Play The Wind For Turkeys, Too

Ask any serious deer hunter the most important aspect to killing a mature buck, and paying attention to wind direction is likely the response you will get. Most hunters know that a deer's sense of smell is its best defense and the one on which it relies the most.

Well, over the years, I have found that wind direction can also play an important role in turkey hunting although for a different reason. Turkeys don't have the sense of smell of a deer, but if they did, we would be lucky to ever kill one! But they do sometimes use the wind in order to help dictate their travel routes, especially gobblers who are searching for hens.

It makes sense really when you think about it. When a gobbler is seeking out receptive hens for breeding, he listens for their yelps, clucks and purrs, which indicate they are seeking company. Gobblers can maximize their effectiveness and cover more territory by traveling with the wind in their face when on the move looking for lovesick hens. Doing so reduces the amount of ground they have to cover to effectively check the same area. It also allows them to hear from greater distances. I first learned this from good friend and outfitter Herb Schulz who co-owns and operates Xtreme Management Hunts in famed Pike County, Illinois. After he pointed this out to me, I started paying closer attention to his theory.

The more I hunted over the next few seasons, the more apparent it became that, while not absolute, oftentimes gobblers will travel into the wind when searching for hens. Remember this when setting up decoys and positioning yourself in order to be prepared for a downwind shot.

On one particular hunt in Illinois, I put this notion to the test. I had been hunting a particular flock of birds for a few days without any luck. On the third morning of my hunt, I set up in an area where I thought I would catch one off the roost. As luck would have it, the birds roosted across the field and down the next hollow from where they had been roosting the previous three nights. By the time I made it to the field edge, I could hear one spitting and drumming just over the rise in the middle of the field. I had to stay put and hope to call him in. It didn't work, and he eventually moved on. By this time, gobbling had come to a stop and the woods sounded dead. With no real plan, I just switched positions in the field and decided to sit awhile.

From time to time I would pull out my trusted handmade friction call, made by southern Indiana's own Mark Kaiser (www.kaiserkalls.com), and give a few sweet yelps and clucks. After about an hour of doing so without a response, I finally got a response from a bird from a long way way across a road. The bird was far enough away that I didn't think much of it. Eventually though, the bird sounded pretty close. I kept up my infrequent calling routine until I saw the bird crest a hill about 25 yards in front of me, accompanied by three other gobblers. The rest is, as they say, history.

This bird came from a great distance to within a stone's throw with the wind in his face. Sure this could have been a coincidence, but I have noticed too many gobblers doing this very same thing over the years. Try this approach the next time you are in the turkey woods.