moss50012

this spring i will go on my first turkey hunt, i was wondering if there are any tips or suggestions you guys have that would make my hunt a succes

Arrowmaster

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the wonderful world of turkey hunting. There is tons of advise on here. If you have a question feel free to ask. You can also search here and generally find an answer. This forum has a great group of gals and guys, all with tons of knowledge. Where would you like to start. I would suggest read and learn the ways of the wild turkey. There are tons of books on it. But if ya wanna just start by getting a few calls, push buttons, box and slate call. Then practice practice practice, then move on ro a mouth call. Get some decoys. What type of gun do you have? Pattern your gun. Find the proper shells that pattern well. Me I use 12ga Federals 3" 2oz load 5 shot. But all guns and patterns are different. Keep practicing with your calls...

Arrowmaster

Come and sign up for the 2009 spring turkey hunting contest. Its free and you will have a great time and will love all the knowledge that you will get. Get ready to become addicted to turkey hunting...

gmil6184

Well is there any particular subject you would like advice on? Calling? Camo? Guns/loads? Tactics? If you are just looking for some general advice I would say get one or two basic calls and get to where you are very comfortable with them. learn the basic hen vocalizations (the yelp, purr and cluck). Then make sure you have a good set of camo, including a hat, face mask and gloves. Then figure out what you are going to hunt with, turkey hunting with bows has become popular of late but for a beginner I would suggest using a shotgun first. Nearly any 20 or 12 gauge shotgun will do, with a full or specialty turkey hunting choke, and a good turkey load. Make sure you pattern your shotgun to make sure you can get the center of the pattern in the turkey's head and neck area out to about 30-35 yards (with some tinkering with gun/load/choke combos and practice you might be able to stretch the yardage out farther, but 30-35 yards is a good starting point). Turkeys are tough birds so you will want to put several pellets in the brain/spinal cord to ensure a clean kill (there are great targets online that you can download and print). As for some basic tactics, try to figure out where the birds roost at night because they will generally return their every evening. Try to set up at first light about 100 yards from their roost so as soon as they fly down you can try to call them in. Pay attention to terrian, turkeys are generally hard to call downhill they are much easier to call when you are above them (not sure why, they just are) and try to eliminate any barriers between them and you (fenses, streams, thickets, etc) as they will often cause the birds to hang up. Finally make sure you stay very still when the birds are coming in as they have wonderful eyesight. Once you are sure they are coming in it is usually a good idea to stop calling, or at least cut back on the calling...there is such thing as calling too much. That is just some basic things to keep in mind, if you have any questions feel free to ask. As helpful as it is talking to people here and getting advice the best thing you can do is just to go out and hunt. Those birds are going to teach you more about turkey hunting in one season then you'd learn in a hundred years online. But the trial and error is all part of it and I'm sure you'll be wacking those gobblin' fools in no time. Good Luck!

drdi

LOL! I was going to say something like don't even start turkey hunting because if you do start,then next thing you know ............... well, I don't think there is a cure for what comes after.

Enjoy your first season!!!!!

mohunter82

welcome to the addiction.
the people on this forum will be able to give you some great advice and opinions.
for the most part gmil and arrowmaster hit the basics on the head.

never be afraid to ask questions.

TEmbry

Read up on it all you can, then come up with some more specific questions.
Nothing beats time in the woods though. Get out there and learn it on your own too. You will mess up, A LOT, so get used to it now and try to learn from mistakes when they happen.

Best of luck this spring.

BigDoeKilla

Don't move!!

teedub31

My 2 cents. Expect failure as far as tagging a longbeard. Not that being out there and hearing what you are gonna hear aint just the ultimate rush and makes for a awsome experience. It is just the fact that these birds are 100 times more difficult to hunt the deer. But OOOOHHHHH so much fun, cuz that gobble lets you know he is there!!!

As other have said, let the addiction begin!!

mhogancu

Dont shoot a Hen.......and read up as much as possible. I as well are just starting to hunt turkeys, Best advice is to try and get a friend, neighbor, local turkey hunter etc to take you out and have them call birds in. best way to learn is to watch another individual that is experienced in it do it first hand. after a couple trips, you will gain the general knowledge needed and from there on out, its best learned from trial and error. best luck.