Things I learned in my fist turkey season

[natimage]

I spent endless hours reading online, books, magazines etc...but didn't realize how little I knew until I got in the field. Here's way I learned:

1) Protect yourself from ticks!! Tuck your pants in your socks and in your boots. Tuck gloves into your jacket and make DEET your close and personal friend. Before I learned this I had 5 ticks making me their breakfast...oops!

2) Looking for sign in the middle of the day 2 weeks before season isn't sufficient scouting...oops! getting out there a week before your season AT SUNRISE to see where they fly down and what they do will help much much more!

3) Do not set up a decoy and plan to sit RIGHT in the middle of a roost, if you don't know EXACTLY where they roost, be safe and set up well outside of it...oops! Once she started putting I knew we got too close, didn't realize we were in the middle of it!

4) Sit by your decoy until well after sun up, it's tempting to go towards the gobblers, but they'll come to you. I found myself walking a big circle and ended up next to my decoy with a tom sitting in a tree right over my decoy...oops!

5) Always rotate around a tree and face where the gobblers are roosting. Facing the hens doesn't do you as much good. This one cost me my first gobbler this season...oops!

6) It does work to get in a fight with a hen if she decides she doesn't like you calling to her tom but when she can't get to you because of some obstruction, the tom will probably just go to her and leave you wondering what you should have better...oops!

7) Bring a small flashlight and know the land, navigating not quit familiar land well before sunrise is not only dangerous but can make you late getting to your spot (it was that morning that I set up in the middle of the roost)...oops!

8) Try not to get too frustrated when you make mistakes, you're tired, hungry, thirsty and just watched a gobbler fly off because you scared it...but you're out there for a reason and getting down only hurts the whole experience

Hope what I learned might be able to help some of the other first timers! I might add more as I remember things!

[mohunter82]

on your ticks. deet is helpful but will not stop ticks. deet blocks the chemical that ticks use to find us, basically confusing them for a little bit. if you dont want ticks get something with pemethrin in it and apply it to your clothes. not skin but clothes. permethrin is the active ingrediant in head lice treatments. this will kill a tick after he walks over just a couple of inches of your clothes.

[cahaba]

Sounds like u had a great season. L LOVE turkey hunting and a filled tag is just icing on the cake. Sounds like you learned alot so it will only get better and might make you crazy!