Pitching Down at Daybreak

As young turkey hunters, we tend to be a little rambunctious in about everything we do. We go at it ninety miles an hour and stumble into successes along the way from sheer energy and time spent afield. In the course of time, we become more seasoned with our senses and slow down to a manageable speed. We shift our time in the woods to when we know the hunting will be better or just more pleasant. We begin to appreciate the finer points of the hunt and not just the end result.

To some it may be the morning breakfast with their hunting buddies before loading up to hit the woods while others may love to stroll the ridges midday looking and listening for that lonely tom to set up on. These things tend to work themselves out over time as those senses begin to season, as mentioned above, and the finer points rise to the top. For me, the best part of turkey hunting is the pitch down at daybreak. The much-anticipated moment when the silence of the woods is shattered with the fly down cackle and the flutter of wings on the forest floor. It is the moment that the fun begins.

Pitching down in turkey speak is the time in the morning that a turkey leaves its roost. Usually this occurs at daybreak. If you can set up close enough to the roost before daylight you will hear the unmistakable sound that a big tom makes as it pitches down to begin his day. There is the cackle sounds that are made from limb to ground and the flapping of wings as the turkey attempts to break its fall. These sounds are very evident in the calm quiet woods and convey the turkey’s position to other turkeys in the area.

There is no better feeling than to sneak along a ridgeline in the spring and set up close to a known turkey roost before daylight. This is the time that I have come to love. The sounds of the woods waking up as the sun rises slowly on the horizon is the time I have come to love the most during spring turkey season. If you’re lucky the roosted gobbler will gobble just before pitching down, signaling that he is there like a rooster crowing in the barnyard to wake the hens. From the owl hoots in the distance to the songbirds singing as the first rays of sunlight penetrate the leaves it’s all the things that turkey hunters look forward to each spring.

As the season approaches take a moment to think about your favorite part of the hunt, because the sooner you figure it out the longer you can enjoy it.