How to take on WMA birds?

[catman529]

I'll be down in Maury County this spring hunting for my first gobbler (and hopefully 3 more to follow) on the Yanahli WMA. I know the deer really lie low there...didn't get my first deer, saw them at dusk on one trip and didn't see any on the other trip. 2 trips isn't a lot though. Hopefully I will be out more during the spring.

How do WMA birds act compared to private land birds? I'll be using a tube call at least part of the time which isn't very widely used, so the birds might not attribute the sound of it to a hunter if they get a lot of hunting pressure. Should I call less, locate roosts, or what? I went turkey hunting once last spring with a friend and after an hour or two of occasional calling, one came in gobbling a lot but then shied away after spotting the strutting decoy. So I'd say that was easy to call...but that was on private land.

Any tips for the WMA? Besides being persistent of course. thanks

 

[knightrider]

roostinng a bird and getting close[i try for 75 or closer] in the dark is key on pressured birds,call little just enough to let him know your there, and be very carefull with tom decoys on wma's[dont want to get shot]

 

[catman529]

sounds like what I was kind of thinking. I don't plan on using a tom decoy anyway. and if I hear some other hen calling I might be pissed but I'd rather make sure it's not someone who fell asleep in their hunter safety class.

 

[TNTomtaker01]

Walk and walk and just when you think you have walked enough walk a little more. Stick with light purrs and clucks no yelping. Find the birds that no one want to mess with the ones the require wading the river or some other obstacle that will stop the majority of people. Make sure your back goes aginst something that is wider than your body. Leave the strutting decoy at home that will get ya shot.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Don't be pissed if you hear another hen, try and argue with it, mimick every call she makes twice as loud and raspy as she is doing, 9 times out of 10, if she has some dominance, she will come in for a fight, and usually dominant hens bring in toms in tow right behind her, happened to me several times, I think 75 yds is pushing it in trying to get set up on a roosted bird, especially wma birds who are already extremely people shy, 100-150 yds is more idealistic, I wouldn't call to him while he is in the tree either, id wait for it to get a little daylight, then beat the heck out of my hat against my leg to simulate a turkey flying down, then make a few soft yelps, and then go from there

 

[TNTomtaker01]

I think 75 yds is pushing it in trying to get set up on a roosted bird, especially wma birds who are already extremely people shy, 100-150 yds is more idealistic,

Not to try to argue with you but on public land i will be that guy within 30 yards of his tree 2 hours before daylight if terain will alow it. I have killed lot of pressured / smart birds by getting tight, or simply getting between him and his hens.

 

[catman529]

Don't be pissed if you hear another hen, try and argue with it, mimick every call she makes twice as loud and raspy as she is doing, 9 times out of 10, if she has some dominance, she will come in for a fight, and usually dominant hens bring in toms in tow right behind her

If thats the case I would do just what you said, but I was saying if I hear another hen, it might be someone else calling, so I have to be careful...I dont want to get shot by some idiot who shoots movement in the bushes.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Yea you got to be careful about that especially on public land, you shouldn't be approaching a hen as it is, especially on public land, I would never use a gobbler call on public land either lol, that's asking for trouble, oh and I saw on your signature that you hunt morels as well, I picked about 20 lbs of them last year

 

[catman529]

Nice, 20 pounds is a lot...saw a bag of dried morels weighing less than an ounce going for $19 at whole foods market yesterday. I don't know if you can legally take mushrooms from WMAs (you can't take plants, rocks, etc but the law does not include mushrooms). I have not hunted morels yet, but I will this spring. What areas do you find them growing in? Near certain trees or near rivers?

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Neither dark wet hollers is where I picked the Majority, they grow almost everywhere near dead logs, opens woods, or places that often stay wet, but I always use an old orange bag, one from the supermarket, that has holes all in it, so the spores can continue to spread, don't pull the whole mushroom out or they might not grow back next year, and yea they are expensive, they are usually only up for no more than 2 weeks out of a year, and that's usually right in the middle of turkey season, speaking of that, I shot one of my biggest toms by just walking around in a holler picking mushrooms, I yelped once at the start of the holler and by the time I came to the end I heard something walking, so I dropped to one knee and 2 toms came right around the corner, they immediately saw me and knew something was up, they started putting so I shot the biggest of the 2, and by gosh if I didn't just paralyze him with the shot, I walked up to it, and it sat there with all of its wings spread out just looking at me, I used my a shotgun like a bat and knocked him in the head, lol, he gobbled each time I hit him in the head, and finally I just grabbed his neck and shook it, till he died, they are tough sons of guns

 

[catman529]

Neither dark wet hollers is where I picked the Majority, they grow almost everywhere near dead logs, opens woods, or places that often stay wet, but I always use an old orange bag, one from the supermarket, that has holes all in it, so the spores can continue to spread, don't pull the whole mushroom out or they might not grow back next year, and yea they are expensive, they are usually only up for no more than 2 weeks out of a year, and that's usually right in the middle of turkey season, speaking of that, I shot one of my biggest toms by just walking around in a holler picking mushrooms, I yelped once at the start of the holler and by the time I came to the end I heard something walking, so I dropped to one knee and 2 toms came right around the corner, they immediately saw me and knew something was up, they started putting so I shot the biggest of the 2, and by gosh if I didn't just paralyze him with the shot, I walked up to it, and it sat there with all of its wings spread out just looking at me, I used my a shotgun like a bat and knocked him in the head, lol, he gobbled each time I hit him in the head, and finally I just grabbed his neck and shook it, till he died, they are tough sons of guns

dang that's great....lol. so your morels were around mid- to late april? It's probably different in every county of course but I'm going to start looking late march/early april right around the time I stop shed hunting and start turkeys.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Dont know a thing about Yanahali but with public land in general I like to find a river and take a kayak or canoe down it to get to places where others dont go. I know that takes a big public land tract without alot of roads usually. Ive got a few 3-5 miles floats that Ill do here, always enjoy those hunts even if I dont get a thing.

 

[catman529]

The duck river runs through Yanahli but the land is broken up in such a way that roads seem to access almost every part. Still I could go look for some more secluded areas.

 

[Lawrence]

I like to get to a good listening spot well before first light
wait and listen! As soon as I hear a bird that I think I can get to before fly down I get hoofing! If I dont hear anything close I go to a spot that I have scouted and sit and wait.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Neither dark wet hollers is where I picked the Majority, they grow almost everywhere near dead logs, opens woods, or places that often stay wet, but I always use an old orange bag, one from the supermarket, that has holes all in it, so the spores can continue to spread, don't pull the whole mushroom out or they might not grow back next year, and yea they are expensive, they are usually only up for no more than 2 weeks out of a year, and that's usually right in the middle of turkey season, speaking of that, I shot one of my biggest toms by just walking around in a holler picking mushrooms, I yelped once at the start of the holler and by the time I came to the end I heard something walking, so I dropped to one knee and 2 toms came right around the corner, they immediately saw me and knew something was up, they started putting so I shot the biggest of the 2, and by gosh if I didn't just paralyze him with the shot, I walked up to it, and it sat there with all of its wings spread out just looking at me, I used my a shotgun like a bat and knocked him in the head, lol, he gobbled each time I hit him in the head, and finally I just grabbed his neck and shook it, till he died, they are tough sons of guns

dang that's great....lol. so your morels were around mid- to late april? It's probably different in every county of course but I'm going to start looking late march/early april right around the time I stop shed hunting and start turkeys.

Yes, usually mid spring, they seem to pop up over night so always be on the lookout during turkey season for morels

 

[Blount County Hunter]

I think 75 yds is pushing it in trying to get set up on a roosted bird, especially wma birds who are already extremely people shy, 100-150 yds is more idealistic,

Not to try to argue with you but on public land i will be that guy within 30 yards of his tree 2 hours before daylight if terain will alow it. I have killed lot of pressured / smart birds by getting tight, or simply getting between him and his hens.

Yea, I guarantee that would work, but I was just trying to give a novice some more realistic tips for his skill level, sneaking within 30 yds for a novice will almost Always send him flying the other way at daybreak

 

[catman529]

Thanks I will have to look into that

 

[TNTomtaker01]

I think 75 yds is pushing it in trying to get set up on a roosted bird, especially wma birds who are already extremely people shy, 100-150 yds is more idealistic,

Not to try to argue with you but on public land i will be that guy within 30 yards of his tree 2 hours before daylight if terain will alow it. I have killed lot of pressured / smart birds by getting tight, or simply getting between him and his hens.

Yea, I guarantee that would work, but I was just trying to give a novice some more realistic tips for his skill level, sneaking within 30 yds for a novice will almost Always send him flying the other way at daybreak

Agree.

 

[catman529]

I snuck within less than 10 yards of a flock of hens last spring but I wasn't hunting and they were hens and I was just messing around...took some stalking skills a bit and definitely some luck but if I knew what tree the gobbler was roosting it might be possible (if it was still dark out) to sneak up real close. Otherwise I would stay back farther since I am still a novice..

 

[Blount County Hunter]

I snuck within less than 10 yards of a flock of hens last spring but I wasn't hunting and they were hens and I was just messing around...took some stalking skills a bit and definitely some luck but if I knew what tree the gobbler was roosting it might be possible (if it was still dark out) to sneak up real close. Otherwise I would stay back farther since I am still a novice..

I mean honestly, it doesn't have that much to do with being a novice, but why sneak any closer than 100 yds to a roosted bird anyways, are you in that big of a rush to kill him? , your odds off spooking him are way less the farther you stay back, if he isn't already with hens, he will most likely still come to you no matter how far you are, and its a completely different story sneaking up on turkeys wearing full camo and a face mask lol, I myself have walked up on a whole flock squirrel hunting before and they just slowly walked the other direction, weren't afraid of me at all, but turkey KNOW when its turkey season, its a whole nother ballgame