d e t s Ve Interest By Kevin Kelly
Three veteran hunters reveal what’s in their turkey vests
14 Kentucky Afield Spring 2017
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ECHANICS DON’T LIMIT themselves to one wrench while working on a car; they have toolboxes filled with socket wrenches and screwdrivers to help get the job done. Anglers don’t go fishing with one lure; they carry a tackle box with lures in different shapes, sizes and colors. Likewise, turkey hunters aren’t wired to step into the spring woods ill equipped. They carry what experience tells them they should. In that respect, a turkey vest may be the single most important piece of equipment a turkey hunter owns, next to their shotgun or bow. A good vest holds as much or as little as a hunter wants, but it’s most important functions are keeping equipment organized and close at hand. Three avid turkey hunters recently shared what they carry in their vests, and why. How does it stack up with what will be in your vest this spring? Read on to find out.
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ZAK DANKS Wild Turkey Program Coordinator, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Danks was a freshman at Logan County High School in 1996 and bagged his first gobbler that year. Today, he wears his father’s old turkey vest. “My dad graduated to a nicer turkey vest and I got his,” Danks said. “I use it out of nostalgia. It’s a first-generation turkey vest and David Danks photo it doesn’t have an attached seat on Zak Danks has headed the Ruffed Grouse and Wild it. It’s about worn out, so I’m due Turkey programs as a wildlife coordinator with the for a new one.” Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Danks prefers the hands- since 2016. free option of a mouth call but typically carries a box call and spare chalk, back book. along with a pot call that features a slate “It sounds crazy, but if I’m frustrated with surface on one side and glass on the other. a gobbler, I try to sit tight as much as posAs for strikers, Danks favors wood but will sible,” he said. “We all make moves, and a lot pack a synthetic one. He uses a crow call for of times that will pay off, but there are times locating turkeys but mostly relies on an owl when we should stay put. I’ve found that havhooter. ing a little something to read, even if you’re A map and a compass are musts. If he not in a blind, will keep you sitting there.” packs a decoy, it’s a hen imitation. Carrying binoculars can serve a purSnacks, water and toilet paper always pose beyond providing the ability to see long have a place in his vest, as do a notebook distances without moving. “When things and a pencil to jot down thoughts and fill are slow, I can see songbirds and other cool out his harvest log. He also carries a paper- things in the woods,” he said.
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JASON LUPARDUS Midwest Conservation Field Manager, National Wild Turkey Federation A turkey hunting addict by his own admission, Lupardus’ hunting schedule this spring includes outings in Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Nebraska and Michigan. During the season, he fills a tote with calls and puts it in his truck. Depending on the conditions, or his mood that morning, he picks his calls for the day. Lupardus likes a box call because of its versatility. He’s partial to a particular slate pot call set in American chestnut because he loves the sound of slate and the nostalgia of the wood. “On those wet mornings, the slate call can be hard to work sometimes, so I’ll have a glass call with me,” Lupardus said. “I’ll also have a metal call, so if it is a rainy day, I can still hit that thing and make it hum.” He carries strikers made of hard and soft woods and synthetic material. “Depending on where I’m hunting and what sounds the birds are making I try to really mimic those sounds,” he said. “You have to practice with them a lot. I think it’s important to have a little variety. That way you have something that’s going to work with your pot calls on the worst or best mornings.” Lupardus swears by sealable sandwich bags to protect wood strikers and calls from the elements. “Hunting in the south, we have dew, we have humidity, and the first time you sit down or go through some high brush, your pockets get wet,” he said. “Sandwich bags are a far-overlooked option. They don’t take up a lot of space and they’re cheap.” Several different types of diaphragm calls – from soft single-reed calls to the more
Spring Turkey Season Forecast 16 Kentucky Afield Spring 2017
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complex multi-reed calls for raspier sounds – also come with him. A fighting purr call also may find its way into his vest, especially if he is taking a child hunting because it’s easy enough for a child to operate. Lupardus stows his headlamp in a pocket after arriving to his set-up spot and brings two facemasks – one is lighter weight and the other is heavier weight. He also packs an extra glove. Additional items that hitch a ride in his vest include a GPS unit, a pen, pruners,
Turkey hunters in Kentucky can expect to see better numbers of gobblers but fewer jakes during the 2017 spring season. “We should have plenty of 2-yearold birds out there gobbling and providing good opportunity for folks,” said Zak Danks, wild turkey program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “I’m pretty excited about it. Of course, we’re going to cross our fingers and hope for good weather. The early season weather really impacts things. If we get good weather, people will get out and should have some good action.”
sandpaper for roughing up pot calls, collapsible decoys, snacks, toilet paper and water. Lupardus recommends bringing some hunter orange fabric if it’s not already part of the vest. “Whether you’re draping it over a bird that you’ve shot, which I think is critically important, or if you have been successful calling in another hunter, you can quietly pull out that orange and wave it a little bit,” he said. “That might save your hunt. And I’ve had it happen.”
Thanks to an extensive restoration effort carried out from 1978-1997, wild turkeys now can be found in every Kentucky county. The statewide flock numbers an estimated 200,000 to 240,000 birds. Turkey nests and poults are prone to predation and other potential harm, such as extreme weather. In 2016, Kentucky experienced above-average rainfall in May and the second-wettest July on record. The number of poults per hen suffered. The annual brood survey estimated 1.6 poults per hen, down from a five-year high of 2.3 poults per hen in 2015.
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SCOTT CRONIN Agriculture Education teacher at Muhlenberg County High School-West Campus, Cabela’s Pro Staff Cronin spends upward of 70 days a year in the turkey woods, either hunting or helping others. “When you pack your vest for the beginning of the season, you need to be diverse and you need to be able to change it up,” he said. “You don’t need to go into the woods with a 60-pound turkey vest.” Cronin carries several locator calls – a crow call, owl hooter and pileated woodpecker call. He also may carry a wood duck call. “It doesn’t matter what part of Kentucky you’re in, sometimes you can get a bird to sound off with it,” he said. “That’s a lastditch effort unless I’m around the swamps in western Kentucky.” A slate pot call and a glass pot call paired with flare-tipped one-piece strikers always come with him. He likes a coarse slate surface because it produces a relaxed, confident hen sound. “That’s a call I can’t get aggressive with,” he said. Another essential is a box call. “I like a box that has a ton of rasp but it also has the ability to get me high pitch,” he said. “I don’t ever focus on my box call being what’s going to close the deal because I never plan on closing the deal with both hands occupied. The
phragm calls. “I have what I consider my finishing call that I can purr and do soft clucks on it really well and almost have a yelp that just barely breaks,” he said. “Most of the time, I’ll have a bat wing diaphragm call to talk soft on. A lot of times it will be a thinner latex and a lot less stretch than another call that I’ll run, a split V that’s got a tremendous amount of tension and thicker latex that allows me to get a little more aggressive on my cutting and yelping.” Sandpaper and scrubbing pads for his pot calls go into a small plastic container. A personal water filter reduces water weight and snacks help keep his energy up on long days. He also carries a rangefinder, small folding handsaw, pruners and a piece of old camouflage clothing, which he uses to mimic the sound of a bird pitching off the roost. Cronin also packs a heavyduty trash bag. “If I get caught out in the rain and I’ve got to walk back to the truck, it’s not against my pride to take my vest off, put it down in that bag and throw that bag over my shoulder like Saint Nick,” he said. Today’s turkey vests may inTim Wakefield photo clude memory foam cushions, box call is to help me cut and get through breathable mesh backs and kickstands. Be it a hand-me-down or the newest model, a the wind.” Twenty years of experience have taught turkey vest should be functional and hold Cronin that he only needs to pack a few dia- exactly what the hunter needs. n
The good year in 2015 bodes well for hunters seeking bigger birds this season. “We may have our banner year,” said Kentucky resident Jason Lupardus, who is the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Midwest Conservation Field Manager. “There were reports last spring of lots of jakes running around. That tells me that banner production from two years ago was still in place. Therefore, we should have a lot of 2-year-old birds out there gobbling this year.” — KEVIN KELLY
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