1st time Turkey Chaser

[mowin]

1 minute ago, blackbeltbill said:

Cynthia here is also going to be a - 1st Time Gobbler Chaser come May.

That's great.  I hope she has one of those classic hunts. Lots of gobbling on the limb, and on the ground while coming in strutting and drumming.  

[The_Real_TCIII]

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[Liquidonyx]

4 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

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That’s pretty cool...ty

[reeltime]

a little late to the party on this thread but will offer some hopefully helpful advice.

proper preparation is essential in all aspects for a successful hunt, can someone just blunder into a bird occasionally....sure but to consistently kill turkeys you have to be properly prepared.  

prior to the actual hunting season beginning.

- scouting,  probably one of the most overlooked key details and the first steps in a successful hunt.  learning the lay of the land and where gobblers roost, where they go after fly down, where they are willing to travel and what areas they avoid.  doesn't matter how good of a caller you are or think you are if a gobbler doesn't feel comfortable going into an area he is most likely NOT going into that area.  set up where you can see a bird approaching, give yourself space from the lip of a ridge. you don't want to be 10 yards from the lip of a ridge when the gobbler pokes his head up to look for the hen that was talking.

know where there are obstructions, creeks, thick brush areas, swamps,  this will aid in set up locations,  I have seen gobblers refuse to walk over a 6 inch log across a logging road but I have had gobblers fly across a creek to get to the hen calling, heck they are turkeys they do what they want when they want.

keep your locations that you find to yourself, don't plaster locations all over the internet or to other hunters in the area, there are tons of cyber scouters out there just trolling for "free" info.  you may not even realize it at the time but in due time where you often times never saw a vehicle all of a sudden there will be multiple vehicles there every morning.  Remember as well as a new turkey hunter not only may you be ruining your spot you scouted but others that have hunted there for years and kept their location quiet.  Also something folks don't think about is the "Anti" hunters, don't for a minute think that where they can ( on public land) where spot burning has happened that they will not go there to intentionally try to disrupt or ruin hunts by hiking, jogging, mountain biking etc.

 

second most over looked but very important step is your gun, choke, shell, sights set up.  all guns are NOT equal, even same make and model will throw different patterns with all components being the same,  you have to KNOW what your gun does and where the pattern goes ( POA vs POI ) point of aim -vs- point of impact.  i have seen POI a foot or more off from POA.  If POA and POI are not equal you will need to install some type of sighting system, either rifle sites, red dot, scope or whatever. Do NOT be the " I will just remember to aim high and to the left" guy.  there are lots of choke and shell options out there to try.  most important is to know your limits and stay within those limits. 

 chokes and shells over the last 25 years since all the aftermarket chokes hit the scene and custom ammo are light years ahead of where things were when I started chasing these crazy birds.  my current set up is a comp-n-choke xxfull with federal 3.5 tss 7 shot through my own custom polished 835 mossberg topped with a 2.5 bushnell scope.  I have ran a scope the last 30 years and would never go back to a bead sight for spring gobbler.

Being confident in your rig is important, you will hear people all the time saying where they missed ( high, left, right, low) and unless they saw the pattern hit a particular place they are just guessing, and often times their "miss" isn't a miss at all just not an instant death, just the bird runs or fly's off to die later.  Everyone misses, things happen, but by waiting for the right shot presentation before easing off the safety stacks the odds in your favor and sometimes keeps you from pushing the envelope.

calling and set up-  calling is probably one of the most over hyped aspects of turkey hunting. while there may be a time and a place for the " on stage calling" the loud aggressive repetitive calling,,,, you will kill far more birds with soft subtle calling and more importantly realism to your calling.  you don't hear live birds walking through the woods yapping their brains out, often times you can barely hear the birds flock talking. while there may be a time and a place for loud calling when trying to fire up a hen most times more natural calling volumes work better.  Be aware of your surroundings and other wildlife, I have been tipped off by an approaching silent gobbler by song birds, squirrels, crows, and even deer, they have also tipped me off to an approaching hunter as well. 

there seems to be a trend over the last 10 years for gobblers to be less vocal, I believe a lot of it is due to predation, whether people want to believe it or not but coyotes are extremely efficient turkey killers and as the populations increase gobblers have learned they die if they run their mouth too much.

I could type for hours about calling and setups but don't want to bore everyone.

set up should be where you scouted and know the birds are comfortable being there, pick a large tree  or a uprooted tree to set against.  set up defensively! no matter where you are ALWAYS think the approaching sound can be another hunter trying to sneak in on your set up. set where you can see another hunter or a bird approaching. IF its another hunter call out as soon as you realize that its a hunter, don't worry about screwing up the hunt the other hunters approaching has probably already ruined the hunt.  I can not stress safety enough especially if you decide to use some kind of a tom/jake decoy,  my self personally the crap I have seen people do over the last 42 years of spring gobbler seasons I will NEVER have a "legal" bird decoy set up anywhere near me. 

in closing one other very important thing is IF someone takes you to "their" spot, even if its on state land DO NOT  go back there on your own unless they offer, don't even ask because that just puts them on the spot, and while they cant "lock down" a public land spot, they knew that spot, have probably killed birds there and were being a nice person taking u there so accept the lessons learned and move on to find your own spot.

[mowin]

Great post.... 

[Pygmy]

1 hour ago, mowin said:

Great post.... 

X2.....Written by a guy who KNOWS of what he speaks....

[Liquidonyx]

Reeltime,

Thank you for taking the time to write that up, very appreciated. I will read it many times over!  
 

A question for all, do you scout at night ahead of a hunt to see where turkeys roust?

[Liquidonyx]

On a side note, time to check in.

I’ve picked up the following:

Carlsons longboard choke: Came Sunday, still need to pattern. Ammo at Walmart’s gone, need to stop at a real gun shop.

Camo Gloves/mask.

Need some opinions on:

Backpack: I’ve seen some dedicated turkey backpacks with seats etc. are these useful vs. a normal backpack?

Boots: really on the fence here. I’ve been running muck boots for a while now, but this last ice fishing season the “give” in these boots has really started to bother me on long distance walks. Anyone have an opinion on a muck boot style vs. a laced hiking boot?

as always thanks in advance!

Edited March 18, 2020 by Liquidonyx

[reeltime]

9 hours ago, Liquidonyx said:

On a side note, time to check in.

I’ve picked up the following:

Carlsons longboard choke: Came Sunday, still need to pattern. Ammo at Walmart’s gone, need to stop at a real gun shop.

Camo Gloves/mask.

Need some opinions on:

Backpack: I’ve seen some dedicated turkey backpacks with seats etc. are these useful vs. a normal backpack?

Boots: really on the fence here. I’ve been running muck boots for a while now, but this last ice fishing season the “give” in these boots has really started to bother me on long distance walks. Anyone have an opinion on a muck boot style vs. a laced hiking boot?

as always thanks in advance!

carlson makes a decent choke, I set up a 20 ga. auto loader with a carlson choke partnered with federal heavyweight 7 in 2 3/4 inch shells for the grandkids to use and it is a deadly combination out to 45 yards.

not sure what you are shooting for a gun. shells can get pricey,  its all in what you are looking at achieving with a pattern and budget. 

my suggestion is to start at 20 yards, and all my patterning is done off a bench or my caldwell field pod.

I used a 4x4 sheet of plywood as the backer, then use the white side of christmas wrapping  paper for the pattern paper.

put a 3" circle in the center then a 10 inch circle from the center.

one thing to remember is that you are not now wing shooting, you are shooting by sighting,  same trigger control as shooting a rifle,  sight, breathing control, slowly squeeze the trigger. not the point and slap the trigger like wing shooting.

when I start on a fresh set up I start with just regular small game loads, this is just simply to see where my point of impact is compared to point of aim.  sometimes if its not real easy to see where the majority of the shot hit I will shoot again and should be able to see where the majority of the pattern landed.  

if using rifle sights or optics I move my aiming point and then replace the paper with a new sheet and shoot again.

once the pattern is centered in the 10 inch circle I move the target back to 30 yards.  and try it again with regular loads to see if the pattern stayed centered.

if the pattern stayed centered its now time to start trying the actual hunting loads.  you can not "assume" the hunting loads are going to pattern the same nor that the point of impact will be the same.  You have to verify where your pattern is going to be hitting and whether or not its even an acceptable pattern ( even with no big gaps in coverage) and what will be your max effective range is going to be so you know how close you need to let the bird get.

can it get costly ? yup, but we owe it to the game we hunt to try an execute a quick ethical kill.  far more gobblers are wounded and lost because people do not pattern their gun and or take shots beyond their guns effective range which with an unmatched shell/choke/gun/sight combo could be as less as 30 yards.   yes 1 pellet in the right spot can kill a bird but if that is what your counting on your going to wound and or miss far more than you will kill.

 

as far as boots go I wear uninsulated lacrosse boots that are a half size over my common shoe size. I like a soft crepp sole as I do not ever use a light and I can feel sticks and rocks as I am trying to ease into my set up locations.  I like a rubber boot so I can tuck my pantlegs in and not get soaked walking through tall grass later in the season. and not worry about wet feet crossing a stream. 

 

there are a ton of turkey vests out there, you don't need to spend a small fortune right off the bat.  I will say that the best investment I ever made for comfort was a small folding leg stool to set on, it only elevates me 3-4 inches but I can and have sat at the base of a tree for hours in comfort. 

 

[mowin]

On 3/17/2020 at 9:24 PM, Liquidonyx said:

Reeltime,

Thank you for taking the time to write that up, very appreciated. I will read it many times over!  
 

A question for all, do you scout at night ahead of a hunt to see where turkeys roust?

I scout in the evening frequently before the season to get a idea where they roost. I've hunted the same property for almost 30 years, so I know the usual areas. However, sometimes they shift there roosting habits from yr to yr. Might only be 50 yrds to a different tree, or a few hundred yrds, but I like to know the limb his feet are wrapped around, if possible.  

Boots are a personal preference. I need alot of ankle support, so I like lace up boots.  

A vest is nice.  Keeps things organized. You backside will like the attached butt pad. I like using a folding seat with a back to it that's low to the ground.  Downside to those is there a PITA to carry, but very comfortable. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/BlackOut-Turkey-Lounger-Folding-Hunting-Chair&ved=2ahUKEwjtkYuCwKXoAhXchXIEHb70AsYQFjACegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw0mNQorlsYSnxWngOIz80jt&cshid=1584585361241