Walking Through the Woods: My Typical Spring Turkey Hunt

I have never killed a turkey. Now I haven’t spring turkey hunted much. I do check if they are in or out of season every time I deer hunt. And they always seem to walk up and taunt me when they aren’t in season.

            But the few times I have had a turkey answer a call in the spring, I understand why people get almost addicted to spring gobbler hunting.

            While I have not yet killed a turkey and have probably made a lot of mistakes and still have more to make. I haven’t just given up and spent all spring fishing. Although some days the frustrations of not having a turkey answer my call makes me think I’d much rather just be on the river.

            I woke up early and headed out to the hunt club at about 5:30 in the morning. Sunrise was at 6:34. I got to the club and the gate was already open. Someone had beaten me there.             They had signed in for the block of the woods I hoped to hunt. So I had to make a quick change of plans. Luckily the second best block of woods on the property for turkey hunting is at the front where I was already parked.

            So I signed in for my block of woods, grabbed my shotgun, my call, and my mask and started walking up the main road. It was pitch dark but a clear morning. You could see a lot of stars.

            You could hear birds chirping everywhere and other kinds of noises. The woods are a bit eerie in the dark. You hear movement and you know something is near you but you can’t see it.

            I turned down a logging road trying to stay quiet as the sun rose behind me. I thought I heard a turkey gobble behind me while it was still dark. But I also thought to myself my brain might be playing tricks on me because that is what I want to hear.

            I waited until the sun rose all the way. There are a lot of sounds in the woods that sound like they could be a turkey for just a second. I heard birds and squirrels chirping. There were owls hooting and geese honking as they flew over.

            I stopped walking and called with high hopes I would have a reply. I had none early.

            I looked around and started evaluating the differences between the woods in the dead of winter during deer season and the lavish lively spring. The thickness of the woods with all of the leaves on the trees is so different. In the winter once all the leaves have fallen you can see for 100’s of yards. In the Spring fully leaved you can’t hardly see 10 yards in front of you.

            Each section of woods almost feels like it’s own room. Like you’re surrounded and protected. I kept hearing squirrels or other things running near me as I walked but I wasn’t seeing anything.

            I was listening for turkeys with high hopes and looking for any sign I could find. Everywhere I looked just seemed like it was where a turkey should be. But when I called, no responses.

            I followed the logging road all the way to where it ended. Then followed the creek all the way to the end of the block of the woods. It’s a very large block of woods. A square that is shaped by two roads, a power line, and the railroad tracks.

            I came out on the open power line and walked toward the railroad tracks. I had intermittently called but gotten no responses. Frustration was starting to set in but I hadn’t lost faith.

            I walked down the railroad tracks. And kept my eyes and ears scanning while calling every 100 yards or so. There are different strategies used for turkey hunting and I started to think run and gun wasn’t the one I should be using.

            I got to the top of the block of woods and walked down the main road. I decided I would go into almost a deer hunting strategy. I found what looked like a good spot down a logging road that is cut down the middle of this block of woods. I sat there and called about every fifteen minutes.

            I sat there for about an hour. At two different points I thought I heard turkeys gobble far off from where I was. But whenever I called, no replies.

            It had gotten to be late morning and it was getting hot. There was a high of 91 that day. And I knew the early morning was probably my only shot. Once it had passed and started to heat up I started my long walk back to the truck.

            I hadn’t lost all hope just yet. I thought maybe on the walk back I could get a turkey to reply to my call. None did reply. I got to my truck, signed out, and unloaded my gun.

            I really let frustration set in. I really had to think to myself why do I get so frustrated about not hearing a turkey. When I deer hunt and don’t see one I can get flustered as well but not as much.

            I have often joked about deer hunting that when you don’t see anything you realized you just spent four hours sitting in a tree. For turkey hunting, when you don’t see or hear anything you were just spent a few hours walking through the woods.

            But I also came to the conclusion that I like living a life of adventure. If I had unlimited money and free time I would spend a lot of it walking through the woods. I might not always pursue turkeys but something else.

            My other options that morning would have been to sit at my computer and do a few things and go run errands. While I will keep wishing for a turkey to answer my calls. I won’t live a boring life and ever regret just going for a walk through the woods.