Answering the “should I wait or should I move?” question is one of the toughest skills to acquire when hunting spring gobblers. Here are some factors to weigh when deciding whether to stay or go.  

By Scott Bestul

I do an awful lot of turkey hunting in May, largely because I, a) like the warmer weather and, b) enjoy the broader look at gobbler behavior offered by the fifth month. While seasons typically open in April in the states I hunt, it doesn’t bother me a bit to wait a little to start chasing toms. 

But on this day, my dad and I were pushing the envelope some. In fact, it was the last day of Minnesota’s six-week season, and with trees leafed out and temps in the 60s, it felt like a day more suited to fishing than running a turkey call. But after a ho-hum flydown hunt, dad and I had driven to one of my favorite farms, banged out a series of yelps and got an immediate response from not one — but a pair of gobblers. 

Still, after their enthusiastic first response, the toms turned things quickly into a classic turkey standoff. Admittedly, our original setup felt like a long shot. More than 300 yards of real estate separated us from the gobbling pair and, while we plunked our butts down immediately, I knew we were asking them to come a long way to investigate the hen they’d heard. Fortunately, I was able to spot the birds with my binocular and realized, after a few volleys back and forth, that this exchange could be at the stalemate stage. 

On the one hand, we could dig in our proverbial heels and get just as stubborn as the turkeys. I’ve had that work, more times than I can count, over the years. On the other hand, we could take the fight to the gobblers, using cover and terrain to slip in closer; more than once I’ve wiggled in tight to an obstinate gobbler, yelped and clucked a few times, and barely had time to get the safety off in time to kill the bird.

So what did dad and I do that beautiful May morning? Well, I’ll tell you but you’ll have to wait a bit. Answering the “should I wait or should I move?” question is one of the toughest skills to acquire when hunting spring gobblers, and arriving at the right decision requires careful consideration. Here are some factors to weigh when deciding whether to stay or go.  

Property Size

Perhaps the most obvious factor in this decision is the simplest; do you have room to move? Some of my best turkey properties are scary-small, as in 20-40 acres, and on ground like this, it’s not only the safest, but the wisest, choice to simply sit still and force birds to come to me. In fact, moving around a lot — a tactic that comes with the risk of bumping the very turkeys you’re hunting — is often counterproductive; I don’t believe turkeys are “smart” (as in capable of thought), but they are super-sharp about places they encounter danger and places they don’t. Bump birds much on a small tract, and they may simply start avoiding it on principle.

On the other hand, I hunt huge tracts of public land in Wisconsin, with more moving room than I can handle in a season, much less a three- or four-day hunt. Plus, the terrain is rolling and the cover thick, which means that if I’m careful I can re-position on a gobbler with little fear of spooking him. And not to sound too cavalier, but if I bump one bird I’ve got plenty of territory to cover to find another one. In short, I can afford to be aggressive on an individual bird, knowing that, with a little work I can find another. 

Available Time

Among the biggest factors to consider when making the move-or-stay decision is, how much time do you have to work the turkey? I remember well when several of the states I hunted closed at noon or 1:00 p.m. — still true for Missouri — and any time I struck a late-morning turkey I knew the clock was ticking on any decision I had to make. Of course, the same holds true if I run into a hot turkey in the evening (and yes, this happens). And of course, I’m often limited to a few hours of hunting, like when I squeeze in a flydown hunt but have to be at work by 8:30 or 9 a.m. I tend to be a little more aggressive on such hunts, pushing the envelope if I feel I have a chance at getting tight to the bird. 

On the flip side, there are situations where patience is practically demanded. Whenever I bowhunt turkeys I just set my mind to a different pace; one where I dig in and wait for turkeys to make a mistake. The caveat here is, I’ve typically done the necessary homework of scouting and listening to birds. I know where they like to be and the times of day they prefer to be there. So if I’ve done all of this prep work, why bomb around, potentially bumping the very gobblers I’ve invested so much time in. In my mind, far better to rely on MRI (most recent information) and let turkeys do what they already want to do, albeit with a little coaxing from my calls and decoys. As my old friend and turkey expert Mark Drury likes to say, “Time means nothing to a turkey!”

Breeding Phase

One of the most critical factors to any turkey hunt is having some kind of handle on the breeding progression of area birds. If your state opens, as many do, before the breeding peak occurs, the potential for gobblers coming eagerly to calling skyrockets. This situation is comparable to the late pre-rut for whitetails; while males of the species are primed and ready, most females are not ready to breed. This leaves the guys highly vulnerable to calling, as the girls they’ve been pestering have been largely uninterested. Suddenly they hear one who sounds receptive, and it’s off to the races! Whenever I know I’m ahead of peak breeding, I tend to be more patient, even with a bird who gobbles a lot but doesn’t seem to be moving. Generally, if I just settle in and keep talking to him, I feel I have a good chance of him breaking and coming in. 

But once hens become receptive, the gloves may have to come off. I’ve hunted with some of the country’s very best turkey callers, and to a man they’ll admit that they’re usually not good enough to call a tom away from a hen that’s determined to breed. If you’ve got any fade in your camo, you’ve heard and/or seen this; a gobbler, one that may even talk to you now and then, in the company of a hen that is determined to be the only show in town. She will sass you, boss you around, and do her very best to lead your longbeard into a place where she has his full and complete attention. When turkeys are behaving like this, I almost always get pretty aggressive, especially if I can see the offending love-duo (or more) and use terrain and cover to get tight with them or, even better, anticipate their route and get ahead of them. Once again, calling to a bird 50-100 yards off — and already heading your direction — is usually far more successful than yelping from afar. 

Once the breeding peak has finished, things get really interesting again. I’ve had such a wide range of responses from late-season gobblers that I view it as one of my favorite times to hunt. I’ve had gobblers literally run to a hen yelp from a half-mile, while others seem to yawn at girl-talk but are desperate to group up with their fellow toms, and yet others almost yawn at calling as if they simply want things to be over. This is the time when I mix patience and aggression; if I strike a gobbler the first thing I do is sit down and take some time to figure him out. But if he’s not moving, I put my track shoes on and take the fight to him. It’s a balancing act, but also an excellent time to kill one of the biggest toms of the season.    

Gobbling Temperature

There are plenty of skills that a successful turkey hunter must acquire, but few more important than the ability to read a bird’s mood by the frequency and intensity of his gobbling. My old-school buddies refer to this as “taking his temperature,” and, of course, we have all heard of this in one form or another. If a gobbler is letting it rip, we say that he’s “hot.” And most of us know enough to plunk our butts down and let the gobbler walk into his own death. 

But any temperature below “smoking” can sometimes be difficult to read. For example, the gobbler who starts out hot but then responds only occasionally. Or one who gives a good roar or two right off, then shuts up. What do you do with birds like those? Is the tom with a hen and simply hoping to draw another into his harem, or is he just an old stubborn tom who’s used to planting his feet and waiting for girls to come running?

There are rarely easy answers to figuring out these lukewarm turkeys. Sometimes changing up calls will fire one up. On another bird a long period of silence will pique his curiosity or irritate him enough to make him gobble hard and come walking in. On a third bird, just the smallest change in calling location can make him think his girls are getting away (or coming closer) and he’ll start gobbling his head off again. One of my favorite tactics, assuming I have time, is to just keep mixing up yelping and gobbling and clucking and fighting purrs, which will often attract another gobbler, who comes in and completely changes the dynamic. Often the original gobbler will realize he’s got competition and bluster his way in, the lead suddenly removed from his feet. 

Taking a gobbler’s temperature is a skill honed over many seasons and probably never completely mastered. But I try to learn something from every turkey, whether I kill him, bump him or never completely figure out why I failed. This, in my mind, is the beauty of spring gobbler hunting; dueling with turkeys as often as possible, losing some showdowns while celebrating others … and learning something from each one.

Conclusion   

So what did dad and I do with that pair of late-season gobblers? Well after a series of gobbles in response to our yelps, the buddy birds drifted off just a bit. While they gobbled every once in a while, we were able to read their mood just enough to know that they were losing interest. It was time to make something happen. 

I actually shut up for a time, not caring if the birds wandered off a bit. I knew they were close to a good food source and wouldn’t stray far. Then we packed up, crept into a nearby woodline, and started cutting the distance to the birds. One of the beauties of hunting in May is abundant foliage often makes moving toward birds highly possible. And in this case we were able to slip so close it was almost too close.

When we’d approached to what I thought was about 75 yards from the last gobble, I pulled out a pot call and made a simple cluck and purr. The responding double gobble was so ferocious we literally dove for cover, scrambling to set up. And within minutes a pair of pulsing white heads were in view. While I knew no calling was necessary to lure the birds into gun range, I wanted the toms to focus on my position and hopefully not spot any movement dad made as he raised his gun. Seconds later the 870 boomed and a late-season trophy was dead in the clover. 

We don’t always choose the right option when answering the “stay or go” question — but that day, happily, we did.