First time, any tips?

[ljsommer]

I am a first time turkey hunter looking for whatever your number one tip is, if you could only give one piece of advice?

[Fl0und3rz]

As a noob, I got nothing. Just tagging along.

[Wetwoodshunter]

Be out well before light with a gobbler, they respond from in the trees a lot. Once you locate them move in to 100 ish yards from where you think they are and set up. I have called them off the trees to me with hen calls and had them land 20 yards in front of me.

Good luck, its addicting.

[TheStovePipeKid]

I do believe the time honored advice amongst the skilled and educated, of who I do not yet espouse myself, would be to pattern your shotgun.

[Wetwoodshunter]

So, my first time I was with a buddy from Texas who hunted a lot of turkey. He called a bird in and I dropped it. I ran up to it and picked it up by the head like people do ducks. It kicked the heck out of me.

The pro tactic is run up then lightly stand on their neck.

[kevinlisa06]

I do believe the time honored advice amongst the skilled and educated, of who I do not yet espouse myself, would be to pattern your shotgun.

Exactly! I can’t wait to pattern the 20ga!


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[Naches Sportsman]

Ask yourself where or what you'd be doing at times throughout the day if you were a Turkey. It sounds dumb but works for me. Getting up before sunrise to call in a bird is just one way to do it but I like sleep and turkeys can be killed at all times during the day.

[Dan-o]

Don't leave the woods at 10:00 AM......   The turkeys didn't.

They are callable all day.

[boneaddict]

Camo is actually fairly important for Turkeys as opposed to many other hunting situations. 

[Russ McDonald]

Camo head to toe.  Be patient. Don't move much most likely is you have tom's around you and close in they will sew you before you see them. Yup pattern your shotgun is an absolute.  My last clinic is next Sunday at the Black Diamond Gun Club  in Black Diamond 11-4, free and don't believe the WDFW website, plenty of room for people.

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[ne kid]

Don't trespass.

[Mfowl]

Enjoy the experience!

[boneaddict]

know your target!   Lots of mishaps happen with Turkey hunting.   calling, camo, lifelike decoys, people packing wings or tail fans for calling or decoying.   Dont wear any red or blue.

[Buckmark]

Tip #1 Have fun
Tip #2 Do ticks bother you?  , Regardless get some repellent for you and your clothes and always check for them after
Tip #3 When calling sit with your back against something, tree, big stump, big rock etc

[DOUBLELUNG]

Lots of good advice.  A hen decoy set up in an opening 15-30 yards from your calling location is extremely helpful.  Be persistent - toms like to gobble all the time, but they are only inclined to come to a call at certain times/circumstances.  Learn basic calling but don't be discouraged - when they are susceptible to calling they will come in.  I've called in hot toms from the window of a pickup with the engine running and had them strut and gobble with me/truck in plain sight and audible.

If I had to choose two items of camo it would be a face mask and gloves.  When I was a poor college student my turkey hunting garb was a John Deere cap in green and yellow, a face mask, a brown and black buffalo plaid shirt, and a pair of khaki field pants; I never had a turkey sneer at my camo, but they definitely respond to movement, especially the flash of a white man's hands or face.  Keep your skin covered up.

Definitely get into your hunting area while birds are on the roost.  That said, I've killed them every hour of legal shooting hours.  Things typically settle down 1-2 hours after they fly off the roost, I often nap in the woods around 9-10 and have frequently awakened to a tom gobbling.  The whole season is good, from calling in subordinate toms when the dominant toms are all henned up, to when the hens are incubating and all the toms are going nuts trying to find the last breeding opportunities.

One scenario that taught me the value of patience.  I was on a high ridge where the birds had been roosting for the past week.  About an hour before sunrise, I heard the toms start gobbling - all the way down in the creek bottom about a mile away.  I bailed off the ridge and crossed the creek, got to the edge of an opening where I watched the last of the turkeys fly down into the center about 100 yards from the edge of the brush.  2 dominant toms, a few 2 year olds and several jakes.  The toms gobbled back to my every call, but were stuck on the hens.  After about half an hour of this they shut up and walked up the drainage away from me.  I had given up, and was just sitting where I'd set up enjoying a beautiful spring morning.  After about 40 minutes, I saw movement in the field at the periphery of my vision.  Still unsure what I had seen, I got my shotgun up on my knees.  Several minutes later, I saw a 2 year old trailed by 2 jakes sneaking cautiously along the edge of the field - it was clear they were looking for the lone hen.  As the tom stepped into the opening at 20 yards I gave a soft cluck with my diaphragm call - he instantly extended his neck and gobbled - lights out.  I got a kick out of the two jakes spurring him as he flopped, chances to move up in the pecking order in the turkey world are brutal - never mind that thundering shot, they were focused on the incapacitation of that superior tom.  I got up, the jakes ran off and I claimed my first-ever spring turkey in April 1991. 

Some of the fall birds and chance encounter toms have faded in memory, but I can vividly recall like it was yesterday every tom I've called in and killed.  It will get in your blood!