Newbie Spring turkey hunter help.

[fadetoblack188]

Whats up guys this is my first time to go turkey hunting opening weekend.  I am looking for a spot not to far off the island hopefully Westchester county to go hunting.  Anybody know any good spots in Westchester county?

 

I will be using an old gun passed down to my by my uncle, its an Winchester 120 ranger pump with an extra full choke tube.

 

I an not sure what number shot ill b using weather its 4, 5, 0r 6 because i have not read up on it enough yet.  I called my mouth calls all set up and practicing and full camo.  I have deer hunted three seasons with no success.  I am hoping turkey hunting is different for me haha.  

 

Some tips?  Call em in!

 

Thanks

[HectorBuckBuster]

You need to pattern your gun, and figure out your range of shooting. You need to know your area. I was once in my own woods, calling 4 gobblers in, I passed on the 3 jakes waiting for the long beard, and these birds where fired up. What happened next about killed me. Some idiot, hunting where is was not supposed to be ,heard the birds, and sneaked in and shot at the 3 jakes that where at 10 yards from me. Needless to say, I was very pissed of person after that.

[TPhunter]

Yup definitely pattern your shotgun to see what the pattern density is at certain ranges (20,30,40 yards) to help determine your maximum distance...With an extra full choke I would think 5's would pattern pretty well out to 30 yards...5's will give you a denser pattern than the 4's since there is more shot in the shell...This is all speculation until you actually shoot at a target with it, because some guns won't pattern well at all and you need to find that out.

 

Read all you can on turkey hunting, watch videos, learn all you can because turkeys are one tough ombre to hunt!

[hunterman7956]

Get a comfortable cushion  to sit on ...call very little move even less after you call stay alert they sometimes just show up next to you good luck ....

[josephmrtn]

what everyone said.... dont get caught up in the "Buy this and turkeys will come running" sales BS... 

[WhitetailAddict11]

Just for the record fadetoblack the openner is not this weekend. It is May 1st which is next Wednesday.

[WhitetailAddict11]

Scratch that, I understand what you meant now.

[mike35mmnut]

For me I am two years into a five year plan.  I try and read anything I can get my hands on and listen to people I trust.  I have 52-arces so I can make mistakes on my own land, but I figure it is going to take five years to get any good at this deal.  Youth weekend this year I was able to call in turkeys with little problem and feel I have started to learn some things, but I am not an expert and although I wish I was I know it is going to take time.  Trying to add a moth call to my bag of tricks this year and we will see, but hunting is a lot more of a thinking man's game then outsiders give us credit for.

 

If I can not get a turkey after five years I will be mad but if I keep learning and having fun I know the results will come.  A bad day hunting beats a good day at work!

 

[fadetoblack188]

So from what I've been reading it sounds like I should use a coyote howler 30 min before sunrise to locate them. Then walk in closer then call them in with clucking?

[G-Man]

Turkey hunting is 10% calling, 80% woodsmanship , and 10% luck. If you learn where birds roost they will tend to do so every year (spring roosts are different than fall roosts) then knowing where rravines are lay of the land, fences strutting areas are you can move to intercept them. Its not hard its just not what you see onTV..90% of birds I've taken have been in woods and small forest openings. Heck if called more birds by scratching leaves than yelping. Rule of thumb if you hear a hen clucking cluck, if its yelping yelp. Start soft and gradually get louder. Some bird wontwon't gobble but come in quiet. All you hear is walking in leaves.

[josephmrtn]

So from what I've been reading it sounds like I should use a coyote howler 30 min before sunrise to locate them. Then walk in closer then call them in with clucking?

like I said before... dont believe everything you hear I almost NEVER use anything but a plain yelp w a cluck or two throw in...

[fadetoblack188]

Also I have a truglo choke tube it says no steel shot. In my you can't use lead so what shot can I use ?

[josephmrtn]

Why not lead??? its waterfowl you cant use lead for right?

[fadetoblack188]

Ok ya I wasn't sure if I could use lead I looked it up and u can for turkey

[josephmrtn]

what ammo ya using?

[fadetoblack188]

Not yet, I was going to go to store today and research

[Five Seasons]

You need to pattern your gun, and figure out your range of shooting. You need to know your area. I was once in my own woods, calling 4 gobblers in, I passed on the 3 jakes waiting for the long beard, and these birds where fired up. What happened next about killed me. Some idiot, hunting where is was not supposed to be ,heard the birds, and sneaked in and shot at the 3 jakes that where at 10 yards from me. Needless to say, I was very pissed of person after that.

 

shooting 3 jakes is also illegal...

 

but i second patterning your gun and getting permission. If there's anything worse than getting a good shot at a bird or a deer and missing, it's because you missed because your site was off.

 

and you can certainly have success without calling well. But getting good at calling birds is probably the best thing you can do

 

 

Ok ya I wasn't sure if I could use lead I looked it up and u can for turkey

 

although it's expensive hevi-13 is great stuff. and lead free.

Edited April 26, 2013 by Belo

[fadetoblack188]

But isn't hevi steel. My choke tubes no steel shot

[phade]

If you want a cheap, cost effective load...you'll still have to buy a few to test to see how they pattern.

 

I'd opt for #6 if you can find it #5 if no #6s...determine whether you can shoot 2 3/4, 3, or 3.5 in that scatter gun. I'd skip #4 for now.

 

Chances are one of the two loads below will pattern well out of your gun to a respectable range. They are not super expensive. Nitros are amongst the cheaper and Supreme is a few bucks more. The reason why I suggest these to you as being a newer hunter, is that each load is at varying ends of the spectrum on FPS. Nitros are a bit slower and Winchester are faster. Chances are...your scatter gun is going to like one over the other with the choke you have. Walmart, DKS, etc. usually carry them.

 

Remington Nitro

Winchester Supreme

 

[josephmrtn]

Walmart usualy has loads of turkey ammo for a week or so before turkey season

[fadetoblack188]

Gun shoots up to three inch loads. I will pick up a box if both and check em out. Are they lead?

[phade]

I believe buffered lead...I forget if the Supremes are copper plated lead or not.

 

These loads should be fine out of the large majority of turkey choke tubes.

 

Again, these are cheaper loads to help you get into the sport/test them out. You may find you want to do more testing to eek out an extra 5 yards of pattern distance, etc. but these should get the ball rolling for you pretty cheap. You should be able to get them for about $10-13 for Nitro and $13-16 for the Supreme.

 

Stepping up to mid-level loads like the Remington Premier Copper Magnums are going to add about $5 to the box.

Edited April 26, 2013 by phade