Popere

I normally frequent the big game, gun, hunting gear, off season, and political forums on this board. I am an avid elk, and deer hunter and hunt pheasants in the winter. I want to get into turkey hunting this spring and had a couple of questions for the experts.

What would be the best call to start off with?

Do I need to use scent lock clothing?

Anything else that you guys can think of that would help a new guy out would be greatly appreciated.

I din't know if this matters or not but I live in the Denver area and will be hunting SW of town.

RIStrutStopper

Welcome to the boards. This is the beginning of the end for you. After turkey hunting, you'll become hopelessly addicted and will think of little else. Its a good thing you don't need scent lok clothing. If turkeys had a sense of smell, they would probably be close to impossible to hunt. Plain old camo is all you need. For calls, I'd start out with a box type and/or slate type call (Knight & Hale Ole Yeller is one of my favorites and easy to use.) Get yourself a tape or find some sound files on line and get your clucks and yelps down and just go from there. Also, make sure you pattern your gun and know what its capable of. Use different loads in #4, 5, and 6 from different manufacturers, and if possible try different extra full choke tubes to see what works best in your gun out to about 40 yards. Good Luck!

Popere

Thanks for the warm welcome. I will look at the calls that you mentioned this weekend and begin practicing.

MOTurkeyTamer

Welcome to the Turkey forum, Popere! Hang around here and you'll learn a bunch in a hurry! Like RISS said, the Knight and Hale Ol' Yeller call would be a great call to start out with. A turkey can be called in with something as simple as a push button call which is an excellent beginners call. Go To Midwest Turkey Call Supply and check out all the calls. Just try to stay with something fairly simple to begin with and after you gain more experience, you can step up to some of the other calls such as mouth diaphragm calls and the like. Good luck!

Popere

Thanks for the link MOTurkeyTamer. Theres a lot of good stuff on there.

buttonbuckmaster

I use a box call, the hurricane, and several mouth calls. The mouth calls take alot of practice, or did for me anyway. I gag easy and had trouble at first, but now I am much more confident using the mouth calls than the box call. A friend of mine uses the freak slate call. He calls birds up in his lap every spring. I owe a couple of birds to him thanks to that call.

determined

welcome popere,sounds like you got some good advice from riss and mo turkey.ole yeller is also my favorite slate call.get a good quality box call,a audio tape and practice,practice.a properly patterned gun is vital.i would keep it simple the first year and when you come out of the woods you will have a much better idea what you feel you need for next season.do your homework on a good quality turkey vest with a comfortable seat,a good one is worth every penny and will last you for years.i dont know about co,but we get alot of rain here,you get what you pay for in raingear,cammo of couse.if you dont use a mouthcall,consider a waterproof slate or box call to put in your vest,most other calls dont work well if at all when wet.keep an eye on this board and believe me you will learn alot,these guys collectively have more knowledge on the subject than any book or video.good luck.

Bobgobble2

Popere,another welcome your way!!!To add my 2 cents here to your immediate ?'s a friction call of some sort I feel would be best to start out with!A box,push-button-pin type call or a scratch call of some sort are the the most user friendly calls on the market and as deadly as any call ever made!Being a hunter already,you know the importance of sitting still!You can double it on turkeys!Even though we can be in the best of camo turkeys have an incredible ability to pick up movement ,it is what keeps them alive!Inmho to much emphasis is put on our gear!Gearing up is the easy part of turkey hunting getting out scouting,and pinning down some good places to hunt come opening day will give you that realistic opportunity to put that gear to work!Nothing wrong with starting now!!!

Rick James

As a lot of the guys said, get into a call that you are comfortable with, and most importantly, learn the area you hunt inside and out. I feel knowledge of the terrain is the most important part of turkey hunting, not necessarily what sounds you are making. Learn where the birds roost when they are under pressure, and you will consistently kill turkeys.

Watch videos and listen to as many turkeys as possible, and IMHO learn to use a diaphragm call as soon as possible. I only use these mouth calls anymore other than a crow call and owl hooter for locating. I rarely use the locaters though unless I know the birds I am hunting are under little or no pressure......usually I get into the woods well before light and simply sit down within earshot of where I think they are roosted. I then listen for flydowns, 90% of the turkeys I actually kill I hear flydown, and I manage to kill them within the first hour of light.

When you have finally located a bird........DON'T BE AFRAID TO MOVE ON THEM. That is the best advise I can give. I try my best to get within 150 yards of them, closer if I think I can get away with it. If you hear them moving away, and they won't come in, reposition on the bird. If they simply shut up and you can't hear them, don't move for quite some time, they may be coming in silent.

moose1915

to add to that, another "golden rule" is that in the spring, with lots of foliage on the trees, birds are closer than they sound! i've scared alot away in my beginning days by thinking that muffled gobble was further than it was.... good luck, and welcome!