(Author’s note: I know turkey season came in on Monday, but all of this is still good advice)
Tips to be a little more prepared for the turkeys this year.
So you would like to bring home a turkey or two this year? You would like some hero pictures of you hoisting 20 pound birds, holding fanned out tail feathers, and showing off sharp spurs? You need some preparation time young man (or lady). Here is how we are going to do it.
SCOUTING, know where you are going beforehand. This of course is one of the basic premises of hunting. Going in there before season and learning the area automatically puts you in the higher success bracket. First you are learning “the lay of the land”, and next you may directly observe the turkeys in that area and see what they are up to. Where are they going to roost? Where are they traveling to in the course of a normal day? Where do the gobblers spend a lot of time strutting? Get the idea? You will know where the turkeys are going to before they get there.
Two trips before season will help you immeasurably. Go early in the morning if you can, to hear gobblers on the roost. One last thing and I hope you will listen to me. Do not take a turkey call with you and call to the gobblers that you are going to be hunting in season! (If you do, remember I told you so)
PATTERN THAT SHOTGUN, no guessing about how the gun shoots. I really don’t know why, but most of us, even experienced turkey hunters, just won’t do this. Here is the deal folks, a shotgun is an imprecise weapon! It will not shoot the same with different chokes and with different loads. You need to know what the gun is going to do with different shells and at what yardage.
Take your shotgun to the range and have all the items you need to pattern the gun. This includes shotgun shells, target holder, staple gun and staples, paper to cover a 30” circle, eye and ear protection. This is best done from a bench rest. Think of it more like sighting in a rifle than shooting a shotgun.
To start, place about a 4” circle on a large paper. The darkened in circle is giving you something to aim at. Start with a low brass, target type load. No need to pull out the heavy stuff yet. Your first shot is at 10 yards (that’s right, ten yards). All we are trying to determine is where the pattern is going. Next shoot the paper at 20, then 30, and 40 yards. If the pattern is centered on your aiming point now try some of your hunting loads, (you will need to change paper often).
Now you will know exactly what the gun will do with various loads and different yardages. This will translate to more pictures of you holding up the big bird with the red, white, and blue head.
CALLING, Making sense of a mystic art. No doubt about it, calling turkeys has become the most over rated, mystified, and downright lied about area of turkey hunting. Many supposed experts claim that calling is only about 30% of what is needed to seal the deal with a gobbler, I’d say that is about right, maybe less. If you are a complete beginner find a call that you are comfortable with, I would go with a box call or a slate friction type call. Learn to make the simple yelp of a hen turkey, and to begin with this is all you will need.
Don’t worry about doing 14 different calls like the guys on TV. If a turkey is ready to be called in, sometimes a couple yelps and a cluck or two is all this necessary. Let the guys at the calling contests do all the fancy stuff, you are here to shoot turkeys. Give the gobbler just enough to keep him interested. If he is coming toward you, don’t call at all. Less is better than more.
SETTING UP, This is the key to whole deal. Experienced turkey hunters know that the last several yards of a turkeys approach to you is the most critical. Make a mistake after he crosses the 50 yard line and you will not be partaking of fried turkey breast. The key here is just to be ready. You sit at the base of the largest tree you can find where you may face the direction where the gobbler will approach from. If you are a right handed shooter, point your left shoulder at the place you think he will appear, do the opposite if you are a lefty. This allows you to swing the gun in order to cover as much area as possible. As you sit with your knees up, the shotgun is on one knee. You should be able to sit like this for some time.
When the gobbler comes into view, you cannot move, should I say it again? You cannot move! Now you may need to move as in putting your head on the stock and making a slight adjustmentaiming at the turkey. These are accomplished by carefully watching the turkey and waiting until his head goes behind something big, usually this a tree and the tree has to be pretty large for him not to see you move.
Sound complicated? It is, but after you spook the first 40 or 50 turkeys it gets easier. If you follow these tips you will be more prepared to face those wily old gobblers this year. As prepared as you can be for turkeys that is. You really never know what is going to happen when you are chasing turkeys, I’m not sure we would want it any other way.