HUNTING
FROM FIELD...
Though turkey season is winding down and fewer gobblers are available, making the right moves can still put a tom on your table. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
STAR IN THE LATE SHOW QUALITY CALLS, DIFFERENT DECOYS CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE WHEN HUNTING APRIL GOBBLERS By Scott Haugen
A
s turkey season winds down, don’t give up hope. If there’s still a tag in your pocket, getting out and trying different approaches than what you used early in the season can be the key to success.
DECOY CHANGEUPS Start by revisiting places you hunted earlier in the season, where you know toms were. But when revisiting such areas, base your approach on what’s happening in the woods, along with turkey behavior, now that it’s in the late season.
Early in the season, hens are breeding, the grass is short, and jakes and young toms are aggressive in their attempts to breed, which sets off aggressive behaviors among mature toms. Late in the season, hens tend their broods, the grass is tall and surrounding vegetation thick, and jakes and 2- to 3-year-old toms are in the early stages of forming bachelor flocks. On top of that, mature toms become more sedentary in their movement, as food, moisture and cover are often available in one place. Based on what’s happening this time of year, use decoy combinations
that make sense to turkeys, and situate them so they’re highly visible. “In the last half of the season I’m using a full-body strutter decoy,” shares guide Jody Smith (jodysmithguideservice.com). “I use a strutting tom and an upright hen and place the hen between my blind and the tom, with both walking toward me. I position the strutting tom decoy so a distant tom can easily see the fanned tail. This will often catch the attention of mature toms late in the season and get them coming. Once they get close enough to see the hen decoy, it’s game over!” In most of the situations where I’ve
calsportsmanmag.com | APRIL 2022 California Sportsman
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