Deer and Turkey Hunting Tips

Archive for April, 2009

Turkey Hunting Tips:   There are many situations that can occur while turkey hunting that require the hunter to experiment with different calling tactics. Although there is not an official blueprint on calling turkeys, the hunter can use a variety of turkey calling tips to help bring a gobbler into a set up location.

Ten Turkey Calling Tips:

Tip 1: To start off at the beginning of the day, use soft yelps and clucks to see if nearby gobblers will respond. If they do, continue this style of calling until the gobbler makes his way in. Try three to five soft clucks followed by five to seven soft yelps. Don’t over call as this may send turkeys away.

Tip 2: If the gobbler is coming in to soft yelps and clucks but hangs up, add in a few cutting or cackling calls to the sequence. This will often get the gobbler fired up and excited enough to come the rest of the way in.

Tip 3:  When gobblers hang up just outside of range, try using clucks and purrs instead of yelps. This is a sign of contentment and will often bring the gobbler the final way in.

Tip 4:  When gobblers refuse to come all the way into a set up location, stop calling for a few minutes. Relocate to the left or right of the gobbler, change calls, and try calling again. Often changing up a little will result in the gobbler having a better response.

Tip 5:  When starting a calling sequence, face away from the direction in which the turkeys are anticipated to come from. This gives the impression of being farther away, which will help in disguising the hunters exact location.

Tip 6:   Try using two calls at the same time to fire up stubborn gobblers. A box or friction call mixed with a diaphragm call for example, will give the impression of two hens instead of just one.

Tip 7:   When hunting close to roosting trees, try to use soft yelps and clucks. Loud or aggressive calling that are close to turkeys often will send them away instead of bringing them in.

Tip 8:  When hunting henned up gobblers, try to follow along close to the flock without being detected. Use soft clucks and purrs. This may bring the flock into range. If this fails, try to circle around and get ahead of the turkeys. Then start the clucks and purrs calling again.

Tip 9:  If the gobbler is coming to turkey calls, often it is best to stop calling once the gobblers gets within fifty yards or so. However, if the gobbler refuses to come any further, start calling again using soft clucks.

Tip 10:   The most important turkey calling tip is to practice and become proficient with turkey calling techniques. Learn to use various types of calls. There are many available such as mouth diaphragm calls, box calls, friction calls, and others. There are many instructional DVDs to help with learning.

So use these turkey hunting tips to become a better turkey hunter and increase the chances for success.

Turkey Hunting Tips:  Most experienced turkey hunters have had the pleasure and excitement of arriving before dawn, setting up in a good location, calling and getting a gobbler to respond. At times like this, the gobbler gets fired up and practically comes running in making for a short but successful hunt. There are however, many more situations, when the turkeys just don’t respond. The following is a few techniques that can be used on tough hunting days.

Technique One: The Challenge

One approach that can be used is to challenge the boss hen. This is assuming of course that the turkeys have been located, but refuse to come to normal calling attempts. The goal is to get the boss hen all fired up, making her want to locate her challenger. This is done by aggressively calling repeatedly to the flock. The idea being that the boss hen will bring the flock with her when she searches for this overly aggressive hen.

Technique Two: Be Patient 

Another approach is to locate the flock and softly call to them using only purrs and clucks. The hunter must be patient to convey calmness and contentment. Often this will bring in the hens with gobblers soon to follow. This technique will require the hunter to move along with the flock if the first set up doesn’t work. Try to get close to the flock without being detected.

Technique Three: Leave 

Another approach is to leave the area for awhile and come back later in the day. Often, turkeys that don’t respond well first thing in the morning may respond as the day goes on. If the first set up or two fails to gather results, stop calling and move to a different hunting location. The idea is to continue moving until a responsive turkey is found.

Technique Four: Get Ahead 

Another approach is to get ahead of the turkeys and wait for them to come in close before calling to them. This will require prior knowledge of the terrain and turkey habits. If the hunter has an idea of where the turkeys go throughout the day, set up in those areas could be effective. For this approach to work, the hunter must have scouted the area and be familiar with movement patterns.

Try some of these turkey hunting tips on days when turkeys don’t respond to normal set up tactics. They may allow for a better chance at success.

Deer Hunting Tips:

Whitetails use several resources when it comes to survival. They have speed, agility, and the ability to blend into cover. But they mostly use their abilities to see movements, hear and distinguish sounds, and a superior smelling nose to avoid predators. In order to have any chance at success, a hunter needs to take a few steps toward combating deer senses.

Step One: Sight

In order to reduce the chance of being seen, hunters need to limit their movements to slow and methodical. Deer are able to detect movements within a wide range of sight. Even if they are not looking directly at an object. They also are able to notice out of place objects, which is why they often will look up at hunters in a stand. If the hunter remains still, the deer may not become alarmed.

This is also when the use of camouflage comes into play. Proper concealment is a must. The hunter should use a camouflage pattern that matches and blends in with the terrain to be hunted. Other wise, they will stick out and be detected by deer. This is a changing process throughout the hunting season.

Step Two: Sound

Deer are constantly rotating their ears and listening for any sounds that are perceived as danger. Any unusual sound, especially those not normally heard in nature, will cause alarm in deer. This may cause the deer to flee or simply stand motionless until the danger is confirmed.

Hunters should try to avoid any unnecessary sounds. Any metal objects used in the field need to be used quietly to avoid detection. Always check equipment for loose bolts or any squeaky parts. Use caution while walking to avoid loud sounds.

Step Three: Smell

Ultimately the sense of smell will determine what a deer does or does not do. Deer are constantly checking for any scents that are considered a danger. Human odor is at the top of the list. If they smell the hunter, the hunt is over, period.

The hunter must take precautions to avoid being detected. The use of human odor masking scent is a requirement. This starts before entering the woods. Anything to be used in the field needs to be descented.

So use these deer hunting tips for combating deer senses to gain an advantage while hunting. Make the effort and take extra steps to avoid being detected.