Published: March 23, 2008 12:43 am         

Take a stance for gobblers

You know, traditional ways of doing things work. That’s why they have become traditions. But sometimes you have to think outside your butt.

Don’t think I’m being crude. Please, let me explain.

One of the traditions of spring gobbler hunting is that you sit down when a gobbler is coming to your calling. The theory is a simple one. By hunkering down on the ground, your back against a tree, you become a more difficult visual target for the mega-keen eyes of an old Tom bird with his neck stretched as high as it will go.

Obviously, there are times when this is the way to go. Like I said, it’s a tradition.

I keep somewhat detailed records of my successful spring gobbler hunts. I know, for example, how many of my birds were killed with various sizes of shot and which shotgun bagged which bird. The records go on and on and I actually add to them over the years, usually from memory.

The records go back to my first gobbler in 1988, but it just recently dawned on me to list how many birds I bagged when I was sitting and how many I killed when I was standing.

Of the 24 gobblers, eight became toe-tag material when I shot them from a standing position.

But here is the thing, I can think back on at least a half-dozen gobblers that I probably would have gotten had I been standing instead of sitting. Those are the kinds of birds that stopped and gobbled for a half hour just over the crest of a ridge or a knoll and then crept away. Those are the silent birds that you would have seen before you spooked them had your eyeballs been five or six feet off the ground instead of elevated only a couple feet. I’ll bet you can recall similar situations from your hunting past.

In recent years, I have begun hunting from an upright position more and more.

Think about it. If you watch a gobbler show on TV, the person will always be sitting, whether they are in a blind or not. That’s because the TV gobblers are killed in flat places. ‘Round here, there is a definite lack of flat places.

Try this. When you begin to work a bird, if there is a chance it might come from an area that isn’t flat and straight in front of you, try to find a big tree. You can do two things. You can stand with the tree at your back, counting on your camouflage to make you become a part of the forest, even to something as ocularly acute as a gobbler. Or, and I like this method, you can stand behind the tree with just an eyeball or two peering around it and watching for the bird.

Our woodlands have so many trees that there will almost always come an opportunity when the bird’s head is shielded from you by an oak or a hickory. That will be your signal to quickly shoulder the shotgun and get in firing position.

As you might imagine, if the gobbler is not alone, if it is with other bearded birds or with hens, this task becomes increasingly more difficult. Let’s say the boss bird has five other turkeys with him. That’s 12 turkey eyeballs you have to fool. Good luck.

When I find myself in such a situation, I let the birds come very close. I forget about the other birds and wait for the eyes of my targeted turkey to be obscured. At that point I slowly but surely raise the firearm to my shoulder.

It has been my experience that if you spook a lone gobbler that he will quickly run or fly, but if you spook a gobbler with other birds that he tends to hang around just long enough to allow you a shot. This can be especially true if the gobbler is in strut and attempting to impress a hen that you just alerted to your presence.

The trick in this situation is to not get excited and shoot too quickly. Believe me, I am telling you this because I learned it from experience. A sort-of-spooked gobbler at 15 yards distance that knows other birds are concerned, but who has not seen you, will sometimes walk, putt and try to figure out what the bleep is going on, giving you the chance you need.

So, if someone tells you to get off your butt and bag a gobbler, take that advice literally.

Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.