Turkey Hunting in the Wind
/ April 18th, 2016Wind is a challenge when hunting turkeys – there’s no way around it. Sure you could stay in that day and hope for better opportunities, but if your days in the field are limited, you better have a plan for dealing with the wind. Like many hunting scenarios, there are multiple ways to deal with the wind. In my experience, I’ve found two that are most effective for me.
If it is windy the evening before your hunt, the turkeys will do their best to stay out of the wind. They will head for and/or roost lower down in the mountain in the hollow and valleys. If you are a patient hunter, I set up in an area where pre-season scouting or experience indicates it is a high traffic area. Even though hearing is diminished for both hunter and turkey, it is worse for the hunter. I prefer using a high pitch call, such as a box call or an aluminum pot style call. It will travel farther and be heard better in the wind. The fun part is you can call louder and more often than on a quiet, peaceful day. Always sit as still as possible, especially in the wind, as turkeys are more nervous than usual and they will come in slow looking, rather than gobbling and charging in. With this type of hunting, patience will kill more turkeys than anything.
For the hunter who enjoys moving around to make things happen, find a place you can see for a long ways. The nervousness the wind creates also drives turkeys into fields where they can see better and get away from all of the motion the wind generates. If you spot a gobbler in the field, move to the upwind side of the field where you can use the wind to blow your calls to him. The calling style and patience are similar once you are set up. Sometimes they won’t gobble at all and just come sneaking in.
The only thing worse than rain when you wake up is wind! And the only good thing about wind is it keeps a lot of people out of the woods. But remember, wind or not, the turkeys are still out there doing what they normally do as best they can. A few adjustments will sometimes be all it takes.
