Anyone want to show me the ropes? IL/WI
 

New guy here. Experienced with firearms 20+ years. 37yo male. Northern Illinois. Very interested in hunting Turkey (shotgun) I've been reading up on and watching videos on everything turkey related. Calling, decoy set up, tricks and tips, gear ETC. Biggest problem I have right now is I don't know where to go. I've looked into guided hunts, but $300 bucks a day seems pretty stiff. None of my friends/family hunt except for my brother in law down in Biloxi MS. I really wouldn't even mind being a tag along with you on one of your hunts, just to see how its done. I'm eager to learn so I can pass it onto my son and be able to have a good father/son bonding when he gets a little older. (He's almost six now) Right now I'm simply a new barrel or a second shotgun away from being ready to shoot one myself.

Any suggestions, advice, or help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Dennis

may consider putting in for the witkowsky area in NW IL for turkey/shotgun.

That's probably the best option for me at this point. I'll keep reading up, practicing my calls, finish putting my gear together till fall, and end up heading out by myself. I'll keep up the hunt for some private land, maybe i'll get lucky between now and fall.

I guess what worries me most is that I'll get out there by myself and not realize im doing a bunch of stuff wrong, and keep doing those things.

This is a pretty good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/Turkey-Hunting...turkey+hunting

I picked up that book a few years ago, and just started doing it. There's lots of info out there, differences of opinions, and probably not a lot of definitively right ways to do things. Maybe get out there before dawn, wear full camo, and don't call too much, after that, everyone's got an opinion.
(And I'm probably still doing a "bunch of stuff wrong" lol.)

Not much in the way of public land tags left this year. First lottery deadline is November 30. Witosky and Rall in Jo Daviess County, and French Bluff (rough walk in) are probably available. Depending on where you are and how far you want to drive, you might want to look at southern Wisconsin.

I agree, I have read this book and it is an excellent read. It doesn't go too indepth but provides a very good overview. The more indepth stuff will often vary based on opinions, but this will give the universal basics.

Shoot a PM to JW. He teaches up past your neck of the woods in Wisconsin.

Thanks, will do.

And I am here. I am out turkey hunting but will be going home later todya. I have several other hunts which will be conducted soon some of which you could tag along with me. I recently finished teaching a Learn to Hunt program in WI and that was very rewarding. At least we can talk on the phone I will contact you later today via e-mail.

JW

Dave..JW

And spend some time reading the tips and techniques sub forum found in the main Turkey forum.
There are several well done articles by our own HNI turkey hunters on calls and how to use them and other turkey hunting techniques.

Be careful what you ask for as to me Turkey Hunting is a disease! :D

JW

JW,

Sorry I missed your posts. Never received notification. Shoot me a pm or email whenever you're ready and we can talk.
Thanks
Dennis