THE KING OF SPRING: TOM TURKEY

There is probably no other animal that I hunt, that has as great eyesight, is as smart, suspicious, and belligerent as The King of Spring- Tom Turkey. This bird might look ugly to some, but I’ve learned to respect these birds and find beauty in their looks and behavior.

Winter provides me a time to relax and regroup from deer hunting. Making a slow restorative journey to spring.  While I hunt for sheds, I spend time pondering the upcoming turkey hunting season. It’s all a part of the rhythm of life that I have come to enjoy.

TURKEY LIFECYCLE

It goes without saying, to hunt a turkey, you have to think like a turkey. I’ll share a little bit of their lifecycle here to give you some insight into a turkey’s lifecycle:

• JANUARY: Hens and juveniles are together in family groups while the males are in bachelor groups. Foraging in their family groups and bachelor groups stemming the tide of winter.
• February: As the daylight hours increase this signals the brain to begin hormone production as well as forming dominant groups. Everyone begins preparation for the breeding season.
• March: The hens and juveniles along with male bachelor groups begin to mingle and breeding begins to take place.
• April: Hens have already begun their secretive nesting site surveying and preparations. Dominant toms are “strutting” and “gobbling” their best to attract a hen, who when accepting, will crouch and allow the tom to mount her.
• May: Most hens have already laid eggs and are tending to nest duties. They will incubate eggs between 26-28 days, turning the eggs every hour, leaving very little to feed. What hens haven’t nested yet will continue to be courted by the toms.
• June: Poults (baby turkeys) begin to hatch and hens that had failed to nest will try re-nest. Poults already have imprinted with the hen during their “pipping”- period of time the peck from inside to get out of the shell, they call out and the hen responds thusly forming a mother-baby bond.
• July/August: Poults are learning to forage, and fly. Food consists mainly of bugs and larvae, growing fast and putting on weight for the coming fall/winter season. Once they can fly and roost in a tree their diet changes as well. Surprisingly, the diet moves to nut foraging, grasses, seeds, young bugs, meat from snakes, frogs, and salamanders.
• September: Fall flocks are being established and so begins the pecking order within the flocks.
• October/November/December: Foraging! Searching fields, and woods to maintain winter weight and survival.

THE EARLY RISING HUNTER GETS THE BIRD

As evening draws near and turkey stomachs are full, they will fly with their groups and roost in trees. This roosting provides them safety predators and a good night’s sleep. This means that you the hunter need to be up pretty early and find you spot to hunt BEFORE they get out of the trees for the day. Choose your hunting spot well, because once you’re there, you’re there to stay. If that isn’t pressure, I don’t know what is.

Turkey hunting isn’t limited to early morning hideouts.  You can also hunt during daylight hours if you willing to understand a turkeys routine, time of day and weather.  These factors all make hunting turkeys a fun challenge.

Wise Eyes

Their eyesight is remarkable and their suspicion is great, which keeps them smart to movement and sound. During mating season, toms gobble to let the hens know where they are. To aid the hens in finding them better they strut and the hen’s yelp and cluck in response to the gobble.

Understanding the different types of calls turkeys make is very important. Check out this YouTube video here for a simple introduction to different types of turkey calls and how to use them. Here is a shortlist of turkey calls:

• Gobble- Tom’s gobble to attract hens, it also lets the lesser toms know who still is in charge
• Yelp- Generally 4-10 notes, done to find other turkeys
• Purr- A relaxed, soft call done during feeding, contented
• Spit and Drum- This sound comes from deep within the toms chest, it’s done to attract hens

Recognizing these calls and when they are used will make your turkey hunt more successful. There are many products available to the turkey hurt to assist you in calling turkeys. Mouth Diaphragms, Slate friction calls, Box calls, Gobble Tube, and more.

I look forward to my spring turkey hunt and wish you all a safe and successful turkey season.

RESOURCES:

• https://www.nwtf.org/hunt/wild-turkey-basics/lifestyle-breeding