6 Common Turkey Blunders, and How to Avoid Them

I've successfully bowhunted wild turkey in 29 states. I've killed a pair of Grand Slams and am currently chasing 49. I don't tell you this to boast. Rather, I want you to know I have enough experience pursuing springtime birds with archery tackle to pass on words of wisdom. My goal: Help you avoid some of the turkey-hunting blunders I've made in the past — mistakes that prevented me from coming out of the woods with a fan bobbing over my shoulder.

Bowhunting turkeys is hard. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Many hardcore archers refuse to pick up their stick-and-string come spring. Springtime butterballs have amazing eyesight, are wildly unpredictable, and have small vitals. I had one hardcare hardcore bowhunter tell me, "Turkeys are hard enough to get in shotgun range. When I get them in range, I want to make sure I have a heavy load of #5s so I can make them dead. Bowhunting them is too hard. I make too many mistakes."

Here are six turkey bowhunting blunders to avoid this spring so you experience more success and less frustration.

Keep Your Butt In A Ground Blind

I'm not a good sit-and-wait bowhunter. I'm a run-and-gun, spot-and-stalk guy by nature. You can kill birds with a bow while running-and-gunning (more to come on this), but the very best way to earn the opportunity to send an arrow is to put a ground blind and decoys in an area you know birds want to be and wait them out.

It was mid-March, and it was cold. The turkey rut was running at a low gear, and birds were still in large wintertime flocks. Two days of scouting and a month of trail camera photos told me the flock would cruise the edge of the field sometime between 9 and 11 a.m. The plan was not to disrupt the birds' pattern with unnecessary calling. The birds were chatty on the roost but got quiet after flying down. My hunting partner and I wanted to keep things as natural as possible.

Our blind was set on the field edge. We took the time to blend it in, and the birds paid it no mind. We were over a half-mile from the roost, so bumping birds wasn't a worry. Still, we got in under the cover of darkness and set a trio of Avian-X decoys 15 yards from the ground blind. The stage was set. All we had to do was wait.

At 10:15 a.m., we watched the birds start their daily march down the edge of the cut grain field. The wind howled, and flakes of white danced in it. My hunting partner and I winked and pounded knuckles. Our tags were as good as notched. The birds were 412 yards away.

At 318 yards, a wad of hens hooked right into the timber. We hadn't seen them go right. The flock was quiet, minus a few clucks and single yelps. The birds were headed for the neighbors. We called. Nothing. Our hearts dropped as we watched the last longbeard waddle over a hill and out of sight.

We vowed to remain patient. That patience lasted half an hour. The plan was to move the blind to where the birds made a right-hand turn toward the neighbors. I'd just put the blind back in its bag, and my buddy was pulling decoys when 22 hens, four jakes, and nine gobblers appeared at the end of the field. They were standing in the exact spot they were when they'd made the unexpected right turn. Only now, they were heading right for us. That is, until they saw two idiots standing where they wanted to walk.

Turkey hunting with a bow can be a game of patience. If you know you're where the birds want to be, keep your butt in the blind. If you stay put and let the mood of the birds dictate how and when you call, you'll earn your opportunity.

Don't Shoot The Blind

I'm not only a member of the "I Shot The Blind Bowhunting Club," but I'm also the president. Over 23 years of bowhunting birds, I've clipped a blind window with four arrows. That's an embarrassing stat. However, my goal is to help, and if throwing myself under the bus helps you thwart this mishap, then I'm happy.

Turkeys have excellent 300-degree vision. You want the blind as dark as possible, but arrow clearance is an absolute must. I stopped shooting blind windows when I started practicing shooting from the blinds I hunt from in the weeks leading up to the season. Also, whenever you get in a ground blind, draw your bow, look where the arrow will go, and where the bottom of the window is. Shooting a window is 100-percent preventable if you practice and prepare.

Don't Set Up Too Close To The Roost

I only made this blunder once, but it still haunts me. Nothing will ruin a would-be excellent spring morning quicker than trying to get too close to the roost. The one time I did this, the birds flew out the opposite way and didn't return to that roost for two weeks.

Birds in a tree have a visual advantage. They see extremely well, and if you get too close, they will remain in the tree until well after normal flying time. Then they will fly the other way. Trust your decoys and your calling. If you get off the roost (200 yards is my minimum), you won't bugger birds, and you can hunt them all season long.

Getting Caught Drawing

I rarely use a ground blind when bowhunting longbeards anymore. My bowhunting goals have changed, and I prefer to pursue wild turkeys with a bow-mounted decoy or snuggle into the brush and wait to draw on a bird when his fan blocks his vision. This is run-and-gun turkey bowhunting at its finest. It will cost you some birds, but it's as much fun as you can have with your clothes on.

Lucky for me, a fellow bowhunter helped me avoid the getting-caught-drawing blunder the week before I arrowed a big Colorado Merriam without a ground blind. We were at a 3-D tournament, and I'd just made a great shot on Rinehart's 32-yard Alert Turkey.

"You're pulling too much weight for turkey hunting," my buddy said. "You have to point your riser up in the air to get your string back. If you're going to kill a bird from the ground without a blind, you need to be able to hold your bow directly out in front of you and pull the string straight back."

He was right. Turkeys are thin-skinned and have hollow bones. Penetration isn't an issue. If you need to drop your bow poundage, do it now. This will help you whether you plan to hunt with or without a ground blind. Having to pull your bow back while pushing the riser to the sky or the ground creates extra movement, even in a ground blind.

Aim Small, Miss Small

The number one mistake I made early in my turkey bowhunting tenure was letting my pin hit feathers and punching the trigger. Typically, my shots were low. Hit a turkey low, and you'll never recover it.

Ninety percent of the time, you have lots of time to execute a good shot. If a tom is in strut and bowing up to a decoy, divide the bird into three sections: lower third, middle third, and upper third. You want your broadhead to impact the line where the middle third and upper third meet. You'll notice a dark line of feathers on the neck and chest that meets the upper and lower wing. Put an arrow in or an inch behind this "dark triangle," and the bird will fall stone dead.

Spend time before and during the season practicing from a sitting position. Shoot small spots, dots, and preferably turkey 3-D targets between 20 and 40 yards. Learn wild turkey anatomy and practice making killing shots.

Don't Overcall

I like to call turkeys. However, I've been guilty of overcalling, and that overcalling has cost me birds. These days, I listen a lot more than I call. If you pay attention to how much live birds are calling, and their body language, you'll know when and how much to call.

If you're in a ground blind on a field edge, strut zone, etc., and you know it's a matter of time before the birds show, I recommend not calling at all. If you're in an area you don't know, like a new public land spot, use single and double note yelps every 15 to 20 minutes. Avoid cutting and fighting purrs. Single and double-note yelps can be deadly. Exercise patience and call sparingly, and odds are you'll crack a tom's beak and get him to wander bowhunting close.

Final Thoughts

As challenging as bowhunting turkeys is, it's a lot of fun. Avoid these blunders, and you'll experience more success and less frustration. Bowhunting turkeys will sharpen your woodsmanship, and if you can regularly put arrows in the 3-4-inch vital section on a big old tom, you will carry over that accuracy confidence to fall and put more backstraps in the freezer.

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