Two great ways to improve your odds can be done before the season ever even opens. First, get yourself a commercial turkey call or two. There are several types, including slate calls, box calls, tube calls, and diaphragm mouth calls--and learn how to imitate the vocalizations of the hen turkey.
Instructional audio cassettes are useful here, as are friends who are proficient callers. If you've already learned, use the off-season to practice and improve your calling. It's a good idea to learn how to use several types of calls because individual gobblers will sometimes respond to one type better than another.
Second, scouting is imperative! If you're hunting a new area, get out well before the season starts and learn the lay of the land. Look for turkey sign, including tracks, droppings, dropped feathers, potential roosting sites, strutting areas, and nesting areas while you learn your way around the woods. Then, starting about a week before the season opener, quietly move into your hunting area just before first light and listen. In the spring, tom turkeys gobble from their roosts at first light (and again just before dusk), betraying themselves and their location. Spend a few preseason mornings listening closely, and you'll have a good idea of how many gobblers are in your area and where they tend to roost. If the birds aren't gobbling on their own, you can get a response from them by blowing a crow call or an owl hooter.
Generally, you should avoid using a hen turkey call while scouting.
This is probably more than most hunters do, but in fact, doing a bit more scouting can really pay off. Stick around through the morning when you can; listen closely, scout quietly, spend some time glassing fields, and you should be able to figure out two very important pieces of the puzzle. One, which direction do particular gobblers go after coming down off the roost. Second, where are their popular strutting areas. Try to get at least a rough idea of the daily patterns of turkeys in the area. This can be extremely helpful when it comes to setting up in the right place at the right time.
Roosting a Wild Turkey
About 20 minutes before dusk an evening or two before the season opens, quietly enter the woods, take a seat and listen. Toms will normally sound off twice before they fly up to roost for the night. When you hear the bird sound off, you can leave the woods confident that you know where the bird is roosting and that he'll be there come morning.
It's great if you can put a bird to bed the evening before a hunt, but if you can't, simply head into the woods before first light, wait for a bird to gobble or elicit a gobble with a crow call or owl hooter, then move within about 150 yards of the bird, sit down, set up, and try to call the bird in.
You can also begin your hunt later in the morning by setting up in a promising area, and trying to get a bird working by making hen calls. Late morning or afternoon (where legal) hunts are becoming more popular as more hunters learn that by then the hens have often left the gobblers and gone to their nesting sites--which leaves lonely and therefore vulnerable gobblers roaming the woods.
A well-placed turkey decoy or two can be helpful in areas where the woods are fairly open and especially when you're setting up in or at the edge of a field. A decoy not only helps lure the gobble to particular spot but also pulls the bird's attention away from you, the caller, and toward the decoy. Be careful when using decoys, however--they can easily be mistaken for the real thing by another hunter. Generally, its best not to use them in heavily hunted areas.
When turkey hunting, you should be camouflaged from head to toe, including a facemask or face paint. When you set up to call, make yourself as comfortable as possible so you can sit stone still for long periods. Bring a cushion for you backside, and remove sticks and debris so they won't make noise when you move.
Most important, keep safety in mind at all times. Never wear red, blue, or white clothing (this includes the socks peaking out of your boots when you sit down). Assume that any hen calls you hear are those of another hunter. Don't try to stalk spring turkeys (doing so is both unsafe and virtually always unsuccessful). And if another hunter walks in on you, use your voice to call out to him--don't wave your hand.
Most turkey hunters carry a 12-gauge semi-auto or pump shotgun, although the action isn't terribly important. What is important is that you shoot magnum loads (preferably 3- or 3-1/2-inch magnums if your gun's receiver will accept them). It's also important that you use as tight a choke as possible, meaning Full, Extra-Full, or chokes designed specifically for turkey hunting. The most popular shot sizes are 5s and 6s. Keep in mind, turkeys are remarkably tough critters and shotgunners must hit them in the head or neck. Hit them anywhere else and they will likely walk away. And while it is relatively easy to hit a turkey using a shotgun, it's also not that hard to miss.
Good Hunting!
For more information and products, check out Cabelas turkey hunting supplies to get them gobblers next season.
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