Thinking about starting Turkey Hunting
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
Re: Thinking about starting Turkey Hunting
Take an experienced hunter with you so you can learn, or find someone you can tag along with once or twice. You will make 1000 mistakes by yourself the first time you go and those birds will be educated quick.
Stay Thirsty My Friends
Re: Thinking about starting Turkey Hunting
I loooooooove turkey hunting. Not saying I'm great at it, but I get turkeys from time to time and I have a great time chasing the bad boys.
My first hunt was with a college professor who was SHOCKED when he dropped me off and later that evening I was waiting at the end of the road with my first turkey that had strutted in so pretty. From then on I was on my own. For about four years I bumbled through the woods, not really knowing what to do, but attempting to get another one. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut because eventually I was able to get one of my own. I made lots of mistakes. BUT I learned a lot and wouldn't give up.
Then I started hunting turkeys with Steve and I've learned a TOOOOOON more with him quicker than I would have on my own.
So, finding a mentor/partner wouldn't be a bad thing but definitely is not a requirement.
I do a lot of scouting of new properties (since I hunt public land) by google and topographic maps to get a lay of the land. Then spend a lot of time just wandering the woods, seeing what I can see. I often see more turkeys just wandering the woods with my two boys (the two dogs) than I do by my ownself. Perhaps four legged critters sound much more natural than a two legged critter. Regardless, I do a lot of wandering the woods.
I sit a long time sometimes. I will get up and move sometimes when I'm hunting. It usually depends on how cold I get. If I'm moving around, I go slow. Stopping to call every hundred yards or so....sometimes more if it's more open in the woods.
Give it a try. Some good advice given so far. You won't know if you like it or not til you try it. I called my first strutting tom in four years after I shot my first turkey with my professor. There was a pair of bad boys working a stretch together. I was in a recentishly burned pine stand. Still a good deal of fresh palmettos, but that was it. Palmettos and pine trees. But there was one pine tree that was freshly fallen and had a big hole amongst the branches so it was like a perfect blind. I set out my jake decoy about 7 feet away as I could hear them gobbling their way back and then I jumped into the middle of that pine tree and tried to still my thundering heart and quiet the excitement. I lost track of one of the gobblers but the other I could see making his way through the palmettos. I'd see him coming my way and I'd called a couple more times quietly and he would break strut and come in then poof back out again. I was just waiting for him to get inside 30 yards, which he was going to do in no time at all. The other one though was sneaking in on me from behind me. The first I saw of him was when I heard a commotion and looked over seeing my jake decoy getting the ever loving tar beat out of it. Without any thought at all I swung around and I had me my first called in turkey, even if it wasn't the one I was watching. Lots of luck. Some piddly skill, learned after many many mistakes and reading a few books on basic turkey hunting. Lots of walking that day. But I was hooked for sure and forever.
My first hunt was with a college professor who was SHOCKED when he dropped me off and later that evening I was waiting at the end of the road with my first turkey that had strutted in so pretty. From then on I was on my own. For about four years I bumbled through the woods, not really knowing what to do, but attempting to get another one. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut because eventually I was able to get one of my own. I made lots of mistakes. BUT I learned a lot and wouldn't give up.
Then I started hunting turkeys with Steve and I've learned a TOOOOOON more with him quicker than I would have on my own.
So, finding a mentor/partner wouldn't be a bad thing but definitely is not a requirement.
I do a lot of scouting of new properties (since I hunt public land) by google and topographic maps to get a lay of the land. Then spend a lot of time just wandering the woods, seeing what I can see. I often see more turkeys just wandering the woods with my two boys (the two dogs) than I do by my ownself. Perhaps four legged critters sound much more natural than a two legged critter. Regardless, I do a lot of wandering the woods.
I sit a long time sometimes. I will get up and move sometimes when I'm hunting. It usually depends on how cold I get. If I'm moving around, I go slow. Stopping to call every hundred yards or so....sometimes more if it's more open in the woods.
Give it a try. Some good advice given so far. You won't know if you like it or not til you try it. I called my first strutting tom in four years after I shot my first turkey with my professor. There was a pair of bad boys working a stretch together. I was in a recentishly burned pine stand. Still a good deal of fresh palmettos, but that was it. Palmettos and pine trees. But there was one pine tree that was freshly fallen and had a big hole amongst the branches so it was like a perfect blind. I set out my jake decoy about 7 feet away as I could hear them gobbling their way back and then I jumped into the middle of that pine tree and tried to still my thundering heart and quiet the excitement. I lost track of one of the gobblers but the other I could see making his way through the palmettos. I'd see him coming my way and I'd called a couple more times quietly and he would break strut and come in then poof back out again. I was just waiting for him to get inside 30 yards, which he was going to do in no time at all. The other one though was sneaking in on me from behind me. The first I saw of him was when I heard a commotion and looked over seeing my jake decoy getting the ever loving tar beat out of it. Without any thought at all I swung around and I had me my first called in turkey, even if it wasn't the one I was watching. Lots of luck. Some piddly skill, learned after many many mistakes and reading a few books on basic turkey hunting. Lots of walking that day. But I was hooked for sure and forever.
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Steve Sutton
- Posts: 29
- Joined: January 15th, 2015, 9:36 pm
Re: Thinking about starting Turkey Hunting
I agree with everything that has been said so far from an advise standpoint....and at the same time I disagree with all of it....every Turkey is different and every Turkey hunter is different....as a result I move more, sit less, and call more than most people do, and clearly more than the people posting here say to......I've spooked a lot of Turkeys in my time, walked away from more but in the end I've killed a "bunch" since my first one 40 years ago....I make one concession to the "frequent moves" that being that if I know other people are in the area I won't move cause I don't want to disrupt their hunt, poach their set up, or get shot, (plus I know they'll likely push a bird my way eventually).....
I hate the big blinds that are so commonly used these days.....dislike decoys except I do love looking at the really good ones....hate corn fed turkeys cause they make it so easy....
My recommendation is to go.....and go with an experienced hunter if you can.....you'll become a Turkey hunter in "their style" which will be just fine if they are successful at it.....if they aren't you'll either quit or develop a style of your own.....all you need to do is be respectful of other people in the area and then either call sparingly and softly or loud and long while moving frequently.....
Remember this if you find a mentor who will take you.....Ducks are easy to share.....Quail more difficult...Big Deer these days and Turkeys are perhaps the toughest thing in the woods for a hunter to "give away" so if you find someone that will consider yourself lucky and pay them back by not stabbing them in the back by poaching there spots unless they offer it, (as in it's THEIR IDEA and not a I guess its o.k." because they're too nice to say "no" when you announce you'll be returning to the site of the gift giving)........
Steve
I hate the big blinds that are so commonly used these days.....dislike decoys except I do love looking at the really good ones....hate corn fed turkeys cause they make it so easy....
My recommendation is to go.....and go with an experienced hunter if you can.....you'll become a Turkey hunter in "their style" which will be just fine if they are successful at it.....if they aren't you'll either quit or develop a style of your own.....all you need to do is be respectful of other people in the area and then either call sparingly and softly or loud and long while moving frequently.....
Remember this if you find a mentor who will take you.....Ducks are easy to share.....Quail more difficult...Big Deer these days and Turkeys are perhaps the toughest thing in the woods for a hunter to "give away" so if you find someone that will consider yourself lucky and pay them back by not stabbing them in the back by poaching there spots unless they offer it, (as in it's THEIR IDEA and not a I guess its o.k." because they're too nice to say "no" when you announce you'll be returning to the site of the gift giving)........
Steve