First Turkey Hunt this weekend. Need crash course

I have a buddy who owns 700 acres down in Oglethorpe that we deer hunt. Well it has a ton of turkeys on it and they do well there every year. Well there are 4 of us going and only one guy knows what he is doing with turkey. We are going to have to split into two teams of two and it would be nice if i was prepared to not go out truly blind...

My father did some turkey hunting so i have gear... full camo... i have about 4 box calls, and a few really nice slates and can use them fairly well but honestly i dont know what sounds i am trying to make when and with what frequency... He even has a locator call which i think is for finding them the night before up in the trees correct?

If someone could give me a classic crash course real quick i would really appreciate it. Just a few tips and trips that will increase my chances would be awesome... When to call.. How to call... or anyhting else you can think of... I know these are very general questions so feel free to use general answers. I do know the temp will be in the 80's down there this weekend and also i am positive there is a very healthy population of turkeys... Lastly any tips in distinguishing male from female besides the blue head?

Thanks,

well im not sure if im the person that should be giving tips,but ill try. the birds will generally roost near a crrek,river,bottom,or just old dryed up creek bed. sneak in to about 150 yards from the roost about 45 min before daylight. set up and listen. if the crows start callin and u still havent heard a gobble,try and owl hoot,crow,coyote,something to provoke a shock gobble. if you dont hear anything,but you know your in a good area near the roosting trees,give a few clucks. wait til about 10 min after you 1st heard the crows,then give a fly down cackle. wait about 15 more minutes and give a couple yelps clucks and purrs. even if there doesnt seem to be a gobbler near you,id still stay there for about an hour and a half. since its early season and kinda cold in the mornings,he very well may come in silent. just call to him on and off every 20 minutes or so. #1 thing. DONT MOVE,turkeys eyes are amazing,you may think hes nowhere to be found,but hes really sneaking in to your calling looking for that hen. always assume that hes watching you. if your morning set up doesnt work,head for a more open area, try the edge of a field,maybe set up a decoy. dont be afraid to turn up your calling,get loud and aggressive now and then. as far as telling a gobbler from a hen...gobblers typically have darker feathers,almost black as hens are more of a grayish brown. hens will usually have blue,pink,and brown heads,and gobblers usually*** have bright red white and blue. im by no means pro,or even very good at this,but hopefully ive helped a little. moost important,have fun and know that youll probably mess up a few times,i know i did lol.

I really didn’t read through the previous post. Your initial set-up will depend a lot of the terrain. First, listen for them gobbling on the roost (let them do what’s natural). Once you have a little day light and other birds are waking up and chirping, give it a few minutes to see what happens. If nothing, use the locator (I’m assuming you are talking about a crow or owl call). If you get nothing (wait a couple of minutes), then make a few yelps on your box or slate (wait a couple of minutes) If nothing, then move a couple hundred yards and try again. If you get some early gobbles the bird is likely to be on the roost. Let the terrain dictate how close to move in but don’t try to get too close. Find an area that gives you a little space in the woods so the bird doesn’t have to be on top of you in order to see it. It’s best to find a tree that’s at least as wide as your shoulders to rest against (you will blend in better). If you can tell the tom is without hens you will have better luck. Using soft calls, make a few yelps and clucks and set the call down. If he responds and sounds like he’s headed your way, depending on the distance, get ready. If he sounds like he’s still a ways off, give it a few minutes before calling again. You call just enough to keep him enticed (playing hard to get). If he’s still coming in and getting close, just out of sight, set your calls down and get your gun ready. This is where you need to use a mouth call, you may need to give him a little cluck or 2 to guide him in.

If he’s henned up, I see 2 choices. Either try to out vocalize the real hens or come back in an hour or so to see if he has finished and left them. Just set up in a good area and do some leaf scratching with and occasional cluck, maybe a soft yelp or 2. Always put your call down after calling or just use a mouth call and always have your gun ready. Many times, in this situation, he will come in silent.

There are many other scenarios but this should help you get started, Good luck and let us know what happens.

I would just go out and listen and then go from there. If you have a chance to look at the property prior to hunting. I would go take a drive in a truck or on a 4 wheeler and look for Turkey Tracks. I would then park and take a look in the woods or around Food Plots to find more sign. Look for Strut Marks in the Roads and around the Food Plots, Look for large tracks where the middle toe is significantly longer than the two outer toes. After you take a look around and find a good spot with lots of sign, I would either set-up and wait a little while before calling or find a good place to listen and try to roost one depending on what time of day it is!

If you set-up and begin calling, start out with some soft pleading yelps and some Clucks and Purrs. If you get no response, try the same a little louder. You will have to use your instincts from here.

If you hear one Gobble and it is too distant, you may want to move in the direction that the Gobble came from and then make another call to locate the bird. Once you move and pinpoint where he is, set-up again and start with some soft Talk progressively getting louder until you get a response.

When you get a response, I always like to call one more time to make sure that he was answering me. If he does I will put the call down and get ready to shoot. From this point I will normally let the mood of the Gobbler dictate how I call from this point forward. If he is Gobbling hard and coming closer, I make sure my gun is up and get ready to shoot. If he is Gobbling, but doesn't seem to be getting any closer, I will normally call more agressively and try to get him more fired up and make him come in. Each time you encounter a Gobbler it is a little different and you have to be willing to adapt to the situation! Good Luck!

Call long hard and loud. The way they are acting this year, you can't do anything wrong. Good Luck, Tim

Each time you encounter a Gobbler it is a little different

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Ain't that the truth?

I want to thank everyone for their help and advice. Although we didnt leave with a bird it certainly paid off. It ended up there were three of us who had never been before.

Ended up like this. Found one roosting with an owl call the night before on the corner of a foodplot in some hardwoods. Got out early and it responded to the first call any of us had ever let out in the wild. It came up a hill to about 50yds from us and would not commit to climb a steep ravine to reach us. We snuck around it and thought we were going to cut it off but when we got set and put out the decoy to let a call go we got a response from an even further bird. First one must have already found a hen or hauled some serious butt to get that far away. At any rate this other bird was on fire and responded to every call for over 40 minutes getting really close. It was perfect... The bird was coming right in towards the decoy and we were right behind it ready to go. Well a few calls later and no sign or sound from the bird we got a little worried we blew it. We are all about 3 yards apart and on different trees not communicating at all trying to be as stealth as possible. It paid off.

That bird let out a gobble about 8 yards behind us and scared the daylights out of us. It walked all the way around and snuck up on us completely disregarding the decoy... I guess our camo was good. At any rate my buddy followed his natural instinct and turned and fired one off missing it as it flew about 4ft off the ground crashing branches. I sure wish he would have let it walk by us but the adrenaline was really pumping.

Naturally i was right behind that bird chasing it like a an old soldier jumping out of the trenches.

The bird got away but i am hooked to say the least. What an awesome sport. With that being said i may bug a few of you moving forward to help grow my skill set. Thanks in advance.

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TrophyHunterNGa said:

Call long hard and loud. The way they are acting this year, you can't do anything wrong. Good Luck, Tim

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Tim I hope that isn't true! My only problem is getting to GO!