Photo Credit: Game and Fish

The spring turkey season generally comes in three waves: the first peak breeding season, a lull period, and the second peak breeding season. Each of the phases comes with different strategies that you can use to your advantage. Use our Stump blinds to hunt any of the three turkey hunting phases in comfort.

Beginning: Peak #1

The first phase of turkey hunting comes in the very early spring, when the weather may still be cool. During this time, the turkeys will begin breaking away from the larger groups they had been traveling with during the winter. Female hens will start breaking away from male jakes and toms. Turkeys will be gobbling frequently during this time. Use aggressive calls like cuts and yelps and match their intensity.

Male turkeys are ready to breed and are at peak testosterone levels, but the hens have not been bred yet. This leads to a large amount of strutting to attract the hens. Use this time to set up a strutting turkey decoy with a hen in a position that makes it look like she’s feeding. Mature toms will be ready for the fight and seeing another aggressive turkey will draw them in to battle for the hen. Make sure you choose the best out of your hunting rifles for this phase.

That being said: you should know your flock. If you’ve observed a large among of young jakes, using an aggressive strutting tom decoy may scare the weaker jakes away. Use the aggressive decoys if you’ve observed multiple toms in the area.

Middle: Lull Period

Once the male turkeys have found their mate, gobbling decreases significantly. The turkeys no longer need to call to each other, because they’ve established their routine and have found their hens. The male turkeys and hens are actively breeding during this time.

Calling is less effective during this time because the turkeys have no need to look any further for a mate. You can still try calling to catch any single turkeys that are still in limbo, but you don’t need to be as aggressive.

End: Peak #2

The third phase is another peak for breeding. Male turkeys will begin gobbling again, sometimes even more frequently than the first peak. They have another urge to breed with any un-bred hens and will gobble with increasingly urgency as the choices for hens have thinned out.

Though the male turkeys are desperate and urgent, they are not as aggressive. Keep your calling to calm putts and purrs. Focus on hen decoys during this time, because the tired toms will not want to fight.

Hens that have already been bred will be in their nest, incubating their eggs. Younger hens will typically be the ones that are still un-bred because they are not used to the cycle and get a late start.

Hunt the Phases in Comfort

Using a blind like our Stump 3 ‘Vision Series’ Whitetail Properties Pro Hunter will give you plenty of room to turkey hunt with a partner. If you’re hunting solo, you can use the extra room to lay down and take a quick break or a nap before getting back at. This blind comes equipped with a Captain’s Chair and a Stump Chair that will support you all day and make your turkey hunt more comfortable.

What is your favorite phase of the spring turkey season to hunt? Let us know your spring turkey tactics in the comments below!

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