Breaking Lock-Jaw Turkey

When you're hunting the strong, silent type of wild turkey gobbler, you need to be prepared and plan a good strategy. Lock-jawed gobblers are usually 4-years old or more and have become very crafty.

turkey You have to know these gobblers' habits. You may need to go as far as to plow the edges of fields, scrape woods roads with a bulldozer and clear paths through thickets to create some soft earth that will hold a gobbler's track to learn this turkey's schedule.

Once you know where this silent gobbler is roosting, head in before daylight, and cluck softly to him once or twice. Don't call again until you see the bird, or leave the woods. Too, try hunting him in the middle of the day or in the late afternoon when most turkey hunters have gone home. Even with all of these strategies, taking a lock-jawed tom is by no means a sure thing. However, hunting a gobbler like this will teach you a great deal about turkey hunting, even if you never take him.