absoulete best advice i can give to a first timer is to watch the turkey DVD's or Videos that are out there...i really like Primos, HS Strut, and Realtree.......this is what i used and made notes of what they did, when they did it, how often and why they did things....HS Struts older ones (say 4 years ago and older) worked very well for me as they told why they did things.......just remember not everything is the same twice but this knowledge will be very beneficial, IMO

as for calls.....a good slate, ( i am not a fan of boxes..i have one.. use if rarely but good to have) and a mouth call...a must IMO..keeps hands free and after a while u can actually "talk" to the turkey...which is what you want to accomplish......even beyond that if you can learn to use your natural voice...that is even better sometimes