Category: Turkey Hunting

Most turkey hunters are not equipped with the gear or tactics to hunt turkeys on super cold spring mornings. But gear can be acquired or improvised, and the strategy changes are not hard to adapt to. On this podcast episode I talk about how to successfully hunt turkeys on the coldest days of the season.

Remember the turkeys are always out there. They can be hunted, even if they don’t gobble. They are still doing many of the same things even if they are not vocal. The key is being extra alert, expecting them to come in without making a sound. You can have great success on fridged days, especially if the cold keeps other hunters out of the woods. 

Ice cold spring turkey hunting gear needs are rather unique. The ideal gear is something between deer and elk hunting in nature to accommodate covering rough terrain as well as long sits. Most of the time, turkey hunters are not buying premium base layers and outer layers optimized for the job. Their gear is either not warm enough or not wind proof enough, or maybe it is too noisy or too bulky. Or perhaps their gear causes them to overheat when moving and then freeze from sweat when sitting.

You can overcome both of these challenges however with smart thinking and paying careful attention to gear you can find good deals on in the off season. Some gear can be improvised if you know exactly what you need it to do and what qualities it should have.

However, if you don’t have the equipment and the strategies, the easiest way to deal with these cold days is just stay home and hunt another day. That is not a terrible option. Why risk being miserable or getting sick? If its only a couple days a year, you can easily just skip them and hunt turkeys on the better days. Remember, hunting is ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN and if this kind of hunting isn’t fun, just hold out for better days. There is no shame in that at all. 

But if you want to hunt these days, you can, and you can be effective. That drive can push you to cobble together the needed equipment and be patient enough to effectivity use the strategies I discuss in this episode. 

Listen to this podcast episode to hear about how to hunt gobblers in the cold. 

These were the words of a real turkey hunter. And while that story is sad, it does not need to be your story, in fact it shouldn’t be! On this episode I talk about all the preventable things that bog down hunters and hinder success as well as the very simple straight forward things you can do to make sure you never fall into a sad pattern like this. 

Turkey hunting is seldom easy but it’s not impossible or mystical. If you can find turkeys, you have a reasonable chance of being able to get one on any given day. And if you don’t, you take what you learned today and use it to improve your chances tomorrow. That is what turkey hunting is all about, you hunt and you learn, then you hunt more. Constantly improving and learning. 

To take birds more seasons than you don’t, you need to do a handful of very simple things, like learn, change, and repeat. If you can do that, and you invest some reasonable amount of time hunting, you will become a proficient and effective turkey hunter in time.

Some people learn so much about their local area that it becomes too easy to them, and they feel compelled to change things in order to up the difficulty more. But what they are really doing is stretching to learn more in new areas or new ways.

Listen to the podcast episode to hear it all!

Fall turkey hunting is a very different pursuit than spring turkey hunting, it has its own distinct flavor and unique strategies. On this episode I talk about five strategies for hunting fall turkey, the best times of day, and how to chain turkey hunts together with other game pursuits.

5 was you can hunt turkeys in the fall:

1. Big Rifle Hunting – This involves using terrain to gain altitude where you can see big distances and trying to take a bird from long range.
2. Small Rifle Hunting – This is most often done as an ambush technique or when trying to divert nearby birds into your area.
3. Scatter and Call – This approach is used when you can get close enough to bust up a flock, hide, and try to call them back together. 
4. Flush and Shoot – Similar to pheasant hunting, you push through areas with cover trying to flush birds and shoot them in the air.
5. Slowly Stalking – Akin to still hunting deer, this approach focusses on moving stealthily through thick woods, trying to spot and shoot a bird before it sees you.

On of the best things about fall turkey hunting is you can also combine other pursuits, in some places you can hunt turkey and deer at the same time, or turkey and pheasant at the same time, or ducks, small game, and any number of birds. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you need super specialized gear to take all these types of game either. often you can use the same shotgun and the same ammo to hunt several different things, just make sure you are compliant with local laws.

You can shoot turkeys with steel, bismuth, tungsten, lead, or anything else that flies out of a shotgun or rifle if its legal. One of the best things new hunters can do when they are learning to turkey hunt is combine several pursuits to maximize their chances of coming out of the woods with dinner and to have the most fun.

In many areas you can take all different types of turkeys in the fall also, be them big toms, jakes, hens, or poults. Do not be afraid of taking a hen in the fall or a poult. Turkey winter survival rates are not as high as many think. There is a good chance that the turkey you shoot in the fall was not going to survive the winter due to lack of food, predation, or severe weather. Taking a fall bird has the most minimal potential impact on the turkey population. And a small turkey can be a very tasty meal, something you almost never find in a grocery store either.

The best guns for fall turkey hunting tend to be shotguns or small rifles. It may be a 12 gauge, 20 gauge or other shotgun, a shotgun combined with a rifle, or a smaller rifle such as as .22lr, .22 magnum, .17 HMR, a .22 hornet or a lightly loaded 223. Always check your local to laws to know what is legal and what the proper safety regulations are in your area.

Listen to the episode for all the details on strategy, gun choices, and much much more!

Every time I hear someone laboring to try and make wild turkey meat palatable, it blows a fuse in mind. While turkey is delicious! On this episode I share secrets, that shouldn’t be secrets, for how to make wild turkey taste great.

Take Always

• Here is the meat thermometer I mentioned in the episode.
• Unfortunately, most hunters are not great cooks and most people’s approach to cooking game lacks some basic principles for preparing it well. 
• Just because someone else says they like it and it tastes good does not mean they have any idea how to cook well. But that also doesn’t mean the meat cannot be cooked well.
• Wild turkey is not chicken, don’t try to cook it like chicken!
• Wild turkey is not store-bought turkey, don’t try to cook them the same!
• Most people have no experience whatsoever cooking any turkey outside of thanksgiving style. There is a big knowledge gap!
• Wild turkeys are lean well exercised birds. They MUST NOT be overcooked and dry out quickly.
• Listen to the episode to hear the wild turkey cooking secrets. 

It is more exciting to hunt turkeys early when they are most vocal, but you can have just as much success later in the day. On this episode I talk both about the reasons and strategies to never give up on a turkey hunt.

Take Aways

• A turkey’s morning tends to be cyclical, and if you understand the cycle, you can kill them even later on even if they don’t gobble.
• You have turkey hunters, and you have turkey killers. The biggest difference is not experience or skill, it is mindset. 
• If you hunt with other people, you want them to match your goals and level of enthusiasm. 
• Turkeys can be completely silent and still come in. You need to always be alert.
• Your odds are better when hunting around sign than with the unknown. Don’t be quick to abandon a good spot.
• If you are in the woods you always have a chance, if you are hunting near sign you have a better chance, and if you are stealthy and still, you have the best chance.
• Listen to the episode to hear the reasons and strategies for hunting after the birds quiet down. 

This is an often asked and misunderstood question when it comes to turkey hunting. Calling is a critical part of almost all turkey hunts, often it is overdone, and there are times when it should be completely avoided, at least temporarily. In this episode I share principles and common scenarios to help equip you for the many kinds of situations you may encounter in the turkey woods. 

Take Aways

• There is no such thing as a call shy turkey. Turkeys are calling to each other all the time. There are human shy turkeys though.
• You do not want to be perceived as an overly eager hen, because gobblers expect those hens to come to them.
• If a gobbler can see you, and you call, he will expect to see a hen there and will expect that hen to see and come to him.
• The worse you are at calling, the less you should call. Stick to the calls you are best with.
• Do not stress over how good you sound, often turkeys don’t call well. The amount and intensity of calling are easy for even a novice to control.
• Nothing works every time in turkey hunting, these are wild animals. 
• Listen to episode to learn about when you should call or not call.

The first thing most people learn about turkey hunting is you have to shoot the birds in the head. But is that the whole story? On this episode I kick the tires on that assumption with some historical information and common sense to reveal the bigger picture.

Yes, of course, a head shot with modern turkey ammo and a good, tested choke is the best way to kill a gobbler. But it is not the only way, nor the only ethical way to do the job.

Since shotguns were invented, up until about the 1970s, shooting turkeys in the head was only practical at very close range. Hunters relied on big shotguns with high powered loads to deliver body shots. And of course, rifles were more commonly uses as well.

There are situations where body shots with the right shells can be very effective. But body shots should never be taken over a head shot, for 5 reasons I list in the episode. However, sometimes a body shot is the only shot presented.

Listen to the episode to hear the case for and against ONLY shooting turkeys in the head.

There is no ammo more effective for turkey hunting than tungsten shot. There is also nothing more expensive… On this episode I equip you with the knowledge you need to make informed decisions about the best ammo for you and your circumstances.

Take Aways

• Not all tungsten shot is created equal. Watch this video to learn more: The Truth & Lies About Tungsten Shot
• TSS (Tungsten Super Shot) is a brand of tungsten shot made by Federal, it is not a type of shot or a quality rating.
• Other companies and brands make tungsten shot that is just as good or better than TSS, like BOSS who copper plates their tungsten shot.
• True tungsten shot has a density of 18 g/cc. Don’t pay up for anything less.
• Tungsten shot gives you more range than lead and more consistent turkey killing ability at mid and long range.
• For anything closer than 30 yards, Tungsten is not worth it. Tungsten begins to become worth it at distances of 40 yards+.
• Here is the ammo comparison I mentioned in the episode: 8 Turkey Hunting Ammos Put To the Test
• Here is the main ballistics gel test I mentioned: BOSS Tom TSS vs. Winchester Longbeard XR
• Listen to the episode to hear the case for and against tungsten shot. 

Most people assume a hunt is over once a turkey has been spooked. Sometimes this is the case, but sometimes you can have a good chance of success if you change your tactics. On this episode I talk about strategies for hunting a gobbler after he has been spooked.

Take Aways

• Turkeys are spooked throughout the day by all kinds of things.
• If being spoked caused them to be quiet and hide, they would never move or gobble.
• It is true that a turkey will almost never return to the place where it spotted a hunter pretending to be a turkey. So you have to change tactics.
• You need to think like a turkey, not like a turkey hunter.
• Do not let giving up be you default response to a spooked turkey.
• Time and distance can quickly heal a turkey’s anxiety. 
• NEVER try to sneak up on a turkey to shoot it. That is often illegal and always unsafe.
• Listen to the episode to find out how to hunt a turkey AFTER it was spooked.