Where to Hunt Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Pheasants, and Quail

Good Turkey Gear: Primos Pocket Hen Decoy

Online Editors — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:58:26 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Mostly, I am of the school of thought that it’s best to make a turkey come look for you rather than put out a decoy that might make him hang up or even walk away. Nevertheless, I always have decoys in my gamebag just in case I am staking out an open field, especially late in the season when hens are not interested in going to toms. This year I used the new Primos P.H.D. (pocket hen decoy, about $55). It’s an inflatable hen with a non-shiny cloth photoprinted skin that shows iridescent feather detail.

The decoy squishes down to pocket size. It weighs very little, and while Primos says it inflates with three breaths, it takes me five or six. Still it only takes a few seconds to get it blown up and ready to hunt and even less time to deflate it and stow it in your vest.

It moves easily in the wind and looks very real – at least it does until a real hen comes and stands next to it, as one did on my hunt the other day. Then it looks kind of goofy compared to a live bird. However, what I think doesn’t matter: the hen thought the P.H.D. was real, as did this gobbler, who strutted all the way across a field to it. This picture was taken in bright midday sun, yet the cloth doesn’t shine which I had wondered about when I first saw this decoy.

While I still like the basic and cheap Featherflex hen which has fooled thousands of turkeys over the years, the P.H.D. weighs just a little more and looks better.

Turkey Hunting Tip: Have a Backup Plan

Online Editors — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:51:57 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Today’s tip: Have a backup plan, and have a backup to your backup plan.

This morning’s Plan A was to hunt a gobbler I found earlier in the week. The season is almost over and the wildlife area I hunt has been deserted for days so I was very surprised to find the only other vehicle on 6,000 acres parked at my spot this morning. So much for Plan A.

Plan B was to sit in the woods near the exit to a field where I know birds have been strutting first thing before they wander off into the woods. Plan B might have worked if I hadn’t had to stop and change a flat tire. The time it took me to change the flat put me behind schedule and I arrived at the Plan B location exactly when the turkeys got there. I was just picking out a tree to sit under when I noticed red heads looking at me. They went scuttling away. So much for Plan B.

Plan C was to go sit and blind-call at the edge of a field near the Plan B spot. Turkeys have been passing through the field at mid-morning and sometimes strutting there.

There was no Plan D, so I figured I would stick with Plan C for the rest of the morning. Two hours and fifteen minutes after I sat down this gobbler showed up. He may have been one of the birds I spooked earlier, maybe not. I don’t care. He strutted in just the way they are supposed to with the mid-morning sun on his feathers.

This morning, Plan C was the winner.

The 35 Best Photos From Field & Stream's 2012 Spring Trail Cam Contest: Round II

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:15:02 -0400

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95).

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, began, March 12, and closed on April 12. Round II ran from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 14 to June 14. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

Congrats to users luna, mod70 and Semibald, who each have won a Trophy Cam for their shots in Round II.

So go set your trail cams up already. And have fun! --The Editors

Click here for more info on the prizes.

Click here to enter ROUND III of the 2012 SPRING TRAIL CAM CONTEST

Turkey Tip: Tagging Late-Season Toms That Travel in Pairs

Sarah Smith — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:55:20 -0400

YOUR QUARRY: Dos Amigos

Psychological Profile: Neither of these buddy birds does anything without the other; they are a pair, for sure, and maybe a couple. It’s not entirely clear why they pal around. Such an alliance clearly has practical advantages, including strength of numbers in a fight (or avoiding one) and two sets of eyes and ears to detect danger. The fact that they seem to show little romantic interest in hens, however, may suggest a different kind of partnership. In any case, neither knows who is in charge from minute to minute, which makes them maddening to hunt. 

Modus Operandi: These guys will quickly respond to your hen and locator calls from sunup to sundown—but they’ll rarely take a step toward you. Weird around aggressive hens and skittish about other gobblers, they’ve got their own agenda, which seems to be about covering as much ground as possible in a day, and gobbling as they go.

The Plan: Conventional tactics won’t fool Tom or Tommy, but they’re still turkeys: They roost, eat, travel, and socialize with other birds within a fairly predictable home range. The trick is to pattern them. Listen to their frequent gobbling to learn their favorite hangouts and the routes they follow between them. Then plan an ambush. It’s not a glamorous tactic, but it’s the best way to tag a buddy bird. 

The Setup: Place two or three feeding hen decoys—no gobblers or jakes—in one of the Boyz’ favorite feeding -areas or loafing spots, or in a funnel along a travel route. Then erect a pop-up ground blind nearby, get comfortable, and settle in for a potentially long wait.

Best Calls: Don’t let your boredom lead to overcalling. Aggressive yelps or cutting can freak these birds out, and gobbling could flat ruin your hunt. Instead, take a softwood striker to a mellow slate to make contented clucks and purrs. You’re not trying to call them in so much as trying to convince them the world is O.K.

For More Late Season Turkey Tips, Click Below:

Tips for Tagging Tough Late-Season Toms: The Alpha Male

Late Season Turkey Tip: Tag The Tom That's All Show and No Fight

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream Magazine.

Turkey Tip: Tagging Late-Season Toms That Travel in Pairs

Sarah Smith — Wed, 09 May 2012 08:55:20 -0400

For More Late Season Turkey Tips, Click Below:

Tips for Tagging Tough Late-Season Toms: The Alpha Male

Late Season Turkey Tip: Tag The Tom That's All Show and No Fight

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream Magazine.

Wild Chef's Best: Fish and Turkey Recipes

Online Editors — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:16:11 -0400

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

Turkey Tip: How to Tag Late-Season Toms That Don't Want to Fight

Sarah Smith — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:28:19 -0400

YOUR QUARRY: Tommy the Weasel

Aliases: Limb Talker, Pee Wee

Psychological Profile: In any group, certain individuals will be weaker than others. In Tommy the Weasel’s flock, he is the weakest adult male—a fact that has been exploited by other gobblers at every opportunity, reinforcing his submissiveness. Whenever Tommy has taken a step toward a hen yelp while in sight of other toms, he’s gotten his clock cleaned. So he doesn’t do it anymore. He has learned, above all else, to avoid a fight. He sneaks around. He meets hens on the sly. He gets by on guile. And that makes him one tough bird to tag.

Modus Operandi: Tommy gobbles like mad from the roost (where no one can hurt him), but he shuts up the second his toes hit the dirt. He only occasionally answers a hen call, and when he does, you can bet he isn’t going to come running. Far more often, he hangs up out of gun range and then slowly fades away from your setup.

The Plan: A tom that won’t answer a challenge and rarely comes to a call may seem nearly impossible to kill, but there’s a chink in Tommy’s armor: all that gobbling he does on the limb. He’ll start yodeling as soon as he flies up in the evening. Be there to put him to bed and pinpoint his roost. Then return early the next morning to convince him he can nab a hen before any other gobblers are wise to him.

The Setup: Well before dawn, wiggle in as tight to his roost as you can, and set up one hen decoy. Use an owl or crow call to pull an early gobble from Tommy. If you’re within 100 yards, great. If not, slip closer and quietly set up again.

Best Calls: Let Tommy talk his head off from the limb. If you don’t hear any other turkeys nearby, give him a few soft tree yelps just to let him know where you are. Otherwise, stay quiet until Tommy’s feet hit the ground. Then start sweet-talking him with contented clucks and purrs. Tommy is going to sneak in silently. So sit still, keep your eyes peeled, and be ready to shoot.

Turkey Tip: How to Tag Late-Season Toms That Don't Want to Fight

Sarah Smith — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:28:19 -0400

Field & Streamville: Finding the Soul of Turkey Hunting in Bolivar, MO: Part II

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:50:06 -0400

Yowser, it’s hard enough to keep your knees from knocking when one fired up gobbler shows up in front of your shotgun bead. But check out first-time turkey hunter Mark Ester when no less than four tom turkeys come roaring in.

This is the second in our two-part little ditty we’re calling Field & Streamville. Part Dirty Jobs, part Planet Earth, part Man vs. Wild, we’re thinking this might be a very cool way to feature small towns across America where hunting and fishing are a vital part of their very identity. We’d all like to live in a hunting-crazy town like Bolivar, Missouri. Think you folks would like to see even more?