Advice to a new turkey hunter

[walter sobcheck]

What advice would you guys give to a brand new turkey hunter.  Essentially all I know about turkey hunting is you need to get out before light, be completely camoflauged, turkeys have great eye sight, and I've also heard that a good technique to locate a bird before light is letting out a loud noise and they'll let out a reflexive gobble from their tree.  I've got a pretty basic box call to call them.  Thanks. 

[MACHINIST]

Spring or fall turkey?I know fall is a whole different ball of yarn

[growalot]

your talking spring.... fall turkeys you want to find the roosting site...if on a hill side..most NOT ALWAYS they will fly down on the up hill side...at least here they do...they also here tend to travel upl hill in the mornings and down in the evening....Toms and hen groups usually roost separately but nearby....

Scouting is everything....... in the fall...... leafs scratched up and piles of droppings under trees....they also make slightly different calls...more gathering up the flock...territorial hen calls and yes toms will gobble but usually it's short and Jakes testing the vocals...a gobble that ends in a yelp type call...they kee more and do a squealing type sound..Toms have a sound,,,hhmmm take your tongue and put it to the very front of the roof of your mouth...then with your mouth open flick your tongue back...it will make a cluck type sound...hhhmmm sorta like ppl use to imitate horse hooves trotting...hard to discribe but they will call back when I imitate them and sometimes gobble in the fall....

[walter sobcheck]

@growalot.     Thanks for the tips.  Will the turkeys travel downhill in the morning to get to a water source?  The area I'm looking to hunt I've seen a lot of sign on a small hill side around some pines, down the hill about 50 yards is a pond.

[growalot]

yes they will...here not always...but we have water everywhere and as with deer they can get a lot of moisture from what they eat and snow....like I said not always do they fly to high side...I have a set of toms that are on the hill side ridge...they drop laterally then usually walk up the hill to the top plot..... sometimes I've watched them drop and walk the entire ridgeline...

 

Also listen carefully  hens tend to cackle at fly up and fly down...also they are not nimble...listen for snapping limbs and the sounds of wings crashing..they tnd to hit a lot of branches

Edited November 3, 2014 by growalot

[turkeyfeathers]

IMO and I don't fall bird hunt much nor do my friends. Most i know don't pursue in the fall but will stick one with the bow if opportunity comes.  Try and locate flock and bust them up if you can and try and call them back. I've never really hunted or heard of hunting water sources. Guessing your birds have that route on their daily routine. Birds typically don't like walking straight downhill . They'll zig zag taking all day if need be.

I hunt deer but spring bird hunting is my love and passion. That's where its at compared to fall hunting. Listening to the woods wake up, new born fawns, migratory birds singing at o'dark thirty. When that first gobble rips off roost.....goosebumps ! For anyone who's never been spring bird hunting you need to ! But for fun tomorrow with my daughter off of school I'll throw my slate call in my pocket as we're going deer scouting and try and flog a duck or two. If i fire up ole tom I'll try and smash him. I don't personally shoot hens but that's just my choice, Good luck. The more you're out there the more you learn.