Louisiana’s Tyler Rivet loves to hunt, but the Bassmaster Elite Series schedule normally keeps him from the woods in the spring. So when the Covid-19 crisis hit, he headed to the turkey camp for some social distancing.
Turkey’s see color, which makes camouflage critically important. So Bassmaster Elite Series pro Tyler Rivet paints his face to make it more difficult for wily gobblers to see him.
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Rivet’s gear was stacked in a corner of the camp when I arrived an hour before daylight. “I love to hunt, and when I’m not deer hunting, I’m turkey hunting,” he said. “Of course, I haven’t had the chance to turkey hunt the last couple of years because of my fishing schedule.”
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He uses Remington 3-inch No. 4 high-velocity magnum shells to put a wallop on any longbeard that struts in front of him. “You need knock-down power to put a gobbler on the ground, especially if they are a little farther away than you’d like,” he explained.
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The camp he shares with his family is located in the Tunica Hills area of Mississippi, but there are signs of the family’s South Louisiana heritage tucked in different corners of the camp. This alligator head sits beneath the TV.
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Finished with painting his face, he packed some snacks in his backpack and headed out the door to ensure he beat the sun up.
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He hopped into a side-by-side for the 10-minute drive to the area he had chosen for the day.
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The hunting lease is on an old plantation and is prime property, so the club members keep the gate locked to cut down on interlopers.
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He didn’t take long to grab his gear once he was parked.
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The hunter took a few minutes just to listen for gobbling as the very first light of day began to filter through the trees.
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He finally cut the silence with an owl call, hoping to shock a turkey into giving away its location by gobbling. Unfortunately, conditions weren’t optimal and the gobblers stayed mum.
“It’s windy, hot and overcast,” he lamented. “Not exactly the best turkey hunting weather.”
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Rivet soon headed into the woods, with all the tools he needed tucked into his hunting vest. He keeps two decoys in the game pouch of the vest.
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With turkeys refusing to sound off, he took the time to search for tracks in the bottom of a small creek.
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He reached an area of hardwoods on the edge of a pine thicket, where he heard a gobbler the week before. “Hopefully that turkey will still be in this area,” he said.
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He keeps a mouth call handy, and he gave a couple of call series hoping to romance a gobbler into the area.
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He said turkeys like transitions, even though he was striking out on this day. “They really like these areas where the pines and hardwoods come together, and they’re usually in here,” he said.
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Rivet decided to sit a bit and see if he could call a turkey into the forest opening. He doesn’t use a blind; instead, he sits with his back to a tree and relies on camouflage to keep him hidden from any turkeys that show up.
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The hunter pulled out a slate call to provide a little variety to his calling.
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And then he sits and waits, keeping a careful eye on the area so he picks up any movement.
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Periodic shock calls are used, again in hopes of provoking a gobbler to sound off. “I don’t usually get them to react to core calls,” he said. “I don’t know why; maybe it’s because there are so many crows in this area and they are used to them.”
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And then it’s more waiting.
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After about 30 minutes, he moves on, taking the time to guzzle some water.
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The hunter heads for a small food plot surrounded by woods, hoping the wide-open space would attract some birds. “Turkeys don’t like all this wind,” he said. “They can’t see movement as well because of the wind.”
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He sets up his turkey decoys in the field to give gobblers something to focus on.
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He gets his mouth call ready so he can cluck and purr without moving his hands.
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He picks his way into the woods, ensuring there’s plenty of small bushes between him and the decoys while ensuring he has shooting lanes.
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After allowing the woods to settle down a bit, Rivet goes through his first call series.
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The decoys moved a bit in the wind, making them look more lifelike.
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He signaled his impatience with a look through the thicket in which I had tucked myself.
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By 9 a.m., he called the morning hunt. “A lot of times they’ll move between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.,” he said. “Let’s go eat some breakfast and come back.”
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He quickly picked up the decoys and headed back to the side-by-side.
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Well, some turkeys obviously were out and about. He found this scratching that obscured the tracks his side-by-side left just a couple of hours before. “That’s about right,” he chuckled. “Stupid turkeys ….”
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Even the name of the camp refers to the heritage of the Rivet family.
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He dug around in the refrigerator and soon had some jalapeno/cheese sausage sizzling in a pan.
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An hour later, he was raring to go — although he couldn’t stifle a yawn.
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Rivet’s hunting lease is characterized by steep hills and creeks with a mix of hardwoods and pines. It’s a deer and turkey haven.
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He loaded up his 12 gauge before heading back into the woods.
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The gun is tipped with an extra-full choke. “It’s welded in there from all the duck hunting I’ve done,” he said with a laugh. “Man, I’ve shot some ducks with that thing. Now the choke won’t come out.”
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His vest includes a cushioned seat that folds out when he sits down.
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He headed back to the transition areas, with the ultimate goal of sitting on another green field where he’d seen turkeys on a game cam.
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Another crow call failed to produce a gobble. But he remained confident. “A guy I know and his granddaughter killed a gobbler the other day after noon,” he said.
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There are all kinds of tools needed in the turkey hunting game, so his vest includes numerous pockets.
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It was warm, so hunting boots not only help with traction in muddy areas but also provide protection from snakes slithering around. his hunting area is known for harboring rattlesnakes, so the danger is real in the springtime.
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Before walking out onto the food plot, Rivet stopped and peaked through the woods to ensure he didn’t jump a bird.
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He uses a simple stick on which he mounts his decoy. “I can get one where I am; if one breaks, I just grab another one,” he said. “And it’s easier than keeping up with the sticks that come with it.”
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The stick also allows the decoy to move freely, increasing the realism.
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Once in position, he ensures he has clear shooting lanes into the field through the cover in which he hides.
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He begins his calling sequences with a mouth diaphragm.
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He uses his cellphone to keep up with the time because it’s easy to lose track in the quiet of the woods. “I like to call every 10 minutes or so,” he explained. “This helps me ensure I’m not calling too much.”
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After several mouth call series, he reached into a pocket and pulled out his slate.
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And then it’s time for more waiting.
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Finally, he pulled a gobbler call from a pocket. Use of gobbler calls isn’t wise on public land, but his lease is private and no other hunters were there. So, he could add a gobbler call to his repertoire in hopes of challenging a longbeard.
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He began with a series of purrs and clucks.
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Then he added a gobble. “It’s the one-two punch,” Rivet explained.
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A long midday without a sound from another turkey finally broke his confidence. “That’s it,” he said.
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He couldn’t help giving his decoy a dropkick for good measure. “Turkeys will drive you nuts,” he said.
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He there his gear in the back of the side-by-side …
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... and unloaded his shotgun.
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Then he hopped into the side-by-side and headed back to the camp, where he would pack and drive home to fish in the marshes around his home.
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