I’ve been successful chasing eastern wild turkey with a traditional bow and it’s actually my favourite game species to hunt hands down.

Maybe you’ve decided to try your hand using a stickbow or have had some challenges doing so...well they are feathered ninjas so to speak!

Here are some of my “secrets” to getting them stickbow close more often!  

1. Hunt the Woodlots and edges not fields

Turkeys spend most of their time in the woodlands, folks have gotten used to seeing them more in fields and yes a lot of birds are taken, but a lot also hang up outside of your range and you end up turkey watching instead of turkey hunting!

Get into the woods and hunt all day instead of a couple hours in am.

I’ve taken most of my birds after 9 am these past few years as well from Toms searching for that hen when she’s sitting already. 

2. Less is more when calling

The single biggest error a lot of folks make is overcalling - birds that get yelped at over and over will become call shy.

I like to use a few short soft yelps and mainly use purrs clicks and feeding calls that are very soft - the birds can hear much better than they are given credit for.

Soft and broken up sporadic talk means a content bird; this will draw in many Toms that lock up and gobble away and hang up out of range. 

3. Decoys

I rarely use decoys, and when I do, I often hide them behind or they are partially hidden to make that Tom search close for that hen or get him into a good shooting position for an ethical shot where he can’t see me! 

Those Tom’s that hang up at 50-100 yards will come in close in to find that hen they can’t see.

Shooting tips for spring gobblers:

1. Practice from varied positions - if you’re in a blind you’re going to be shooting through an aperture. This can mess with some folk’s sight picture - in other words how they see what they are looking at to hit through the sight window of the bow they are using.

Get used to shooting through a blind no matter what kind you use.

2. Practice from all sorts of positions - sitting - kneeling - half kneeling - sitting on a chair (if your going to use one) - crouching - and when you do practice exercise movement discipline - this is important - get used to bringing the bow up in slow motion - or get used to sitting for 30 seconds to a full minute with the bow raised prior to drawing and shooting!

Practice minimizing your movement. They have incredible abilities to pick up any motion due to keen eyesight.

Remember that Tom has been evading predators since he was a poult!

He`s gotten good at those innate survival mechanisms or he wouldn’t be around long.


3. Shoot at targets that simulate the smaller vitals of a turkey. I take both head and body vital shots depending on what I get presented for a shot by the bird.

I’m fond of using tennis balls to teach folks to pick a  small target that has depth to it- our eyes just like focusing on objects like that, try staking a tennis ball to a stick and shooting at it or hang one and let it swing to get used to tracking movement not just static targets.

The key vitals and head shots are close to tennis ball sized for wild turkeys. If you can hit that tennis ball, then move onto a Turkey target next or switch back and forth.

 I prefer using cheap foam targets and filling them with spray insulating foam, it’s a great way to save money and still get that 3D effect and benefits from shooting at a 3D surface instead of a flat target face.

Wild turkeys are a challenge, even more so with a traditional bow!

​Embrace the challenge!