How do you hunt for turkey?
 

Short and sweet, Im primarly a deer hunter and have failed to get a turkey in my sights on two different seasons. This year I have some much better property to hunt and want advice on a few things. What kind of pre scouting do you do? Whats a good thing to do/look for before season to maybe give you a good idea of the spot to sit on day 1? If I can not get a chance to pre scout, what is my best bet to do on day 1? On both of the seasons I hunted for turkey, it was in wmas. I often Heard a gobbler in the distance but thats the closest ive been while hunting them. If this occures again what would you guys do? What calls are best early in the season in a situation similiar to mine?

I used to be a heavy "run and gun" type of guy. Now I practice more patience

find a freind or co-worker who has alot of experience in the turkey woods. You can learn alot from a veteran turkey hunter. It took me several season before I shot my first gobbler. Good luck

theres some great books out there on turkey hunting, ive read probably 5 of them. No expert but depending on the season you have all kinds of techniques.....one is try to find where the turkeys are and put them to bed in their roost tree, they will be there in the morning usually. Go set up on them and try and lure them down in the morning. Or you can cruise fire roads and get out every so often and hit a locator call and try and get a gobble. Or you can go in around noon after the toms have mated their hens and are alone and try and get one that way. Im sure youll get a lot of different opinions and methods on here but seriously, the books are written by some of the best turkey hunters out there, why not learn from the best.

I go to the gobble if I dont hear one then I set up in an area where I know they will travel through.......

In simplest terms find where the turkeys are roosting, and where they are eating. Setup somewhere inbetween on a route they are likely to go.
If you cant scout before season, go to an area likely to hold turkeys and try to get one to gobble. Close the distance and call them in to you.

Do your scouting at dawn & dusk.

Use a crow call to locate them.

At dusk, follow them back to their roost trees.

Set up 75 to 100 yards from the roost in the area that you see/hear them most often.

Como from head to toe & call softly.

Movement is your biggest concern.

Bring a cushion or low slung chair so you can be comfortable.

Decoys help !

Here's what I use;

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Carry...h-All+Products

you are a hunter so you know the deal on scouting location, the best advice i could give you is learning how to talk to them. sometimes an loud aggressive calling approach works and then sometimes a soft subtile approach works...trial and error, remember what you did and what results you had.

Know the woods your hunting.. Have established routes to get in unseen early and be dynamic.
Listen to the birds and how they react and where they go. Turkey hunting has 2 winners, guys who get lucky with hot birds and guys who know how to turkey hunt...

The key to every bird I've shot is that I scout often, I know the land, and I know where the birds are going. I take a weapon, 2 calls, and one of those seats.

Everything else is a gimmick to throw your money at.

I have to hunt that way now...simply don't have the room to prospect around like i used too!

Run and gun has worked the best for me. Here 'em goggle go after them.


If that doesn't work and I know the area real well I will go have a seat in the woods for a while. If I don't know the area well I do some extra scouting just to see what I can see.

My hunting spots are over 120 miles round trip from my house so scouting is mainly done during season. As it will be this year due to high gas prices. I hate doing it this way but the expense in gas is just to great for me to make several trips before season.

I wish we had alot of turkeys in my area but we don't and what we do have I will not hunt them. I don't think we will ever get very many turkeys at home but what we do have I enjoy seeing from time to time. Also they are dumb birds you can walk with in 20 yrds of them if you go slow and they will not spook just look at you and walk slowly the other way. They are wild but they live so close to people it just doesn't bother them when they see someone.

as for scouting when i drive im lookin. i see places that have turkeys in the field i try to get permission to hunt there or maybe a farm next to it. if you know there are turkeys there they are most likely there all the time. be persistant but patient. when you think the bird is finished with you set there just a lil while longer. ive seen alot of good answers to your questions on here so compile everything and use every tool you can think of to help you out.

That's a great point! The last thing you want to do is get up to move on and see a Tom turning tail and running off! I sit at least 10-15 minutes after my last call before I move on. And when I do move on, I usually do some scratching around to see if one fires back up. If they are close enough to hear that and have been quiet for a bit, they have in my experience responded to scratching after a bit of no calling.

As for where to get on day one, try to be in the woods the evening before and put them to bed. If you can't, and you aren't very familiar with the woods you will be hunting in order to have some spots in mind, I would hit the owl call a little at the first hint of light to see if you get any responses. If you do get some response, you should have time to get within 75-100 yards without being detected if you are being as stealthy as you should be.

The most important thing is to know your prey. Where they sleep, eat, and drink. Catch them moving in or out of these areas. Of course this takes patience, warm clothing, and a padded seat. Shock calling and the fooling them into your decoys right after flydown is always a hot ticket to a warm dinner.

Run and gun? OK...is that the turkey hunter's equivalent to a deer hunter's spot and stalk? Interesting term. "Run" doesn't make it sound as stealthy as "stalk." Or is it more literal? You hear one gobble, just close the gap until you see one, then when you are busted, you run in 'till you are in range and fire away? I image we can run faster than turkeys, but we can't fly. Sorry, just a little confused by this term and technique. :D

Also, "put them to bed?" Does that mean you are forcing them to roost by making your presence known around last light? Or does it simply mean you locate them and stick close by until you hear them fly up to roost?

7.62, run&gun means just moving around a lot. Try a spot and if no action move.
Walk and hit locator call, when you hear a response determine in which direction and approx how far away and close the gap. Then set up and pull out the turkey call. Never let a bird know you are there, and if they do see you don't run after a bird!

Put them to bed means going out at the end of the day and trying to figure out where they are roosting. You aren't chasing them to their roost, you just wanna know what trees they are in so you can set up near there and call the following morning.

Personally I just make myself comfortable in a pop-up blind and spend the day. I'm only on a small piece of land so I set up where I see them feeding often and just call occasionally and wait. I've had both great seasons and disappointing ones doing this.

Good luck.