Turkey Hunting Tips | Wild Turkey Hunting Strategies, Techniques & Guides

Your Packing Guide for Hunting Turkey in the Wild

What should you pack before your big wild turkey hunting expedition? If you are a novice to this exciting activity, here are some guidelines on how you should prepare for the big hunt.

As the popularity of turkey hunting continues to expand, equipment companies have taken note and provided hunters with an ever-growing stable of hunting accessories and equipment. Turkey hunting used to be quite a simple activity, especially when it was left only to bow hunters who took up the arrow. In recent years, the market has produced hundreds of wild turkey hunting accessories. In days past, the wild turkey hunter only needed to carry a few shells in his hunting vest, pick up a double-barreled shotgun, and that would be it.

Today’s Modern Turkey Hunter Has More Choices Than Ever

While hunters of yore did not have much else but their shotgun and perhaps a slate call box, today’s modern turkey hunters have special camouflaged clothing, extreme full-choked turkey guns and hunting vests with dozens of special pockets. But do you really need all the hunting doodads to be a successful wild game hunter? The first real choice you have to make when it comes to picking and choosing your wild game hunting equipment is to decide what kind of equipment you will choose for carrying your hunting tools and accessories. In this department, there are three basic choices that the modern turkey hunter has to choose from. These include a turkey hunting vest, a backpack, or a fanny pack. Which one is right for you? It depends on how much you are going to carry, and how far you will be going. Turkey vests come in a variety of styles. They can come designed as full vests, or in jacket style. They come in expensive shoulder strap models, or they come in simpler styles. Hunting vests are often favored because they come equipped with many different pockets. This lets you organize your tools and accessories with greater ease. Many hunters favor backpacks because they are easy to carry on long distance hunts, and they allow you to carry more or as much as most vests. They can also be removed quite easily, and you can use them as a backrest. Fanny packs are favored because they are generally the least expensive option. They allow you to carry some gear, but they don’t weigh you down as much as a backpack or a vest. They also provide quick access to your equipment and tools.

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Turkey Hunting Safety Tips You Don’t Want to Ignore

Turkey hunting can be one of the most addictive of all the hunting pursuits. But turkey hunting, like most wild game hunting, can also be quite dangerous if you do not take the right kinds of precautions. Safety is key to ensure a safe and enjoyable wild turkey hunting expedition. Here are some important safety tips that you do not want to ignore. Ignore them at your own peril.

Take Caution with Your Target Identification

One of the most important things you can do as a safe wild turkey hunter is to take care with your target identification. When you are preparing to shoot, you simply cannot be 99.9 percent certain that are aiming at a wild turkey. You need to be exactly 100 percent sure that you are taking aim at a wild turkey. Make sure that you are aiming at a turkey with a beard before you decide to pull the trigger. Many catastrophes and tragedies have been known to occur when the hunter misidentified their target before taking aim.

Calling at the Wrong Moment

One of the worst things you could do is to use a gobble call on a spring hunt. This increases your chances of getting shot by another wild turkey hunter who mistakes you for a wild turkey. Although this sounds unlikely, it has been known to happen. This is especially dangerous if you are hunting in an area that is crowded with hunters during the busy spring hunting season. Busy hunting areas are often filled with less experienced wild game hunters, who may be more likely to shoot indiscriminately in the direction of what they thought was a wild turkey.

Always Dress for Hunting Safety

What you wear during your hunting expedition can make the difference between being safe and not being safe. You should always dress defensively when you are hunting. Make certain to wear full camouflage before heading out to the field. You should wear camouflage from your head to your toes. When you wear partial camouflage, the exposed parts of your body may cause you to appear like parts of a turkey. There are certain colors that you should avoid wearing, including blue, white and black. This includes undergarments and the socks you wear. These colors are often associated with wild turkeys.

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Turkey Hunting Help for the New Bowhunter

Bow hunting turkeys, or as a matter of fact, any game animal, is far more difficult than with the gun. Besides a good aim, in bow hunting, it is also important to have the right tension in the bow and also pull the bow good enough so that the arrow actually makes the distance intended. Many hunters will be able to tell, that bow hunting a turkey is one of the most challenging ways to hunt for turkeys. But many experienced gun hunters have the desire to bow hunt for their game. To be able to do so, a few tips might help the hunter to get on his way as a bow hunter.

One of the first skills that a bow hunter needs is actually the same as for any other hunter, patience. Patience is necessary in hunting. Hunters need patience to wait for game to come by, and patience after calling the bird. Even if half an hour or more passes from when the hunter first heard the gobblers call, the gobbler might still be on the way towards the calling. Getting up and checking might scare the bird away.

If a hunter is waiting in a spot, there are two major signs for when patience is actually essential. When a gobbler has flown in and answers his calls, coming slowly closer and when there are no barriers between the hunter and the bird. Any movement could scare the bird away.

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Top Five States for Successful Turkey Hunting

As with many different things, for hunting, there are some places that are better and others that are worse. Take a look at the top five states for successful turkey hunting as scored and ranked by many hunters. These states are preferred by hunters due to many things, such as the number of birds that a hunter is able to shoot and take home.

The highest ranked state for turkey hunting is Missouri. For many years, this has been the number one harvesting spot, maybe due to their big turkey population. There are over 600,000 turkeys that call Missouri their home and hunters from all over the United States come to Missouri to find their perfect turkey trophy to take home. Missouri’s Shrubs, mountains and forests seem to be an ideal habitat for those Eastern turkeys. A hunter is allowed to take home two male turkeys per season. In Missouri, the allowed methods of hunting turkeys are firearms and shotguns that are 10-gauge. or smaller, No. 4 shot or smaller and archery bow and arrow. Decoys and recorded calls are illegal in Missouri and this is one important fact for hunters to know when planning a hunting trip to Missouri.

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Tips for Turkey Scouting Just Before the Season Starts

You can be the best shot in the world and have your turkey calls down to a science, but if you don’t end up in the right place at the right time, it will all be for nothing. Rule number one of turkey hunting – or any kind of hunting, for that matter – is to know where to find your prey and to understand its habits. You can get lucky by heading out to a place turkeys are known to live and sitting around for ages waiting for one to come by, or you can improve your odds of a successful hunt considerably by doing your homework and doing a little scouting before the season begins. A little time investment in turkey scouting before hunting season kicks off can mean a more fulfilling season for you all around.

When it comes to turkey scouting, there two parts to the process. The first part is the actual scouting, which involves familiarizing yourself with the hunting ground, and the second part is observing the turkeys in the environment to get to know the behavior of the birds you’ll be seeing when the season kicks off. For both parts of the scouting, you should arm yourself with a journal, a pen and a map of the area if possible, so you can record all of your information.

To scout the land, you simply have to walk it several times, from several different angles, making notes of the special features of the area. Pay close attention to where all of the streams, ravines, fences and so on are located – these things act as natural barriers and may stop a turkey dead in its tracks when it is responding to your calls. Also take careful note of where the high ground and low ground is located. Turkeys like to come uphill to answer a call instead of down, so scope out a few places on elevated ground that might also offer you good cover. In general, look for places that you can easily sit out of sight that also allow you to keep a good eye on your surroundings.

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Gun and Bow Tips for the Turkey Hunter

Turkeys can be hunted with many different arms, including guns and bows. Turkeys are very wary and fast and therefore, hunting with knives or similar is just not possible. Whenever a hunter goes hunting for turkey, he has to make sure that he checks the local hunting laws and regulations in regards to arms. Generally these laws allow a shotgun with a gauge somewhere between gauge 10 to 20 and shot sizes between #4 and #6, as well as bows. Bow pulls must be similar to bows allowed for deer hunting. Some places even allow rifles and handguns as hunting gear during fall.

When turkey hunting with a shotgun, it is always important to aim for the neck or the head. Hitting the body or feathery part of the turkey might not kill to bird, but leave it wounded instead of dead. The turkey’s head and neck are very small targets compared to the deer and a good aim and a good choke are essential. There are many good scopes that might help bag that turkey, but one thing that is important before going on a turkey hunt is to pattern the gun in advance. Pattern means to do some target shooting on targets the size of a turkey head and neck. Using different ranges for the target to shoot at and different ammunition will help the hunter learn which ammunition gives him the best overall aim and accuracy. It will also show him exactly how he has to aim to get his shot into the center of the target when the gun pulls a little low or high instead of dead center. Patterning the gun is like pumping up tires for a long bike ride or making sure everything necessary for a trip is packed.

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Advice for the Newbie Spring Turkey Hunter

Are you a newbie spring turkey hunter getting ready for your first hunt? If so, here are some tips for getting started in this often-exciting activity. Spring turkey hunting is prime time for gobblers, and it is the time of year where many new hunters experience the first thrill of hunting. Here are some guidelines that can help get you started.

The Fine Art of Wild Turkey Scouting

One of the most difficult things about turkey hunting is just being able to locate the wild birds. Turkey scouting is something that takes practice. With time, an experienced hunter will be able to scout for wild turkeys in many different locations. What is the easiest way to get started in wild turkey scouting? First, begin by locating general areas where you think you suspect (or perhaps you have been told) wild turkeys reside. This is a wild turkey habitat, and you should begin by noting the general areas where wild turkeys keep their habitat. Using this as a starting point, you can begin to refine your search for wild turkey habitats. Narrow down a larger area to a more specific are. Then move to certain part of woods or a specific field. If you do not have the benefit of experience, there are certain resources you can always turn to find out where the biggest wild turkey populations reside. Consult with conservation officers, wildlife biologists, hunting club members and sporting goods dealers are good places to ask about local wild turkey populations and habitats. You may also want to check for state and federal lands, reservoir areas, wildlife management areas and military reservations. If possible, you may also want to consult with private landowners. Some landowners will actually grant hunters permission to hunt on their lands.

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How did the turkey become the symbol of Thanksgiving? The turkey has long been a symbol of Thanksgiving, but how did it get to be this way? The wild turkey, scientific name Meleagris gallop ova, is a native bird to North America. The wild turkey was a staple of the North American Indian diet for many centuries. The Spaniards were the first to bring back North American turkeys (procured from Mexico) back to Europe in 1519. The tamed North American turkeys had made it back to England by 1524. How did turkeys get their curious name? The reason they are named turkeys is that the Spaniards imported them by passing through a route that took them through the country of Turkey. In those early days, the wild turkeys were confused with the guinea fowl, and both were often called turkeys. Even after the wild bird was assigned its scientific name, the common name of turkey persisted, and persists to this very day. Curiously, a common Native American name for turkeys was peru. This made no reference to the South American country of the same name. Also interesting is the fact that the Pilgrims brought with them several domesticated turkeys on their long voyage to America in 1620.

Early History of the American Turkey

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