By STEVE GILLILAND
Exploring Kansas Outdoors
I used to get really excited about this time each year at the thought of spring turkey season; not so much anymore. I still hunt them, and I still get excited at the possibility of matching wits with a lovesick ole’ gobbler, but I guess I don’t enjoy bumbling and fumbling around in the dark as much anymore, trying to find that spot I had prepared to sit, or trying to navigate the fields and woods in the dark on older, more unstable legs than the ones that used to carry me along.
I’m not a real seasoned turkey hunter, but I have learned a thing or two, mostly by mistake, about the pursuit of Kansas gobblers. A tried-and-true way of putting yourself on turkeys at first light is to be set up to call them as they leave the roost in the morning. You need to be close, but not too close and you need to be able to get there without being seen or heard by the still-roosted birds. More than once I’ve set up in the morning where I saw birds late the night before and assumed I knew where they roosted, only to be scared spitless the next morning when a big tom gobbled much too near to me in the dark. My error was in not knowing for certain where they roosted and assuming I could come close enough. So, if calling birds as they leave the roost in the morning is your game, either stick around long enough the night before or come back after dark and do some coyote howls or owl hoots to know for sure where they are.
Also, shoot a couple shells through your shotgun to make certain you know where it hits and how the shot pattern looks. I’ve always been told to aim at the featherless part of their throat just below the head; that puts pellets above and below that point and will quickly kill the bird. Also invest in tick treated clothing or buy some good tick repellent spray to spray your outer clothing.
Another thing I’ve learned is not to give up too easily on birds you might spook. Once spooked, you will probably not get a shot at those birds anymore that day where you happen to spook them, but quietly leave and get set up somewhere ahead of them and the game is still on. A few years ago I built a blind out of brush the landowner had cut at the end of a field a couple hundred yards from where I knew a small group of turkeys was roosting. What I hadn’t planned for was the couple lone jakes roosting by themselves just a short distance from my blind.
After they had “called my bluff,” and the group I knew about had shunned me too, I set up again along a creek just around the corner of the same wooded pasture and started calling. The two jakes that had busted me came running enthusiastically and probably would have run over me had I not shot the first one.
Despite what the pros might say, turkey calling does not have to be flawless. Yes, it’s good to know enough that your calls are not screaming bad things about a gobbler’s mother, but in my opinion it’s much more important to be in the right spot and to be well camouflaged, quiet and still.
The 2024 spring turkey season in Kansas runs from April 1 - 16 for youth/disabled hunters, from April 8 - 16 for archery only, and the resident firearms season from April 17 – May 31; that’s a long season. In my mind there is no excuse not to buy a spring turkey permit for $32.50 and hit the woods. If you’re new to turkey hunting, attend a seminar or find an experienced hunter to take you along and experience that sickness known as spring wild turkey hunting as you Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].