I have never Turkey hunted but i am going to try it this Spring. I understand i may be asking a lot but any help would be appreciated. What kind of call or calls would you recommend for a beginner and any other tips that i could use would sure be helpful. Thanks, TT.
Reading this forum is a good source of info. There is a lot of people that has a lot of good info.
Agreed. Just read every thread posted in the turkey forum...even if you don't think it is relevant. If you have more specific question, post them and I am sure people will help you out
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Remington Model 11-87 Premier 12 Gauge
Remington Model 870 SPS-T Camo Thumbhole 12 Gauge
Ruger M77 Mark II .270 w/ Nikon 3-9x40 Buckmasters
i am a self taught, somewhat accomplished, turkey hunter....not to brag but i do very well for public land turkey hunting in CA....
first thing i did was to buy lots and lots of the more "updated" turkey hunting dvds...primos, HS strut, and realtree would work fine....don't have to buy all there fancy get up, but watch what they do, how they call, when they call, what they use.....then best for a beginer is a push-button box style call..you can also try a slate call, box call, and if you can try a diaphram call....the diaphram takes lots of practice
My preferance regarding calls for a beginner would be a Knight and Hale Ol' Yeller pot type call. It is easy to use and sounds good too. Box type calls are good too. Do a search online for turkey sounds (maybe the NWTF site has sound clips?) Learn the yelp, cluck, and purr, those will be your bread and butter calls. I find light clucks, purrs work best for meand sometimes when they don't want to come in the last few yards into sight, just stop calling and scratch the leaves like a feeding hen... If a bird just stands there gobbling to all of your calls but doesn't come any closer, soften it up or quit calling, play hard to get and make him come look for you otherwise he may be waiting for you (the hen) to come to him! There is a lot to learn and reading past messages on this forum is a great source of info. Just realize spring and fall hunting are completely different, so I'd go back and read posts from march thru may. I'm sure you'll have specific questions that most folks that visit this forum would be glad to answer. Anyway, good luck!
I agree with all of ya'll. I learned a lot by reading these forums, watching dvd's, and my fiance' got me a turkey hunting book for my b-day last year that I have read over and again. The truth is, we can tell you how we do it. But it's the getting out there and doing it yourself that will teach you to turkey hunt. I never learned as much from anything until that first hunt for me last year. Experiance is everything. Good luck man.
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Brent Ellenburg aka (KillerBee17)
Check out www.fullthrottlesimracing.net
John 3.16.
When I first started turkey hunting I didn't get much of any help from hunting dvd's because they seem to either tell you the basic "common sense" stuff or the"way too complicated for a begginner" stuff. I did get a lot of help on the hunting.net forum though. My personal recommendations would be either a box or slate call because they seem to me to be the easiest to learn... just buy it early and practice a lot. Second go to where you plan to hunt and doa LOT of pre-season scouting. This helped me pattern the flock on our property to the point where I could almost always tell you where they would be at any givin time. After scouting plan where you are going to sit. You will want a spot where you can set up with a little cover in front of you but most importantly you want cover behind you. Also make sure your spot is in an area the birds are frequently near and is easily accessible from nearby roads etc. so you don't have to walk through an area the birds may be to get set-up. for decoys I had good luck with either just a hen decoy or a two hens and a jake setup. Set them out about 15-20 yards facing towards you....
Hope this helps
oh and NEVER underestimate them... I thought the birds around here were dumb because I shot my first one within 45 min of opening day and then went 1 for 4 on the next four hunts.... They learn your techniques quick
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"There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children. Period." (Ted Nugent)
THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE IS IF YOU ARE HUNTING TURKEYS CLOSE TO YOU. GET WHATEVER CALL YOU WANT, I PREFER THE "PRIMOS FREAK" AND ANY DECENT 25 DOLLAR AND UP BOX CALL. GO OUT INTO THE WOODS, CAMO UP AND HIDE REAL GOOD, LISTEN FOR THEM AND LEARN HOW THEY TALK, TAKE YOUR BOX CALL AND MATCH A HEN WORD FOR WORD. TRY TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU HEARD AND TAKE THAT KNOWLEGE INTO THE SEASON WHEN YOU HUNT. PAY ATTENTION TO HOW LOUD THEY ARE, HOW FREQUENT THEY ARE, DOES THE HEN SOUND LIKE THIS(CLUCK-CLUCK- PURR) OR (LOW-LOW-HIGH-LOW CLUCKS). ONE KEY I WOULD SAY TO CALLING IT TO NOT OVER CALL, "PURRING" IS WHAT GETS A TOM FIRED UP THE MOST IN MY OPINION. THIS SOUNDS COMPLICATED BUT IT JUST GIVES YOU AN IDEA WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE, JUST ABOUT ANY CLUCK PATTERN YOU DO WILL WORK, KEEP IT SIMPLE AND TRY TO MATCH THEIR SOUNDS. OH YA, AND IF YOU EVER HEAR A BOSS HEN CLUCKING LOUDLY, ALWAYS CUT HER OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF HER SEQUENCE AND CLUCK JUST A LITTLE BIT LOUDER THAN HER.
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kansas trophy whitetail, turkey and waterfoul.
my wife says i only smile ear to ear for a picture when there is something dead in my hands.
Help for 1st time Turkey hunt.
