March 19, 2014

What to Do if You Don’t Take a Turkey as Soon as He’s Flown Down

with Terry Drury

TerryTips3_hdr

Editor’s Note: Mark and Terry Drury of Drury Outdoors are two of the most-successful TV producers in all of outdoor television. They produce “Bow Madness,” “Dream Season,” “Wildlife Obsession” and “King of the Spring” that air on the Outdoor Channel, and “Natural Born” that airs on the Pursuit Network. They’re brothers, business partners, friends and hunting buddies.

Question: Terry, what do you do when you don’t take a turkey within the first hour or so after he leaves the limb?

TerryTips3_ll Terry Drury: First thing in the morning gobblers will breed hens, fight with each other and chase jakes away from the hens. Then about 9 or 10 a.m., the woods will get quiet, and the turkeys will settle down. Mark and I generally will go to a restaurant, eat breakfast and then return to the woods again. We have a little saying or tactic called, “feed them forward.” We know where the turkeys like to hang out in the late morning and in the middle of the day - often a strut zone or a loafing zone. We go to where the turkeys want to be, and we’ll set-out a couple of decoys, usually a gobbler and a hen. Even though Mark is a World Champion turkey caller, knowing where the turkeys want to be and getting to that place before they do is much-more effective than fancy calling. We mix up our decoys too, depending on when we’re hunting during the season. We know when to set-out King Strut decoy, when to put out our hen decoy, the Shady Lady, and when to put out a jake decoy (www.flambeauoutdoors.com).

Sometime we won’t call at all. We just wait for the gobbler to show-up. We even may switch between taking a nap and looking for the turkey. Mark also may cluck and purr to sound like a disinterested hen that’s feeding. We just want the gobbler to know that there’s some turkeys where he’s accustomed to turkeys being, and they’re staying in that same area where he always meets them. We want to become a part of that turkey’s natural daily routine. Ninety-eight percent of the time, woodsmanship will pay more turkey dividends than great calling will.

Day 2: Terry Drury on Getting Close to Take a Turkey’s Temperature

Tomorrow: Better Guns, Shells, Chokes and Optics for Hunting Turkeys with Terry Drury

Terry Drury on Getting Close to Take a Turkey’s Temperature

That’s one of the real secrets to consistently taking turkeys. If you study the turkeys on the land you hunt, if you know where they like to roost, and where they like to fly to when they leave the roost, you can take turkeys throughout turkey season. When we first started hunting turkeys on our land, we didn’t have the birds patterned very well. Now that we’ve been hunting this property for many years, when

Big Game, Turkey

Latest Content

Duck Hunting Rice Fields in Arkansas: The Rich History and Modern Strategies

Although mallards had been descending on the bottomland hardwoods, bayous, and swamps of Arkansas long before the 20th century, the legend of duck hunting in the natural states tends to coincide with the advent of rice farming.

Waterfowl, Mossy Oak Companions, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers

Toxey Haas's Tips for Brushing in a Duck Blind

Toxey Haas loves to hunt ducks. In these videos, he takes us through his essential kit for brushing in and repairing a duck blind as well as how he prepares his duck blinds every year.

Waterfowl, How-To

Mossy Oak's Woodsman Series is Back

The Mossy Oak Woodsman Series is Back. Rooted in everything core hunters expected from us in the early days, the Woodsman collection is thoughtfully designed, constructed with quality materials, quiet fabrics, sturdy stitching and of course, our timeless camouflage patterns. We're proud to celebrate the core of hunting, woodsmanship, and with seasonal collections on the horizon, we're excited to open the archives, add a few things and re-introduce these classic designs. The Mossy Oak Woodsman

Turkey, Big Game, Small Game, Deer, Waterfowl, Predator, Conservation, Land Management, Gear, Mossy Oak

From the Archive: Deer Calling Tips from the Pros

Originally published in the 1994 Mossy Oak Bowhunting Magazine, this article talks to professionals like Will Primos on calling in deer.

Deer

How a Fistful of Dirt Started a Revolution

"That day was the beginning of a revolution in hunter concealment. It was the beginning of Mossy Oak, America's most effective concealment system."

Turkey, Deer

From the Archive: Ask the Pros! Mossy Oak Experts Answer Key Questions

"Pay attention as Mossy Oak Pro Staffers Will Walker, Mark Drury, Mike Fine and Stan Oakes--archery hunting's A Team--delve deep into the sport for insight and info that only they can provide."

Deer, Bow

From the Archives: Tune-Up Clinic

Originally published in the 1994 edition of Mossy Oak Bowhunting Magazine, this article discusses how to make sure your bowhunting set up is perfect come season.

Big Game, Deer, Bow

From the Archives: Bob Dixon and Steve Burnett on the Art of Mix and Matching Camo

By Terry Madewell, originally published in the 1994 edition of Mossy Oak Bowhunting Magazine As big whitetail bucks are inclined to do, this one had done the unexpected. I'd studied this buck's pattern for a couple of weeks, being extremely careful not to leave any scent in the wrong places. I'd selected a stand site where the dense underbrush funneled into a 40-yard-wide strip. I was sure this was where he would walk and I

Turkey, Big Game, Deer, Waterfowl, Predator, How-To

Fall Foraging: Nuts, Mushrooms, and Fruit

Check out Mossy Oak's foraging mushrooms, nuts and fruit post and learn why fall is the easiest time to forage for Beka Garris.

How-To, Ingredient Wild

How to Use onX to Map Out Your Rut Hunting Plans

Here’s a look at how to use onX Hunt to map out your rut hunting plans in the weeks ahead.

Deer, Land Management, How-To

Field Judging Black Bears

Ask any experienced hunter and they’ll tell you that black bears are among the most difficult big game animals to field judge. Part of that is because they’re far less common than deer, so hunters just don’t get much experience seeing them. And part is just the nature of the beast. Any large, black carnivorous animal will look big, especially if you don’t have something for scale nearby.

Big Game, How-To

Black Bear Season Primer

Hunting tactics can be broken down into several schools of thought. Here's a 101-style overview on what to expect this fall if you're bear hunting for the first time.

Big Game, How-To

Explore All Posts