Spring Wild Turkey Hunting: Addiction, Obsession, Passion

* The antics of the bird imprints on the hunter’s psyche. I don’t know of many other game species that get as wound up as jealous male wild turkeys do during their mating season. The entire courtship display they put on from gobbling activity to wing flapping, tail fanning, puffing of feathers, strutting, stamping, drumming, chest-bumping, head-bobbing and fighting is truly something to see. Add to that the  normal behaviors of these birds which include things like roosting, dusting, sunning and preening. Even when some turkeys hunker down to hide sensing danger, it is still something to see.

*Those crazy jakes provide quite the entertainment. Jakes or young male wild turkeys find safety grouped up in numbers, whether 2 or 12. And mobs of them may aggressively attack any other male wild turkey in the area including each other, but particularly the big adult toms.

If you’re using strutter or jake decoys on your turkey hunt, it is almost guaranteed a pair or mob of jakes will run right into your setup, go after that decoy and offer an action-packed scenario.

*Calling wild turkeys is like a chess match. They make a move, you make a move. A tom gobbles. Should I call or not call? The tom gobbles again. Do I continue calling, stop calling or use a different call? The challenge of the hunt is fooling this wary and elusive bird. And from the moment you first call in a gobbler, you’ll almost surely be a turkey hunter for life.

*Every turkey and every hunt is different. Successful wild turkey hunters know that you have to be willing to change strategies quickly. The U.S. Marine Corps slogan applies here: “Improvise, adapt and overcome.” That’s because no hunt is the same. No two toms are the same. No two toms respond to the same call the same way. They all react differently to certain situations and conditions. Birds can come from almost any direction either silent or communicating.

*Such beautiful colors on on a unique bird. I so admire the variety of gorgeous colors on the large, black, adult male wild turkey. Iridescent feather colors from bronze to green are very apparent. Breast feathers of the tom appear to be jet black. The neck and shoulders of the bird look metallic bronze in the sunlight. Wing primaries show distinct white bars with a light gray background. The back is covered with velvety black feathers. The tail coverts or rump feathers are edged with white or rust colors. Farther back on the bird toward the tail the feathers are a rich chestnut brown with darker markings. The tail feathers are almost black with chestnut markings and a dusty or buff-colored tip. Adult males (gobblers) have a featherless, pronounced red head (sometimes with blue and white coloring, too) with prominent wattle and fleshy, red growths (called caruncles) on their neck. They also have a “beard”—a feather tuft of black, hair-like strands— protruding from their chest.

*The surprises of the hunt make it special, a bit frustrating, but memorable.  A friend of mine once said: “Any given adult male wild turkey is prone to do whatever the hunter thinks he couldn’t, wouldn’t, and shouldn’t do.” I have had tom turkeys come in from behind me, to the side of me and catty-corner to me. They have circled me. I once had a hen turkey go on top of my blind! I have had them hang up just out of shooting range. I have had hens intercept male birds on their way to me. I have had coyotes and bobcats chase turkeys off. I have big toms gobble their heads off while walking directly away from me. I have had them attack a downed bird I shot. I have even had them standing next to my truck, ridiculously checking out their reflections, as I returned from my blind in the field. Believe it or not, the unexpected elements of the hunt make it special, a bit frustrating albeit, but memorable.