No agriculture? No fields? No prairies? No problem. Learn how to find and hunt turkeys in the big timber.
Text and photos by Matthew J. Breuer
Picture hundreds, no, thousands, of acres of woods. Mixed hardwoods, small clearings, thick brush and some of the nastiest and noisiest undergrowth anyone could ever try to sneak through. Now picture yourself sitting against a tree in the middle of that timber, waiting for a turkey to walk by. It seems daunting, right? That’s because it is. Throw out everything you know about open-country field birds — it’s time to talk about hunting turkeys in the big woods.
The classic game of cat and mouse that is field hunting for turkeys is always a fun one, and with proper scouting and knowledge, it’s a pretty predictable game to play most days. If you don’t win on day one, more than likely you’re going to win on day two or three. It’s safe to say that if you scout a private field and you have permission to access it, you’re probably going to punch your spring turkey tag. With big-woods turkeys, you’re likely hunting public ground that everyone has access to. If you hear a bird gobble, it’s likely that someone else will, too. The birds roost in different trees every day if they get spooked or feel uncomfortable. They change up their feeding habits nonstop, and they can be frustratingly unpredictable. It’s no longer a game of cat and mouse when you’re hunting turkeys in the big timber, it’s like playing chess.
I’m making it sound impossible. Maybe even downplaying how fun it can be to outsmart a big, old timber gobbler. It’s actually more rewarding than anything else in turkey hunting, in my opinion. Killing a mature bird in the middle of the forest gives me a bigger sense of accomplishment than anything else I do when it comes to turkeys. Follow some of the tips and tricks in this article, and hopefully you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Big-Timber Turkey Gear
Some things will stay consistent, but the bulk of your gear changes. When I talk about bulk, you’re sure to shed the bulk of what you typically carry in when you’re turkey hunting. No blinds, no decoys (or only one or two extremely light and packable dekes), no bulky packs. Just your gun, calls and a comfortable pair of boots. Since most of the hunting you’ll be doing in the timber will be run-and-gun style, you don’t need all of the heavy extras.
Since you’re going to run into situations where you’ll need to throw some shot through low-lying limbs or briars, I highly recommend using Federal Heavyweight TSS. The extra weight of the tungsten shot will help your spread penetrate through some of the possible obstructions.
NOMAD is now offering a pattern with Mossy Oak just for us timber hunters. Mossy Oak Shadow Leaf really caters to hunters chasing birds in the spring in the foliage. Great shadowing and some added greens really help you blend in with the leaves and the undergrowth.
Roost With Passion and Precision
While roosting big-woods birds, don’t think about listening for a bird just to know that you’ve got birds in the area. Don’t strike up a gobble and then walk to your truck grinning because you know you have a shot the next morning. Be precise. Know where that bird is, or try to pinpoint him to the best of your ability. Putting a bird to bed is always exciting, but with turkeys in the big woods, the work has only just begun.
Is he on a ridge? Is he in the open timber or the thick stuff? Is there an echo? Is he turning his head while gobbling on the limb? What’s the best way to access the area where you heard him gobbling? How far is the walk from where he is to where you’re entering the woods, and how noisy is the forest floor? These are all things that only came to mind when I started aggressively chasing turkeys in the big woods. Walking in blind on a hunch rarely works. There’s so much timber to cover that a hunter can waste a lot of time just hoping to bump into some birds or hear a gobble. That’s why scouting roosting sites is so critical. Sound travels and bounces like crazy when you are dealing with thousands of trees around you and the bird. There are ways to tell where a sound came from beyond using your ears.
Good mapping apps like OnX can aid you in your hunt. Pulling up the area and looking for things like ridges, hills, large stands of pines, riverbeds, creeks or even logged areas can be telltale signs. Turkeys in the timber literally have thousands of limbs to choose from when it comes to roosting, but they still like what turkeys like. Use your ears and maps together to pinpoint a bird’s exact location.
Pick Your Opening
This topic actually has a double meaning.
First off, turkeys love open areas in the timber, whether it’s a clearings, timber slashings, trail intersections, flat benches on hillsides, or riverbeds and creek edges. There are several reasons turkeys utilize these areas, most notably strutting. Strut zones almost always look the same, whether in a field or in the forest. They like flat ground with good visibility. In the timber, that means finding an area with some opening. Other reasons these areas hold birds include the ability to feed on abundant insects that often concentrate in the grasses or brush that fill up forest openings, socializing with other birds after fly-down and soaking up some direct sunlight.
The other big reason to concentrate on openings is very simple. You can get a cleaner shot if there aren’t trees or brush in the way.
Maintain the High Ground
If you’re a turkey hunter, you’ve heard the old adage, “You can’t call a turkey downhill.” While it’s not entirely true, it can sure seem that way, and it’s likely because nobody wants to give up high ground.
There are huge advantages to being on higher elevations, and for a visually focused animal such as the turkey, the most obvious one is the increased field of vision. There’s no debating that you can see farther from the top of a hill than you can from the bottom. Another factor is clearer sound. Noise seems to echo and bounce a lot more while at lower elevations. Sounds bounce off the hillsides as well as the trees, making sounds really distort. Always try to call and listen from higher elevations if you can. If you strike up a gobble, or are moving in for your morning sit on a roosted bird, try to set up on higher ground. If you’re hunting relatively flat land, something as small as a mound or small ridge can make a lot of difference.
The other advantage to having high ground is that the terrain is now one of your tools. If you need to adjust or move, you can simply drop off the backside of the hill and slide out, undetected. You can also use the hill as cover if you’re in relatively open timber. If you have a turkey working up the hill toward you, and he won’t see you until he crests a certain height, you have the advantage.
Master the Mouth Call
By “master” I actually mean that you should get comfortable having one in your mouth, and learn to make basic calls on it. I know several really good turkey hunters who have never learned to use a mouth call. Something they all have in common is that they only hunt fields or edges. You can get away with all sorts of movement and tinkering while you’re sitting in a blind or you have your back to the woods with all of the vision in the world in front of you. In the deep timber, where birds appear at 30 yards without warning, moving around isn’t ideal. Learning to mouth call allows you to call and be in the ready position at all times.
If learning how to use a diaphragm isn’t possible, a push-pull call can be effective. Something like the Primos Bombshell is ideal. The Bombshell was designed to be mounted on a shotgun for easy one-handed use. The sound is very good for a simple call, and it limits movement.
Always Be Ready
Speaking of calling, never do it when you’re not in a position to be able to set up in seconds. Big timber turkeys have a knack for showing up, in your lap, before you even hear a peep. If you’re caught standing in the open with your hand in your pocket and your gun slung over your shoulder, you’re not going to feel good about it.
Be ready, even when you think it’s over. I’ve had several opportunities or encounters well after I had given up hope. Maybe you’re hunting two miles from your truck, and you decide that it’s time to walk out with your tail between your legs. Instead of stomping the ground and kicking sticks as you go, be prepared, because you never know what’s over the next ridge or what could be standing in front of you as you walk around a cluster of pines. I’ll state it again, turkeys in the timber are unpredictable.
Failure Equals Success
Nearly all of my memorable big-woods turkey hunts didn’t happen on the first day that I entered that particular tract of land. More often than not, it took me several days to figure out what needed to be done to put me in front of a gobbler. I attribute most of my success to scouting while I was hunting, and failing several times along the way. But, with each failure came success. Being busted by a bird while I was sneaking through an area forced me to stop and observe the location. I’m constantly looking for droppings, scratchings, feathers and observing my surroundings when I do have encounters. If I am seeing birds on the edge of pines to hardwoods transitions, it cuts the learning curve for the following day, as I’ll know where I should be looking. Maybe I’m only seeing scratchings on south-facing slopes. That tells me that the ground is more fertile from the sunlight and that I need to hunt those areas more.
When it comes to big-woods gobblers, don’t ever feel like you’re failing. With every failure something new is learned, and those failures often lead to success.
Patience Is the Key
One of the biggest mistakes turkey hunters make is being impatient. Rushing in to set up before birds fly down is a prime example. When it comes to setting up for birds in the timber, get there early, take your time getting in and setting up, then wait. This is a close encounters game, and you’re going to want to get in tight. When the birds fly down, if things don’t go your way, don’t rush after them. Be patient. Either wait them out, or let them slip away safely before making your next move. Always wait those few extra minutes before leaving every setup you make. You never know when that gobbler will slip in silently, especially in the timber. You could have a bird standing behind a giant oak, staring you down, and you might not see him until you stand up. By then, it’s too late. And with lower turkey densities in many large timber habitats, you can’t afford to spook and educate too many birds when you find them.
It doesn’t matter if you’re chasing Merriam’s turkeys in the tall pines of the Black Hills, or giant Easterns in the vast forests of Minnesota, slowing down and observing your surroundings will help you kill more gobblers in the big woods, and it’ll be an accomplishment you’ll never forget.