I have spent many years trying various techniques of hunting turkeys and from my personal experiences concluded the following to provide the most consistency in killing a "Dominant Tom":
1. Listen and Learn for common roost trees
2. Listen and if necessary sneak in to learn typical "fly down" zones
3. Locate a good spot with cover and the right approach angle that is about 20-40 yards from the Fly Down Zone
4. Night before the hunt try to Roost him in the tree to be sure he is there (although if he doesn't answer don't discredit your homework)
4. Night before the hunt get to bed early and set (3) alarms for (3) hours before light
5. Get up in the morning and clear bowels before you leave for the woods (coffee and/or snuff work best for me)
7. Travel to the location with the intentions of being in the woods and on your ass between 1 1/2 to 2 hours before it breaks light
8. When light starts to break scan the trees for the infamous (black dots) in the tree and readjust as necessary (this meaning early light not shooting light)
9. Let him fly down and give him the Hammer :smiley_cowboy:
10. Alternative: If he flys out of range use soft purrs and putts to lure him in. Being on his roost zone he will commit most regularly
Noticing this is probably not standard to how most hunt turkey I was just looking to see if anyone uses a similar tactic and their experiences to confirm my success. I have reasonably concluded that why this seems to be most effective is because in turkey hunting there are so many variables (location, calls, his patterns/priorities, other hens, other hunters, does he like decoys or doesn't he, him spotting you while calling, geography, and so many others) all of which you have (in some manner) reduced to just one in that if he follows his standard fly down pattern he is a dead bird.
This for me and my hunting buddy has produced 13 Toms in 4 years with (10+ beards, 1 1/4+ Spurs)
1. Listen and Learn for common roost trees
2. Listen and if necessary sneak in to learn typical "fly down" zones
3. Locate a good spot with cover and the right approach angle that is about 20-40 yards from the Fly Down Zone
4. Night before the hunt try to Roost him in the tree to be sure he is there (although if he doesn't answer don't discredit your homework)
4. Night before the hunt get to bed early and set (3) alarms for (3) hours before light
5. Get up in the morning and clear bowels before you leave for the woods (coffee and/or snuff work best for me)
7. Travel to the location with the intentions of being in the woods and on your ass between 1 1/2 to 2 hours before it breaks light
8. When light starts to break scan the trees for the infamous (black dots) in the tree and readjust as necessary (this meaning early light not shooting light)
9. Let him fly down and give him the Hammer :smiley_cowboy:
10. Alternative: If he flys out of range use soft purrs and putts to lure him in. Being on his roost zone he will commit most regularly
Noticing this is probably not standard to how most hunt turkey I was just looking to see if anyone uses a similar tactic and their experiences to confirm my success. I have reasonably concluded that why this seems to be most effective is because in turkey hunting there are so many variables (location, calls, his patterns/priorities, other hens, other hunters, does he like decoys or doesn't he, him spotting you while calling, geography, and so many others) all of which you have (in some manner) reduced to just one in that if he follows his standard fly down pattern he is a dead bird.
This for me and my hunting buddy has produced 13 Toms in 4 years with (10+ beards, 1 1/4+ Spurs)