Turkey hunting is wildly popular and for good reason-it’s a blast. It’s almost like elk hunting. When elk hunting, you’re trying to call in a love sick wary bull.
When turkey hunting, you’re trying to call in a wary old love sick gobbler. The only big difference is turkeys don’t have a nose like an elk does so you don’t have to cover your scent.
Turkeys get a bad rap. If you do something stupid, people call you a turkey but if you’ve ever tried to fool an old gobbler then you know that he can be as wise as Solomon and tough to call within shooting range.
Turkeys have impeccable eyesight so you need to camo to the max. Face, glasses and hands as well. You cannot move at all or they will see you right away. There’s a couple of tricks you can do to hide your movement.
The first one is to use a blind. But when hunting turkeys, you’ll likely be running gunning from one set-up to another so you’ll want to use a lightweight portable blind like a Nukem. Using a blind only from the top of your shoulders and above will be visible.
The second trick will be to use shooting sticks. That way you don’t have to pick up your shotgun thereby spooking him. Have your shotgun already laid on the sticks.
Also, if you’re expecting him to come in from straight in front of you turn 45 degrees to the right. You can slowly pivot and shoot to the left easier than you can to the right. If you shoot left-handed then it’s vice versa. Make sense?
CAMO
My camouflage buddies will kill me but I don’t use the same pattern head to toe. I will use a different pattern of cap, shirt and pants. Nature isn’t all one pattern, is it? No, it’s a dash of this and a splash of that.
You’ll want a face mask to hide your face. May not be possible but if it is, also cover your glasses. For sure wear gloves because your hands will be your biggest source of movement.
The camo companies will try to convince you that you need to also buy their pattern of camo socks and underwear. You can probably get by without worrying about those two items!
DECOYS
If you’re going to be set up on a parcel of farmland where it is possible use a heavy stationary decoy then by all means do it.
But every time that I’m hunting, I’m setting up, calling for 30 minutes and then moving up or down the mountains. So, if you’re hunting like this, you’ll want to use some Montana Decoys.
Montana Decoys are unique. They make a lot of 1-dimensional decoys. I’d recommend using one Jake and two hens. But if you can only afford one decoy, make it a Jake. An incoming gobbler will most likely make a beeline to the Jake to kick his tail.
MD also makes what I guess you’d a four-dimensional decoy which is also lightweight. You never know what you’ll see when decoying.
One year a buddy and I were playing with a gobbler and he ran in and knocked over the hen decoy and bred it.
Scoot McGann’s wife was in a blind calling and had their 5-yr. old son with her. She saw a mountain lion sneaking in to her decoy.
She had presence of mind to grab her cell phone and record the cat sneaking in. It slinked in and then ran up and slapped her decoy. When it didn’t fly the cat suddenly smelled a rat and tucked tail and scattered.
CALLING
There are a million calls. Box calls, push boxes, slate plates, reeds, gobblers and on and on the list goes. I use Quaker Boy calls. Not a right or wrong but I still like the old box calls like the Quaker Boy Hurricane box call.
You’ll also want a locator call. A lot of people use a crow or a peacock call. I like to use my coyote howler. These three calls prompt a turkey to gobble. Somewhat like a siren motivates dogs to start barking.
But when the gobbler gets in close then you’re going to have your hands free, so you’ve got to learn how to use a reed. That way you can be calling right up to when you pull the trigger. Some people tape a push box to their forestock and can be pushing it as they’re aiming.
SHELLS
Sixty years ago, we used left over #2’s from goose hunting but now there are some unbelievable turkey loads available. Used to we were lucky to kill one at 40 yards but now you can reach out to 60 yards. I love the HEVI-Shot turkey loads. To do this you’ll also want to use a tight choke. I use Trulock chokes.
This will sound weird but you’ll need to sight in your shotgun due to the tight pattern. It’s not a bad idea to put on a good sight, red-dot scope or a low power scope.
You need to aim for a body part just like when deer hunting. I’d suggest aiming about 4-6 inches below his head. If you aim at his head, half of the BB’s will fly harmlessly over his head.
There are a lot of cool turkey hunting vest on the market that a lot of people like. They’ll have a fold out pad to set on, pocket to carry your decoys and a pocket to hold your calls.
SAFETY
Let’s end on a safety note. People will tell you to set with your back against a tree so if someone sneaks in on your decoys you won’t get shot. If possible don’t set right in line with your decoys.
I’ve had three buddies tell me of instances of where they know someone that has gotten shot, two died. Don’t let this happen.
Tom Claycomb is a hunting enthusiast and writes a bi-monthly column for Great Basin Sun.
