Holy Crap! Moon Phase

Jon in full camo, itching to get back into the turkey woods after an exciting morning.

I had to leave late at night (9:00PM) on Wednesday to go for my annual spring turkey hunt.  While I rode in the passenger seat crossing Arizona, I saw 20-30 elk milling around the side of the road.  Of those, four trotted across the road in front of us.  I don’t know why it never occurred to me before and I have never purported myself to be the most experienced guy in the turkey woods, but this seems to me like it may be one of the most important bits of information that a beginning hunter needs to understand.  A full moon turning into a waning gibbous is the best time to hunt.  We got to our neck of the woods at 4:00AM and set up the tent to claim the best camping spot in the area.  At very  first light my buddy heard a gobble.  The next three days the gobbling was unprecedented. 

Last year I didn’t hear one gobble.  I didn’t see any footprints, I know the turkeys were there, but they certainly weren’t active.  A waxing gibbous is a terrible time to hunt.  The rest of the time is a mix of activity that isn’t as cut and dry. Due to the short time that I have for turkey hunting and scouting, it is rare that I kill a bird, but the odds just got better for me I think.