Spot & Stalk

[dotman]

I finally had a chance to go after some turkies this morning and talk about fun, closest I could get was just under 50 and no way i'm comfortable shooting a bird at that distance. It was a gusty wind this morning but I was able to sneek along a ridge just out of sight. 3 times I had them but they were on the move, not fast just heading to the trees and in open country I wasn't sure if I should just pop over the ridge and walk straight at them or continue on. I decided to continue on to the trees because they never acted spooked just kind of seemed like they wanted to be in the trees. I never did get a good shot op but man was it fun.

So here are my questions, with out a decoy is it even worth trying spot and stalk? When I used my slate call they seemed to automaticly change direction, should I not even worry about a call once i'm within 60 yards? Do turkies not like the wind and is a calm day better or does it not matter?

This was my first day hunting this small 40 acre piece of private, just asked and recieved permission last night so I wanted to talk to the owner beforw I went out and make sure I parked and knew anything he wanted to tell me. So I wasn't out as early as I would like to have been, started hunting at 7:30 and definetly think I would have had a shot or a pic of my first tom. What times are best to be out there when you have limited time to hunt?

Any advice would be appreciated. Also to get on the owners good side I just finished helping him seed a cow in preperation for AI . Pretty amazing what you can find in Kansas City city limits this little ranch is just half a mile from my house. I saw about 15 birds all together.

 

[Jared Bloomgren]

Hey dotman!

Stalking turkeys is a blast! Using a heads up decoy or a full strut Montana Decoy can help out a lot too. Often times a tom will see the decoy and come investigate.

If I am doing spot and stalk I will not use a call at all. I treat them the same as stalking any big game. Remaining completely hidden and silent will increase chances of success. If I have a chance to get in front of them and ambush them I will. Depending on the mood of the birds I will also try to get in front of them and set up a decoy to bring them into my position using soft calling.

 

[justin davis]

Ive killed a few spot and stalk. It is a fun challenge. Here in the hills of colorado carrying a blind is sometimes not doable so you have to resort to no blind and just run and gunning