Turkey Hunting Tips and Tricks

[Jcook02]

Patients and patterning is what I rely on. Typically the early birds around me are very receptive to calling early in the season. A little pressure and they get call shy pretty quick. If you can, pattern them and know where they show up at a given time and then be patient. They will show, just trust the work you put in early on. My most effective decoy is one that my Dad and grandad used back in the 70's. Old, beat-up and faded, but still works better than my $200 decoy. Henrietta always makes the trip to the field after learning, just because it's new and looks pretty to me, doesn't mean the birds always find it the same.

 

[wv270wsm]

Also if ones coming to you gobbling his fool head off then just shuts up good chance he's gonna keep coming right in to ya . Have had this happen several times over the last few years . They just go silent then appear where you least expect him to

 

[DartonJager]

If at all humanly possible set up so you can shoot as close to 360* as you can, and practice adjusting while seated so you can make the shot. This is when a turkey chair comes into it's own. Set up my son last year to quickly and assumed the Tom we saw out in the field to the right of where we were standing back in the woods before we set up in the woods off the field the Tom was in would walk through the field to us into gun range. He sure did walk the field until we lost sight of him about 60-65 yards out then he reappeared behind us and my son although he was sitting in a turkey chair I set him up among a bunch of felled trees left over from past logging that blocked him from swinging around to make the shot on the Tom.
Two years ago had something similar happen but because we were set up in tall weeds and brush and my son was sitting in turkey hunting chair as he is left handed he easily swung around to meet the turkey as it walked in from behind to his right. I always set him up taking is left handedness into consideration.

 

[jimss]

There has been several guys that have mentioned patterning birds. Where I hunt in Nebraska I often see the same turkeys on the same branch each evening. The mountain merriams here in Colo are nearly impossible to pattern on public land because they are constantly moving and hardly ever roost in the same trees and may not be on the same mountain from 1 day to the next. In Colo where toms are mobile I cover lots and lots of country. Toms usually get eaten by predators if they let out a peep so that makes it even tougher to find them. Just remember to stay flexible and keep your eyes open to how turkeys are behaving where you are hunting. You may need to change things up from one spot to the next and from early to later in the season at the same location.

 

[DartonJager]

I would like to add a few things.
Please bare in mind all my turkey hunting experience has been 60-65% on either tightly controlled limited entry public ground the rest on private property in Midwest states.
Like to start with calling.
Between myself and my life long friend and hunting partner we have have combined over 70 seasons and have taken closer to 100 than 90 turkeys from two different states and my friend has not failed to take at least one Tom in the last 20 seasons
Myself I went 19 of the last 21 seasons and didn't take a Tom in 2019 or 2020 because I used my limited entry tag to allow one of my sons to kill a turkey. My home state allows a youth hunter to hunt using and adults tag.
Now for my opinion on calling.
I absolutely believe you need only be a good caller to be able kill turkeys far more often than not. A hunter who is a superb expert and can call and sound exactly like a live hen but doesn't understand what calls to make and when to make them will never be even 1/2 as successful as a good caller who understands what calls to use and when. One of the best turkey hunters I've ever known a farmer, who has killed well over 100 birds in the last 35 years told me he didn't even own or use a turkey call for his first 10-12 seasons he simply knew the turkeys habits where he hunted so well he just set up and ambushed them.
My first friend I spoke of has only used the same HS Strut synthetic slate call for over the last 25 years at least and he has been 100% successful for the last 20 spring turkey seasons granted that's hunting in two different states but on public land about 85% of the time.

What is of great importance IMO is knowing what call to make and when to use it and at what volume. You can lean a great deal from watching turkey calling videos on YouTube and I recommend a guy named Matt Dale as his videos give great straight forward honest no BS or hype advice I know from my previous experience does work.
Also while sitting in a roost pay absolute attention what calls the roosted hens are making and at what volume they make them as well as what they are doing while calling. And if you cans see them with your eyes or binos watch how the roosted Tom's react to the roosted hens calls. My best teacher of turkey calling without doubt has been the turkeys themselves
I do strongly recommend you spend the off season months practicing using a good slate call and watching YouTube videos of actual turkeys calling to learn how to call.
I also strongly recommend you try to become proficient with a mouth diaphragm call as I have used them to call in 4 of my last 7 Toms and half of the turkeys my boys have killed. Also if you can get good with a mouth call you can call hands free and hold your gun to call to a turkey the last few yards needed to get him in range.
I can strongly recommend using a simple two reed mouth call to start one with no cuts in the reeds.

One mouth call I found VERY easy to use and make VERY soft calls was the Quaker Boy "Screamin Green Old Boss Hen. Why you ask is soft calling important?
Glad you asked because after you have called to and got a Tom to gobble to you and he is working to you I recommend stop calling, but it is of absolute importance that if you have to, call to him only at a reduced volume and you sound as if the hen is going away from him not getting closer and that's where making increasingly softer and quiter calls is very important.
I personally carry one synthetic glass slate call, a brass slate call, one synthetic striker, one rose wood striker and 3-4 mouth calls.
My favorite mouth calls are:
Primos aluminum framed double (True and Deadly Double) and triple stacked calls with the "True Triple" being my favorite to sound like an extremely raspy old boss hen and I have called Toms in from a LRF confirmed 400-470 yards with it.
The Primos " Limb Hanger" is also a favorite easy to use mouth call of mine.
The advice on not over calling is absolutely correct. Once you KNOW a Tom on the ground has gobbled in response to your calling shut up and let him think he will have to come find you not vice-versa
Also NEVER EVER blind call unless you are set up or are well positioned to take a shot if the Tom comes in quickly and silently as they very often do on public ground.

Invest in a decent binocular No other piece of hunting equipment I own is more important and critical to my hunting success than my binoculars are and that includes my firearm

I realize the next advice will not always be possible to fallow but do so if at all humanly possible
Stay in and only move the shadows and out if direct sunlight when ever humanly possible and NEVER stop to do anything in direct sunlight and always stop in some type of cover that breaks up your human outline
Also always plan your travels so the sun will be at your back and never in your face highlighting your human shape to turkeys if they spot you
Try keep the sun always at your back and in the turkeys eyes
Never glass an area exposed always from cover
Never step out into an open area like a field without throughly glassing it from cover and only after you are 100% certain there are no turkeys in the field
I know for a LRF confirmed fact a turkey can spot a human form highlighted by sunlight at anything under 500 yards but if your still in the shadows and 400 or more yards away they most likely won't recognize your human form

ABSOLUTELY Nothing will kill you more turkeys than scouting and getting to know and understand the turkeys patterns and knowing where turkeys roost, strutting zones and feeding areas especially last years picked corn stubble fields and wheat or alphalfa fields.
I hunt if at all humanly possible based on REPEATEDLY seeing live turkeys in an area not turkey sign.
I'm not saying to ignore or not look for or take note of good solid fresh turkey sign, as i do look for sign like scrappaging's and dusting areas and droppings, but nothing beats seeing live turkeys as the ultimate turkey sign.
The youth season I just hunted with my son was on public ground my friend and I've both hunted for over 20 years and I still made 6 preseason scouting trips as close to opening morning as work would allow.

Patients and persistence are turkey hunters two most lethal weapons and two best friends
A turkey hunter will never have two worse enemies than laziness and inpatients. Once after you have a Toms attention and are set up and working him Do not make the error of doing something for the sake of doing it like getting up and moving to take a look around. Not being lazy means putting in the time scouting and getting to know the lay of the land and where the birds are.
Not being lazy also includes patterning your gun and taking the time and effort to become a good caller and understand what calls to use when.

NEVER give up or loose hope. Just because you didn't kill one off the roost means very little. Fully 60% of all my friends and mines Toms we both killed AFTER 9am and NOT off the roost and buy sneaking and peaking then spot and stalking and setting up on or just ambushing them. Lazy or poorly prepared turkey hunters are often give up before 9am. Don't be that kind of turkey hunter. The ONLY time i quite before end of legal hunting hours is if I have tagged my bird.

Do not let the weather keep you in bed. Do not be a fair weather turkey hunter. One season over 10 years ago that neither myself or my friend got drawn for any public land, my friend called me and said it was only the second limited hunt dates of some near by public ground but the weather was supposed to be absolutely terrible with very heavy rain severe thunderstorms and hail starting about about midnight, but the foul weather was predicted to blow out and then be mostly sunny and about 65*. We went and did stand by as it was pouring rain thundering and lightning and sure enough we were two of the only four hunters that showed up. Just as predicted the rain stopped the storm blew out of there it got sunny calm winds. My friend and I had on our gore-tex and once the rain quit started playing sneekin and peakin and we ended up killing two big toms.
Do not let ANYONE tell you its a waste of time turkey hunting in to cold of weather or in any form of inclement weather. I have had good hunts and killed toms while it was actually snowing out and with over an inch of snow on the ground. Except for a constant all day rain, I have had great gobbling and killed birds in just about every type of weather you can imagine.
Other than a all day poring rain I will at least try to turkey hunt.
The ONLY weather I absolutely loath to hunt in is very high winds. That's because it is nearly impossible to hear then gobble or for them to hear your calls. I have watched a tom out in a field I knew was under 300 yards away and could watch him gobbling his head off but as a strong wind was at my back I never heard him make a sound. But I will still hunt on windy days.
Turkeys don't stop being turkeys because the weather is less than perfect. The weather affects turkey hunters a lot more than the turkeys.

This last piece of advice I am going to give is strictly my experienced based opinion only, and some will likely disagree and that fine.
I always if at all possible set up as close to 60 yards from a roosted Tom or Toms as in close enough that they could fly down and could be in range.
I do this by getting set up while it is still absolutely dark out and once I'm set up it's at least an hour to legal shooting light. I will only do this if I know the path to my set up spot and have been there before and the path I take allows me to near silently get there. Been doing this when ever I can for close to the last 20 seasons and do not recall the last time I spooked a single roosted turkey.
This past youth season we ended up setting up both mornings less than 25 yards from both a roasted Tom and hens and they never knew we were there
Well that's all hope some of it will be helpful
Best luck and be safe.

 

[Rick Richard]

I would like to add a few things.
Please bare in mind all my turkey hunting experience has been 60-65% on either tightly controlled limited entry public ground the rest on private property in Midwest states.
Like to start with calling.
Between myself and my life long friend and hunting partner we have have combined over 70 seasons and have taken closer to 100 than 90 turkeys from two different states and my friend has not failed to take at least one Tom in the last 20 seasons
Myself I went 19 of the last 21 seasons and didn't take a Tom in 2019 or 2020 because I used my limited entry tag to allow one of my sons to kill a turkey. My home state allows a youth hunter to hunt using and adults tag.
Now for my opinion on calling.
I absolutely believe you need only be a good caller to be able kill turkeys far more often than not. A hunter who is a superb expert and can call and sound exactly like a live hen but doesn't understand what calls to make and when to make them will never be even 1/2 as successful as a good caller who understands what calls to use and when. One of the best turkey hunters I've ever known a farmer, who has killed well over 100 birds in the last 35 years told me he didn't even own or use a turkey call for his first 10-12 seasons he simply knew the turkeys habits where he hunted so well he just set up and ambushed them.
My first friend I spoke of has only used the same HS Strut synthetic slate call for over the last 25 years at least and he has been 100% successful for the last 20 spring turkey seasons granted that's hunting in two different states but on public land about 85% of the time.

What is of great importance IMO is knowing what call to make and when to use it and at what volume. You can lean a great deal from watching turkey calling videos on YouTube and I recommend a guy named Matt Dale as his videos give great straight forward honest no BS or hype advice I know from my previous experience does work.
Also while sitting in a roost pay absolute attention what calls the roosted hens are making and at what volume they make them as well as what they are doing while calling. And if you cans see them with your eyes or binos watch how the roosted Tom's react to the roosted hens calls. My best teacher of turkey calling without doubt has been the turkeys themselves
I do strongly recommend you spend the off season months practicing using a good slate call and watching YouTube videos of actual turkeys calling to learn how to call.
I also strongly recommend you try to become proficient with a mouth diaphragm call as I have used them to call in 4 of my last 7 Toms and half of the turkeys my boys have killed. Also if you can get good with a mouth call you can call hands free and hold your gun to call to a turkey the last few yards needed to get him in range.
I can strongly recommend using a simple two reed mouth call to start one with no cuts in the reeds.

One mouth call I found VERY easy to use and make VERY soft calls was the Quaker Boy "Screamin Green Old Boss Hen. Why you ask is soft calling important?
Glad you asked because after you have called to and got a Tom to gobble to you and he is working to you I recommend stop calling, but it is of absolute importance that if you have to, call to him only at a reduced volume and you sound as if the hen is going away from him not getting closer and that's where making increasingly softer and quiter calls is very important.
I personally carry one synthetic glass slate call, a brass slate call, one synthetic striker, one rose wood striker and 3-4 mouth calls.
My favorite mouth calls are:
Primos aluminum framed double (True and Deadly Double) and triple stacked calls with the "True Triple" being my favorite to sound like an extremely raspy old boss hen and I have called Toms in from a LRF confirmed 400-470 yards with it.
The Primos " Limb Hanger" is also a favorite easy to use mouth call of mine.
The advice on not over calling is absolutely correct. Once you KNOW a Tom on the ground has gobbled in response to your calling shut up and let him think he will have to come find you not vice-versa
Also NEVER EVER blind call unless you are set up or are well positioned to take a shot if the Tom comes in quickly and silently as they very often do on public ground.

Invest in a decent binocular No other piece of hunting equipment I own is more important and critical to my hunting success than my binoculars are and that includes my firearm

I realize the next advice will not always be possible to fallow but do so if at all humanly possible
Stay in and only move the shadows and out if direct sunlight when ever humanly possible and NEVER stop to do anything in direct sunlight and always stop in some type of cover that breaks up your human outline
Also always plan your travels so the sun will be at your back and never in your face highlighting your human shape to turkeys if they spot you
Try keep the sun always at your back and in the turkeys eyes
Never glass an area exposed always from cover
Never step out into an open area like a field without throughly glassing it from cover and only after you are 100% certain there are no turkeys in the field
I know for a LRF confirmed fact a turkey can spot a human form highlighted by sunlight at anything under 500 yards but if your still in the shadows and 400 or more yards away they most likely won't recognize your human form

ABSOLUTELY Nothing will kill you more turkeys than scouting and getting to know and understand the turkeys patterns and knowing where turkeys roost, strutting zones and feeding areas especially last years picked corn stubble fields and wheat or alphalfa fields.
I hunt if at all humanly possible based on REPEATEDLY seeing live turkeys in an area not turkey sign.
I'm not saying to ignore or not look for or take note of good solid fresh turkey sign, as i do look for sign like scrappaging's and dusting areas and droppings, but nothing beats seeing live turkeys as the ultimate turkey sign.
The youth season I just hunted with my son was on public ground my friend and I've both hunted for over 20 years and I still made 6 preseason scouting trips as close to opening morning as work would allow.

Patients and persistence are turkey hunters two most lethal weapons and two best friends
A turkey hunter will never have two worse enemies than laziness and inpatients. Once after you have a Toms attention and are set up and working him Do not make the error of doing something for the sake of doing it like getting up and moving to take a look around. Not being lazy means putting in the time scouting and getting to know the lay of the land and where the birds are.
Not being lazy also includes patterning your gun and taking the time and effort to become a good caller and understand what calls to use when.

NEVER give up or loose hope. Just because you didn't kill one off the roost means very little. Fully 60% of all my friends and mines Toms we both killed AFTER 9am and NOT off the roost and buy sneaking and peaking then spot and stalking and setting up on or just ambushing them. Lazy or poorly prepared turkey hunters are often give up before 9am. Don't be that kind of turkey hunter. The ONLY time i quite before end of legal hunting hours is if I have tagged my bird.

Do not let the weather keep you in bed. Do not be a fair weather turkey hunter. One season over 10 years ago that neither myself or my friend got drawn for any public land, my friend called me and said it was only the second limited hunt dates of some near by public ground but the weather was supposed to be absolutely terrible with very heavy rain severe thunderstorms and hail starting about about midnight, but the foul weather was predicted to blow out and then be mostly sunny and about 65*. We went and did stand by as it was pouring rain thundering and lightning and sure enough we were two of the only four hunters that showed up. Just as predicted the rain stopped the storm blew out of there it got sunny calm winds. My friend and I had on our gore-tex and once the rain quit started playing sneekin and peakin and both ended up killing two big toms.
Do not let ANYONE tell you its a waste of time turkey hunting in to cold of weather or in any form of inclement weather. I have had good hunts and killed toms while it was actually snowing out and with over an inch of snow on the ground. Except for a constant all day rain, I have had great gobbling and killed birds in just about every type of weather you can imagine.
Other than a all day poring rain I will at least try to turkey hunt.
The ONLY weather I absolutely loath to hunt in is very high winds. That's because it is nearly impossible to hear then gobble or for them to hear your calls. I have watched a tom out in a field I knew was under 300 yards away and could watch him gobbling his head off but as a strong wind was at my back I never heard him make a sound. But I will still hunt on windy days.
Turkeys don't stop being turkeys because the weather is less than perfect. The weather affects turkey hunters a lot more than the turkeys.

This last piece of advice I am going to give is strictly my experienced based opinion only, and some will likely disagree and that fine.
I always if at all possible set up as close to 60 yards from a roosted Tom or Toms as in close enough that they could fly down and could be in range.
I do this by getting set up while it is still absolutely dark out and once I'm set up it's at least an hour to legal shooting light. I will only do this if I know the path to my set up spot and have been there before and the path I take allows me to near silently get there. Been doing this when ever I can for close to the last 20 seasons and do not recall the last time I spooked a single roosted turkey.
This past youth season we ended up setting up both mornings less than 25 yards from both a roasted Tom and hens and they never knew we were there
Well that's all hope some of it will be helpful
Best luck and be safe.

Great Great advice. Matt Dale is a must to watch on YouTube for the real stuff about turkey hunting.