When hunting wild turkeys from a ground blind I take the same approach as hunting whitetail deer and antelope, with the exception that scent detection is not an issue.  However, concealment, eliminating noise and movement is a major priority.  Turkeys have excellent eyesight and a superior ability to detect movement

When hunting from a portable ground blind, here are a few tips and details I always pay close attention to 

Author proves doing the right things can have positive results.

Even the roomiest Portable Ground Blinds have limited floor space…..therefore your shot flexibility is limited.

I place my gear such as packs, extra clothing, food, water, etc. towards the very front of the blind.  This allows more room to position myself further back from the shooting window and reduce the possibility of a wild turkey seeing my movement and detecting me.  Because I prefer to shoot from my knees, all I have to do is fold my chair and slide it forward to maximize the shooting floor space.Using shoot through mesh over the windows is a good idea; also, I wear clothing that mirrors the interior of the blind or a dark neutral color.Blind placement is very important.  Try to determine the direction of the approaching gobbler.  Hunting from farm areas or on private ground makes it much easier to pattern wild turkeys….understanding how they use an area allows for a more accurate prediction for your setup.I like to place a blind in an area where approaching birds will have to pass from the left or right in front of the shooting window to access the decoys.  If possible, position yourself on the same side of the blind that the birds are approaching from.  This will give you an opportunity to draw your bow in a concealed location which will help decrease detection.A common mistake bowhunters make is forgetting the arrow shaft is lower than the bow-sight ….therefore it is very easy to send an arrow shaft through the wall of the blind.  Take a moment to make sure your arrow will clear the shooting window.Archers should plan shots on non-strutting turkeys….strutting gobblers appear larger than they are.  At the sound of the bow string wild turkey often drop down a few inches causing a high hit or a missed shot.  A gobbler in strutting position can create an illusion confusing the archer on the actual location of the vital area.

Hope these tips are helpful…..good shooting and hunting!

Ron Gaines

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Bowhunter Brian Barney hikes deep into the high country mule deer territory. Brian, Eastmans’ Elevated Podcast Host is on his quest for a trophy class, public land mule deer. It’s an early season bowhunt and there’s good potential to find a buck that’s still in velvet. Brian uses his wealth of DIY knowledge to hunt country that’s difficult to access and has few reliable water sources on this episode of Beyond the Grid by Eastmans’.

   Eastmans’ Hunting Journals

 

Holey Moley Everybody! In this video Chris Bee and his wife travel to Kansas to bowhunt on public land and what happens is astonishing. Chris rattles and grunts in a giant 180″ class buck.

     Chris Bee

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  jim litmer

 

Wild Turkey seasons are open or opening around the country and many folks will be headed south or west to try and bag a gobbler or two. If you happen to be lucky enough to tag out early, you might want to take advantage of the extra time at your destination. Many southern lodges and outfitters offer wild hogs as a bonus, or for an additional nominal fee. But if you plan to hunt them with a bow, there’s a few things you should know.

Heavyweights

Wild Hogs are a lot tougher than deer. They have heavier hides, thicker and heavier bones and more fat. If you have a specialized turkey bow, you may want to up-size to something more powerful for Wild hogs. That means heavier draw weight, heavier arrows, heavier broadheads and more kinetic energy.

Sword and Shield

They’re also built differently than deer. Males especially have a thick, rugged shield of gristle and bone around their shoulders. That means a smaller vital area. Study anatomy diagrams in advance and stay away from the shoulder. Quartering away is a much better angle than even broadside, and don’t even consider quartering-to.

Bacon makes an excellent side dish for a spring turkey hunt.

Senses

Make no mistake, wild hogs are very intelligent and they have keen noses. However, their eyesight isn’t great and though they have good hearing, they don’t seem to be nearly as skittish as whitetails. That makes spot-and-stalk hunting a very viable option for the bowhunter, even on open ground but preferably with some cover. Just take your time and don’t move when they’re looking your way.

Sex

Now that I’ve gotten your attention… If you have a choice, you’d be well advised to choose a sow over a boar, at least if you’re more interested in meat than a trophy. While they lack the sometimes impressive cutters and whetters of big boars, a sow’s meat tends to be more tender and flavorful. Steak the loins and grind the rest up for sausage.

My Friend George Winters goes to Oklahoma to bowhunt Whitetail bucks on public land. George arrives  in November just when the rut is heating up and he doesn’t get just one fine Oklahoma buck, he gets two.

     George Winters

 

Tracy Breen

If you are a Midwest or Eastern bowhunter heading West this fall, one of the most important things you can do is make sure you can keep your arrows in a pie plate size group at forty yards and beyond. For most Whitetail bowhunters (including me), the average shot taken in the field is inside thirty yards.

As a result, we often practice at thirty yards. John Schaffer from Schaffer Performance Archery of Minnesota has hunted all over the West and believes if bowhunters are heading west, they need to practice at long ranges.

“When bowhunting out west, a forty-yard shot is often the norm. Fifty- yard shots and beyond are common place,” Schaffer said. Schaffer regularly shoots his bow at distances of sixty yards and beyond. “Any flaw in a person’s shooting form is going to be more exaggerated at longer ranges. By practicing at longer ranges, archers quickly learn what they need to fix to keep a small arrow group.”

When shooting at great distances, any flaw in your bow setup will also be magnified. At thirty yards, almost any arrow setup will fly well. At seventy-five yards, if your arrows don’t weigh the same, if one or two of your arrows has a flaw or if your broadhead planes, you will quickly notice your group isn’t very tight.

When I pull a dozen arrows out of a box and fletch them up, often I have a few that don’t perform at longer distances. These arrows get thrown into a box and aren’t used for hunting. To make sure my arrows fly well and to make sure they all weigh about the same, I weigh each arrow on a grain scale.

The National Deer Association’s annual Deer Report is out and it contains interesting information on bowhunting trends.

Per usual, the report relies primarily on data from two years prior, as that’s the most recent comprehensive info available from state agencies when NDA compiles their report. Still, it’s very enlightening.

Deer Harvest Trends

Nationwide, bowhunters took 25% of the total deer harvest in 2021. Regionally, the Northeast took top honors accounting for 33%, followed by the Midwest at 28%, the West at 25%, the Southeast at 16% and Canada at 11%. New Jersey led not only the Northeast but the nation with bowhunting accounting for 64% of the total harvest, followed by Connecticut at 51% and Massachusetts at 48%. Next highest were Ohio at 48% and Kansas close behind at 47%. Clearly, bowhunting continues to play a strong role in controlling deer populations more developed states.

Hunter Trends

It’s probably not surprising that Illinois leads the nation in terms of percentage of bowhunters, at 74%. The First State – Delaware – is second at 67%, followed by Connecticut (66%), Massachusetts (66%) and Ohio (61%). It’s worth noting that the Northeast also had the highest proportion of hunters participating in both archery and muzzleloading seasons, and the highest number of deer hunters per square mile (8).

Crossbows

Crossbow use continues to grow though the growth rate has slowed considerably as they gain more widespread acceptance. Crossbows are now legal in 46 states compared to 21 in 2012.

Finding & Training a Shed Antler Dog

 

Reprinted From The USDA Forest Service as a public service
Written By By Art Lander Jr., HERALD-LEADER OUTDOORS WRITER

Hunting Safety And Hypothermia

Our national forests are a refuge for wild animals, including dangerous animals like bears and venomous snakes. Wild animals can be upset by human presence and can unexpectedly become aggressive. Do not give them a reason or an opportunity to attack. Always keep your distance. Your safety is your responsibility.

Tell someone where you will be hunting.Avoid outings alone. If you go alone, be extra careful and hunt in familiar areas.Dress properly and be prepared for the worst possible conditions. Protect against hypothermia.

Hypothermia is the number one killer of outdoor recreationists. It occurs when the body temperature is lowered and unable to produce heat. Most everyone has experienced mild hypothermia, however, if the process is not stopped, death can occur.

Hypothermia can develop in temperatures as high as the 60’s or 70’s. It is caused by cool to cold temperatures, wind, lack of sunshine, and most importantly, wet or damp clothing.

Signs include shivering, slow or slurred speech, fumbling or immobile fingers, stumbling, sleepiness and exhaustion.

If you’ve like many and had none or minimal success at finding whitetail buck shed antlers, I offer you are some good reasons to shed hunt again this year. Late winter and early spring are the best times to start scouting for your next deer season.

Last fall’s rubs, scrapes and trails are easiest to see in the time between when the snow melts and the coming’s warmer weather launches the spring green-up. Also, at that time of year, you don’t have to worry about bumping deer from rheir bedding area and causinging him go nocturnal. The deer will have months to forget the encounter.

A buck in March that that has shed his left antler.

This is actually a good time to get into the thick bedding cover as well as other areas that bucks call home. By doing so, you’ll get a good feel for where deer bed and how they enter and exit their bedding areas

Which Bucks Survived?

When you find a fresh shed antler in the early spring, the buck that dropped it probably survived both the hunting season and the winter. So that buck is likely to still be in the population of area bucks.

Once a buck sheds its antlers, individual bucks become quite difficult to identify. While locating a shed is proof positive that a particular buck made it through the recent hunting season, it’s possible you won’t be able to recognize him when he is antlerless or just beginning to grow his new bulbous, velvet antlers.

NICK HOFFMAN TELLS US ABOUT HIS FIRST DEER HUNT

I am one of the lucky ones who make a living getting to travel the globe in search of big game animals and interesting stories for my TV Show, Nick’s Wild Ride.

Some people have gone so far to call me the Anthony Bourdain of the hunting industry because I spend a lot of time on the road hunting unique animals in extraordinary places and while I am hunting, I often dive into the local culture and the local food.

I often get asked about my favorite hunting memory or my favorite hunt of all time.  For me, that’s easy: it was the first time I went deer hunting and, ironically, I didn’t even fill a tag.

I didn’t grow up in a hunting family. The only animal I remember my dad killing was a fox if it got into our chicken coop. That said, as a kid I always loved being in the woods watching animals and learning about animal tracks. I always wanted to be a hunter.

Since today’s crossbows have twice the minimum kinetic energy needed for Cape buffalo, when it comes to broadhead size, bigger is better.  Turkeys have a very small kill zone and a strutting bird is more than half feathers.  In addition, turkeys rarely stand still and may twist and turn as they approach a decoy.  Even at close range, you want as much margin of error as possible, and the larger the head the greater the margin of error.

Jumbo heads fly accurately, yet you need exactly the right turkey behavior.

Jumbo Turkey Broadheads

The above turkey picture doesn’t show one of the four favored shot placements on a turkey, yet if you hit the mark, the turkey dies instantly.  When I began hunting turkeys with a bow nearly 20 years ago, I worried that these jumbo heads would not fly well.  They do.  For them to be effective, the turkey must have its head high and its neck stretched.  I shot a big gobbler at 15 yards with a crossbow but when the blades of the large head hit the wing butt, the arrow bounced off.  The turkey looked stunned and then walked off as I tried desperately to recock the bow.

The Tominator is a giant expandable head.

Expandable Broadhead Options

Expandable broadheads have the advantage of flying like target points yet still delivering huge wound channels.  The Tominator has over three inches of cutting surface and is my personal favorite.  Hybrid heads that offer cut-on-contact blades and two or more additional blades that deploy are excellent because they still fly well (test first) and deliver maximum tissue damage.

Here are the four traditional aiming spots on a gobbler.

Where to Aim?

Turkey hunters should have the four placements committed to memory and don’t forget my favorite, the base of the neck.  A good way to help hone shot placement skills is to look at pictures online or in a magazine and pick out the exact aiming point.  “Aim small, miss small” has never been more relevant than with turkey hunting.

Expandable broadheads fly consistently for great accuracy.

Fixed or Mechanical?

Both are lethal if you hit the kill zone exactly.  The trick is to maximize tissue damage in case your arrow is off by an inch or two.  Remember, a wounded turkey may fly away and leave no blood trail.  If the bird runs, it will hide in tall weeds or thick vegetation making it very difficult to find.  I believe that large, hybrid, mechanicals offer the greatest advantage.  Heads like the Grim Reaper Hybrid have two cutting blades and additional blades that deploy on impact, giving a large 4-blade wound.

Wild Turkey Decoys are nearly essential for bowhunters because they help predict where a gobbler will stand for a shot.  Raising or drawing a bow within sight of a wild turkey rarely works and when a gobbler is keenly focused on a decoy, your slight motions may go unnoticed.  Here’s a look at three types of decoys and how they affect wild turkey behavior.

A feeding hen will attract a gobbler from a distance.

A Honey of a Hen

Hen decoys are sold in three behavior models.  Alert hens stand with their head up as if they just saw a tom approach.  Feeding hens have their heads down in a feeding stance and their allure can be enhanced if they move on the stake in a gentle breeze.  The breeding hen lays flat as if she is submitting to a mating gobbler and is often used in conjunction with a gobbler decoy.

Shown are a feeding and an alert hen.

Good News, Bad News

The good news about a hen decoy is its universal appeal to gobblers.  Often calling to a tom won’t attract it unless the bird can see the source of the sound.  When you add sight and sound together, the gobbler’s natural wariness is quickly overcome.  The downside of hen decoys occurs when the dominant hen doesn’t like them, alarm putts, and leads the flock in a different direction.  Additionally, since a hen decoy is the most commonly used by hunters, some toms have been missed while approaching them and are repelled by a bogus bird.

Jakes are yearling male wild turkeys with a short beard.

Jakes- The Roudy Teenager of the Turkey World

Jakes are yearling gobblers that display the red head of a male and sport a short beard, two-to-four inches in length.  Dominant hens hate them and often drive them away from their flock.  Gobblers despise them because they attempt to breed hens and are seen as competition.  As a result, jakes often travel in flocks and will actually attack a longbeard if their numbers are great enough.  Pairing a jake and a breeding hen makes a longbeard even more aggressive and they frequently attack.

A jake in conjunction with a hen is a powerful allure to a mating tom.

Good Jakes, Bad Jakes

I have an Avery jake decoy that over a four-year period has never been ignored by a gobbler.  It’s so realistic that when a tom sees it, it approaches.  The downside of a jake decoy is the aggression it prompts.  An archer must make a precise shot on a gobbler and as mature gobblers approach they are in attack mode and rarely stand still.  With a shotgun, a tom is literally “easy-pickings” but the bowhunter has to demonstrate extra patience.  If you relish that full strut,  broadside shot, use a hen.

Every hunting license we buy contributes to State Wildlife Agencies and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Additionally, when you buy hunting equipment, a part of the money goes to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The funds are used for habitat restoration, hunter education, wildlife research, public-access programs and other high-priority national conservation projects.

Consider getting involved and actively doing your part to contribute to the future of bowhunting in America.

Mentor Someone New

If you’re passionate about bowhunting and practice safe, legal tactics, you can introduce others to the sport by becoming a mentor. Taking new people bowhunting is a fun, rewarding and sustainable way to keep hunting relevant. Plus, you’re creating the next generation of bowhunters who can keep the tradition alive. State Wild life and Fish & Game Departments hold hunts for youth as well as for pepple who have never hunted.

Volunteer For Habitat Work

If you care about the future of hunting, you can make a difference through hands-on habitat work. Volunteer to clean up public lands, plant native species, remove invasive species or work on other outdoor-related improvement projects, like wetland restoration or prescribed burns. Connect with your state wildlife agency or conservation organizations and learn about nearby opportunities.

“Would you like for us to videotape your bow hunt in the morning?” asked TV personality Jimmy Houston.  I was hunting with El Halcoun Outfitters in Mexico for Gould’s turkeys and Houston happened to be in camp.  I hunted from a blind the next morning while the camera operator sat outside.  My guide called a big tom close to the blind when it suddenly acted spooky.  I had to shoot through a tiny opening at an awkward angle and missed the gobbler at eight yards.  For the rest of the morning, I was hazed repeatedly, “How close was that turkey?” “Would five yards be good enough?”  On, and on!

An arrow to the base of the neck is an instant kill.

In the early afternoon, I went back to my blind while the rest of the group hunted with shotguns.  In the late afternoon, I saw two hens pass by in the same spot about 100 yards away.  Believing that a gobbler might follow, I bailed on the blind and stood in some thick cover with a small shooting window.  Within minutes, I saw a huge gobbler walking along the same route.  I raised my bow and when the tom stepped into my window, pucked with a mouth call and the bird raised its head.  Aiming at its neck, the arrow dispatched the gobbler immediately.  When Houston and his buddies returned empty-handed to the blind, I hoisted the monster turkey and made them pose for a picture with me.  Oh, the sweet revenge.

Mobile hunting works, even in open hardwoods.

Abandon the Blind

Maryland has a two-bird limit on spring gobblers and I can usually take one bird from a blind on the small farm I hunt.  Unfortunately, after the first week of the season, birds become pressured and don’t enter fields as readily.  If toms won’t come to you, go to them.  In the picture above, I moved from my blind in the late morning and slipped quietly into a wooded area where turkeys often feed.  I posted a jake decoy at 10 yards and then sat at the base of a small tree, as the area had been timbered.  After calling several times, I saw two gobblers approaching and raising my crossbow.  The birds got about five yards from the decoy and became suspicious, alarm pucked, and began walking away.  I aimed at the center of the back and the right gobbler died instantly.

Once gobblers become educated by hunters, you may need to change tactics.

Un-callable Gobblers

Hunting from a blind offers scouting and intelligence that can lead to future success even if pressured turkeys avoid your setup.  The biggest bird on the farm held back on opening day and I managed to arrow his buddy.  In succeeding days, the big tom skirted the field I hunted but passed through a small opening 50 yards inside of the woodline.  As the season progressed, vegetation grew so I placed a single alert hen decoy in the small opening and sat in a patch of honeysuckle 25 yards away.  As usual, I heard the tom gobble deep in the woods and called sparingly to entice it.  The old bird took more than an hour to travel 100 yards, but a peek at the decoy in the tall grass closed the deal.

By late morning most gobblers have bred nearby hens and become easier to call.

Late Can be Great

Many turkey enthusiasts hunt before work which can lead to crowded conditions early in the morning.  However, as the day progresses, they head to work or become discouraged by a lack of success.  Mid-to-late morning is an ideal time to hunt, especially if you are an archer and have the patience to succeed.  Calling to a gobbling and strutting turkey is every hunter’s dream, but many toms will walk in silently.  If you are covering the woods, make sure that you stay in position for at least 30 minutes.  Choose a large tree to sit against and post a decoy at 20 yards where you have visibility for safety.  Naps are acceptable and sometimes seem to attract turkeys.  Blind tactics should be your go-to method for success, but like every hunting situation, it’s great to have a plan B.

One of the highlights of the NWTF convention is the presence of Top Turkey Hunters. Here is Fred Lutger’s interview With Wild Turkey Great Alex Rutledge.

Fred Lutger is the writer of this article as well as the owner of Freddie Bear Sports pro shop and Online Store

One of the highlights of the NWTF convention is the seminars. I interviewed Alex Rutledge, National Pro Staff member for Hunter Specialties, after he did a seminar for turkey hunting guides. Alex gave tips and pointers about wild turkey hunting and about guide/hunter relations. His tips are also useful when buddies are hunting together.

Alex suggests hunters should separate when using locator calls. This will give both of you a better chance to hear a distant gobble that the other person might not have heard. Also you won’t miss a gobble if the other person makes a noise that will cover up a faint gobble.

When setting up, Rutledge reminds guides to sit close to the hunter to be able to better control what the hunter does. Verbal communication is important. Let the hunter know if he moves too much. Cue the hunter when to get his gun or bow at ready. Most of all, let him know when the bird is in range and when to shoot.

“Gobblers don’t always respond to a hunters’ calling with a gobble,” Rutledge said. “But they respond in other ways. They will strut, they will look towards the caller and some will at times run to the caller silently. These are all things we know and the reason hunters must keep still.” Alex again emphasized the need to coach the hunter. “Keep the hunter calm.”

Patience and Pop-ups are two key factors in taking a spring tom with a bow.  Years ago, a Mississippi turkey guide made me sit by a powerline near a posted decoy.  We had tried unsuccessfully to get close to a roost, so I bit my lip, listened to turkeys gobble in the distance and by 10:00 am, a Southern longbeard was flopping on the ground.  Waiting was torture, but it showed me the secret to setting an ideal trap.

Concealing a blind is helpful but not necessary.

Pop-Up Blinds are Critical-

Whitetail deer will spot a blind in a field in an instant unless it’s disguised with brush and leaves and even then they will be wary.  Turkeys are dumb as stones about blinds so you can place one in an open field the day before the season and have success.  As in the picture above, I post mine near the treeline at least two weeks prior to the opening day so that deer get used to it.  A snorting deer will scare a turkey and they often live in the same habitat.

This mature longbeard will be target number one on opening day.

Scout for Turkeys like Deer

Posting your blind in a turkey travel area greatly increases success.  An old friend lets me hunt a field on her small farm.  Although other people hunt the property, my blind sets a marker of sorts and they don’t interfere.  Turkeys often travel across this field between woodlots and when they see my decoys and hear my calling they walk into range.  My camera is already posted and lets me know the age class of birds using the field.

Taking a gobbler with a bow or crossbow requires shooting with pinpoint accuracy.

Decoys Usually Attract Toms

I’ll discuss the hows and whys of deploying decoys in the next blog, but for now, it’s important to realize how advantageous a decoy can be.  First, they attract hens and gobblers to the exact spot you want to shoot.  Blinds are usually spacious such that you can sit in a comfortable chair with your crossbow on a tripod that will allow you to shoot exactly where you aim.  I take all of my gear to the blind the day before the hunt so that I can sneak into the area quietly in one trip.  I store the decoys in the blind and quickly set them up at first light.

Decoys will usually attract turkeys, yet calling can lure gobblers from a distance.

Call as Much or as Little as You Choose

If you are new to turkey hunting, you may be unsure of your calling skills.  By being patient and using decoys, you can call as much or as little as you want.  Sometimes, hunters can call too much and your goal should be just to lure a gobbler within sight of your decoys.  I’m an experienced caller with a box, slate, and diaphragm, yet for the past two years, I’ve had the farm’s boss gobbler within 20 yards of my blind.  Despite my best efforts, he’s too wary to step into the field and I hope to get a shot at him again this spring.  Box callers are ideal for new hunters and can be mastered with just a little practice.

Getting To Your Stand Without Spooking Deer Is This Bowhunters Key To Bowhunting Success. Adam Crumrin talks about getting to and from his hunting stands with his QuietKat e-bike. Plus, come along on the two exciting hunts where he arrowed 2 Booner bucks on the same day.

 

   Deer and Deer Hunting