know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

i am wanting to get into turkey hunting but i knw very little about it. i would appreciate any advice anybody could offer. i have a primos box call and two montana decoys one is a hen the other is a tom at half fan. also i want to hunt them with a bow. so any help you guys could give would be awesome. thanks

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

You want to hunt them in the spring or the fall? Sounds like you have the gear needed to hunt them in the spring. I cant really help you with fall turkey hunting. Also hunting magazines offer GREAT articles on hunting so get a couple of them as well. Specific questions you have would make it easier for us too.;)

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

I've told this to many wanting to get into this addiction......Just DO IT. You will not become a successful turkey hunter from advice given on a forum. It helps, a lot sometimes, but you really just have to go and hunt em before you realize what kinda animal you're hunting. Turkeys can be the most enjoyable to hunt, while also being the most frustrating thing to hunt, all in the same day sometimes! As you can see, not too many people keep up with the turkey hunting forum when it's not spring (hypocrites! ...jk), so you might not get too much advice this time of year. During the spring, there are some sure enough turkey experts on here to talk to, but like BuckRogerssaid you should read a little bit and find out some info so you can ask more specific questions. Without questions I would just start typing and probably wouldn't stop until tomorrow sometime. Spring turkey hunting is my favorite season of all, always will be! When you hear two or three nasty toms gobblin their heads off on a foggy spring morning, you oughta be addicted right then! Even now I look forward to March 16, 2009. Any questions, ask em, I love talkin about it.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Are you hunting private or public land?

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

mudhead,

I'm in the same boat, gonna get everything prepped for this coming spring, but you're way ahead of me on gear and stuff, i haven't even bought a shotgun yet... which brings me to why I'm over here...

I was thinkin about pickin up an Rem 870 for my turkey gun and a good friend of mine who's a serious pheasant guy tells me to check out the benelli nova as well...

any thoughts from the players gallery??

I figure i'm gonna need some kind of ground blind given the area I'll be hunting (family land in AL) and of course i'll use my standard deer camo clothing... are decoys a must for turkey??

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Don't waste your money on decoys Seven, trust me. I have a Rem 870 Special Purpose Turkey gun, made with a shorter barrell and turkey chokes. Shoots 3 1/2 in loads, but that's not a must. There are a lot of great guns out now, shouldn't be too hard to find one. Also depends on if you're gonna do any other kind of hunting with that gun. Dove hunting would be easier with a longer barrell gun, etc. What part of AL you hunting?

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

our land in in NW AL, town called Hamilton, not far from Florence...

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

When you're turkey hunting in the Fall, you can move the leaves with your hand (make it sound like a turkey is making scratches.) And also when you are turkey hunting in the Fall, you can take a plastic grocery bag (a brown one so it's camouflaged.) And hold on hand on one end and the other hand on the other end and pop it. Good luck!

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Sounds like you have the equipment you need for the hunt, now you just have to get out there.
If you are going to be hunting in the spring or the fall it is always nice to know where they are roosting.
When bowhunting a lot of peoplelike to use ground blinds, and seem to have good success with them . I prefer to brush myself in and hunt from the shadows. Obviously the toughest thing about bowhunting them is drawing back on them, so just make sure you are well concealed or drawing while they are looking away.
Here are a couple of aiming points to use while bowhunting.

Good luck, if you have any more questions just ask away!

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Either of the shotguns you mentioned will be perfectly fine for turkey hunting, once you decide which one you want to go with let me know, and I will be happy to let you know what choke/load combos I have had success with.
I agree with southern, you do not need decoys....sometimes it is nice to have them, but you do not need them.
You don't really need a ground blind, but lots of people use them and they do work fine so that is really up to you.
Good luck, if you have questions just fire away!

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

It doesnt matter what gear you are using if you dont know how to hide and stay still. From my experiences turkeys will give you one chance of being seen, once you get seen you have to be on the top of your game and not move at all but still get the gun or bow up and at full draw. Good luck you will fall in love with hunting them.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

I have an uncle in Huntsville, and my g/f is fromup that wayso I've been up around there a little bit. Good lookin land up there for turkeys. It would be a lot different thanwhere I hunt, it's more flat up there,sonot all the tactics I use would apply up there. The hunting would be a little different, that's all. Simply said, if you're fall hunting, just find where they roost and feed, set up between or right where they will come to feed. No need to worry with windwith turkeys, but keep in mind they see much much better than a deer. Full camo, always be ready, and keep movement to an extreme minimum, unless you know where the turkeys are and know they can't see you at all. Even then, they may be watching somewhere. Noise doesn't matter all that much, as long as they don't see your movements when you're making noise. Like someone mentioned, scratching in the leaves is an excellent tactic, but don't go crazy with it and don't do it too much, just pretend you're a turkey scratchin for bugs under the leaves. Learn the cluck and purr,it's a good fall season call, and great for mid to late morning hunting. This call is a sign of contentment, relaxation, and food. Not so easy on your boxcall you got, much easier on a slate or some type of friction call......glass, crystal, whatever.Primos power crystal slate with a purple heart striker or a flat tipped synthetic striker does a cluck n purr very well.Go ahead and buy a$4 mouth call, you will become addicted and you will WANT to learn how to use one.HS Strut makes great ones, that's all I use, one single HS Strut deuce cutter. Don't get sucked into spending$60 or $80 for any turkey call, that's ridiculous, you don't need the best to kill turkeys. Then again, the worstand cheapest calls sometimes don't get it done all that well. Crow callor woodpecker is a good locator call to make em "shock" gobble when they're being silent, owl hooter very early before they fly down. When they're hot, they will gobble at just about anything. I've had em gobble at my truck door shutting, horn honking (on accident),train whistle, siren from the dam, and thunder. Plant some wheat or oats in a small plot somewhere for fall season, if that's possible, and it will benefit you duringearly spring as well. Create other openings around the feeding and roosting zones, plow up some dirt for feather dusting and fresh bugs, but don't forget to leave some standing brush for cover if you were to check a food plot around late morning or mid-day and spot a gobbler to go after. Think about stand location and what would be the best path to get to your spot with little noise or movement detected.....this doesn't always work, you WILL spook turkeys off the roost, that's how it is. If this happens, don't give up, they probably all flew in different directions and really wanna find each other before the day starts. Knowing how to do a "kee kee" and assembly yelp call will benefit you greatly as you may be able to get set up in the area and call the lost turkeys back together. This tactic is very effective where I hunt, mostly ridges and hollows. The turkey can't see up on top of the hill because it's so steep, but he or she wants to find out where that turkey is (ME), so they can't resist and come to top to be blown away, unless it's a hen. In flat areas, may not work as well, but it could still be effective. I guess that brings chapter 1 to a close, haha :D. I'm tired of typing,just got into it for a minute there and couldn't stop myself. It was almost like I was in the woods! Ahhhhh, spring spring spring. Read some more, ask more questions. Good luck becoming a turkey addict!

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Wow I didnt realize it but I just rambled through that whole dadgum thing, haha. Sorry, but theres some good stuff in there. Nowhere near everything, just some rambling info.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

I think that is awesome you would like to try to take one with the bow and if that what your heart is set on then go for it. In my honest opinion you might want to think about trying to get one or two with a gun first though. Turkey hunting can be very challenging and very frustrating, especially when you are just learning the ropes, and using a bow. Once you get a couple under your belt and get the hang of things then try taking a few with your bow. But like I said if that is what your heart is set on don't let me talk you out of it.
As for any specific gear you need, you are already off to a good start. You need full head to toe camo, including gloves and facemask, a call or two, gun or bow and you are set. Granted there is lots of specialty gear you can get, but most of it is optional. As for tactics to use, the first thing i would do is try to find out where the birds are roosting, as they generally return to the same areas. After that see if you can figure out any travel patterns they might use. This is important because you always want to be where they are going or want to go...even the best calling in the world wont do you any good if there are no birds around, or you are some place they don't want to be already.
As for calling, keep it fairly simple. Learn the basic yelp, cluck and purr, then from there you can work on the more advanced stuff like keekee runs, cutts, cackles, etc. there is a fine line between calling enough to keep a bird interested, and over calling. Unfortunately that line moves around a lot and what works once, on one bird, in one situation might not work on a different bird in a different situation. I call it "taking a birds temperature", if he is real hot and gobbling at everything you can pour it on because that's what he wants to hear, if he is real quiet and hardly gobbling or not gobbling at all you might have to really tone it down, or stop calling all together. Learning how to call only comes with experience though and you are bound to mess up more then you get it right but that is what keeps it fun. It also depends on what time of year we are talking about, what works in the spring (breeding season) probably wont work in the fall. In the fall i tune it way down, just throwing out a few yelps and clucks, and try to ambush them as they go to roost. Anyways i hope that helped some, good luck out there!

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

I like what gmil said about takinga fewwith your gun first. I was thinkin about that as well, but I also thought that if you were to bow hunt turkeys before you gun hunt them, you will probably respect the turkey and turkey hunting way more as bowhunting turks is a little tougher. But you also might get so frustrated that you just flat out give up. I agree with gmil, you might wanna think about taking your gun a few times and trying to get a couple under your belt, but don't let us stop you. I gota buddy that has never killed a turkey, and he refuses to take a gun turkey hunting. Everytime we go he takes his bow, he's like you, wants to takehis first with a bow. There's nothin wrong with it, just knowthat there are no guarantees in turkey hunting and you're gonna have to screw up a lot to learn a little.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

Great information guys. SouthernStrut, you are dead on, there is nothing like Spring turkey hunting. I love deer and duck hunting, but there is just something special about hunting turkeys. It's a combination of many things only a true turkey hunter would understand. If you ask Will Primos, Knight and Hale, Eddie Salter, the Drury brothers, Michael Wadell and many otherswhat there favorite species to hunt is, I bet they will all say the Wild Turkey. BTW, I was going to suggest starting out with a shotgun first, but ya'll beat me to it. I'll talk turkey anytime.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

When you do take a Turkey with a bow will mean that you have mastered the Turkey Calls to bring them in that close. If you can consistently do that you will out-do many shotgun hunters............Same with with hunting other animals, learnthe techniques from other Archers, learn about firearms from Gunners.

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

thanks for all the advice i really appreciate it hopefully i'll get a chance to use it this fall thanks again

RE: know nothing HELP!!!!!!!!!
 

I'd recommend you hook up with someone experienced, and buddy hunt with them a few times, if they are willing. I had a friend willing to help me when I first got started, and learned a lot from him. Ideally, they can teach you how to locate birds on the roost, set up in good proximity to them before they fly down, and start to work them in. If that gobbler gets henned up off the roost, then you can always change position, or try to cut them off. Being familiar with the land you are turkey hunting is a big help. My buddy taught me a lot about locating and roosting birds, when to move and when to stay put, and a ton of other tips that he learned from years of prior experience in the woods. I owe my many subsequent years of successful turkey hunts to him.

I'm partial to slate calls, as you can get some great sound off them once you learn to use them. But it really helps to practice with a mouth call. I used to practice in my truck to and from work. It was good use of idle time, and gave me good opportunity to become proficient with them. Movement is the one thing that can really bust your turkey hunt up in a heartbeat. Turkeys have great eyesight. Slate calls and box calls require two hands to use. When that gobbler gets close, set them down. A mouth call doesn't require your hands, so there is very little movement involved, and lets you keep your finger near the trigger.

Best of luck.