Photo by Mark Kayser

What is perfect timing? The obvious answer, with regard to spring turkey hunting anyway, is that which occurs when you find yourself in the right place at the right time due to luck or skill or a combination of both.

The next question, then, is: Can you adjust to circumstances as they occur during a typical spring season in the West? And finally: Will your efforts actually improve your chances for being in the woods when at least a few gobblers are ready to respond positively to your rendition of basic hen turkey calls?

The short answer to the above questions is, of course, yes. However, there's more to the subject of perfect timing than some hunters might realize. To put yourself in those special moments of success normally takes a measure of understanding of what affects turkey behavior under a variety of circumstances. And that, generally, is something that comes with experience.

One thing that affects turkey behavior in the spring is variable weather, which can change from day to day. Generally, tom turkeys vocalize most when the weather is fair, at least before they leave their roosts at dawn. What they do once they're on the ground is sometimes another matter altogether, but if you've hunted turkeys a few times you already know that. However, the point is, not everyday is perfect. Some days are blow on your hands cold, others are far better for kite flying than hunting and still others are washed with rain.

As for hunting in the rain, there are conflicting viewpoints. I prefer fair weather but I've been known to make an occasional exception. Some hunters rarely mention the words turkey and rain in the same breath. I remember a cool, drippy April morning not so long ago when my friend Tom Stone, a retired wildlife biologist with decades of turkey hunting experience, called to take a rain check on a planned hunt.

I was already up and dressed when the phone rang at 3 a.m. On the other end of the line was Stone who was due to leave home and pick me up. The conversation went like this.

"It's raining, Higley, and you know my rule: Rain is for duck hunting, clear weather is for turkey hunting. I think we should wait for a nicer day before getting serious about our little expedition."

"Wait a minute," I said. "What makes you think that the gobblers won't turn on sooner than that? After all, the weather guys predict clearing tomorrow."

"They might," Stone replied, "but often it's windy for a time while a front is moving out so tomorrow is questionable. But, by the day after tomorrow it will probably be clear, cool and calm, and the gobblers should really be active at that time."

In other words, hunt during unsettled weather if you must, but expect your odds for success to improve noticeably on the first calm morning after a storm.

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I wish things were always that cut and dried but part of the fun of turkey hunting is that they rarely are. Stone makes a valid point but what about days when a storm is just arriving or when a rising barometer indicates gradual clearing? Like Stone, I've long believed that turkeys hunker down during a substantial storm. More than once, during a downpour, I've seen toms still clinging to their roosts at 9 a.m. I've also seen them on the ground going about their soggy business without making a sound or showing any interest at all in my sweetest turkey calling.