by Misty Wells
Dust off your decoys and start practicing your calls, Turkey Season is coming!
Now that we are wrapping things up with Whitetail season, it’s now time to turn your attention to Turkeys. Just like many other species that we hunt, turkeys can be tuff and you need to bring your “A Game” to harvest that perfect Tom. A few things that us hunters need to focus on more are Turkey Calls and Decoys. Let’s get started with the wide range of sounds Turkeys make and why it is important to know what they mean before heading out for the hunt.
The Yelp is the most heard sound from turkeys, both male and female, it is commonly a locator saying, “I’m over here”. The Purr is another sound you may hear a lot from turkeys; it usually means they are content. When they are feeding or generally communicating with one another, they will often use a Purr, this is why a Purr Pot is important to have in your calling collection. Cutting is another important sound they make; it is a series of loud and fast clucks with a few Yelps thrown in. When a Hen is fired up and wants attention she may start Cutting. This will usually get a Tom’s attention pretty quick. Let’s not forget the Gobble. The sound all turkey hunters want to hear, this is a clear indication that a Tom is excited and looking to attract a hen. This is also used by a Tom to let the other males in the area know he is there and he is trying to deter them from coming in. My favorite brand of calls is Woodhaven Calls, the owner Mike Penetecost is a genius when it comes to designing them. Mike is an avid turkey hunter and an expert call designer and he has teamed up with a few other experts to bring some new items to the line-up this year. The Black Reactor was designed by 3x Grand National Calling Champion Scott Ellis, the Blue Cutter/Vyper were designed by Grand National & World Calling Champion Bill Yargus, and Mike designed the Hyper Ninja.
Why are Decoys important? Turkeys see in color and have eye sight 3x better than humans, so a decoy can give you a chance to take the focus off the hunter and onto the decoy for starters. A decoy is also important for a turkey to associate with the call. If a turkey comes in from a call and does not see a decoy, he may get confused. You defiantly also want to have a hen and a Tom decoy, as this might help bring in the bird a lot faster. Tom’s want all the hens to themselves, so if he sees another Tom with a hen he may move in fast to get rid of him, then get careless and give you a shot. I use Mojo Outdoor decoys; they have some great features and the price is right. For something different I will be using my Mojo Outdoors “Scoot N Shoot” and my “Tail Chaser Max”. I think they are going to give me an advantage I didn’t have before – I will keep you posted. Good luck hunting this season, send me your pictures and hunting stories. I will be giving away a Woodhaven Prize Pack on Facebook this month, so make sure to like “Let’s Take it Outside” page and comment Woodhaven to WIN.
