Advice for New Turkey Hunters

[JoeFish]

I've never been turkey hunting, but I've always wanted to. From what I've read it is a challenge, but I've always been a woodsman first, so I feel I'm up to it.

I don't know anyone who hunts it, so I've been looking online for info and also found a couple of books I've been hinting at for Christmas. Just wondering if there's anything of the top of your heads you might want to share. TIA.

 

[ripcurl329]

you need to shoot them in the head or the base of the neck and they run very fast

 

[rcmodel]

Camouflage, more camouflage, cammy gloves & cammy face mask, And don't even blink behind it!

A brush or tree-limb blind in front of you is also very good.

They can see better then anything I have ever hunted, and can spot any movement or color from incredible distance.

You don't need a purpose built turkey shotgun.
Any old 12 ga. full-choke will kill them deader then dead out to 35-40 yards with a head/neck shot of #5's or #6's.

Do some scouting early before the season, and figure out where they are roosting and strutting.
Then be there before daylight on opening day.

My best luck (100% so far) has always been calling over decoys early in the season.
After they figure out what's going on, they become lots smarter faster!

rcmodel

 

[JoeFish]

Is a 3 or 3-1/2 necessary? I assume you have to shoot steel, I'll have to check the regs.

What kind of range do you usually shoot for? Or whatever you can get when they show up?

You don't think the camo gun is required with sufficient cover?

 

[rcmodel]

Shoot a 2 3/4" magnum turkey load while setting with your back leaned against a tree, and you won't even ask about if you need bigger shells!

EEeeeOOwwwwww! That smarts!

A 1 1/8 oz trap load will kill a turkey if you shoot him in the head.

I try to limit my shots to 40 yards or less with my FC Browning A-5. That is as far as I can insure tight enough patterns with #5 shot.

Your range limitation should be how far your gun will pattern your chosen load, dense enough to get several pellets in the head & neck every time.

A cammy gun isn't required. You can buy a roll of non-sticky cammo tape for less then 5 bucks and cover any gun with it. Then peel it off after the season.

If you happen to have a black synthetic shotgun, no cammo is needed. It looks just like a dead limb or shadow when sticking out of a hasty brush blind.

rcmodel

 

[acgill07]

I dont have a camo gun and dont feel that it has ever been spotted. Movement is the biggest issue. A 3 inch 12 gauge is plenty. Almost every turkey I have ever killed has been with a 20 gauge. You just have to be patient and not take unnecessarily long shots.
Call quietly so that you give the gobblers an idea of where you are without letting them pinpoint your location.
Watch out for other hunters.
Know the area you are going to hunt as well as possible.

 

[JoeFish]

"Know the area you are going to hunt as well as possible."

Yeah, I feel like this is key. Other than common sense, is there any unwritten rule about full camo safety? Either way, for someone shooting or someone on trail in turkey season?

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Couple things:

How you hunt them depends in part upon whether it's spring or fall. Mating season is typically tom only, and you can use their mating calls against them (mating yelps, tom gobbles, cutting). Fall may be tom only or either sex, depending on where you live, and calling them is more difficult (helps to know the more advanced calls like kiki-run and assembly in the fall, but basic soft clucks and purrs always help). Really, you just need to "find them" - find where they are walking around and where they are roosting (using tracks, scratched ground & leaves, and their droppings). They will follow the same pattern until it is disturbed, ordinarily.

While they do recognize color, they are NOT necessarily alarmed by it. They are used to seeing wildflowers, trash, and other items containing color, and I've had them come right up to me wearing blaze orange - you just have to be still - they spot movement very well indeed. I think they are slightly better than deer at spotting slight movements, but actually slightly LESS astute than deer at making out your still outline as being human/danger.

20 ga or 12 ga (3" or 2.75" doesn't matter, but a heavy load, high brass), with 4, 5, or 6 shot, pattern your shotgun and shoot for the head & neck area - aim for the neck just immediately below the head. Get them within 35 yards first; preferably less than 20.

Wear orange in and orange out. You can take off the orange after you're set up.

If the turkeys are coming your way, STOP CALLING - let them come in and not pinpoint you exactly. Only keep/resume calling if they start walking away or are still far away (more than 60-70 yards).

 

[JoeFish]

Awesome. I knew I asked in the right place. Thanks, guys.

 

[Grizfire]

• I like to aim for mid-neck, that way if you shoot high you get the head, and if you miss low, you get the base of the neck.
  
• Never shoot at a tom in strut, wait for him to lift his head.
  
• learn basic yelping now, before 09 spring hunts.
  
• Locate a turkeys roosting spot (up in a tree) at sundown. Sneak close to that tree before sun up the next day and wait for them to fly down, then let the calling and fun begin.
  
• Also, although in many states its not illegal to shoot a turkey out of a tree, its considered bad form to do so.
  
• Never stalk a gobbling noise.

Here is a personal story for you:

I was walking a gated road one afternoon during a spring hunt. As I was walking I spooked 5 or 6 turkeys. I immediately set out a hen decoy and set up under a tree about 25 yards from the decoy. I waited about 15 minutes before i started calling to wait for the spooked turkeys to relax. Once I started yelping, a tom started gobbling in response. However, this continued for an hour and he would not come in. So I gave him the silent treatment...I stopped calling and after about 10 minutes (seems like eternity) he gobbled at a much closer range, but still out of site. Eventually he showed himself in strut. I gave one final soft yelp which allowed him to spot my decoy, he came in left to right, went behind a shrub just before reaching the decoy, which gave me time to get my gun shouldered (this is just textbook) he stopped at my decoyed, strutted for a bit, lifted his head and....BOOM, and....


off he ran looking back at me with full functionality of his head and neck! Dang, maybe next year.

 

[3pairs12]

Joe Fish I don't kow where you are in So. Cal, but my dad lives down there and he and his buddy have spotted turkeys several times on HWY 74 near Anza. I doubt there is a big population of them there but may be worth checking out.

 

[cat9x]

some very good advice here but before I just grabbed a shotgun out of the safe and full choked it I would definitely take it out and pattern it on paper. You need to know what your shotgun can do and at what range.

3 1/2" magnums are not that bad as everybody says. They are stout in recoil but I weigh 155lbs and I dont think it's too bad for any grown man. I hunt with one every spring season. I would say though that a 3" is plenty of shotgun. My particular setup is good for 45-50 yards but I will not shoot out further and try to keep shots inside 40.

I aim at the base of the head.

Good luck by the way!!

 

[~z]

Maybe not as sporting as the way yall do it but...Out in W TX we just use .22 mag or .22 Hornet and head/neck shoot them within 125 yds.
~z

 

[cat9x]

Maybe not as sporting as the way yall do it but...Out in W TX we just use .22 mag or .22 Hornet and head/neck shoot them within 125 yds.

using a rimfire (.22mag) is illegal in Texas by the way for turkeys.

 

[~z]

Cat you are gonna have to show me that in writing somewhere. Keep in mind that I am talking about W TX (so we are hunting Rio and NOT Eastern turkeys). If you can shed some light on my lawless ways, I will reform.
~z

 

[buck460XVR]

some very good advice here but before I just grabbed a shotgun out of the safe and full choked it I would definitely take it out and pattern it on paper. You need to know what your shotgun can do and at what range.

+1. IMHO,one of the most important aspects of Turkey Hunting.

Also for new hunters, fight the urge too call to much. Once you have established the Tom has heard you and has responded, call only enough to keep track of where he is. Too much calling can only make him gobble and strut more and take him longer to get there. It also increases the chances of him calling in a real hen that will lead him away. Don't give up on a bird that was hot and has now shut up......he may be on the way, he may have backed off because a more dominate bird is now in the area, or he may be in terrain that muffles his gobbles. Many new hunters give up and move too soon only to spook the bird coming in. If you are new at calling, master one call at a time......the yelp and a series of yelps is the simplest and the easiest. Cutting and cackles are calls that take time to master and are better practiced at home than in the field during hunting season. Being able to make one good call to a bird hung up at 80 yards is much better than knowing how to do several calls so-so.....and a mistake at that range can mean bye-bye birdy.



For fall birds, one cannot call too much and it is hard to mess up a call no matter what you do. Fall turkey hunting is a great way to practice and learn new calls. Gettin' in the middle of a flock of 40-50 birds, one hears a lot of different calls and you realize every bird sounds and talks a little different......and birds of the year make different sounds than adults. Imitate what you hear, tone is not near as important as the pattern or the rhythm.

 

[exospex]

Never stalk a gobbling noise.

+1 on that!

There's a good chance that the turkey you are stalking (in full cammo by the way) is another hunter(in full cammo by the way) and you may very well shoot (at) each other. Just please be careful when turkey hunting. It is very rewarding when you shoot a big gobbler with all those beards.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Maybe not as sporting as the way yall do it but...Out in W TX we just use .22 mag or .22 Hornet and head/neck shoot them within 125 yds.

You are far more skilled than I am, then, to hit the head/neck with them be-bopping around with their jerky movements at that range. Out to 50 yards, sure, but they move suddenly, and I wouldn't risk a shot and scaring them off - I'd keep calling and get them closer.

Oh yeah, like someone said use an extra-full choke (and lead shot only; no steel).

 

[Bigreno]

There are two items that every turkey hunter should use.

The first being a thick camo butt pad. Preferably one with a strap that attaches to your belt. After sitting on about my fifth mesquite thorn I came to this decision. So I am a little slow on the uptake... Anyway, it's also really hard to be still when you've been sitting on the ground under a mesquite tree waiting for that tom to come in for god knows how long.

The second is a good locator call. I have tried just about every kind of locator I can get my hands on and my go to is a Primos Gobbler Shaker. Get into an area where you think there are turkeys roosting and just when you get enough light to see, hit the shaker. If there is a tom in the area and you are the first to gobble then you should get a response from him in the roost. I have tried using various other calls to locate like crow and owl calls but this has worked best for me.

You may also want to check out this LINK. You can listen to just about every call a turkey makes and get an explanation of what it means.

 

[~z]

Cat9x, anything on the rimfire rules? I took another look at the book and can find nothing saying using rimfire is illegal for turkeys.
~z

 

[cat9x]

~Z I was mistaken! I dont know why but I always thought it was illegal to take any game animal aside from squirrels with a rimfire. That's all new to me and was something I have thought was the law for years. Thank goodness for annual book and your enlightenment. I hunt Mitchell county, where do you hunt?

 

[~z]

Just south of you in Coke and Tom Green. Also spend quite a bit of time down in Pecos. Seems to be a common thought though, the no rimfire thought, that is. Like I say probably not as sporting as some folks make it, but we often shoot em with target rifles from considerably farther than 125yds.
~z