Any Last Minute tips for a group of new turkey hunters?
- Thread starter jphilp87
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ReadyontheRight
Member
See if your state has an educational program. Minnesota has a good turkey training training program.
SAFETY. SAFETY. SAFETY.
You are all dressed in camo, you will be sounding like turkeys, hunting over turkey decoys and you have shotgun shells that can very easily kill a human at long range.
Tell each other your hunting plans, stick to them, communicate if plans change, whistle/yell if you think another hunter is coming close and sit with your back against a nice, solid tree. Pin a bit of orange cloth onto your back and also on the back of your big tree.
Give up the turkey for safety.
-The laws can be tricky - understand your laws on guns allowed, times for hunting, length of beard for shooting, etc.
-Be prepared to sit very still and be quiet for a very long time.
-Do not call too much. A tom may hear your hen call at 8am and visit his new lady friend at Noon.
Enjoy! Turkey hunting is definitely about the hunting experience, not the meat
SAFETY. SAFETY. SAFETY.
You are all dressed in camo, you will be sounding like turkeys, hunting over turkey decoys and you have shotgun shells that can very easily kill a human at long range.
Tell each other your hunting plans, stick to them, communicate if plans change, whistle/yell if you think another hunter is coming close and sit with your back against a nice, solid tree. Pin a bit of orange cloth onto your back and also on the back of your big tree.
Give up the turkey for safety.
-The laws can be tricky - understand your laws on guns allowed, times for hunting, length of beard for shooting, etc.
-Be prepared to sit very still and be quiet for a very long time.
-Do not call too much. A tom may hear your hen call at 8am and visit his new lady friend at Noon.
Enjoy! Turkey hunting is definitely about the hunting experience, not the meat
Sounds like he pretty much said it all. The breast meat out of a turkey isn't that bad. What we like to do is turkey hunt in the morning, and then go mushroom hunting late morning early afternoon. Makes for a pretty good supper. Filet the breast out and cut into cubes. Coat meat with eggs and milk mixture then coat in crushed up frosted flakes. The kids eat them up quick at least at my house.
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
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Yep:
1. Be safety-conscious
2. Try to find where they're roosting
3. Remember, jakes will come in silently
4. If you hear them coming, quickly move around to face them coming in, or they'll be on you too quickly, and then you can't move.
5. Those are Easterns, so call sparingly.
6. If a tom is coming in, SHUT UP (quit calling) - let him come in.
7. Pattern your shotgun with a turkey head/neck outline. Use a full or xtra full choke.
8. If he's strutting, wait til he gobbles to shoot, if possible - he will stick his neck out to gobble, giving you a good target to aim at.
9. Use a blind of some sort, either natural or made by you with limbs or store-bought. They see movement very well, so the blind allows you to get away with a little more movement
10. I like using one of these doohickeys to help me keep my shotgun steady: [well, can't find it now, but it's made by HS precision, and it's a monopod rest that clamps to your shotgun barrel]
11. Practice your calling; try to sound realistic; if it's raining, use a glass plate with an acrylic striker.
12. Keep hunting in the afternoon. The best times are sunup until about 8:00 or 8:30 am, and then from 1pm until sundown. I find that between 8:30 and noon or so, they are henned up and won't come to calls (except maybe jakes). But after the hens go to their nests, and the toms have been feeding awhile, by the afternoon, they're horny again, and will start gobbling again and may come to calls, looking for some late-day action.
let's see...
1. Be safety-conscious
2. Try to find where they're roosting
3. Remember, jakes will come in silently
4. If you hear them coming, quickly move around to face them coming in, or they'll be on you too quickly, and then you can't move.
5. Those are Easterns, so call sparingly.
6. If a tom is coming in, SHUT UP (quit calling) - let him come in.
7. Pattern your shotgun with a turkey head/neck outline. Use a full or xtra full choke.
8. If he's strutting, wait til he gobbles to shoot, if possible - he will stick his neck out to gobble, giving you a good target to aim at.
9. Use a blind of some sort, either natural or made by you with limbs or store-bought. They see movement very well, so the blind allows you to get away with a little more movement
10. I like using one of these doohickeys to help me keep my shotgun steady: [well, can't find it now, but it's made by HS precision, and it's a monopod rest that clamps to your shotgun barrel]
11. Practice your calling; try to sound realistic; if it's raining, use a glass plate with an acrylic striker.
12. Keep hunting in the afternoon. The best times are sunup until about 8:00 or 8:30 am, and then from 1pm until sundown. I find that between 8:30 and noon or so, they are henned up and won't come to calls (except maybe jakes). But after the hens go to their nests, and the toms have been feeding awhile, by the afternoon, they're horny again, and will start gobbling again and may come to calls, looking for some late-day action.
let's see...
Husker1911
Member
Put a tree to your back.
Do NOT stalk a gobbling "turkey."
Do not ever wave a red handkerchief.
Be completely sure of your target, and what lies beyond.
Don't shoot your decoy!
Good luck and be safe!
Do NOT stalk a gobbling "turkey."
Do not ever wave a red handkerchief.
Be completely sure of your target, and what lies beyond.
Don't shoot your decoy!
Good luck and be safe!
Legionnaire
Contributing Member
When I saw your thread, my first thought was "Don't Stalk!" Others beat me to it. But especially with turkey hunting, where you dress up in camo and go out in the woods and make sounds your game makes, it's safety first!
And don't stalk!
And don't stalk!
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