Preparing for 1st time Spring Turkey Hunt

[Willburrrr2003]

Good Afternoon Everyone!  I am starting preparations for my first Turkey hunt in Spring of 2022.  I have made a list of gear and supplies, and came across a good find today.  I located a guy about 30 mins north of me selling 3 rubber decoys (2 hens and 1 tom) along with a slate call and a turkey pack as well all for $25 .  I will be picking this all up tomorrow.  I am working on virtual scouting currently with On X hunt APP, checking out around Cle Elum /Teanaway area.  I will be reading lots  posts in the the turkey section looking for tips and advice, and already have a good start on that . 

Regards,

    Will

[huntnfmly]

Welcome to the site
Lots of good info on here
Sorry I can not help you out on the areas you picked we normally go outside of Omsk

[Willburrrr2003]

Welcome to the site
Lots of good info on here
Sorry I can not help you out on the areas you picked we normally go outside of Omsk

Thanks for the welcome, and you are right lots of great info here!

[ellensburgpo]

Look at harvest stats for central vs ne Washington. Just flat way more birds in the NE corner.

[Lady Grouse hunter]

like he said It's open over there, East now!

[Willburrrr2003]

Thanks for the advice guys on looking further to the NE corner, and I am considering this, but that will definitely limit my ability to get over and scout before the season opens that was a part of the reason why I was thinking of Cle Elum as it only takes me about an hour to get the the Cle Elum area From my house.

Here is my Shotgun, it is a Stoeger Condor O/U, and these are the choke tubes I will be using as well.  I will be using Federal TSS turkey loads.

Regards,

    Will

[Willburrrr2003]

I picked up some used gear last night.  A H.S Strut Black Magic pot call (looks like it's an aluminum over glass )with both original strikers, and an Epeards-Lounge Turkey pack/vest. plus two foam hen decoys in the bunch as well all for $25.  IMHO I think the call was worth that on it's own

Regards,

    Will

[northwesthunter84]

The biggest thing I can say is pattern your gun, save some money and shoot some cheaper lead shot, that TSS is expensive.  Know your effective range.  Also if decoying don't place the decoys too far out otherwise birds have a tendency to hang up.  I like my decoys at about 15-20 yards depending on terrain.  Also don't worry about sounding perfect, every bird is different and wants what he wants. If the Tom responds keep at it because he likes what he is hearing.  And my final 2 cents is never think you are going to beat a turkey's eyesight, it wont happen.  Slow movements inside you outline and full camo is the key.

[salish]

The biggest thing I can say is pattern your gun, save some money and shoot some cheaper lead shot, that TSS is expensive.  Know your effective range.  Also if decoying don't place the decoys too far out otherwise birds have a tendency to hang up.  I like my decoys at about 15-20 yards depending on terrain.  Also don't worry about sounding perfect, every bird is different and wants what he wants. If the Tom responds keep at it because he likes what he is hearing.  And my final 2 cents is never think you are going to beat a turkey's eyesight, it wont happen.  Slow movements inside you outline and full camo is the key.

Agree on the patterning. I shot my spring merriam this year with a load of Herter's #5 high base upland loads. The bird was hit at around 38 yards and went down immediately. I'm probably going to try the TSS in my 20ga next spring but I can vouch for old standard lead loads.

[Lady Grouse hunter]

Sounds like a Salesmen. Yay that, Get the tag and get ready to hunt them like Grouse!

[Iveexcaped3]

Will,
Welcome to the site. I have scouted many hours in that area. Let me know if you have any questions. One tip I will give is a lot sit on private early spring and I’ve noticed it gets hit pretty hard during youth opener the few times I considered hunting there. I would start practicing with a mouth call now for when they get close and you shouldn’t move. There’s an advantage and disadvantage to each call (box, pot, mouth). I have yet to hunt the NE mainly because that’s where everyone goes. From where I am to there I pass lots of turkeys so it doesn’t make sense to me. Even if you’re not successful there’s always something to learn from each outing.

[hunter399]

NE WA ...........
That's all I'm saying bro .
Welcome to the forum.
Goodluck
Mark any area off the list ,head to NE WA.

[Lady Grouse hunter]

Now its sounnds like olde school here, Turks are all around in Eastern Wa,

[Dan-o]

Welcome to the site, Will.

Lots of good advice in here.

* Definitely pattern your shotgun.
* Don't try to beat their eyes.
* Personally, I really like hunting with decoys.
* The people pointing you to the NE corner aren't lying.

You can have some nice turkey hunts in Central Washington.   Some guys are regularly successful there.
But check out the turkey pamphlet.   Harvest numbers don't lie (much).

It really speeds up the learning curve to have turkey encounters, and you will have way more turkey encounters in the NE corner.  I started turkey hunting around EBurg/Cle Elum because I refuse to drive 4+ hours for a bird.   I had some great hunts......   even almost got a turkey a time or two.

But when I headed NE I started killing turkeys immediately due to having lots of chances.    I feel like I'm a somewhat competent turkey hunter now.     It usually takes me 2-3 days to get my birds, but that's because I hunt a bird dense area.   

https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02209

Look at the harvest data.....   and then decide how quickly you want to put your rookie mistakes in the rear view mirror.

[KNOPHISH]

Put some tick spray/deet on yer list. 

[Russ McDonald]

Keep a eye out and I will post dates here.  Lining up how to turkey hunting classes.  I will be at the sports show in Puyallup doing a few and working with Tacoma Sportsmens Club inndoing some there.  I have hunted in a lot of areas around WA.  Cle Elum and Teanaway.  Turkeys there but most are on private property. West side put in some work for finding those easterns.  Most common thing I will get asked is where are the easterns.  Heck I don't even know.  I know general areas.  NE corner has the largest population of turkeys in the state.  Knock on the farmers doors they hate them out there.  I have a property that allows me to mentor hunters on and I have been pretty successful there.  Plus in my travels there I will see lots of birds.  I use decoys in the spring. Early sping you could do a jake/tom and a hen.  Later season just stick with a hen or 2.  One alert hen and one feeding hen is what I have used.  What happens isnlater in the season males are tired of getting there butts kicked my the dominant tom in the flock so having a jake or tom decoy might be a hindrance.  Camo head to to and be still.  9 times out of 10 a turkey probably sees you before you see them.  Don't over call.  If you call and get a gooble back try a time or to.  If he goobles again and is getting closer shut down and be still.  In nature a tom does not come to the hen the hen comes to the tom.  What he is doing if you get him fired up is he is saying why is that lady lost and I need to get her back to the flock so I can have my way with her.  Huge thing to pattern you gun like has been said.  Different loads pattern different in guns. Full choke or turkey chokenis best.  If you shooting non toxic or TSS loads make sure that you choke is good for that.  If they are non tss chokes you can split the choke and barrel.  Good luck and welcome to the forum.  This is how I started out hunting in WA was joining this forum.  Lots of good info amd people.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[brokentrail]

Put some tick spray/deet on yer list. 

My suggestion for ticks is to spray all of your gear, pants, shirt, vest, boots, gaiters, etc with Permethrin.  It flat works!

[Lady Grouse hunter]

N.E. CORNER Is mostly Private land.. Good luck unless one knows their Uncles Wheat field....

[Russ McDonald]

There plenty of public la d in the NE corner.  Federal and state and they do ha e turkeys on them.

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk

[HillHound]

Put some tick spray/deet on yer list. 

My suggestion for ticks is to spray all of your gear, pants, shirt, vest, boots, gaiters, etc with Permethrin.  It flat works!

This is no joke. Arrived in the northeast for a hunt a couple years ago and just walking in the knee high grass around the truck to get to my permethrin treated hunting clothes I had over a dozen ticks on my pants. This will ruin your day and it’s impossible to stay still when you have all them blood suckers crawling around on/in you . We are successful in the Cle Elum area in the spring but it’s on private property. And due to the limited bag limit in that area I try to get my wife or son on them first if schedules allow. If they get blown out after shooting a couple I can always head to northeast for a weekend and get two birds. Way more birds over there. Cle Elum area has birds but you have to find the draw, ridge, etc they are holding in. Northeast there are basically turkeys in every draw, ridge, etc. Get out and try to roost the birds the night before or head out early to see if you can hear them making all their noise before they fly down. Some use shock calls like owl calls etc to get them to sound off in the dark.

[hunter399]

N.E. CORNER Is mostly Private land.. Good luck unless one knows their Uncles Wheat field....

Yes this is so true ,don't come to the NE corner ,all private,And bad spot for sure...  
Wheat fields everywhere and not one 🦃   

[hunter399]

Bought these today,buy them when you see them.

[HooknoseHunter]

N.E. CORNER Is mostly Private land.. Good luck unless one knows their Uncles Wheat field....

Yes this is so true ,don't come to the NE corner ,all private,And bad spot for sure...  
Wheat fields everywhere and not one 🦃   

I can’t agree with this enough, there aren’t any turkeys in NE WA. I wouldn’t waste your gas driving over here when you can hunt in the unpressured forests of Western WA. Also, you don’t need a ton of gear, just cruise logging roads until you see a flock, drive past them, get out and setup an ambush.

[highcountry_hunter]

NE WA ...........
That's all I'm saying bro .
Welcome to the forum.
Goodluck
Mark any area off the list ,head to NE WA.

Agreed. But you have to take 5 with you when you leave