Page 33 - Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine Mar-Apr2023

For about 25 wonderful years, I was a turkey hunting buddy
of the late Dwain Bland, a local and national legend among
turkey hunters and a fine friend. I was a professor at Oklahoma WILDLIFEDEPARTMENT.COM
State University, and Dwain was an electrician. We harvest
many birds and let a lot more walk away. He also called in our
sons’ first turkeys, so he was like a family member.
Dwain had a way with words, and his advice has stuck with
me for years. So, I’d like to share some of his turkey hunting
wisdom by quoting him as best I can remember. I used his
advice to pull three wary toms from hens last year. Here’s the
first “Dwain-ism”:

“Most birds are taken before opening day .”
Dwain was a very ethical hunter, so those words stopped
me in my tracks. I replied with the most intelligent statement Dwain Bland, right, concludes another successful
Oklahoma turkey hunt after calling in a tom for a
I could think of: “Huh?” He laughed and told me I should have several birds total- fellow hunter.
ly patterned so that on opening day, I can choose which one to hunt or move to
another if someone else was already there. I normally spend almost as many hours
scouting before the season opens as I do actually hunting.
I’ve downed many cups of coffee sitting in my truck or on a log simply listening to
the fly-down and trying to determine what the birds wanted to do. Many times, that
tells me exactly where I ought to set up. I also carry a good set of binoculars. If I see
birds in a field, I use the binoculars to watch them for a while. Often, they will clue
me in about where I can set up the next day for success.
Finally, from one year to the next, different birds will often follow the same pat-
tern. If I’m going back to an area where I took a bird in a previous year, that’s the first
place I’ll check. Often, the next generation will follow the same pattern.
I call turkeys for a buddy, and we found a really hot area on his farm. I’ve called in
quite a few birds for him over the years. Don’t tell him, but I think we could just sit there
quietly and harvest a bird every year because they often repeat the same patterns.

“It’s a whole lot easier to call a bird to where he was going
to go in the first place .”

If I’ve patterned a bird, then I know where the bird is likely headed, and I should
sit between the two points in a logical ambush spot and call. Knowing “what to say”
and “how to say it” can be very important. Once I hear birds closing in, I use soft
yelps and purrs, and they usually gobble. I follow with a sequence based on the
bird’s movements and calls. If I know where he will likely roost, I set up several hun-
dred yards away on his path and don’t call at all or use very soft flock talk.

“If you shoot a bird, don’t get up and run to it . Keep your
shotgun on it; if it lifts its head, shoot again .”
If you run out to get the bird while the other birds are still around, it gives those
birds a Ph.D. in turkey-people wariness. When you stay put, those birds only know
there was a loud noise and a buddy laid down. They will leave eventually, and that’s
when you should go to your bird.
In the meantime, if I shot the dominant bird, the sub-dominant birds will often Oklahoma turkey hunter Dwain Bland authored
several books on the sport during his lifetime.

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