Editor’s Note: Three secrets will help you to consistently take turkeys – location, location, location. Probably hunters bag 90 percent of their turkeys by sitting in places turkeys want to walk to anyway. Now before turkey season starts is the time to scout and identify where turkeys are. The big mistake many turkey hunters make when scouting is using hen calls to make turkeys gobble. To solve this problems, don’t take any calls with you when you’re scouting except locator calls like those of crows, owls, pileated woodpeckers and hawks and a coyote howler.

Gary Sefton, a longtime, nationally-known turkey hunter from Tennessee, has hunted turkeys most of his life and has coined the phrase, low-profile relocation tactics when he’s talking about using his hands and knees to reach gobblers. “The only time I use low-profile relocation tactics is when I have a gobbler that stands and gobbles in one spot, and I can’t make him come to me. I once called a gobbler for an hour and 20 minutes, but the bird wouldn’t budge. I used low-profile relocation tactics (hands and knees) to move about 30 yards, which put me within 20 yards of the gobbler. I finally took him. The bird was within shooting range the whole time I was calling to him, but I couldn’t get an open shot until I moved.

“Another time, I was calling to three gobblers. As they came toward me, I noticed they veered to the right. I knew if I didn’t move to the right, the birds would stay out of sight and move right past me. Once again, I used low-profile relocation tactics to get in position to take those birds.

“In every magazine article on turkey hunting, the author always talks about getting to a place to call a turkey or moving to relocate on a turkey that he can’t call. If you’ll notice, he never says how he’s moved. One of the biggest reasons that hunters spook turkeys is that the turkey sees the hunter move. Therefore, most turkey hunters will do whatever they have to do to keep a bird from spotting their movements. Generally this means keeping a low profile; often, as low as possible. I don’t use low-profile relocation tactics unless I have to, and I don’t recommend that any other hunter use this technique. However, if you hunt long enough, the time will come when you’ll have to use these tactics – but never on public lands or a wildlife-management area. And never, ever, crawl and call.”

To learn more about hunting turkeys successfully, visit John E. Phillips’ Amazon book page at https://www.amazon.com/John-E.-Phillips/e/B001HP7K6O. For even more information from many of the top turkey hunters and callers, go to the book, “Turkey Hunting Tactics,” https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007PK9B2G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i3,
available in Kindle, print and Audible. You may have to copy and paste this link into your browser. (When you click on the book, notice on the left where Amazon says you can read and hear 10% of the book for free). On the right side of the page and below the offer for a free Audible trial, you can click on Buy the Audible book.

Tomorrow: Stay Low to Move to Turkeys