Hot spots for turkey
Connecticut
This year will be my first time trying to turkey hunt. Never done it before and really don't know how to go about it. I'm looking for some state land to hunt them but I'm not really having good luck.. I've heard barn island and assekonk swamp is a bust. My only other option is rose hill. Anyone know anything about these areas? Or maybe some other good spots to try n get one?
shawn - I don't know that part the state at all, but the best way to locate birds is to go out just before sunrise in April and cover some ground while listening for the toms gobbling. Look for "V" shaped scratching on the ground, dropping under roosting trees, tracks in soft mud and feathers on the ground. Go to the DEEP hunting map site and check out every piece of state land near home open to turkey hunting. Half the fun is finding them :)
Good luck!
Shawn, the DEEP is doing 2 turkey seminars, one in the Eastern part of the state and one in the Western part. It won't give you the spots, but it may help you shorten your learning curve. Check this out:
Wild Turkey Hunting Safety Seminars: Both experienced and first-time turkey hunters stand to benefit from attending one of these seminars. These programs provide "A to Z" hunting information, including safe hunting practices, specialized equipment, calls and decoys, site setup, and other strategies for harvesting turkeys. A Wildlife Division biologist will also present information about wild turkey biology, population trends, and management history in Connecticut. Participants will have an opportunity to pattern their shotguns for turkey hunting following classroom instruction. To do so, participants must bring the shotgun they intend to use during the spring turkey season, ammunition, a shotgun choke appropriate for turkey hunting, and eye and ear protection. Maximum enrollment for each seminar is 50 participants. Pre-registration is REQUIRED. Call 860-424-3015 to register.
Western Connecticut Wild Turkey Hunting Seminar When: Saturday, March 11, 2017, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM Where: Fairfield County Fish and Game Protective Association, 310 Hammertown Road, Monroe, CT, 06468
Eastern Connecticut Wild Turkey Hunting Seminar When: Saturday, April 1, 2017, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM Where: Franklin Swamp Wildlife Management Area, 391 Route 32, North Franklin, CT, 06254
Thanks a lot ace. I did already sign up for that 2 weeks ago so I'm hoping to learn a lot at the seminar. I think my biggest challenge will be finding them. Out of all the times I've been hunting I only seen turkeys once this year and it was on a scout.. I did get really close to them. Within 20 yards. But that's the only time I've seen any. Sounds like rose hill had taken the most birds in my area so I'm thinking about trying there.
You don't have to "find them" the same way you do deer, you just need to get to within earshot, and they can hear REALLY well. You will learn a lot at that seminar, the guys who teach them are very experienced hunters.
Are you going to be at either one Ace?
Shawn - do what I suggested and if the birds are gobbling you'll know they're in the area. Early mornings and just before sunset is the best time to listen for them. I also would drive around the back roads and look for them in the fields in the spring before the season started, they're easy to spot when they're strutting.
Shawn, they'll sound off on the roost well before its shooting light. Just listen for them and get as close as possible. Set up and call once or twice so the Tom knows your there. Then shut up. Wait for him to fly down and then call a little bit. He'll either come in or walk away. If he comes in it's pretty cool seeing them all lit up. Then you kill him and you go home.
About mid-morning you can locate other Toms by "running and gunning" until you get a bird to answer to you. Lots of walking until you find one. The hens will be back on the nests and the Toms will be out looking for love. Now is the time to sit and call them in once you get a gobble. Then at noon you have to be out of the woods.
Shawn the "hot spots" for turkeys are where the turkeys are that day. I know that sounds evasive, but they don't always stay in the same area for long. They will move according to food source and or breeding cycle. Just remember this; no two days in the turkey woods are alike. Sometimes no two hours are alike. Be versatile and you will be consistently successful!!!
There are some days during the hunting season when you won't hear a single gobble at sunrise, but a bird will sneak in on you unexpected. Then there are mornings when they're gobbling all over the place, but none will come close enough for a shot. Great fun!
BBB - You nailed it; That's the essence of turkey season in a nutshell. I spend between 40 and 50 days a year in the turkey woods and I have seen their attitudes change from good to bad and bad to good in a split second. It is so much fun, especially when they are responsive.
Ooooo sounds fun.. Cant wait.. I've never really got into bird hunting and to be honest it doesn't appeal to me as much as deer hunting but its another reason to get out and hunt.. I do think they are pretty cool.. Especially when they respond and they come wobbling in..
If they're wobbling they're probably rabid, so don't get near them ??
I dont mean like that BBB. I mean how they run in they have a little wobble to them!!
That's GOBBLING Shawn, not wobbling! :-)
Crow, I'll be at the Monroe class helping out.
No guys your killing me!!!! When I watch turkey hunting shows and they start coming in it looks like they wobble side to side.. Not a lot.. Just a little.. I'll post a video of what I mean when I find one
Ok here ya go.. Its a farm turkey but you can see him when he runs he wobbles slightly side to side.. Sry to confuse you guys. Your all prob like wtf is this kid talking about..lol
No Shawn we understand. Its when they actually come running in that they waddle as they go. Usually they don't come running in, they just saunter up near you, stopping to strut every other couple of steps. When you see them come a waddling you are in high cotton as far as turkey hunting is concerned.
shawn - I knew exactly what you meant, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a bit of fun with you. I actually had one huge tom come running in that was so fat he kept stumbling, looked like a fat drunk :)
And remember - if you get a nice fat bird, you need to field dress it ASAP and open the cavity as wide as you can and place your head in the opening and wear the bird out of the woods like a hat. It's the easiest way to carry it ;) No need to wobble though.
BBB,i have a friend that would do that,then stuff it ..hmmm..right before he put it in the oven..i ate the crakers..lol
Nice BBB.. I think if I even hear one turkey this year I'm calling it a success.. So I should hunt them from a blind?? Why not straight from the ground? I got that chick on a stick to hide behind.. Its a Jake.. What do you guys think about one hen decoy with him? Also I have a strut cutter call.. Would this be a good combo??
Shawn - I'm a new turkey hunter myself. So far, I have eaten a lot of chicken during the season, but I will be out there again this year. I enjoy learning and each time out is a new lesson. I had my so out for the youth season the first year. Propped him against a tree and I sat 10 yards behind him for calling purposes. I actually managed to call one in!.... only to discover my son was fast asleep against his tree while the turk looked around and eventually tried to mount the decoy 25 yards in front of him. I tried flicking a few pebbles at the kid to no avail. Took a couple pics of him against the tree with the turk in the foreground, and then yelled his name to wake him so he could at least see the bird hightail it out of there... Next season I plan to tie some fishing line around his ear so I can wake him more discreetly.
Wish I had more useful advice for you. Have heard you can blow a crow or owl call and get them to gobble and reveal their location when they are still up in the trees. I have had mixed results with this, but then again, my crow and owl calling skills may just suck.
If you hunt with a gun you don't need a blind.....just be in full camo from head to toe including a face mask. If you go with a bow, it's super hard to kill a bird without a blind. Some guys set up a decoy right next to a huge tree/rock wall and sit on the other side of it. They draw when the tom comes around the tree/wall toward the decoy and kill it. Without a pop-up blind it's way harder than deer hunting from the ground. You aim its head with a gun and you aim right above the legs with a bow if the bird is broadside, unless you feel confident enough to hit its head with an arrow.
I use one hen decoy but you can also use a jake with a fan tail to excite the tom to come in and drive off the youngster. I just find a nice big tree that's comfortable to lean against and my turkey hunting vest has a built in cushion that unclips from the back and swings under my butt. I use a 12 ga pump with a full choke that is painted camo with 3" magnum turkey load. Make sure your gun can only hold 3 shells.
I get to my spot about 30 minutes before sunrise, just as the sky is getting light, and use an owl call to get the toms to gobble off the roost. I then move quickly to a tree about 200 yards from the roosted birds, set up and start doing some soft tree calls (like yelp, just a lot softer).
At times I've had birds hang up, so I get up and move quickly away from the bird, do a couple of yelps and cackles and then run up about 60-70 yards back towards the bird and set up. Hopefully I didn't spook him and will get him when he advances. You've got to remember that the toms gobble because they want to the hen to come to them, and to let other toms know their in the area, so smart old birds don't like walking right into the call, especially if they have some pellets in the ass from last season.
It's all cat and mouse, lots of fun.
Thanks for all the great info bbb.. Im excited to go..No gun for me.. Haven't taken my firearms course yet. I'm doing the first online part next week.. Bow hunting appeals to me way more than using a gun. Prob is I don't have a pop up blind so ill just try n hide behind something.
I've taken 3 birds with a bow and none with a blind. Wait till the bird goes behind a big tree, big rock or other natural screen and draw back. It's a great challenge. The first one I took was from a treestand, so that's an option as well. But you don't have the mobility you may need to keep in front of the bird. Watch for coyotes coming in as well when you're calling, had that happen more than once.
They are going bullchit now. Lots of gobbling and strutting with this nice weather.
Get out and scout.
O I hope I do call in a yote. I'll whack the sh%$ out of him. I really want to get one bad... Haven't had the opportunity yet.. Real close call but couldn't get my arrow nocked quick enough...
Bob your story is much like mine, in that I have only taken a handful of turkeys with a bow, and coincidentally my first was from a treestand. I hate to even say how many turkeys I have killed, for fear of you guys think I'm bragging, but killing them with a bow just doesn't do it for me. IN my opinion, and its only my opinion, so take it for what its worth, turkeys were meant to be hunted with a shotgun. However, Connecticut is quickly becoming a state where hunting them with a gun may be a thing of the past. The fun of hunting them with a gun is the chase and set or some would call it run and gun. The decisions that have to be made before and during the hunt make it the ultimate chess match. But, the catch is you need plenty of land to roam and that amount of land is quickly dwindling. Bob up in your corner of the state I know that it is still possible, but trying to find those permissions today if you don't already have one is becoming increasingly more difficult. Anyway sorry I got of on a rant, but I could talk turkey all day long. Good luck Shawn
I got the 14th legal bird in ct's 1st legal season, got a plaque for it. I've taken a bird every season for the next 28 yrs after the opener. Took off the last few years but getting back into it this year.
Strutting for the ladies
Strutting for the ladies
Pics from this morning scouting
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "putting them to sleep", that is, calling after sunset when they are roosted, a gobble or two. They will gobble back at you and spend the night up in that tree. You get near in the dark the next morning and call to them before they fly down for the day.
Bob,
A string of 28 years taking a turkey? Wow! That's incredible, remarkable, surprising, or, ya know.......just saying. :)
WB - I had several spots in the NW corner where I would take first time hunters and guarantee them an opportunity at a bird, there were that many. In fact, one spot is the place where the DEEP first released the birds captured in NY. The reason I went to using a bow was because I wanted more of a challenge. I think now there are fewer birds and they're a lot smarter, so the hunt is a bit more difficult. I never put the birds to roost because it's an hour drive to where I hunt and I didn't see the need, but it is a great way of knowing where to find them in the morning.
Wow soo many options here. I dont have the opportunity to get out and scout much so Its prob going to be a dud this season for me.. Really busy with work and the wife working and 3 kids.. Just no time anymore.. I'll just park behind BBB and follow him when he leaves to hunt..lol.. That crunching you heard behind you following you through the woods.. It wasn't me!!!
O ya Wilbur what are the gps coordinates to where you took those?? Lol..
WB I didn't mention roosting birds because in my experience that's very unreliable. Many evenings turkeys don't sound off on the roost but are still there. That could give a hunter a false sense of "loneliness", for lack of a better term and he may decide to go hunt another area in fear of nothing being where he is. Also, I have noticed turkeys here in Ct. gobble a whole lot more on the roost in the evenings, than the turkeys I hunt in upstate NY. Don't know what that is about, just my observation.
I'm with longbeard on this, about using my shotgun. As much as I like to bow hunt deer, that's as much as I like to kill turkeys with my shotgun.
The challenge for me is calling the birds close for a shot. When that happens, then I want to kill them, not stick one with an arrow.
I also don't roost birds the night before, never have. Sunset in May is 8:30..then I would have to drive 50 minutes home, only to get up at 2:30 for the 50 minute ride back to my area.
Nope, not happening..
I'm 60 years of age...have gotten smarter as
as I got older....LOL..
Hit the wrong key....which means maybe I'm not as smart as I thought..LOL
Lol air leak.. Yesterday when I grabbed my cam I had these two pics.. Pretty cool.. Getting excited!!!!
Shawn - the FIRST thing you need to be able to do,.......identify a hen and a tom (or jake). Hens have much smaller looking heads and the feathers extend up their necks, are more buff colored, and typically don't have a beards (I did shoot a bearded hen years ago) Tom's, when excited, have powder blue heads, red waddles, beard, and fan their tails. Of course if you see one gobble, it's a tom.
I say this because you will have times where you call in a hen, it's happened to me several times. I just the hen call in the tom for me in that case.
