who is ramping up for Spring Turkey hunting?

Good luck bud!!

 

hey guys got any good tips? have not been turkey hunting in probably 6 years. lol. been like twice. just never really found a place to go. but want to try and get into it this season.

I have a few mouth calls, but i don’t if i use them correctly. or good... i also have another call that i guess would be a box call?

 

This is the first year my daughter was too old for the early youth hunt, so we didn't get to hunt last weekend. We saw several nice toms while arrowheading last Saturday. We have a track meet Saturday, on opener, but we'll chase 'em Sunday, rain or shine. We are definitely pumped up.

 

I mean, you have to be extremely still and completely camo'd, but you probably already knew that. And oh hahaha I didn't know this till a couple years ago, if you don't find one/see one don't set up a electric caller and start calling in crows and blasting them LMAO.. Turkeys with change their route paths and wont go to where you are if you make a ton of noise. They will either stay grounded or avoid going out into the open at all costs. (personal experience) Good luck buddy!

 

watcha using?

 

yeah i know full camo and still and quite. I deer hunt a lot, so use to being quite and all. i have a camo face mask to put on.

don’t think we are allowed to use electric calls here in TN. I know we can’t bait sites either here.

thanks hope i can get out some and maybe even get one.

 

Scout for birds & take time to roost them in the evening or morning. Come turkey time slip about 100 to 125yds from where their roosting & wait. Once he (or they) start firing up on roost, give a few soft yelps until they fire back at you. Once they gobble to your calling, shut up, wait & listen. If he gobbles on his way in, throw him a few cuts or semi aggressive yelps or two but don’t over too much or too loud.



That’s about as basic as you can get without writing a two page tutorial

 

Depends on where you're hunting. If you're going woods hunting then obviously full camo, a good piece of cover and some practice on the squawk box is your best friend.
But I've been hunting the last few years around an apple orchard, and they're so used to seeing/being around people that you have better luck just walking around. If you try and sneak up on them they're gone in a flash before you get close. But if you walk like you're out for a stroll and talk to them (no bullshit) you can get to within 20 yards and take your pick. I couldn't believe it when the guy I hunt with told me that, but it worked. First time he did it I didn't even get a shot off, I was so flabbergasted that they weren't hauling ass away from them. I guess the farmer that owns the orchard is out there all the time, so if they don't think you're trying to sneak up on them they could care less.

 

Also new turkey loads!! This is a very accurate load that ill be using this season. Ive tested it at a range and by far the best load.
http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gu...ard-xr-new-turkey-load-designed-longer-ranges

 

thanks. hard to find where they are rusting. i’ll be on a pretty big WMA, they have over 600 miles of atv trails. i for get how many acres it is.

woods/ over a field maybe. dang thats interesting how they don’t care. maybe able to use that to my advantage... the WMA i’ll be on has over 600 miles of atv trails and there is just about ALLWAY someone or groups of people riding. maybe able to use the rhino to get close..? can’t hunt off of it though..

 

I've always had good luck with Hornady's turkey loads (by good luck I mean I've never had one run off). I've always run them through an old Mossberg bolt action w/a 28 inch barrel and a poly choke, but I picked up a Remington 887 this past fall that worked well for partridge and rabbit this past fall and winter that I might take if it's raining.

 

And so it begins

After dropping off my sons at school, I took the back roads home to see if I could start getting scouting photos. This is just one of pic of two gobblers I'll be putting on my hit list this spring.

The one behind the bush has one hell of a rope! The other strutter in the lower right looks to be sporting two beards. On this same property in 2011 & 2012 I hunted a gobbler I nicknamed Ol' Two Beards. Now he didn't survive a face full of shot from my 12ga opening day in 2012 but I see his legacy was passed on & it lives in this guy....Ol' Two Beards Jr. Who I'm sure if that "beard swagger" doesn't come into my sweet calling first opening day, that Ol' Two Beards Jr. with probably suffer the fate his father did back in 2012.....death from extreme trauma to the face

 

ohhh I got photos! Let the pictures begin!

 

Spring turkeys, like these? The truth is that I used to be as avid a turkey hunter as there was alive but I'm past that. I suppose I've killed enough and enjoy other things about the outdoor experience more. I'll still go this spring (probably just in my home state, though I will be in West Virginia camping for a week during their season as well) but I now hunt with a flintlock fowler that I built and I'm as likely to watch one walk or take photos as I am to shoot it.

 

lol ol’ two beards jr.

 

I grabbed a few quick photos of my favorites over the years.I’ve got thousands of scouting photos from 2001 up to this now.



Scouting in 09



Magna-Flow locator call



A gobbler trying to violate my DSD (original) decoy







Jakes fighting in VT



Strutters



A few redheads



VT struttin with snows flurries



Last year scouting



Ol’ Two Beards scouting in 2012



Ol’ Two Beards scout in 2011



5 jakes messing with my full strut decoy setup in 2011

 

Tipped one over this morning

 

Browning Gold semi auto 12 gauge. 3 1/2 most of the time but put 3 inchers in as well.

 

Nice job OP, way to start things off. More pics?