Hunting turkeys with traditional/primitive gear presents a new special set of problems. Depending on your goals, you can aid your success with certain modern advancements like popup blinds, head to toe camo, or lighter weight bows that can be held longer so the shooter can draw and hold when the turkey’s head is hidden. Those techniques certainly sway the odds in the hunter’s favor but some of us seek a tougher challenge in hunting birds. Getting turkeys in front of you can be relatively easy if you are already an accomplished turkey hunter, but getting one permanently on the ground is a different story. Hopefully some of these tips will help you in killing your bird the primitive way. I have shot a bunch of gobblers over the years but nothing has compared to the challenge of killing a turkey on open ground with no commercial camouflage or popup blind, let alone a primitive bow and stone points.

Before we go to far, I’d like to mention that getting a stone point to penetrate a wild turkey’s wing is nearly impossible. The ft/lbs of energy it takes to penetrate the wing with a stone point is the same or greater than the weight of the bird. On multiple occasions I’ve made a square hit on a turkey’s wing with the same bow and arrows I’ve shot pass throughs on deer with, only to see the arrow knock the turkey off its feet but fail to enter the body. This is something we don’t usually encounter with metal points so special attention should be made to avoid the broadside wing shot.

I am not a big fan of natural material blinds. That isn’t to say they don’t work, because they do to a certain degree. Animals in general (from my experience) like to look right into the thickest areas to try to identify danger. It seems to me that once an animal has looked into the open woods and not seen anything out of place, they tend to feel confident that they have seen it all. That does not however seem the case with brushy spots. Animals tend to keep focused on those spots as that is where danger often lay awaiting. I’ve been busted far more when trying too hard to hide. Nowadays I preach the benefits of hiding in plain sight. I prefer to simple use a large tree to help break up my outline. As stated previously, I believe that once a turkey has looked at a relatively open area and seen no danger, they are more willing to overlook you in the future.

Ryan Gill hiding in plain sight while bowhunting wild turkey in the Florida scrub lands.

I also like to remain standing. By sitting down on the ground, and especially in a chair, we turn into a big blob on the forest floor. Turkeys are used to looking for bobcats and coyotes and it just so happens that those predators are the same height as your sitting body. By standing and elongating our bodies we eliminate that forest floor blob effect and we can blend into that tree trunk more efficiently. I’ve done some self filming of myself in the woods after being repeatedly busted by animals while crouching low to the ground. It opened my eyes to how much better we actually hide by staying standing. If you’ve seen my hunting videos (if not you better go give ’em a watch), you know I like to wear brown pants, moccasins, and native print inspired shirts. The shirts I wear have some great pattern characteristics that help break up my outline. Normally I like reds, oranges, and yellows but in turkey season I try to stick to brown and black patterns with a little white mixed in. If you remain still, that is all that you need to remain hidden.

Creating blind spots is also a great way to increase your odds. While not a big fan of constructed blinds, I do however love using brush, moss, and palm fronds to create blind spots about half way between myself and where I expect the birds to walk. That gives me a good place to get ready for the shot when they step into the clear. I usually have favorite spots in which I am usually confident where birds should come from. I continue to add fresh vegetation throughout the seasons to my blind spots to not only thicken them up, but to help them continue to look like part of the natural environment. Eventually I have some pretty nice obstructions in place that help keep me hidden until it’s time to draw and shoot. The only time I am in the real open to their direct sight is when they are in my planned shooting lanes. Sometimes the first glimpse of movement sends birds putting and running. Often times however, when that slight movement comes from a spot they previously deemed as safe, they “up para-scope” with their head and give you about 2-3 seconds of curiosity stare down before they fly the coup. If you are already up and ready, picking a spot and drawing, that arrow is usually on it’s way before they react.

If you’re like me and like to leave the store bought gear at home (I also call mostly with just my voice, by the way) and try to kill game the toughest way possible for the ultimate reward of success, you’ll learn that turkeys on the ground with no camouflage, no popup blinds, and primitive equipment will be among the toughest animals to hunt in North America. Let’s just be glad they can’t smell like a deer does and circle downwind or we’d might as well just take up fishing instead.

To check out some of the equipment I use, head on over to www.gillsprimitivearchery.com.

Ryan Gill

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