Seasons Of The Turkey
Goldsby tailors his Tennessee Valley turkey tactics to the specific part of the season. He loves to roam logging roads through the woods calling and listening to strike a bird.

There's no question that the first two weeks of the season are among the best to take a turkey, if the weather is conducive to turkey hunting.

"I call a lot early in the season, then tone it down later," he said. "If the turkeys haven't been pressured, they're doing a lot of yapping. But once they've had a few bad experiences, such as running into a man who's calling, or even getting shot at, they get call-shy in a hurry. I go to soft yelping then."

Goldsby was busy chasing Osceolas, Rio Grandes and Merriam's for much of the season last year. When he was home and could hunt, he often found gobblers were "henned up" and not responding to calls very well at all.

"It was tough, but I knew it would break the last week of season when the hens left the gobblers to be on the nest more," he said.

He killed his three gobblers in Madison County in just seven days the last week of the season.

"I got two in the traditional manner of walking and calling," he said.

But the third one came as a result of Goldsby's observation and adaptable tactics. He knew some turkeys were using an old pasture every morning. So, he set up a blind and put out a couple of hen decoys.

"They were really spooky and I knew I'd never be able to call them 200 yards across the field," Goldsby explained. "I didn't call until the gobblers came into the field and then it was just a few soft yelps. Two gobblers came across the field in full strut, but never gobbled once."

Goldsby also adapts his decoy tactics to the specific time of the season. If it's early and an old gobbler is trying to maintain a harem, he'll put out a couple of hens and a jake to try to enrage the bird.

But late in the season, he switches to just hens once the hens have gone to nest and gobblers are roaming looking for some female companionship.

"I don't usually carry decoys unless I'm planning to set up and stay awhile and I know turkeys are using the area," Goldsby said. "I can tell you that I would have killed more turkeys in my career if decoys had been legal earlier on."

Goldsby likes to hunt in eastern Madison County, but maintains leases in the Paint Rock Valley of Jackson County for a specific purpose.

"Our season doesn't open until April 1 in Madison County," he said. "So, I have the farms in the Paint Rock Valley to hunt the first two weeks."

He likes hunting close to home because his business is getting geared up for the spring and summer busy season in April, and he can get in some hunts and then work. Mixing in a few out-of-state hunts for different subspecies adds spice for him.