Well here i am. I am interested in going turkey hunting but never did it. I know what to do in general but i think the hardest part would be figure out how to call, decoy use, what to look for, and what equimpent to use. I have an wingmaster that shots 2 1/2 shells I am not sure what kind of turkey we have out here but i know we have some here because i have seen a group of jakes several years ago(believe to be Merrians out here) If i have to go to northern CA that would be fine too but i figured if i were to try out here first would be best so i have some experience. Any suggestions? thank you in advance [:-]

Come on people, i know there has to be a few people out there who can help[:' (]

fist of all my friend Welcome to the forum. Your questions are those , that are asked quite often. Most of the anwsers are the same as past post that have been made. I' m sure if you take a look back over the past you can learn more then you' ll amagine. Down on the bottom right of the Question page you will see the drop down window and number 1-2-3-4 try that. Good luck and if its not there Please ask again...BT

Welcome!
My general suggestions.
Use a 3" gun with a good extra full choke, Winchester Supreme #5' s or 6' s. If you get decoys Feather Flex seems to be the most popular. My Carry Lite' s are very realistic but not as portable as the FF' s.
Try a box call for beginning. Maybe a Lynch Foolproof. If possible, buy a slate type call like a K&H Old Yeller and learn it too. It pays to have more than one sound. If you want to try mouth calls, buy a double reed of some type and start trying.
Use full camo, the turkey' s have sharp eyesight. Buy the tape " So You Want To Be A Turkey Hunter" and watch it several times before next spring. Visit here often and just add turkeys!
P.S. A good fanny pack or turkey vest makes the hunt much more pleasant. The cushions and pockets on the turkey vests make them real handy.

Red Hawk,welcome to the board!Sorry for coming in late on this post.Its nice to see another west coast hunter here as we dont have many.Anyway let me just cover a couple of important points I believe will help in your beginning stages of turkey hunting.California as you well know has a lot of birds but the major portion of our overall population inhabit private lands.To this end its up to you to secure a starting place to have a real legit spot to hunt turks in.Having never hunted gobblers before tells me it would be a good idea to try and set-up a hunt with one of your buddies first who has, or try booking a guide service to get a grip on how its done.Videos are nice but can give you a fasle sense of reality on how easy it looks on tape.Getting back to my first point to much emphasis is put on equipment nowadays and not enough on your preseason work such as locating huntable populations of birds and learning the overall terrain you intend to hunt.Obviously good camo,calls,and all this other stuff are necessary but being able to sit still especially when the birds are close is more important.Remember this,you can be the most well equipped hunter in the woods but it wont do you a lick of good if the birds aren' t there.Do your preseason work now and not wait till spring season gets here as so many do.Find the birds,periodically check on there movements,try and locate there roost,and as our terrain starts to turn green again with the coming of spring everything will fall into place.Good luck and stay here with us at bbs because there are alot of helpful folk here who enjoy huntin turks!!

Thank you for the weclome bob[:-]

I was going to print out this topic at the end of the 30 days so i am hoping to get as much help on it as i can. I usually print out my other questions in different forums as well. Comes in handy in the end. Keep the advice coming [:-]

Thank you in advance once again[:-]