Entry level turkey hunting

[BKlemm]

I’m looking to get into turkey hunting, I’m a late onset hunter at 27. What are some pro tips for a beginner?

 

[MTJake]

Honestly, a lot of that depends on what part of the country you are from. Chasing Easterns is a different game than Mirriams. Best option is to get connected with someone who hunts turkeys successfully and pick their brain. If going with them and shadowing them is an option, do it!

Turkey hunting does not need to be expensive. Any shotgun with #4-6 shot and a full choke will do the job just fine on a turkey. Learn how to effectively judge range, know how your shotgun patterns and what your limits are for range.

There are a lot of youtube videos on turkey hunting, and I think Jason Phelps just did an episode on "Closing the Distance" podcast on calling turkeys. Turkeys have great eyesight, holding still is a big deal. Learn some basic calls - slate calls, push pin calls and box calls are generally easier for beginners than diaphragm calls.

Then just get in the woods. Get out and around turkeys as much as you can. Listen to turkeys talk, and when they don't. Try to learn something every time you go out, even if you are learning by elimination. Hope this helps a little bit. Turkey hunting is amazing when they are gobbling and responsive!

 

[jnawalaniec]

Check out the hunting public, they have a lot of great turkey videos!

 

[TheGreek]

Just go hunt man. Buy a few different cheap types of calls, box, slate, push and mouth calls and mess around with them until you figure out what you like and what you sound decent with. Practice your calling in the car on the way to work. Buy a cheap decoy and just have a crack this spring. I’m a pretty bad turkey hunter but still manage to kill one every now and then on pressured public and have a blast chasing them.
Permethrin for ticks.
Comfortable face mask.
Comfortable way to sit on the ground for at least an hour or two.

 

[Holocene]

Where do you live?

Here in Oregon, we have some good resources available for in-person classes. I teach a few per year.

A few good online resources to check out are:
1. NWTF Turkey Hunting Class
2. Shane Simpson's "Calling All Turkeys" YouTube channel

+1 that you should just get out and hunt. Some people take 10 years to kill a bird. Others pick it up quick. There is a rhythm and flow to consistently killing birds. Being around them a lot in the morning, middays, and night will get you intimate with turkey behavior, habitat, and what makes a hunt work out.

One of the best things I ever did was creep around this rural homestead near the gun range I used to shoot at. They had a resident flock of domestic turkeys with one gobbler. I would call at the hens and experiment with different rhythms and pitches to get their gobbler to respond -- this was priceless. I "found my voice" with a mouth call this way and never looked back. Kill a lot of birds now whereas before I felt lost out there.

 

[BKlemm]

Where do you live?

Here in Oregon, we have some good resources available for in-person classes. I teach a few per year.

A few good online resources to check out are:
1. NWTF Turkey Hunting Class
2. Shane Simpson's "Calling All Turkeys" YouTube channel

+1 that you should just get out and hunt. Some people take 10 years to kill a bird. Others pick it up quick. There is a rhythm and flow to consistently killing birds. Being around them a lot in the morning, middays, and night will get you intimate with turkey behavior, habitat, and what makes a hunt work out.

One of the best things I ever did was creep around this rural homestead near the gun range I used to shoot at. They had a resident flock of domestic turkeys with one gobbler. I would call at the hens and experiment with different rhythms and pitches to get their gobbler to respond -- this was priceless. I "found my voice" with a mouth call this way and never looked back. Kill a lot of birds now whereas before I felt lost out there.

I’m in Ohio, but my family owns a plot of land out in the Pennsylvania big woods, what style mouth call did you find works for you? I just recently picked up some cheap one from my local sporting goods store and I’ve been trying it out around the house bothering my family

 

[BKlemm]

Honestly, a lot of that depends on what part of the country you are from. Chasing Easterns is a different game than Mirriams. Best option is to get connected with someone who hunts turkeys successfully and pick their brain. If going with them and shadowing them is an option, do it!

Turkey hunting does not need to be expensive. Any shotgun with #4-6 shot and a full choke will do the job just fine on a turkey. Learn how to effectively judge range, know how your shotgun patterns and what your limits are for range.

There are a lot of youtube videos on turkey hunting, and I think Jason Phelps just did an episode on "Closing the Distance" podcast on calling turkeys. Turkeys have great eyesight, holding still is a big deal. Learn some basic calls - slate calls, push pin calls and box calls are generally easier for beginners than diaphragm calls.

Then just get in the woods. Get out and around turkeys as much as you can. Listen to turkeys talk, and when they don't. Try to learn something every time you go out, even if you are learning by elimination. Hope this helps a little bit. Turkey hunting is amazing when they are gobbling and responsive!

I’m gonna take all that into consideration, thanks for the advice!

 

[BKlemm]

Just go hunt man. Buy a few different cheap types of calls, box, slate, push and mouth calls and mess around with them until you figure out what you like and what you sound decent with. Practice your calling in the car on the way to work. Buy a cheap decoy and just have a crack this spring. I’m a pretty bad turkey hunter but still manage to kill one every now and then on pressured public and have a blast chasing them.
Permethrin for ticks.
Comfortable face mask.
Comfortable way to sit on the ground for at least an hour or two.

Permethrin for the ticks, I completely forgot that was a variable, looking forward to giving it a shot calling in some turkeys

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Less calling usually works better for me..Hold still..Let him walk under your gun don't try to swing to him...put the bead on his wattle not his head. I have also found a vibration alarm, watch or phone, set to legal shooting light will let you know when to drop the hammer without movement.

 

[BKlemm]

Check out the hunting public, they have a lot of great turkey videos!

Thanks Josh! I’m a fan of their videos

 

[TurkeyReaper69]

Honestly, unless your friends with some turkey hunters already you'll probably have a tough time finding someone to mentor you unless you offer for them to do so on your family land. I would go that avenue, at the end of the day you can read all you want but you'll need experience. Most of the knowledge I've incurred over the years was from mentors who taught me or experiences I've had in woods.

 

[Gmr777]

I didn’t have anyone teach me my first season and had everything go wrong that could but learned quickly and have been hooked every since.

Face mask is a must, along with camo that blends to your environment. Turkeys see color and have excellent eyesight.

Shotgun patterned with whatever load you can get your hands on. I’m personally a big fan of Turkey chokes and have great success with Rem Nitro turkey loads in 5 or 6.

Box calls are probably the easiest to get a decent sound from. I use woodhaven mouth calls as there fit, quality and tones are awesome. Don’t overcall, a simple cluck and yelp will get results. Get in the woods if you can and listen to the real birds.

Decoy are good but not needed, a hen or jake seem to be best as Toms can intimidate other birds.

If you can roost a bird the night before can setup on them the next morning well before first light and increase your chances of success.

No movement or extra slow movement when necessary.

 

[Fatcamp]

Killed my first gobbler last spring at 51. Never too late to start hunting turkeys.

Took a couple years of practice, but I think I have my area figured out a bit.

 

[dtrkyman]

Turkeys are either the easiest thing in the world to kill or the hardest! Depends on the day! Get up high before day light where you can hear and then after light see a lot of country.

Lace up your boots and get after em!

 

[roosiebull]

Honestly, a lot of that depends on what part of the country you are from. Chasing Easterns is a different game than Mirriams. Best option is to get connected with someone who hunts turkeys successfully and pick their brain. If going with them and shadowing them is an option, do it!

Turkey hunting does not need to be expensive. Any shotgun with #4-6 shot and a full choke will do the job just fine on a turkey. Learn how to effectively judge range, know how your shotgun patterns and what your limits are for range.

There are a lot of youtube videos on turkey hunting, and I think Jason Phelps just did an episode on "Closing the Distance" podcast on calling turkeys. Turkeys have great eyesight, holding still is a big deal. Learn some basic calls - slate calls, push pin calls and box calls are generally easier for beginners than diaphragm calls.

Then just get in the woods. Get out and around turkeys as much as you can. Listen to turkeys talk, and when they don't. Try to learn something every time you go out, even if you are learning by elimination. Hope this helps a little bit. Turkey hunting is amazing when they are gobbling and responsive!

Excellent advice, there is a lot of difference hunting different regions

I’m pretty new to turkey hunting, and the advice above is very relatable

 

[Birddy]

Turkey hunting seems to be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. In my experience you can sneak up and just blast one fairly easily but the fun part is the calling and decoys and when the birds are gobbling and strutting. Enjoy the experience!

 

[huntineveryday]

If you spend time around turkeys, you will inevitably see them do some really dumb things. They will hang up at creeks and roads they regularly cross, go left when every other day go right, refuse to step over a shadow...etc. But they are incredibly alert, and if they see movement or hear an out of place sound their response is to vacate the area quickly.

There are lots of calls and lots of sounds you can get caught up trying to make. I call most of my turkeys in with yelps. Different cadence, pitch, and attitude to them dependent on the situation, but all yelps. Find videos of actual turkeys or get out and listen.

If you can get a hen calling, match her. If you can get her fired up and cutting back, keep matching her, even cut her off to really get her fired up. It makes a lot of natural turkey sound and she might just pull a tom to you.

 

[RSather528]

I started turkey hunting at that same age. For whatever reason I wanted to give it a shot and have bagged some MN birds now. Pot calls are pretty easy to get used to but comes at the price of movement. Knowing where the birds want to be is pretty key. Getting a bird to call back is addicting, getting a bird to get within shooting range is almost unnerving. Once you get out in the woods and hear them thunder you will be a turkey hunter forever. The ticks are very thick in the spring so as other have mentioned, permethrin. I tend to use decoys but have seen them work against me.

 

[tbowers]

Turkeys are so unpredictable it can make them seem 'smart'. They truly are the 'Roomba's of the bird world....wander in one direction, run into a deadfall, go the other direction, run into a creek, go another direction, etc, etc. One day they will run into a call, the next day they run away. One day they will gobble 100x on the Roost, the next day none. It drives ya nuts but makes it fun. Thank God they dont have a nose like a deer or they would be impossible to kill.

 

[GreenNDark Timber]

There's quite a bit more to be learned than you'll get with pro tips on a forum. I'd recommend reading some good books on turkey hunting. I started hunting them at age 14 without any real help. I learned by reading everything I could get my hands on and by just getting out there and making a lot of mistakes. Some of the most informative books I read were written by Ray Eye and everything in them is as relevant now as it was then. Good luck!