Gobbler Nation

With the spring seasons getting close what are some ways y’all see people spooking turkeys. I know here we have people that go out scouting with there callers.

I love going out scouting with my callers . I even do it in the fall !

I spook them 2-3 times before I killm

I dress like a bush and spook the crap out of them when they get to close.

Some folks even tote there gun too

No wonder they aren’t gobbling. Y’all are prankin them. Don’t have enough where I hunt to do foolish stuff.

Cur pup scattered that flock of hens pretty good this morning...

I'd break it, but I'm kinda thinking he could make a turkey cur.

Nothing wrong with going out early and call a few in and take a blast there direction with a blank shell, it will condition them for open season and keeps them from spooking easy.

howl wrote: ↑February 9th, 2019, 4:43 pm Cur pup scattered that flock of hens pretty good this morning...

I'd break it, but I'm kinda thinking he could make a turkey cur.

See now I'd take 12 people out calling early compared to one dog running them especially here in the winter where they can't afford to use up their last reserves being chased by a dog for no reason !

I don't think calling to turkeys before the season is bad...as long as the turkeys don't see you.

MKW wrote: ↑February 9th, 2019, 6:47 pm I don't think calling to turkeys before the season is bad...as long as the turkeys don't see you.

exactly!

MKW wrote: ↑February 9th, 2019, 6:47 pm I don't think calling to turkeys before the season is bad...as long as the turkeys don't see you.

That’s one of the problems around here. Getting in and out of the woods without disturbing them.

Generally speaking, I think calling to them before the season is a bad idea. However, there are "degrees" to "calling to them". Calling to a bird a long ways off to get him to let you know he is around,...and then leaving,...is one thing. Calling a bird in close enough to make him become suspicious is another altogether.

In my younger years in that youthful state of ignorance of being a new turkey hunter that thought it was cool to call in gobblers, I would go out before the season to call in and film them. It didn't take me long to learn that the turkeys I called in before the season consistently became much more difficult to call in when the season started,...while birds that I hadn't called were not. Even us dumbass New Mexicans can put two and two together and come up with four...

A couple thoughts on this. I have and will continue to go out and scout before the season. There are many scouting trips that I will run calls and call to turkeys...I don't always call while scouting but I think practicing your calls in the comfort of your home or vehicle is no where near the same as being set up on a turkey in the woods. It's hard to get a feel for the volume of your calling and how to run your calls while being set up in an awkward position unless you practice in the woods. A hunter needs to be mindful of how they are getting in and out of the area they're hunting, especially important early in the season. I don't like the early part of the season nearly as much as the later part of the season because of the lack of foliage...I feel like a turd in the punch bowl.

GobbleNut wrote: ↑February 10th, 2019, 9:39 am Generally speaking, I think calling to them before the season is a bad idea. However, there are "degrees" to "calling to them". Calling to a bird a long ways off to get him to let you know he is around,...and then leaving,...is one thing. Calling a bird in close enough to make him become suspicious is another altogether.

Agreed. I don't have to worry about messing up the turkeys before the season because I never scout before the season comes in, but I'm sure that there are plenty of folks out there doing stupid stuff. I can't control it because I hunt 99% public.

I don't call before season any more. Just seems like a poor plan to me. But I do go out and listen, look for sign, ect. Even in areas I know will be good. As far as spooking turkeys in general tho…..just come and go with me and I can show you tons of good ways to screw up a and spook birds. In that respect (ONLY) I think I really am a turkey pro! LOL!

I probably felt the need to call to birds when scouting back when I'd first began hunting them. It was likely due to the excitement of a bird gobbling at the sounds that I made and in some way due to a lack of confidence that I was doing it right. Probably what saved me from myself was that IL has a law that prohibits calling to turkeys between March 1 and the opener in early April.

Montana has no such law (neither did Colorado). The only calling that I may do before season is some cutting or cackling just to locate birds (typically on the roost), but I don't continue to call to them. A lot of my MT hunting may as well be in another state for the distance that I drive, so I do very little scouting before I've got a gun in my hand.

Montana as a whole has very few die-hard turkey hunters, so scouting probably involves a morning trip the weekend before the opener blowing their guts out on a call, but I haven't really witnessed it. I'd guess that the majority of resident MT turkey licenses are bought the day before season starts. That's not to say that there is no pressure because I've seen an increase in hunters over the last 7 years, especially locally after opening it to a general license instead of limited.

Right before the season, I'll go call to turkeys at the state park that don't get hunted (or aren't supposed to be) just to work on calling to live birds. I usually get courtesy gobbles back, but talking with live birds helps get my rhythm down. On weekday mornings before work, I'll go listen from a high point at some of the places I hunt, just to see how many I hear, though there's no need to call on the small farms I hunt.

On the bigger pieces of public land where I go listen, I always hear too many guys driving up & down the roads at daybreak, running box calls and owl hooters out the truck window to see where they get responses. It doesn't take too long for the turkeys to quit reacting to it, especially if there's obvious vehicle traffic & vehicle door noise associated with every call.

Jim