Turkeys??

[redduck]

Best advise I can give is go to someone's farm that has tame turkeys and listen to the hens. Tame turkeys sound just like wild ones but don't call a tame tom. He will answer everytime. Just listen to the hens and try to reproduce the same sounds. Soft is always better when in the woods. There is a time to be loud but know what your doing before you get loud.

[greenheadgrimreaper]

Don't call at em before the season.

I hunted tukeys for 6 years by myself before I killed one. Went with some experienced guys some and figured stuff out. After I finally got the hang of them all I use is my mouth to hoot and diaphragm calls. Start off with a box or push button. I now look forward to turkey season more than any other season. It gives a whole new beauty to the spring woods. You'll be sorry.

Thank goodness it's cheap hunting. I never spend more than 50$/season on turkey stuff but I guess you could go crazy.

Can we please stop talking about turkeys?

[cwink]

Just go out to your favorite spot, preferably a nice deer stand from November to January.. Set up with a good long range deer rifle and you will have Turkeys all over you..

If you go in the spring with a shotgun and a turkey call they will be nowhere to be found..

Gonna give it shot this year again.. Mostly as a way to get my 3 yo out in the woods.

[Roach]

Go with someone who knows what they are doing...not one of your duck blind buddies unless they have been hunting tom's for years. Get an Old Timer to take you and you will be way ahead of the game.
Its not a social event like duck hunting until after the hunt. A LOT OF SITTING and wanting to get up and try another spot...about the time you get up, BUSTED!!!!

[Tedl10]

10 minute rule. When you want to get up after sitting for hours, wait 10 more minutes. I have seen it benefit countless times. Good luck

[augustus_65]

I started chasing turkeys with my Grandpaw in 1983 when I was eight years old. My grandpaw was hunting turkeys in Southwest Alabama in the late 40s and early 50s when there were hardly any turkeys in the rest of Alabama. I learned a great deal from him, but the best teacher is experience. I will say this, it is an addiction just as strong as any drug. You can tag team birds and hunt with friends, but the solitary hunts when its just you and one old wary gobbler is what keeps you going back morning after morning. I'm fortunate enough to get to turkey hunt 25 to 30 days each season and you learn far more from the unsuccessful hunts than the ones where you kill a bird. Perhaps thats the best part about turkey hunting, successful hunts are not measured by the turkeys you kill, but rather the birds you work.

You don't need to be a great caller to kill a turkey. You need to know how to yelp, cluck and purr. With those three calls you can work nearly any gobbler if he's in the right mood. You need to learn the difference between an alarm put, an excited cut and a cluck. Some folks never master that distinction and don't understand why a gobbler will suddenly cut and run while they are calling. When you are starting out less calling is probably a better approach. When you get on a really hot bird you can be a bit more agrressive but less is more is usually a good philosophy. As someone else mentioned, patience is probably the most important lesson you can learn. Sometimes you have to know when to move and when to stay put. Unfortunately that's a lesson that can only come with experience. Even then somtimes you'll bust a bird coming in when you should have stayed put, or a bird gets away from you that you should have tried to cut off. Frustration is why its so addicting.

You can add some realism to your calling without adding additional calls. I carry an old wing that I'll use at fly down, often instead of making a vocalization. I also think you get a lot of response from wary birds, by mimicking hens scratching in the leaves and giving just a few soft clucks.

Hunting with good turkey hunters is a good place to start. You can learn from them, but experience will always be the best teacher.

[duckter]

Well said.

[LawDawg]

My advice is this: Know the land you are hunting like the back of your hand. know where exactly where the turkey is when you hear him for the first time and know what is between you and him. That alone will save a lot of frustration.

[missed mallards]

Don't fall asleep!!

I honestly believe my best alarm clock to date was that gobbler spitting and drummin 10 yrds in front of me. Never even got a shot, but i try not to sleep anymore.

[JLT]

know the land that you are hunting is the most important thing to know as a turkey hunter in my opinion. second is patience

[BIG TIMBER]

You got to talk to him real sweet like, make him thing that thing is his!!

[BAY KINGFISHER]

Gun: nice picture of a bunch of stupid Rios Gotta love Texas!!!
I suggest a Cody slate call, easy to run and sounds great....or even a push button learn the simple stuff...the secret to killing turkeys is to hunt where they are, first and foremost, than dont over do the calling "KISS" simple purrs and yelps. theres a big difference in hunting educated birds versus ones that dont get hunted much..hunting birds that dont get hunted a whole bunch can make anyone look like a pro....Also scout before the season to find gobbling birds and know your terrain in detail..dont give up early on if you find gobbling birds that dont want to work, probably henned up, just stick with it, and have a blasts...

[rustypjr]

It is addicting. Watch out for snakes.

[augustus_65]

The Tenth Legion by Tom Kelly is required reading for all new turkey hunters.

[judge jb]

i can't call em, but i can pattern them and ambush em....

judge jb