy to pull birds in (since I will be calling very little). Any suggestions on decoys I should look at? Preferably one that people have had a good experience in the field with? Or is it reasonable to think that a new caller could pull bird in with my slate and box call and no decoy? For those that like to use decoys, do you use hens? Jakes? Gobblers?


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## BPturkeys

I've used, and still carry an inflatable or two when hunting. But, they are not my favorite. They are too shiny for my taste. I like those Montana decoys best. They look great in any light and are nice and compact to carry. I am not a big decoy guy anyway and believe you shouldn't rely on or blame decoys for your success or failure when hunting turkeys. The truth is that when you have made contact with a bird, he can place your location well within shooting distance and will enter that space based upon curiosity more often than any desire to get close to a decoy. He doesn't shy because of "lack" of visual stimulus like decoys, he shy's usually for other reasons. Sometimes he sees movement, sometime the area just doesn't look right to him, sometimes natural barriers i.e. water, cliffs, fences, etc will stop him, and sometimes he just has a bad feeling...I know, that sounds stupid but you'll come to that conclusion after a few more turkey encounters. 
So anyway, yeah, use a decoy or two but remember that a good "set up" place will give you your best chance for a shot.


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## TEX-O-BOB

Let all the early risers and roost hunters have their fun in the morning. once the crowds are gone and out of the woods you can slip around in likely loafing areas and strike a tom with a locater cal or loud yelps. When you get one located, move in and set up. Turkeys are callable ALL DAY LONG. In fact, I think they come to calls better later in the morning and into the afternoon. Most the turkeys I've killed over the years were called in between 10:00am and 2:00pm. Hell, half the time, I just sleep in, get a nice breakfast, and then hit the woods...


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## BPturkeys

A few definitions for the novice:
1) Roost...the trees that turkeys spend the night in. They arrive there at dusk and leave at the crack of dawn or shortly there after.

2)Fly down area...that area just below or near by to the roost where the birds actually hit the ground when they fly off the roost. Some times it is just below the roost tree, sometime they may sail several hundred yards before hitting the ground. But always it is an area that they kind of bunch up or gather together to start their day. Sometimes they hang around in that area for a little comradery but most generally they will march off to their feeding grounds. PRIME SETUP LOCATION

3)Travel lanes, pass through areas (for lack of a better name)...the route that the birds take to get to their feeding grounds. Can be great setup places but birds can be difficult to respond to calls. Birds will usually feed along the way but sometime make a bee line to their favorite spot. Ambush shooting deluxe if you can get in the right spot. 

4)Feed grounds...usually large open areas, meadows or cultivated fields. If you set up here, be patient and let the birds feed to you. 

5)Loafing areas...after feeding, normally in the late morning through early afternoon, the birds will gather in a quiet place and just kind of hang out. If you can stumble across one of these areas, you're in luck. There is no better place to call in toms. If you can get within a hundred yard, a few clucks will usually bring him running.

6)Strutting grounds...birds, normally led by a wise old hen, will travel, feeding along the way, from the loaf area to the strutting area. You'll see a bunch of hens feeding around an open area while the old tom stands over, all fanned out, "struttin his stuff". This area is usually not to far from the roosting area and will be the area that the birds spend the late after noon till roost time in. It can be pretty tough to call the old tom off his hens, so try and get there early and set up an ambush. One of my favorite times to watch turkeys. 

There you have it, the simple life of the turkey in the spring.


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