Any advise for newbie?

[ApexerER]

Last year was my first try ever at Turkey. Went out on Stateland, no decoys, no blind, just myself and buddy and a boxcall. I was able to see one lone hen. I don't know if she strolled through or heard the call. I would like to get more serious about it this year. Do you need decoys? Do you need a blind? Do you need more than one call? How do you locate Turkeys? I know they make owl and crow calls. Do you just walk around in the dark hammering them tell you hear a response and then set up? I have hunted deer and small game for years and I have never heard a turkey on a roust in a tree. I have seen Turkeys numerous times while deer hunting. Does that mean they are there in the spring? I wish the TV shows would be more informative and not just setting up on multiple birds and blasting them. Is there a instructional video on locating birds? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[NFA-ADK]

Looking forward to some advice from some of our seasoned hunters. 

[Arrow Flinger]

You don't necessarily need a blind or decoys. They help a lot when hunting field edges. If you're hunting in the woods they are not necessary. I mostly use mouth calls. I have about 5 different ones. I also use a slate call. You need to practice so you actually sound like a Turkey. You should be out scouting your areas now. If birds are there they'll be nearby in May. I usually go into my areas before light and just listen for gobbles on the roost and try to set up between where the turkey is and where I think he'll be going( you should figure this out with your pre season scouting). Once set up, try calling to him on the roost. If he gobbles at you don't call anymore till he hits the ground. Less calling has always worked best for me, especially on public land. They wont gobble much on public after the first weekend so its critical to scout and know where the birds are hanging out. They will be around...even if you don't hear them!

[G-Man]

no blinds or decoys for me, although i can use a mouthcall i dont(i have a gag relex to them) a slate, push pin, and box are my calls. See if you can find a video called americas wild turkey is ver useful in seeing birds and listening to their calls as well as learnignwhat the eat and breeding habits. If you cant find a good hunting video that shows birds and minimal calling by a hunter (the late 980's early 90's are best as now everthing is for entertainment purposes adn not very instructional)

I go out the evening before and at last 1/2 of light i use a shock call to get birds to gobble on the roost. moving along a ridge calling every 100- 300 yards (depending on foliage and tree cover)You can use an owl hooter, coyote howl, peacock call, crow call, i even use an elk bugle. 2 people doing this with one 50 ft or more ahead or behind the caller.is a great way to hear a bird that cuts off your shock call. as well as a second pair of ears to hear direction and distance to bird that answers.(unless your partner is deaf in one ear and than you have to figure that out yourself...sorry tim...lol) when you locate a bird if you can get it to shock more than once it may help you position it better, but public land birds are tough and might only answer 1x.i dont likke to educate birds so move on and try to locate another. soon you will learn roosting areas.. a bird may not answer every time but they will be in same area for years and years using the same roost trees.roosting can be done at first light but it but it puts you behind the 8ball in getting close as the bird is already awake, imo.

OK you roosted a bird. mark in you mind or gps where you were when you heard it and how far away you think it may be (a bird gobbling away from you sounds further away than when its facing you in same tree)in the am in the dark hr to 1/2 hr before legal shooting time with no light or a filtered flashlight get as close as you feel comfortable to where you heard bird gobble as quietly as possible(terrain and leaves will also help determine this) to close and bird will spook off roost(thats why its good to have a back up bird) there is no magic yardage to get to i've sat 40 yards from a bird and 100 plus yards.. although closer if undetected is better in my opinion.

Now if your very close i recomend not calling at all.. let the bird wake up and call its self (you may hear soft clucks from hens roosted in same area. if you heard hens with tom night before (yelping an clucking) try to be between the tom and the hens if possible. if your far enough and the bird gobbles say 80 yrds away and you cant see it onlimb or limb shaking or any other birds you can try soft calls called tree calls (most instructional videos will have these) a few soft calls (if you have hard hearinf you my not even hear yourself calling) may elicit a gobble from said bird..do not call again till bird is on ground. (you may see it fly down. hear its gobbles change not as clear when on ground.) i've had bird fly doen within 10 yards of me so have gun ready in direction of bird, if you see it fly down move slowly and reposition youself to be ready for shot.

OK bird is on ground, if you hear hens in area just mimic what ever they do , cluck,purr, cutt, cackle. if no hens heard or observed i like to start with just scratching leaves in a rythmic cadence of 1--- 2,3 a few times ..sometimes thats enough to pull the tom in range(you sound like a hen feeding) then a soft yelp.. either may or may not elicit a gobble, or start the bird drumming. you then continue calling as needed to get tom to come less is usually better, unless your in a calling match with a real hen then loud calling may pull the dominant hen in with tom in tow.that is usually a typical early morning hunt.

If you strike out: tom goes other way... you need a plan b... strutting areas, feeding areas should of been found before season and during the season, scratched leaves, drag marks in dirt or snow from toms wings. head to these areas and set up a yelp now and then works for blind calling as do purrs and clucks.

plan b- 2.. cutt and run.. you can walk a ridge calling as you go being especially wary around forest openings and fields. setting up when you hear a bird or knowing to try to get closer are things learned from experiance , and knowlege of the land.. in general walking the high ground is more productive and a bird will strutt in a high piece of grund for visability. you can and i've called birds down hill but its much easier up hill. i do not have much field hunting experiance as i hunt mostly woods. perhaps someone can help you there if thats where your hunting.

I was fortunate to have a very experianced callmaker and hunter (r.i.p.)instruct me and i hope i passed a little of his knowledge on to you..

Edited April 4, 2014 by G-Man

[Zag]

3 of us were walk in the woods opening am still real dark. All the sudden my buddy spots a bird in the trees right in front/above us. We each say crap, basically snuck to the closest tree and sat down. Stupid bird flew down right in front of my bro. BAM.... our quickest hunt yet!!

 

On a serous note, ive never used a blind, 90% of the time I use a hen/tom setup. That setup has worked way more than it hasn't. Find the birds in the evening or get out early and try to hear them gobble on the roost, close in. Make a couple soft calls to let em know your there and see what happens.

[reeltime]

good advise g man,,  I do not use blinds or decoys unless I need to for a young hunter.  I employ alot of the same tactics except I rarely ever go out in the evening to roost a bird, I may take up a location far away to watch a bird go in for the night but I rarely ever walk through the woods trying to strike a bird I am always afraid of bumping a target bird.

 

Now preseason I am always in scouting mode, I try to have at least 30-40 longbeards located, of those maybe 6 or 7 make the hit list.  once I have found good birds I concentrate on them and learn their habits.  each bird is different, some sill avoid fields at all costs while others prefer to roost close to a field and spend a majority of their time in a field. some birds can become very predictible and patternable.

 

as far as set up goes I am a firm believer in you must be where a particular bird feels comfortable being. rarely can you ever coax a bird into an area he doesn't feel comfortable being in.  I will rarely set up in wide open woods because I don't use decoys so if your in the wide open you stand a greater chance of the bird hanging up out of range because he can not see the hen thats talking.

 

generally its easier to call a bird uphill than downhill, I try to get above or at least on the same level as him. also you need to know your terrain and try to limit natural obstructions, creeks, roads, fences, etc. alot of this knowledge is gained during your preseason scouting.

 

I rarely miss a morning in the turkey woods of spring, its not uncommon for me to be setting against my chosen tree an hour or more before the first hint of daylight. I have also been known to be leaving the truck or camp at 2:30 am to walk in when its a full moon and clear. turkeys have poor eyesight in the dark but with a moonlit night and bare trees of early spring it can be as bright as daylight.  I do not carry a flashlight and do not even take one on the darkest days, I leavearaly enough to feel my way through the woods to my spot.  I can set at the base of a tree for several hours before light if I am confident one of the birds on my list is in the area.

 

as far as calling goes, I always have a mouth call in but rarely ever use it as a first go to call, I might start them on a soft slate for tree talk if they don't start on their own. but I rarely do any calls if they are in the tree. grandad always told me a wild turkey hears your calls,, the first call you make he knows about where you are, the second call he knows within a 50 yard circle, the third call and he knows exactly which tree you are leaning against. I can tell you that his wisdom has proven itself true many times.

 

my go to call any more is my trusty Burrville Bomber made by Tim Fralick, that thing is deadly talk!!  there are times that you need to do alot of calling but you will probably kill more birds with just a few clucks and short yelps than anything else out there, especially if you are on heavily pressured public land birds.  It takes alot of restraint not to blast back calls when he is gobbling with every step and sometimes you have to do that but most times less is more. the thing to remember is in nature the hen is to go to the gobbler we are trying to make him goofy enough to reverse nature and bring him to us. birds that have a few years under their beards become cautious when a hen talks in one spot too many times they know its not natural.

 

once the gobbler has answered you and you can tell he is coming to you most times if you go quiet you will be fine, for myself I don't "want" a bird ripping gobbles every step, while I certainly enjoy hearing it I know that the more they gobble the more attention they draw to themselves and that is never a good thing. even on posted ground people just can not seem to stand hearing a bird gobble and a high percentage will walk right by a posted sign.  once you have a bird coming in now is the time to keep a cool head and be keenly aware of your surroundings.

you need to pay attention to what is happening around you,  whatch for signs of  an approaching person, deer snorting, running within sight of you, songbirds becoming aggitated, alarm calls, squirrels barking or running part way up a tree and peeking around the trunk, even at times if all of a sudden the gobbler shuts up, yes sometimes they come in hot then go quiet and sneek in but often times when they clam up after coming in hot an approaching person spooked them.

 

having a hunter trying to stalk a bird is one of if not the most dangerous situations a turkey hunter can get into, I have been turkey hunting since the late 70's and I have seen plenty in my day from folks. I have seen guys stalk hen decoys, I have had them stalk my calling,  sometimes these people are so convinced there is a turkey there that they shoot the first thing that moves. thats why you NEVER EVER try to wave off another turkey hunter, ALWAYS call out to them in a clear voice "turkey hunter stop"  never wear anything red white or blue that can be visible even a tee shirt inder your camo jacket..  like I said some of these people get so keed up their mind convinces them that that white thing they see is a gobblers head when in fact its the white V of your teeshirt under your jacket.  

alot of times you will hear a bird approaching, they are not like deer that tend to sneak through the woods, they break branches, sometimes  you will hear them dragging their wings if they are strutting in, sometimes you will hear them spitting or drumming. if you can hear them drumming generally they are within range. but again always assume the sounds you hear approaching but cannot see it may be a person, don't get caught up in the moment and convince yourself thats the bird coming in because it could be a person and you don't want to put yourself in that tunnel vision scenario, no bird is worth that.

 

good luck and all I can say is if you get hooked on turkey hunting it can be a costly, sleepless, frustrating and exciting season...

 

 

 

 

[Pygmy]

A lot of reading there, young feller, but it's all sound advice by hunters who know what they are talking about.

[G-Man]

I should of stated that birds in general do not roost on the very top of a ridge but down off the  top 50 to 300 yards depending on wind speed and direction, the ridges I run have logging roads running the top of them so I can move quick and quiet. . As for sounding like a turkey.. I have heard real hens sound so bad you would swear it was a human dragging his nails over a chalk board. Cadence and volume is more important.. quakerboy has some good instructional video, as do h.s. strut and primos (most good ones were made back in the 90's) the more birds you can locate and roost areas you can locate the more successful. You will be.. you do not need to be an expert caller.. woodsmanship is 90% of turkey hunting, learning the woods and how to move thru it quiet are extremely important. as is the ability to read the woods knowing where ravines, creeks ,old fences anything that may cause a bird to hang up... best of luck to you!

[MikeOC]

Excellent tips, thank you for taking the time to help us hunting newbies G-man.

[G-Man]

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wild_turkey/sounds pretty good link if you cant find a good instructional video

[NFA-ADK]

Thanks for the tips!!!

[reeltime]

some of the most helpful video's on the market are from Denny Gulvas.  he gives some great tips on set ups and calling.

 

[envo]

Alot of great information here! You guys are great!

[Ryan3m]

gman and reeltime very informative thank you!

[ApexerER]

Thank you for all the replies. Looking forward to putting the advise to work in a couple of weeks.

 

[Five Seasons]

you don't need decoys. they have a time and place. avoid the tom decoys unless you're a serious vet. try to scout and understand their roost. As a newbie, knowing where they roost will help where you lack in calling. I would say that you should be in the woods even before you think it's the right time to be in the woods.

[JALA RUT]

In addition to all the great turkey advice mentioned ... Remember patience and perseverance.  When you think you have sat enough, sit a little longer. 

[LI OUTDOORSMAN]

Make sure you have your license and turkey stamp

Pattern your gun / choke / load combo

You must have camo head to toe

NO red, white or blue!

Scout,scout,scout

Call a little and listen ALOT

If he's coming dont over call, ITS NOT LIKE IN THE VIDEOS,The pros call alot to look good on TV and sell calls

If you only hear hens mimick what they say try to piss them off they might drag a longbeard to you

Always try to be where the turkeys want to go not where theyve been

NO matter what public or private land NEVER assume you are alone in the woods,Hard gobbling birds attract alot of attention good and bad!

Join the National Wild Turkey Federation..they do alot

Good luck be safe and have fun..its a long addicting learning curve

[josephmrtn]

started out no blind or decoys... now that ive got a few birds (16) under my belt im starting to play around w decoys, blinds, cameras, ect