Turkey Hunting | How to Fire Up a Silent Spring Tom

Photo Credit: NPS.gov

Right before sunrise is when gobblers get excited. They’re very vocal on the roost and after fly down. It’s like when the lights go out at a pro basketball game, the music begins to pump, and the announcer bellows the starting lineup to a hyped up crowd. But after awhile the turkeys settle in and go quiet.

This is not the time to give up or lose interest. Because turkeys are still cruising the woods, even though you’re not hearing gobbles. In my experience, if you don’t kill a tom off the bat it will often come in silent. Most of the places I’ve hunted it’s been mid-morning before I ever shot a turkey. Maybe they gobbled once or twice before killing them. But oftentimes, they sound off and then you don’t hear from them again until they are in the decoys. Here are a few rules to follow, if gobblers are ghosting you this spring.

Keep Calling, But Keep It Light

This goes for almost anytime you’re turkey hunting (unless it’s a really hot tom): less is more on the call. Don’t be scratching slate or glass constantly. Belt out a call sequence and then wait 15 or 20 minutes. Vary the calls from loud to soft, short sequences to long. Every so often, I like to throw a few very low volume chirps in between call sets. Hens make these very soft sounds that remind me of a leaky faucet. Imagine a droplet falling into a bowl filled with water, and the near silence of that happening. That’s the sound you need to mimic. Turkeys can hear (and see) darn well, and I guarantee most of your competition isn’t making such subtle noises. Try purrs as well, which you can do by dragging the scratcher across a pot call. You can do it with a diaphragm call as well by rolling your uvula, that thing in the back of your throat that looks like a boxing speed bag.

Try Food Plots

After all that morning lovin’ toms are going to be hungry, and one of my go-to spots are beans alfalfa. Turkeys come there to scratch and pick for grubs and worms or eat small bugs to re-energize for the next round of hen action. I won’t typically set up a jake or tom decoy or fan in this situation, but use a few hen decoys. That makes it a relaxed environment where the gobblers can eat and then come check on my hens. Or maybe they didn’t hen up in the morning and this is their opportunity to do so without a fight. Plus, there’s a food source, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone. In the tom’s mind he can mate with the hen and then fill his gullet. It’s a win-win until you give him a permanent lead headache.

Focus on Travel Routes

On a warm mid-morning or afternoon, deer trails are a good place to score an unsuspecting gobbler. Turkeys are just like any other animal—or human for that matter—they are going to take the path of least resistance. Warm days mean they are likely to be on the move, finding hens, food, and the perfect tree to roost in for the night. In these situations, I don’t tend to use a decoy, or maybe I will put a single hen in a place I suspect the turkey will be coming from so his focus is on the decoy and not me. Don’t just sit by any deer trail and think you’re going to kill a gobbler. Look for sign, like feathers or fresh droppings—gobbler scat is typically in a corkscrew pattern. 

Late-Morning Heat

If you can strike up a gobbler after 10 a.m., there’s a good chance he’s coming. If there’s a second gobble, you better find a tree and get ready. One of the tried-and-true methods I’ve learned from fellow hunters who chase spring toms on public land or have access to multiple properties is to walk the woods (as silent as possible), and call. If you don’t hear a gobble, keep moving, stop, and call again. Now, this is a risky way to hunt, because if you are tromping through the woods, cracking sticks and rustling leaves, it’s going to spook birds. You have to be stealthy and patient. If you have permission on multiple private plots, start over if you get through all of them and don’t hear a gobble, especially if it’s a warm/windless day in the 60s and 70s. Toms should be on the move, and will be in different spots at different times of the day, so it’s worth it to make another round of calls.

Pinch Points and Creek Bottoms

If you are hunting a property with multiple fields, think about how turkeys will travel from one field to another. A lot of times there will be one way to get into multiple fields and that is a good place to set up. If you’re on private, and own the place, you can create pinch points with the mower. Cut grass lanes down to entice turkeys to utilize them, and it can produce good results. 

Turkeys have to drink like the rest of us, so water sources like creek bottoms are a fantastic option to set up on. They will travel along creeks too, so be on the lookout for tracks and feathers in such places. 

Don’t Be Too Eager to Move

On small public or private tracts, don’t get in a hurry to change locations after the morning gobbles die out. I like to wait 20 or 30 minutes after I hear the last gobble and then go set up in a known strut zone. High ridges, hidden fields, and clearings are all places I’ll set up on when there isn’t much property to hunt. And I stick there the rest of the day. My thought process is “this is a small piece of ground. I’m going to do more damage than good ambling around calling and chasing.” It can be frustrating and downright boring to sit there sometimes, but it’s panned out for me enough that I am willing to play the waiting game.

Be Willing to Shoot a Jake

Some hunters are averse to shooting anything but a boss tom, and I won’t argue with them. I’ve just found that if you run across a turkey (and I mean any legal turkey) late in the day, shoot it, because there’s a good chance that’s the only bird you’re going to see. I totally understand if populations are suffering and you only want to shoot a tom. But if a jake runs into my decoy spread at noon, it’s getting shot, and I won’t apologize for it.