GO PUBLIC FOR SPRING GOBBLERS

PRIVATE LAND MIGHT SEEM LIKE THE ONLY PLACE TO HARVEST A TOM, BUT NATIONAL FORESTS AND OTHER OPEN LANDS ARE ALSO PRODUCTIVE – HERE’S HOW TO FIND SUCCESS ON THEM!

By Cal Kellogg

I’m a certified self-taught turkey hunting junky. Fall hunting is fun, but the spring season is downright addictive. I’ve killed more spring gobblers than I can remember – well over 60 – and all of them but two were taken on public land.

I’ve killed some jakes, a lot of

2-year-olds and several 3-yearolds with 10-plus-inch beards and weighing up to and beyond 20 pounds. A 20-pound Rio Grande living on public land is a monster.

My biggest gobbler to date was killed a few seasons back. He registered 22.8 pounds with his internal organs removed. He was an elusive old veteran – roosting and traveling with a harem of hens. More about him later.

Some of the following advice runs contrary to the tips given by pro hunters with access to private land with strong turkey populations.

CALLING

Less is more when it comes to harvesting mature birds on public land, so don’t overcall! It’s fun to make a gobbler fire off repeatedly, but that’s not natural. Secondly, on public land all those gobbles can attract another hunter.

Remember, once a gobbler responds to your hen noises you can assume two things. He thinks you’re another turkey, and he has a very good idea about exactly where you are. Light calling plays on his insecurities. You want him to be excited and anxious, so play hard to get.

You don’t need a big array of calls. I hunt with a diaphragm and a friction call. Mastering a diaphragm is a must because it’s a call you can use without the aid of your hands. Your second call should be some sort of friction call. Some guys like a box call, while others use a pot-style friction call.

I’ve used both, but for ease of carrying it’s hard to beat the pot call. My favorites have a glass or Plexiglas striking surface, but ceramic and slate versions work great too.

Learn to purr and yelp. You don’t need to be an expert caller to kill spring

It doesn’t take a wide selection of calls and gear for a successful spring turkey hunt. Here we see the cornerstones of Kellogg’s gear: a friction call, a mouth call and a single hen decoy. Combining these tools with head-to-toe camo and his Remington 870, the author has harvested dozens of public-land gobblers. (CAL KELLOGG) gobblers. All hens sound different. Practice the fly-down sequences with the thigh slapping I used in the hunt described in the sidebar story (page 42). I’ve killed dozens of birds off the roost with my fly-down sequence.

You will need a shock call to locate turkeys later in the day if you don’t kill a bird off the roost. I prefer a crow call or a call that simulates the scream of a red-tailed hawk.

Decoys

A single hen decoy is a must. The benefits of a decoy are multifaceted. First, they take the focus off you. Second, they can bring a reluctant turkey in from a distance. Third, they can put the gobbler into a good position for a shot, and finally, when dealing with a henned-up bird, they can be used to close the deal with zero calling.

The 22.8-pound bird I harvested was roosted on public land with a bunch of hens. As soon as they flew down, the whole flock would move onto private property and mingle with a bunch of chickens on a foothill hobby farm.

The big boy would gobble and gobble, but he wouldn’t leave his hens. I figured out where the birds landed off the roost. I set up my hen decoy well before daylight and wrapped a red bandana around its neck. I wanted Mr. Big to think another gobbler was moving in on his ladies.

Long story shorter, when the birds started flying down, hens were hitting the ground all around