First off, congrats for picking the most addictive species of big game to hunt.

As for your questions:

Hearing: Excellent. They can literally hear a crow, some estimate, up to 5 miles. You can, however, usually get away with whispering in the woods, even with a bird at 20 yards. I don' t recommend it, but I' ve done it as have many others...

Eyesight: Excellent plus. They do see in color, some research suggests that the oil pigmentation in the avian eye allows for 3X the number of colors that humans perceive. As earlier stated, however, this reduces their nighttime visibility due to the small number of rods comprising the avian eyeball.

Smell: Virtually non-existent. The auditory and optical nerve input, I' ve read, comprise 75% of the brain functions. The remaining 25% are devoted to the sympathetic nerves, regulating body temp, resp rate, heartrate, etceteras.

Easiest way to start = get some camo, including gloves and a facemask, for you and your daughter. Do not wear hunter orange, but you may want a vest/hat that can be converted (many vests have a detachable/hideable orange " flag" ) Buy a blind, or some camo-burlap and make a blind using some old tentpoles (painted black) and the burlap.

Find some turkeys on the roost before the season---they' re starting to gobble, and in most areas roost in the general area during the entire breeding season.

Find a large tree, preferrably about 100 yards from one of the noisy gobbler' s roost, possibly a day or two before the season. Check your local laws, but hunting hours tend to start 1/2 hour before sunlight. Get to that tree about 1/2 hour before legal hours start, and when you hear him sound off answer his gobble with 2 or 3 soft yelps or clucks.

If he answers, repeat the sequence about every 5 minutes--don' t call too much, remember he thinks you' re a hen just awakening up in a tree.

Usually between 30-15 minutes before actual sunrise (this depends greatly on the weather), he' ll fly off his roost and sound off. Answer him with a flydown cackle and the fun will begin.

I' m sure somebody else can pick up from here, my fingers are tired and it' s coffee time before lunch...


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