Ont thing about turkey hunting is that it will teach you humility and patience. Time is going to be your best teacher. You will find that on some days, NOBODY could get that bird to come in and on the next day (maybe), he will come running to just about any ol squawk. You'll NEVER figure these birds out completely! But you're gonna have the time of your life trying. Hang in there! If a turkey can find a way to make a fool of you, he probably will. There is a book called "the Flaming Turkey" by Robert Hitt-Neill that is a must read for turkey hubters. It is NOT meant to be instructional, but Bob has eloquently put into words what ALL of us go through in our pursuit of these magnificent creatures.

I don't know where you're hunting, but start scouting about a month before your season. DO NOT CALL TO ANY TURKEY DURING THIS TIME!!! In fact it would be best to LEAVE YOUR CALLS AT HOME while you're out scouting. Get there before daylight and listen for gobbling and the flydown. DON'T BUMP THEM! Be patient and try to figure out where they roost, where he likes to fly down (this may not be the same direction every day, but he'll probably have his 'druthers' on where he flies down). Determine the best route to get to him. Locate SEVERAL birds in different areas. Break in your boots! Do some walking and look for tracks, dusting areas, scratches, feathers, and the birds themselves. Try to figure out their travel patterns. Be a ghost while scouting. Be VERY careful not to bump a bird if you can possibly avoid it. Also know that their behavior will change throughout the spring. They are almost a completely diffirent animal during deer season

On hunting day, get there early and try to set up about 75 to 100 yards away from him. Since you're brand new, I'd advise you to call painfully little. And keep them basic. Use soft clucks and purrs mostly with an occaisional yelp thrown in. They can hear better than you think. You'll have to 'take his temperature' and figure out how much calling he wants. It is much easier to build uo to this than to undo too aggressive calling too early. Remember that you're going against nature. Normally the hen goes to the Tom. You have to get his hormonal blood boiling and get him to do something stupid like come to you. Expect the unexpected. They will gobble constantly on the limb and shut up when they fly down and come in silent. They will gobble their danged fool heads off and not budge beyond a particular spot, frustrating you to no end (if you listen closely, you can hear them laughing at you). They may come in silent and then gobble right behind you and give you a heart attack! They'll circle. They'll peek out from behind a tree, peek up over a bush or a ridge. They are diabolical little critters that will go to the ends of the earth to make a fool out of you!! Never forget that!! They are God's way of teaching you to laugh at yourself.

The best advice I ever got, and I've been hunting these critters for close to 25 years, is to hunt with as many different people as you can who have killed turkeys. Pay attention and learn something from each one of them. There's no way that we can tell you everything here, but you have enough to get started, now. The one thing you NEVER want to forget to do, however, is to have fun! These birds will frustrate you to no end, and if it ain't fun, it ain't worth doin'!