How Still is Still for a Turkey Hunter?

I started to put this into my missive on what the NewGuy needed to know, and it became something bigger than I expected, so I am going to put it in its own post.

If you are starting out turkey hunting, learn to be still. How still is still? For a turkey, it is as still as you can get. Turkeys’ eyesight is phenomenal. It has limitations, but they are really great at seeing movement. I’ve had turkeys pick me up at over 400 yards walking. I have had them pick me up turning my head at 50 yards or more. You sit and call the turkey in. Don’t ever think you can stalk your way into a gobbler.

Where their eyes excel is picking up detail and movement. If a bird is giving you the stink-eye and you twitch your nose or shift imperceptibly, he will pick it up. Your only hope is to give him no reason to be looking at you in the first place. That is a hard thing to do; you’ve been spending all morning trying to woo him in with your calls. He’s hot. He’s excited. He’s looking for that hen. This is reason alone to shut-up and let the bird do his thing.

Sound coupled in with sight is a sure ticket to being busted. I have had gobblers come at the run from 100 yards out hearing my butt scootch along in the leaves. Understand that no sound you make is beyond their ability to sense.

Then you have the bird’s 360-degree gaze. Those side-mounted eyes mean that he is able to take in what’s behind him with a simple turn of the head. Don’t think that because he’s not looking at you that he can’t see you.

One of the limitations that a turkey has is a lack of binocular vision. We can synthesize a pretty good 3D view in our heads using our front-mounted eyes. A turkey kind of does the same thing, but they have to be looking right at you. They have only a tiny fraction of the field of view that can be viewed in this way. The way they compensate is by moving their head around and side to side. Their bird brain does a fair job of rearranging that information into a map of their environment, but they have deficiencies when it comes to resolving 3D relationships. They have a hard time determining what is behind what, as well as how far away things are. That makes them inherently hinky. Any dark shape in the field may be a predator lurking– regardless of distance. A movement in the bushes can be a coyote waiting to leap.

Maintaining a motionless, relaxed state will get you where you need to be. If I’m on alert, I try to think myself into being part of the forest. I do everything I can to be as passive as I can. A hunter’s general reaction to seeing game is to tense up like a coiled spring. I try to be a pile of mulch. Several times, I have had hens come up and peck on my bootlaces.

Another way to deal with a gobbler’s eyesight is to anticipate where and how a gobbler is coming and set yourself in the right pose before he shows up. Long before that head pokes itself into view, my shotgun is up and pointing in the right direction. I rest it on my knee, and I have been known to keep that pose for five minutes. It also helps to pre-plan. You are sitting there for a good long time, so spend your time planning what is going to happen. When a bird actually does show up, I know approximately when to get my gun up. I wait until I’m sure he’s got his head behind a tree-trunk (sometimes even that doesn’t work). I certainly do not wait until the last minute to shift my butt around.

Another thing that puts the odds in your favor is if the bird goes into a strut. If he’s strutting, he ain’t watching you. Normally that head is up and it is moving. It’s darting back and forth. It’s swiveling. It’s all over the place, and that bird is using everything God gave him to see what is out there and resolve it into a cogent picture. When he struts, he pulls his head in and stops moving it. He is fully concentrated on the task of putting on a show for the hen. If he struts and turns away from you, you may have a slight window for making a move.

The last trick I can give you is that a moving turkey is not as quick to see you as a still turkey. If a gob is on a trot towards you, you may be able to make a small move and he won’t see it. The problem is when there is more than one bird involved. If one hen sees you and goes on alert, that’s it.

Things don’t always go as planned. Gobblers have an insane capacity for coming through the back door. You’re working one gob to the south and all of a sudden you hear a gobble 10 yards to the north appear behind your head. Now what? Patience and stillness. Do not feel obliged to move. Wait. That bird may very well come around you and present himself. If your back is to the bird, believe me, that he will be gone before you can turn yourself around for the shot.

The other thing to remember is to not get yourself into these fixes in the first place. This is where strategy comes into play. If there is a heavy thicket or a fold in the pasture, use it to your advantage. Sit where the turkey is going to be close before he can see you. If the sun is out, hunt behind some tall grass. That bird will have a hard time seeing you with all that bright sunlight showing on the grass, and he will have a hard time seeing what is going on behind in the shadows. If it is cloudy, try to find something large and opaque to hunt in front of or behind. Lastly, move every twig, branch, leaf, or whatever away from where you are sitting. Not only will brushing against it cause sound, but a leaf or stem will telegraph your movements at great distance.

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