This will be my 1st official spring turkey hunt coming up. Whatstyle of callwould you recommend for the beginner? Season here in mid Florida starts in March so this is the time frame i have to work with getting used to such calls. Also, where is a good place to visit on hearing exactly the different sounds of turkeys (other than the woods haha)and what would be the go to sounds for a beginner? Will start my scouting in mid Feb. Thanks guys!!

I live in FL too and Ive been calling for a couple of years. I started with abox call and worked my way up to the slate and then to mouth calls. I killed a big bird last spring using my mouth calls and my buddy was using a slate. No one call is better than another but experiment and dont be afraid to spend some money on a bunch of different calls and PACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Find the one that you are most comfortable with and stick to it. A good place to go to hear the sounds of a turkey is the NWTF website. They have a link that you can click on the calls and hear them.

Good luck and where abouts in mid FL are you?

Well what ever call you choose - box or slate or both are the easiest - practice-practice-practice!

Forget about all that fancy calling stuff done at contests and master the basics of just Yelp or yelps and cluck or clucks.

I have two CDs to whcih I listen to all the time.
1. NWTF CD - calls of the wild turkey - nonstop from yelps to purrs to clucks to gobbles -
2. Lovet Williams - Calls of the Wild Turkey. he is very instructional.

Listen to those and mimic what you hear using your own call. I do!

The next thing I would od if you are serious is Read all I can here and do go back in the archives pages back. There are many many good turkey hunters here! Calling is only half the battle - woodsmanship is the other - by knowing your quarry - scouting and how to scout and what to look for - then patterning of the bird once you have located a tom you want to go after - and typical set-ups of either run and gun or sit and wait, how to pattern your gun - and learning when you can move or not move and when to call or not call to using deocys or not - All will be there in our past history here.
While I admit I do watch all those Kill vidoes on OLN and Versus and yes I do set up a huge camo blind over my tall mans rocker recliner in front of my big screen. You won't learn much form those videos.

You can learn much here.

Rule number - patience - patience - patience!;D

JW

JW had several good points. One thing that I wish I could have learned earlier is more patients. There has been several times where I got up to move and scared a bird away or when stalk a gobbler, I would say to myself, "if I could get to that next tree I would be golden", just to be spotted by the bird and him take off. Patients is a big one.

When it comes to calling, I would start out with a slate. I like them because they are easy to use (as is a box call) but you can also use them in "quiter" situations. Box calls are hard to use when a bird is close by. I would also get a mouth call. They are hard to use and you will probably get frustrated when learning to use one, but they are the most versitile call. A moth call allows you to have both hands on the gun and ready to shoot while still being able to make soft calls if necissary.

You can hear turkey calling sounds for free at http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/turkey_calls.html as well as many other places by doing a google search.

About the only time I use a box call is when trying to locate a bird. After that, it stays in my leg pouch. After that I'll grab a slate/aluminum/glass call and go after him with that. After I'm set up, and hopefully when he's headed my way I'll slip the mouth call in and finish him off.

So basically, my opinion is start with a box call and get good at it. It shouldn't be hard to do as I think it's the easiest call to work. Then go for the slate type calls. Again, I think these are very easy as well. Almost as easy as the box call. Then go for the mouth call. Definitely the hardest call to work but probably the deadliest too. Good luck! Simp

http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/turkey_calls.html

http://www.vaturkey.com/sounds.htm

http://www.thejump.net/turkeyhunting/turkey-calling-101.htm

Use a push button call. Its the easiest. Slates are easy as well. Box calls are farily easy as well. Work to using a mouth call. Remember limit your movement. The mouth call is the best for limited movement. Next is the push button. If your in a blind then your ok. PM me if ya need any advise...

Wow! lots of good stuff here! Thanks for all the adviceI have been reading alot here and back a few pages gathering as much info from you guys as possible. I have a box call and two mouth calls but not sure what mouth calls they are....doubt if they are still good anyways due to improper storage. Think i like the idea of a slate call. Seems like you could do this one handed unlike a box ( guess you could one hand a box but seems very hard lol ) Thanks for the the link to turkey sounds. I will pick a slate up this week and PRACTICE!!!! lol Thanks again guys....much help! Im out of Hillsborough Fl. and figure ill hunt up in Richloam / GreenSwamp as i see tons of turkey there.

I'll be in your neck of the woods starting March 16th! The spring season kicks off in Osceola country for me this year.

Good point....