Resources for Learning Basics of Turkey Hunting

[Cdneville]

Patience kills. Less calling is more. You don’t need to be loud they hear you. When you want to get up and leave wait 30 minutes more. I’ve spooked a bunch that came in silent the last 100 yards or came in silent period. There’s a lot to learn that only experience will teach you.

 

[7IsAHolyNumber]

Switching gears from tactical to practical.

For PA woods terrain what considerations do I need around shotgun sights, load and chokes.

Currently have a Remington 870 with 26” bead sight, beretta 1301 with iron sights and a benelli m4 with red dot. Was thinking the remington with longer barrel would seem the most fitting.

 

[Davyalabama]

Well, I'm not much into the youtubers, and sitting and listening to podcasts, I like reading.

Gene Nunnery --- Charlie Elliott -- Archie Phillips (Old Archie likes name dropping on who all he knows or hunted with -- He was an Outdoor writer, so the name dropping was in his blood) --- Jim Spencer -- Lovett Williams --- Dwain Bland ---- James Brady ------- Now, you have enough to get you started ---- Now Tom Kelly has a great book too, The Tenth Legion --

You want to listen to folks --- Try Preston Pittman, Eddie Salter, Michael Waddell, The Southern Outdoorsman

Get some old tapes/cd;'s/records of turkeys talking --- listen to the hens just going through their day, the small clucks, purrs, whistles --- listen to the cadence, listen to the sounds in the leaves --- pay attention to how they talk in the morning vs up in the day. Don't listen to all these fancy callers that sound great onstage, this is onstage for judges, it is totally different in the woods, I'll promise you, been there, done that.

Get out there now --- yep, it's winter, you and the boy get out there, follow a drove of turkeys around from daylight until you loose them, see if you can stay with them all day. Yep, you have to stay back, stay still, you'll learn how to move, learn how to act like a turkey. Now, where they like to be now, will not be where they like to be come early spring, mid spring and late spring.

You don't need all kinds of specialty calls, learn a diaphragm/wingbone/cane/some type of mouth call, it doesn't matter which ---- get a decent box/scratch box/some type of box call to make it easy Get a slate of some kind, can be round, can be rectangle, it can use real slate, whatever learn to mimic the hens you heard walking with them and the ones off those tapes/records/cd's Now, here's the trick, learn to master them, have something with you, clucks, purrs, whistles, --- learn to do these softly, very soft. If you have private land, learn to gobble.

Now, patience ----- train your butt to be as hard as concrete ----

Don't wear the same camo from top to bottom -- blend it -- even your face mask and hat, you'll know what by what's going on in the field. You don't have to have expensive camo, just something to break up your outline.

You don't need a special gun, turkey chokes, $30 per shell, shells (ok, facetiousness) You don't need a special sight, just a bead on the end of your gun, and a gun that points where you aim. Buy you some #4's, #5's, #6's in lead/copper --- see what patterns best in your guns at 20, 30, 40, 50 yards. You may have a #5 loaded as the first shot and #4 as the second shot, who knows. I do prefer full choke, just full choke --- though I've killed them with modified, you need to call them close 30 yards and in for that choke.

I'm going to get on a soapbox for a minute on patterns ---- you need some spread, not holes in your pattern, but some spread ------ These tight as a softball patterns look great on paper, but they won't help you if that head bobs at the wrong minute, or you are just off a tad, etc. You need a decent spread to give you some wiggle room. I'll give you a big tip on where to aim ---- if he's about 30 yards and in, aim where the feathers meet the neck --- If he's a little over 30-50, aim at the butt of the wing - that's a little below those feathers at his neck ---- This allows your spread to work ------ Do Not Aim At A Turkeys Body (no he doesn't have armor plating, but you will think he does if you aim there.

Now, you can pick and choose what you want out of this, you may not use any of it. I haven't killed a grand slam, I haven't chased them in more than three states, but I've been there, done that, and with God's mercy and grace, I'll keep doing this a long time.