After one of the longest winters in the last several years, I'm sure we are all hoping spring has finally sprung! For many of us, that means it is time to get out into the woods and river bottoms to chase some gobblers. I have found turkeys to be a very complex critter. One morning all it might take is a couple of yelps on that dinged-up old box call to make that love-sick long beard rattle off a bunch of gobbles and come running within shooting range. After the high fives and pictures are taken, you drive home thinking you have finally mastered turkey hunting, only to be humbled the next time you're out by a stubborn henned-up bird. If you haven’t experienced one of these frustrating mornings, you will.. and when you do, here are a couple tips for you.

Rule number one: When hunting turkeys, there are no rules! Well, with the exception of the rule that you cannot kill a turkey if you’re at home on the couch. Every time I think I have an absolute rule, those old gobblers go and prove me wrong. Think outside of the box and don’t be afraid to try something new.

Scouting is key. Get out there before the season and locate some birds.. especially if you are out west or on the northern fringes of turkey range this is an important part of finding birds. Unlike the south, the east, and the Midwest, turkeys are not in every woodlot, river bottom, or tree line. From my experience, turkeys prefer mixed woodlands with open areas. Food sources are also very important, especially where harsh winters are common. Turkeys need a consistent food source to get them through the winter. Look for ranches with cattle, or farms with corn fields. If you locate turkeys in the winter or early spring, you can bet they will be close by come hunting season.  Patterning birds is also part of my scouting plan. This can be a great tactic, especially in the east. Birds will commonly use the same fields or meadows to strut and show off to the ladies after they fly down. Setting up on these strutting areas before they arrive can be very effective. Further west where large trees are scarce, look for big roost trees. These trees are limited and birds will commonly use the same trees every night, to the point that it can be slippery under them. If you find a ton of droppings under a large tree, you have likely located “The Tree”. Knowing where the birds roost gives you some good starting points for both morning and evening hunts (where legal).

Don’t be afraid to hunt public land. If you turn on the TV, it's not uncommon to see advertisements suggesting you have to have hundreds of acres of private land covered in high-dollar food plots to kill turkeys. That could not be further than the truth. In the United States, we are blessed with millions upon millions of acres of public land. This land includes county owned land, state land, national forest and Bureau of Land Management land, just to name a few.  There are also large tracts of private land open to hunting (think logging companies or land that states pay for the public to be able to access: like Montana’s Block Management program). Don’t think you cannot hunt turkeys successfully because you don’t have a spot or you don’t have private land; there are millions of acres of prime hunting land just waiting to be explored.

Use your camouflage. Turkeys have keen eyesight and are especially good at detecting movement. Because of this, I spend a couple extra seconds when selecting a location to call from. When I set up on a gobbler I look for some natural vegetation, large tree, or a rock to sit in front of. A lot of people think you want to sit behind cover to hide, but from my experience, having cover behind you breaks up your outline and hides your movement much better. Combining vegetation, like a scrubby pine tree behind a large cottonwood, is perfect. Having a good set-up like this can not only lead to walking out with a long beard over your shoulder, it can also result in seeing a pretty cool reaction between a gobbler and your decoys!

Get close. Setting up as close as possible has led to a lot of success for me. Sometimes that can mean getting on your hands and knees to crawl a little closer. It seems to me that as you get within 200 yards, your odds go up exponentially.

Read the birds. Calling turkeys is a lot like having a "discussion” with your wife. There is a time to call and a time to shut up, and knowing when to do each can mean the difference between success and failure. It is hard to describe exactly when to do either, as every bird is different and so are the situations.  Having said that, a good rule is to get the gobbler fired up with aggressive calling like loud, hard yelps and exciting cutting. When he seems to be very interested I will shut it down and just sit and wait. Sometimes the gobbler will continue to gobble on his own, while other times he’ll go silent. This idea suggests that the hen that was so interested in him might have lost interest and started to wander off. Eventually, his need for a female might just get the best of him and he’ll wander your way.. sometimes silently before gobbling just out of range to try to locate that hen. [Speaking of going silent.. if I am working a bird and he goes silent, I try to keep my head in the game. I used to think a gobbler going silent meant it was time to go try to find one that was more interested in what I had to offer. Since then I have learned many times that the gobbler is too busy making tracks in my direction to gobble. When he goes quiet, stay put for a while and listen closely for that spit and drum!]

Stay in the woods! Ben Lee, one of the pioneers of turkey hunting, always suggested sleeping in a bit and focusing your hunting efforts on mid-to-late morning. I have found this to be true.. only I don’t sleep in. I normally get out before daylight and set up on a bird I have located the night before. When most people are leaving the woods, is when I really start hunting. I have found 9:00 am to noon to be the absolute best time to kill a long beard. Usually the hens that kept that stubborn bird anchored all morning start to wonder off after 9:00 am and that leaves that gobbler looking for more company. A desperate gobbler can make even the most inexperienced hunter look like a seasoned veteran.

Those are just a few tips that may help you harvest a tom this spring. Now get out there and get after it! Also try to make time to introduce someone new to turkey hunting.. especially a youngster! Good luck and hunt safely.

- Kyle