By STEVE SHERK Jr.

Special to The Era

There are a lot of things in life that only happen to our benefit unless we are at the right place at the right time. This saying is the most true for spring turkey hunters.

When I think back on many of the gobblers I’ve encountered or harvested over the years, it was always about being at the right place at the right time.

I’m a big advocate of scouting, no matter what species of game I’m hunting. As hunters, whatever game we plan to pursue, it’s always best to have a good idea where that animal is living and thriving before we go and hunt it. One of the biggest keys toward hunters having success is not having to scout while hunting. However, for spring turkey hunters, most days you’ll hear gobblers, but getting a shot opportunity is a different story. Although this same concept holds true for pretty much all wild game hunting, calling a tom into gun range is a matter of timing. Most toms will answer a turkey call, but they love to play hard to get when being called to. Nevertheless, I believe most toms will have certain days or specific moments throughout the season where they will break out of their stubborn, unapproachable mindsets, and have the desire to come into your calling setups. Once again, it’s a timing thing.

The main reason why a lot of toms are so tough to call in is because they are henned up. If a tom already has a female companion with him, chances are he is not going to go out of his way for another one. That’s just the way turkey breeding is designed. Last year, I hunted a tom that was henned up for a couple of days and showed very little interest when I called to him. However, on the third day of hunting him, he came to me as if I tied him up and pulled him in on a string. I shot him just 10 yards in front of me. I don’t know why he was free from his lady friends that day, but I did know it was just a matter of time for the situation to change and that there would be a day he’d be on the search for a new lover.

Most toms won’t be henned up the entire season. There will be a time they lose their ladies and get lonely.

I can also think back on multiple gobblers I harvested over the years that I called to early in the morning with very little response, then went back to those areas later in the morning and they came in running as soon as I hit the call. Spring gobblers are the moodiest birds in the wild. In a matter of hours or sometimes just minutes, they can change their desire and come in to your calling, looking for love. Factors such as weather, hunting pressure and even where you are set up can have an impact on the tom’s desire to walk into your calling. If a bird shows little interest in my calling, I always try multiple different calling setups in different locations to see if that can spark the urge for the gobbler to come in and check

me out. I’m not a fan of sitting in one spot most of the day, waiting for a tom to change his mind, but I will hunt the same bird multiple times throughout the season, hoping to catch him on the right day when he’s in the mood to be called in.

I’ve hunted some super smart, stubborn toms over the years that I thought no one would ever kill. But eventually whether it was me or someone else, there was a moment throughout the hunting season those gobblers were too love struck to resist the sound of a hen turkey call. There was a time they got desperate enough to find a new girlfriend.

You don’t have to be a great turkey caller to kill a spring gobbler. Even the best sounding calls or the hunters who have years of experience know that most gobblers will talk the talk but rarely walk the walk. That’s just how the game goes. Yet, the best turkey hunters I know show the greatest amount of persistence, throughout the spring turkey season. They’ve learned that it’s all about being in the right place at the right time.

Hunting spring gobblers is largely about being in the right place at the right time.

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Steve Sherk Jr.