Begginer Turkey Hunter
 

Hey everyone! I recently checked my trail cam and had 4 or 5 hens and 3 Toms at my corn pile. In NC I know it's illegal to bait turkeys but there's a soy bean field that I know they're at due to a couple Toms walking up behind me. I already have a slate call but what else would y'all recommend? Camo, chokes, 12 gauge loads, etc.
Thanks

What I use and I know many others use as well load wise is something 3" 4 shot. I know guys are gunna praise one brand name over another and all that but in my experience between the 6-7 different loads that I've used is that they all drop them in their spot. I think the one I used for my last turkey was a Remington "Turkey Thug?" (may be wrong name but something similar) It did just as good of a job as any other i had used the previous years so IMO dont get hung up on what brand is better.

As far as camo goes and being a beginner you will more than likely want to conceal yourself to the max. Again camo brand isn't a big deal, but you will probably want to be out of a blind. Until you get the feel for just how jumpy turkeys really are you need to be hidden as much as possible. Turkeys have EXCELLENT vision and pick up on the absolute slightest movement so limit it and set yourself up so you have to move as little as possible.

That being said, good luck to you and hope your season ends with a bang! :D

slates are good, however learn to cluck on a mouth call, the simple cluck will put more birds over your shoulder than anything else.
camo..... nothing special, just whatever breaks up your outline, mix it up use brownleaf on the lowerbody to match the ground, and treebark or Greenleaf upper body, thereby doubly breaking up your outline.
ammo? whatever shoots best in your gun that you have confidance in I mostly shoot 6's
chokes are inda all the same just buy one around .665-667 and find ammo it likes... pattern your gun, know what your max range is.
tone the calling down the last 50 yards, if you can see him don't call he knows where your at, if he can't see you scratch the leaves, that will do way more than calling once he comes to check you out. You've aready made hen calls so he's looking for a hen, make sounds of a hen scratching and that just puts the icing on the cake, double the chance there is a hen there and he will drop his guard a bit more. good luck
RR

Excellent advice RR!

Thank you guys for the info! I currently have a Maverick 88 but am confused which choke to use? I haven't done much research due to NC being shutdown :D but was thinking it would just be the 500 choke? Also what about decoys? One more thing pop up blind or a uncovered turkey blind?

What choke do you have in the barrel right now? I assume it is threaded to take chokes of varying restriction. You'll want to look for one like RR stated that will fit your barrel and then start patterning some turkey loads to see how tight it patterns since you want a concentrated pattern to hit the head/neck of the turkey. That can only be done at the range on paper to see what the maximum distance is that you can keep quite a few shot in that area. I'm also partial to #6 loads due to the increased number of pellets you will be sending down range. You should have at least a full choke or a dedicated turkey choke with a restriction like RR mentioned to be able to shoot out to about 40 yards or possibly a little further. However, most people pattern their turkey gun/choke at 40 yards and feel you shouldn't shoot much past that. Get the proper equipment and practice to find out what that maximum distance is to put lots of pellets in that small head/neck area.

I shoot a Mossberg 500, basically the same gun you have. I've killed plenty of turkeys with the standard full choke. I'm going to an extra full this year, for a bit tighter pattern. I shoot Win 3" #6 loads. These have never failed to kill one yet.

I generally carry a couple slates (one a crystal surface and one slate), two box calls - one with a very high pitch, and a couple diaphram calls. You should have a way to call even in bad weather, so sometimes the mouth call is all that will work. Plus they are hands free.

Use whatever camo you have. I like to mix/match tops and bottoms actually. I try to set up with a good backdrop and a little screening vegetation/brush in front of me. The backdrop is very important as you will get spotted if you make a silhouette. A tree or stump that is wider than you are is good, but other objects work too. Also, some margin of safety is afforded by a solid backdrop, as the only knucklehead that could "mistakenly" shoot at you should be where you can see him first.

this is just me, I get behind something, crawl up under a downed treetop, lots of folks recommend sitting in front of a tree wider than you are, every one of the devils buzzards will see me settin in front of something. have never used a blind.
RR

Thanks guys! Uncle Norby I honestly don't know what's in mine. I bought it used but I can check. What are some good calls? What about a starter calling set? There's plenty of things to hide in front of. Also woods or in a field?

The easiest call to master is a box call followed by a slate or pot call.
I don't like taking shots over 20 yards. As of late it has been 10 to 15 yards......the closer the better.

But that is just me.
JW

Hey guys I got a pot call a couple days ago. My dad was going through some old hunting stuff and found it. Also here in NC we just got some snow and went walking and came across three pairs of turkey tracks that were all gobblers and led me right to the roost tree. But the problem is it's on a shooting clubs property. So now I need to figure how to get them on my area.

Sounds to me like you need to figure out why they "like" to come onto your property during their travels.

Water, food, strutting area, etc. and then set-up a ambush !


Hopefully they do this routinely..............


Have you hunted turkeys before ?

I highly doubt it!!!

Too bad you are not located in WI as I teach a Learn To Hunt Program (Turkeys). It is a free program sponsored by the WI DNR, a local NWTF Chapter, and the Lake Noquebay Sportsman's Club. Totally free to any first time hunter.
You attend a 5 hr. seminar, you will receive a free dinner, Instruction on how to pattern a shotgun, methods how to hunt , everything a new hunter would need to know and then the next morning you are paired with a seasoned turkey hunter and you go hunting. All free even the license! This program is open to any first time hunter from ages 10 to 110 or older!

JW

Sadly I live in Piedmont area of NC. I have never hunted turkey before because I've never had anywhere to hunt them and now that I do it's exciting! I'll have to check around NC for a turkey class like that.

And
Spend some time in the Tips and Technique forum. All the Articles there are written by our experienced turkey hunters (notice I did not call them old!) and is there to help you.

JW
The link:
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/spec...s-tactics-107/

The choke is easy to remove. Take it out and you will see the type or constriction marked on it. I'm guessing if you have only one choke it will be modified or improved. Get at least a full choke, extra full may be better. I found my extra full on ebay or amazon, can't remember exactly. I paid around $15.

hint:
mid-morning to early afternoon before your going to hunt, walk on your property, call, call a lot, make so much hen noise the gobblers come check it out, they may roost on your hunting property, then its game on.
you could call to them on the other property but its diffacult to get them to cross a fence most of the time, unless you can get them to land on your side of the fence when they fly down.
RR

I agree with JW. The closer the better. Take a few shots with your preferred turkey load and see how it patterns at different distances to get a good idea of how far it looks like would be a good shot then try to keep it under 5yds or less (if it patterened well at 35 yds keep your shot distance at 30 yds or less) of your furtherest you feel it patterns well. First shot is the one that counts cause it could be your only shot!

Luckily there's no fence between our properties!! They've come over a couple times this past week. Also I traded in the Maverick and got a Remington 887. Now I'm looking at some chokes. What are some good ones out to about 40 yards? What about shotgun loads? I can take up to 3 1/2 inch shells but would feel more comfortable with 2 3/4 and 3 inch shells.

I'd get an extra full choke, and start with Win XX 3" #6 Turkey Loads. Bought mine at Dick's for $12 per box of 10. I'm guessing they'll do the trick out to 40 yds. IMO, no need to spend crazy money on shells for that distance.

What about 2 3/4 BB shot? $12.50 for a box of 25. What are some good chokes for $35 or less?

Check out these chokes.

What shotgun are you using?

I highly recommend the Winchester Long beards with a choke about .670.

Not just you

+1

That's when it gets really FUN !!!:barmy:

I am using a Remington 887. I can only use 870 chokes on it. It's a fun gun and very soft shooting and is great for me because of shoulder issues. Another thing about range is I will be in the woods so none of my shots will be over 25 yards most likely. I will check out those chokes.

I wanted to thank everyone for their help and advice. Tomorrow is youth opener and next weekend full season opens. Hopefully next Saturday goes well. Wish me luck.

Wear a face mask and gloves. And when you're standing still to listen keep your arm movements to a minimum. No unnecessary pointing, waving or whatever.