1st time turkey hunter

Ladys man

Ladys man

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For someone that has never hunted anything oyher than deer tell lwould u tell them ? Im wanting to learn to turkey hunt but i dnt know were to start. Times clothing scouting chokes everything how or would u tell a beginner how to start. All info is good info lol
 
Patience, it has cost me a lot of birds, you don't have to run and gun constantly to be successful, also don't over call, there is no need to keep calling if the bird is coming to you and know your surroundings, know if there is something that could keep it from coming to you , get you a slate call, a mouth call, and a box call, doesn't have to be the most expensive, just needs to be something you can get good with
 
Learn how to call, YouTube videos help, watch many of them because everyone has their own style. Once you have memorized the basic vocabulary of a turkey and can confidently make those sounds on a call then I'd move on to scouting and finding where they roost and where they go after fly down etc. and keep your calling to a minimum, just to start, I think everyone has probably over called and you just have to learn from experience, every bird can respond to calls differently, and I am definitely far from being an expert in calling. In fact more than half my birds that I killed weren't called, or they were but I ended up bushwhacking.
 
Ridges, creeks, etc are places I like to look for roosts. But any good trees with branches that turkeys can roost in, i often see em in the edge of the woods and they fly down into a field but there are no rules with that, just what ive seen. Best way to find em is go out on the property early spring and listen for the gobblers on the roost just after first light. Once you have an idea where they might roost you can set up closer to the area while its still dark and see if you can watch em fly down but really all you need to know is where they go on the ground, I hear most birds aren't killed straight off the roost, usually you can hear one gobbling mid morning during turkey season... Hope I'm making any sense
 
Calling is highly overated. Learn how a turkey lives, what he does at certain times of the season. Learn the terrian. No matter what you hunt, the more you know about the animal, the more sucessful you will be.
 
Be patient and don't be afraid to mix up your strategies/calling etc! Good luck!
 
Lady's man said:
For someone that has never hunted anything oyher than deer tell lwould u tell them ? Im wanting to learn to turkey hunt but i dnt know were to start. Times clothing scouting chokes everything how or would u tell a beginner how to start. All info is good info lol
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How do you put 40 years of experience in one post? You might want to consider joining NWTF and reading pertinent articles in their magazine. Or find an experienced hunter to tag along with. I still remember when as a teenager I heard my first gobbler responding to my call...been hooked ever since and so will you. I was dumber than a brick in regards to knowledge of the sport, but just had a desire to be in the spring woods, learn the sport, take my lumps and patiently wait for success.
 
Just remember that while they have a small brain, it's sole purpose is survival. Turkeys have excellent eye sight and the things you can get away with deer hunting will get you busted turkey hunting.

Wear comfortable boots, light clothing and make sure you have a sling for your shotgun.

Just enjoy learning to turkey hunt, it's a great experience. You'll move at the wrong time and you'll call too much but that's part of the fun of learning, the birds will respond and most likely hangup but you'll be hooked.
 
I'm with tickweed that calling is overrated. While calling is fun and I do it too much, it is absolutely overrated in today's "tv turkey" world. Defiantly get a few calls, a slate and a box to start with, and practice with them, but don't ever think you can't kill a turkey if your not good with a call. Just some soft purrs on a slate call and scratching in the leaves has called in truckloads of turkeys.

Also, as someone else said, try to find an experienced hunter and tag along. Turkey hunting is not the easiest sport to teach yourself. There are a lot of subtle things that make a big difference. Any turkey hunter worth is salt will be willing to teach some one who wants to learn the sport. Don't ask them to "take you turkey hunting" because they may not want you to shoot the turkeys at their place, but if you tell them you just want to tag along and watch because your trying to learn, you'd probably be surprised how willing turkey hunters are to share knowledge.

The best thing I can tell you is that the best way to kill a turkey is to be where a turkey wants to go and shoot him when he gets there. And the only way to learn where they want to go, is to hunt them and learn on the fly.

Finally, if you really want to turkey hunt, get on Amazon right now and buy "The Tenth Legion" by Tom Kelly. It's about $10 in paperback. It will not teach you how to kill a turkey, but it will make you proud to be a turkey hunter. It's an unbelievable book about the sport in general and the culture surrounding it.

Good Luck
 
Ok thanks for the advise so far. Alot of you talk about not over calling but i dnt know which call is which ex. Slate call equals wat, box call equals wat.
 
Lady's man said:
Ok thanks for the advise so far. Alot of you talk about not over calling but i dnt know which call is which ex. Slate call equals wat, box call equals wat.
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Box call best for a beginner learning yelps; Slate call best for a beginner learning purrs, IMO
 
Southern Sportsman said:
Finally, if you really want to turkey hunt, get on Amazon right now and buy "The Tenth Legion" by Tom Kelly. It's about $10 in paperback. It will not teach you how to kill a turkey, but it will make you proud to be a turkey hunter. It's an unbelievable book about the sport in general and the culture surrounding it.
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Unfortunately, it's no longer available in paperback...

TOM KELLY'S TENTH LEGION, 40th Anniversary Edition
 
Patience,but don't be afraid to go to the bird if needed and calling techniques I start playing with my mouth calls in usually February and always be willing to learn from someone else's experience and even your own. And when you think u know how to kill a bird hes usually already got you pegged out
 
as far as calling i wrote up some stuff last year you can check it out on the link below

http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthr ... ost2711722

people can put opinions and suggestions in here all day long but at the end of it all it will come down to you spending time in the woods gaining experience. My best advice is find someone who has been doing it successfully for a few years and tag along if they will let you or try and pick their brains as much as possible.

the 2 main things most turkey hunters will tell you is #1 Patience is KEY and #2 dont over call. You will need to figure out why kind of turkey hunter you want to be and what style floats your boat. Do you want to deer hunt them or stay on the move chasing them or a combination of the 2. No one way is best and neither is wrong just different strokes for different folks.

Every bird is different as is every situation and day so what works for me today probably wont tomorrow which is what makes it fun to me. Also what works for me on the property i hunt may not on the birds you are after, just the nature of the beast i guess.

Having said all that get out in the woods as much as possible learning about how turkeys live and survive. Learn the animal first and formost meaning what they eat and why the roost in certain areas and what they like to do on rainy days vs hot days. You learn about the turkey first the hunting part becomes much easier. Dont be afraid to try stuff, you can only learn by 2 ways...failure or success. Good luck and feel free to ask me anything at anytime, i may not be able to answer it but ill try my best.
 
When walking through the woods (scouting) for a place to set up wat would i look for on the ground . I no wat rubs/scrapes are for deer but wat sign do i look for turkey?
 
Preseason scouting and patience are the 2 most important things to learn in my opinion.

Stick that diaphram call in the glove box and leave it. Practice on a slate. Cadence is more important than sound. Learn to purr with your mouth and scratch a few leaves.

Did I mention patience and scouting?
 
Lady's man said:
When walking through the woods (scouting) for a place to set up wat would i look for on the ground . I no wat rubs/scrapes are for deer but wat sign do i look for turkey?
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A comfortable tree. :D

Actually, this is where preseason scouting comes into play.
 
Turkey hunting beats deer hunting hands down in my book. I have been deer hunting for twenty years but it lost its spot as my favorite past time when I heard my first gobble. Like nearly everyone else has said, my advice would be to find a fellow you know who has lots of experience and follow him around as much as he will let you. I like a slate call and a diaphragm, but it really won't matter what you go with. If you get the fever you will get better at it because it will occupy most of your free time from jan. to may either calling, watching videos, scouting, etc.
 

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