Veteran turkey hunters know only too well that hunting spring gobblers on public land is difficult. Failing to score for days on end gets inside your head, affecting how you react with these wary birds. A bird finally gobbles and you immediately get a case of “brain freeze.”

Here are a few blunders I’ve made over the years, mistakes I seem to unfortunately repeat when things aren’t going well.

Forget decoys in time-critical situations. Decoys occasionally work well, but setting up takes time and can spook a bird you may have bagged otherwise.

One season I called in a monster tom who hung up just out of range and refused to come any closer. I wondered again and again if a decoy would have lured him in. Whether a decoy would have made the difference or not I’ll never know, but this experience set in motion a series of poor decisions normally avoided.

This tom was cagey, only gobbling once or twice, making it difficult to pin-point his exact location. Despite his size, he had a puny gobble not easily heard. This morning his feeble gobble welcomed the dawn. Believing he was roosted across a shallow gully, I snuck carefully to a large tree and fallen log, a perfect place to set up, but placing the decoy required me to move forward 20 yards. As I did so there was a beating of powerful wings and two, not one, gobblers thrashed out of the trees in front of me and sailed across the valley. Not knowing the bird’s exact location, I should never have tried the decoy. I knew that. Then why did I try? Another hunt I rounded a point, stopped, and before I could hit the Lynch a ringing gobble echoed from the hillside to my left. The bird was gobbling every minute or two and quickly moving my way.

Hey, let’s put the decoy out! I did and a chilling silence fell over the forest. I’d been spotted! The gobbler was coming, why put a decoy out? Dumb.

Remaining motionless is absolutely critical. Everyone knows that, but sometimes you become careless.

For instance, after patiently working a gobbler for two long, cold hours the reluctant bird slowly began working his way toward and around me. Stiff, sore and freezing and believing he was far enough, I turned very slowly to face him. Unfortunately, the turkey, with his incredible eyesight, saw me through the trees from at least 200 yards!

Once again, a silent forest mocked my silly mistake.

Visibility in the woods is a chancy thing, light and terrain differences allowing you to see clearly in one direction for a long distance and hardly at all in the other.

As an example, one morning about 10 a.m., while walking on an old skid trail with no large trees beside it, a bird began gobbling across from me. Squinting through the crab apple, aspen and small maple, visibility was only 35 to 40 yards at most. Thinking there was no way the turkey could see me, I carefully slid down the steep bank to a thick bush, waiting for the bird to gobble again.

The next gobble never came. What in the world?

Curious, I walked up the hill to the general area the bird had been and to my surprise could see the trail and creek bottom clearly. From this location the bright sunshine lit up where I’d been like a spotlight.

Why didn’t I just sit down and call?

There are so many ways to spook a turkey it’s a little crazy, but let’s review the basics once more — at least for my own sake!

Once set up, don’t move; stay put, be patient. There are many sets of eyes in the woods around you. Hens, jakes, or a subdominant gobbler could be watching from any direction, unseen, looking for that hen. Also, remember, the gobbler you’re working knows exactly where you are and he may be able to see farther than you think.

When surprised by a gobbler at close range, forget decoys and sit against a tree immediately. Seconds are critical, get down, remain perfectly still and have your shotgun up. Don’t try and get too close or see too far. Make the bird come within range before he can see you if possible. When walking and calling, never call from an open road or clearing. In fact, you should set up before you call every single time. A gobbler may be just out of sight and able to scan your area almost immediately with those x-ray eyes.

When walking a field edge get back from the fence line and into the trees at least 20 yards. A gobbler or his accompanying ladies may be in a depression, tall grass or just happen to walk out into the field at the absolute worst time spotting you immediately.

Also, be sure and aim at the bird’s head and neck; never at the body and, lastly, carefully line up your shot and squeeze the trigger. When and if your chance comes, don’t miss.

There are times when we do enough right to bag a gobbler; you can be proud of yourself when you do. However, if you are like me, always paying attention to the basics, especially during the tough times, can increase your chances of success immensely.

Wade Robertson