Turkey Hunts
Turkey Hunter Interest
Missouri Topics | Hunt Execution - One MethodOnce that turkey hunter/member has a listing of Missouri turkey lease numbers to get him started he can go to GoogleEarth or Microsoft Teraserver and draw down his own aerial photos of those leases. Having our lease maps and the aerial gives that hunter the best idea of how to start planning a do it yourself scouting trip or hunt.
We then encourage that first year member to travel out and plan to spend the first day scouting to confirm or deny the presence of turkeys on the recommended private land farms. Scouting out our way is along the lines of glassing from the road or just over the ridgelines between the road and deeper into the farms. The idea is not pressuring the flock away by walking through scouting. Once the hunter finds a Missouri lease or two with a roost/flock he calls into the MAHA office to reserve that property for the days he wants to hunt, typically two or three. That reservation is the means by which we know where he is so we do not allow others to hunt the same property at the same time. The first hunt day is as much a continuation of the earlier scouting as it is a hunt. It is far better to move in cautiously that first morning to get near, but not right next to the roost. The goal is to get a tom, however it would be better to get good observation on the flydown and through the morning movement pattern. The value is our turkeys are like turkeys everywhere, or better than that as un-pressured turkeys everywhere. Un-pressured turkeys will habitually behave the same from day to day as long as the hunter does not interject into that pattern. If a tag is not filled that first morning Missouri turkey hunt, the observations gained will far more likely increase the chances at a better setup and success on the second day. This tidbit came to us from one long time very successful Missouri turkey hunter that first seeks to setup near the flydown area, but not within direct line of sight of the flydown. Near that area he selects terrain that will most likely bring the toms to his call from a single direction and then sets decoys to enforce that single approach. The entire goal is to minimize accidental exposure to the flock at flydown and to minimize visible hunter movement during that critical period when the toms are coming into shooting range. His turkey hunting approach has been on large Missouri flocks where he wants to minimize eye contact with all but the toms. After flydown of a large flock he frequently finds himself surrounded by birds and wants to keep them near until one of choice comes close. This last illustration of one turkey hunting technique is not intended to establish us as a hunter instruction organization. It is simply offered to show what one self guided turkey hunter has found to be effective recognizing some that travel to hunt Missouri never previously encountered 35, 50 and 80 bird flocks or hunted our open turkey habitat.
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