kevin March 8th, 2010
The 2010 Arkansas turkey hunting season is only about a month away, and now is the perfect time to fine-tuning 
your turkey hunting strategies. Certainly, the most important aspect of turkey hunting is imitating wild turkey sounds as accurately as possible. No matter what kind of call you use (box, mouth, slate, etc.) one inaccurate mimic and you’re chance at a big tom can end before you even know what happened.
With Arkansas turkey hunting just weeks away, let’s take a look at some of the most common types of turkey sounds, what they mean, and when to use them.
Yelp or Cluck – The basic sound of a hen, you’ll hear hens yelp in a number of situations. The bottom line is, this is a great general call to alert gobblers to your presence and to start drawing him in. Cluck or yelp in counts of three to five.
Hen Cut - Similar to the yelp/cluck, yet louder and more urgent. Hens use this call when they are in search of other birds, and when they are excited.
Purr – The turkey’s version of a cat’s purr. Turkey’s make this soft rolling sound signifies contentment. You can keep n incoming turkey calm by mimicking its purr. Often you’ll hear feeding turkeys add a single cluck before the purr.
Check out the rest of the most common wild turkey sounds in the Arkansas turkey hunting forum.
kevin April 9th, 2009
Did you know that your turkey decoy setup can be as big a part of your turkey hunting success as a shotgun or turkey call?
Now, no doubt you’ve heard the “horror stories” from hunters about how a gobbler “hung up” while using decoys, meaning he came in to a certain distance gobbling his head off, but just sat back and waited for the hens (your decoys) to come to him. And because of instances like this, the disgruntled hunter, which may or may not have been you, probably declared that turkey decoys simply don’t work.
But don’t let one tough turkey undermine the many advantages of turkey decoy setups.
Most hunters will tell you: oftentimes the right turkey decoy setup can be the key factor between a successful hunt and a failed hunt. Decoys can not only act as the final straw that convinces a big tom that it’s time to strut his stuff, but they can also distract a gobbler from your presence altogether, which can come in handy if you make a flawed yelp, drop your striker, or just need to reposition yourself at the last moment.
Using decoys does not guarantee that you will take a big gobbler. However, when it comes to positioning your turkey decoy setup, there are a few things you can do to increase their effectiveness …
Come inside the Arkansas Turkey Hunting Forum to see the full list of turkey decoy setup tips.
kevin March 23rd, 2009
Arkansas turkey season opens in less than a month. And while it’s still to try and bag that big Arkansas gobbler, it’s not too early to get out in the woods and do some preseason scouting.
Check out these turkey scouting tips and use them when scouting over the next few weeks.
Roosting: In season or out, roosting is the single best turkey scouting tool. Try to get to high ground before daylight and listen for gobbling. However, there are other ways of roosting turkeys, including looking for droppings and feathers, discussed further below.
Calling: There is one simple rule to calling in the preseason: don’t! A lot of hunters are tempted to include a little preseason calling along with their turkey scouting. It’s fun to get a tom working. But leave the calls at home until opening day. Turkeys learn quickly when they hear calls but never find a hen.
Feathers - Turkeys will typically knock feathers loose from their wings as they fly up to and down from their roosts. Look for likely roost areas such as creek bottoms and wooded ridges.
Tracks – While tracks are a basic form of turkey scouting, they can tell you a couple of important things. First, it will tell you the amount of turkeys in the area. Second, the amount of hens and gobblers on your hunting grounds. Gobbler tracks are large with three toes and the middle toe on an adult male is around 4 inches in length. Hens tracks, on the other hand, are much smaller with the middle toe being 3 inches in length.
kevin March 10th, 2009
Leading up to the opening of Arkansas turkey hunting season on April 11, Arkansas Outdoors Online will provide a series of useful and practical turkey hunting tips to help increase your chances of bagging that big gobbler this spring.
One of the most common and frustrating problems you’ll face as a turkey hunter is dealing with stubborn toms — those gobblers that just won’t respond to your calling, no matter what.
When you encounter this problem, chances are there are other hens in close proximity stealing your thunder.
But don’t give up. One of the best strategies is to forget about the Tom and focus on calling-in his accompanying hens.
If you can hear the other hens, try to get their attention by emulating their calls exactly — cluck for cluck and yelp for yelp. Oftentimes, this will garner the curiosity (and anger) of the hens enough that they will begin to migrate toward you.
But if at first you don’t succeed, don’t hesitate to call more aggressively. Hawkish cuts and forceful yelps will often push the hens over the edge, making that Tom as good as yours.
Remember, If you can gain the hens’ interest, you will earn that big-bearded gobbler’s interest as well.
kevin February 19th, 2009
Arkansas Turkey Hunting News from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission:
Due to technical problems, the online turkey permit payment deadline has been extended to Feb. 22.
Applicants selected to receive a 2009 spring turkey permit will have until the end of day Feb. 22, 2009 to pay for their permit online.
Mailed payments must be postmarked by Feb. 22, 2009. Payment may also be made in person at AGFC offices prior to close of business on Friday, Feb. 20.
Apply for a Permit
View the complete list of WMA’s scheduled to hold a quota and/or youth hunt.
Loading ...