Category: Turkey Hunting

Show Notes:

Being stealthy is paramount when it comes to turkey hunting, it may be the single most important thing you can do to be more successful. On this episode I talk about specific and practical things you can do to become a stealthier turkey hunter.

Take Aways:

• Stealth essentially refers to your ability to hunt without being noticed. You want to take every reasonable step to be undetected by turkeys.
• You want turkeys to not know you are there, or better yet, think you are another turkey.
• Good camo matters but silence and stillness matter more. 
• Turkeys have great eye sight and excellent hearing. Couple that with the fact that they seem to live in a state of constant paranoia and you can see the great importance of stealth.
• Stealth tip #1: Early and slow. Being in the woods early helps you get in position before the turkeys wake up, but it also gives you the time you need to move slowly and more stealthily.
• Stealth tip #2: Lighter boots. The bigger and heavier the boot the larger the footprint and the heavier the footfall. Lighter boots enable you to walk quieter, avoid breaking as many twigs, and help you keep going longer without getting worn our and careless.
• Stealth tip #3: Scout trails and access roads. Scouting in advance helps you find the quietest ways through the woods so you can get to your turkey hunting spots easily and efficiently. 
• Stealth tip #4-#7: Listen to the episode to hear about these and more.

Show Notes:

Spring turkey hunting is one of the most exciting and energizing types of hunting. On this episode I talk about why you may want to hunt turkey with a bow or crossbow, when those tools may give you an advantage, and some tactics you need to be successful.

Take Aways:

• Generally speaking, bows of any type add an additional layer of difficulty to turkey hunting.
• New turkey hunters should not try to go directly to hunting with a bow to add difficulty, unless you live in an area where turkeys are easy to hunt or you are unable to use a shotgun. 
• Vertical bows and crossbows do give you the advantage of being able to hunt on smaller parcels that are closer to houses and populated areas.
• Turkey hunting is 90% experience/wordsmanship and 10% gear. Learning how to call and be stealthy as well as developing strategy and intuition will do far more for you than the weapon you choose or how fancy it is.
• Crossbows are the recommended tool for new hunters when a bow is needed or desired.
• Vertical bows take more time, work, and practice for you to be effective with them and are better suited for those who have already developed general proficiency in the basics of turkey hunting.
• But as always, the best tool to use to start turkey hunting is the one you already have and know how to use. Be it a shotgun, crossbow, or vertical bow. If you have it, and you can use it reasonably well, then start with that.
• Experience will teach you what tools are best for you or what features are the best fit for your style. 
• Always try to make decisions and purchases based on your experience, not the opinions of others.

Show Notes:

When it comes to turkey hunting, you need multi spot strategies to optimize your chance for a successful season. On this episode I talk about five ways to scout for and find those locations.

Take Aways:

• Turkeys in one area can behave very differently on any given week compared to turkeys a few miles away. 
• Only hunting in one area limits you because you are stuck with how the turkeys are behaving there, and it puts a lot of hunting pressure on that spot.
• Changing location mid season should be something you strongly consider when your main area has been quiet for multiple hunts.
• You do not always have the time or energy to heavily scout secondary areas, so you need general strategies to help you find areas that are likely to contain birds with the scouting time you have available.
• On this episode I cover 5 strategies to help you do just that. You can employ any one of them to help you pick a secondary turkey hunting location.
• I do not recommend new hunters look for turkey roosting trees. The reason is any solid tree could be a roosting tree and it’s not a good way to narrow down where turkeys are.
  • If you see turkeys roosting then obviously that is a good sign but looking for ideal trees for roosting is not efficient unless you hunt in an area where trees are sparse.
• Trail cams can be a great way to look for turkey sign, but you need to use strategy to find promising areas to place your trail cams.

Show Notes:

Turkeys are a wily and wary adversary, but like all animals they need and like certain things to thrive. On this episode I talk about small, practical, and cost effective things you can do on your land to improve your turkey hunting habitat.

Turkeys Need:

• Food, just like you.
• Water, in many areas they will drink daily.
• Roosting trees, even mythical birds need to sleep.
• Cover, they need places to hide and feel secure, else they will run from your property every time they feel afraid.
• Elevation, they are called upland birds for a reason. They will tolerate some wetlands but they are not ducks!
• Mature hardwoods, they like big open forested areas, as long as they feel safe.
• Clearings, they like open spaces where they can search for food and socialize.
• Safety, they don’t want to be around people or predator’s.
• Each other, where the hens are, the gobblers will follow.
• Did I mention food?

Find out the top three habitat improvements that new hunters can make with the most efficiency and cost effectiveness on this episode.

Show Notes:

This was not your average turkey hunt.  Nothing about it was like any hunt I’ve ever had. It was like box office drama unfolding in real time. There were ups, downs, near defeats, a glorious finale and a sudden twist at that end. That’s right, on this episode I recount the adventure of the gobbler I took this past week and am in the process of cooking as I type this.

Throughout the episode I explain some of the tactics and strategies that I used and why, I hope you take away a lot more than just the story. Which of course should be the aim of any really good story.

Show Notes:

Turkeys like all creatures are impacted by the weather, and with a little strategy you can improve your odds. On today’s episode I talk about all different types of weather and how they effect spring gobbler hunting.

Take Aways:

• There is debate over what is best, sunny or cloudy. The bottom line is you should be in the woods for both!
• Sunny and cloudy both impact concealment so you need to be mindful to adjust your approach for each.
• Cold, crisp mornings, especially after an over all temperature drop seem to give a slight advantage over hot and muggy ones.
• A little rain is ok, but pass if there is going to be a lot of rain, save your vacation days for clearer sky’s.
• Turkeys will stay on the roost, bed down, or seek shelter if the weather is really bad, you should too!
• Don’t trust the weatherman, spring weather if volatile. Do your own research and keep your finger on the pulse of the radar when things look questionable, you can lose a lot of nice days in the spring if you go with what the weather man tells you.
• Wind is a major factor, it impacts your ability to hear turkey’s and lessens their ability to hear you.
• If you are going to hunt in the wind, you will have to get closer and call louder, and adjust your overall strategy.
• The weather is your friend, not your enemy. Use it to improve your odds by selecting days that are ideal and passing on days that questionable.
• Tick spray is a good idea in the spring, especially if it’s warm. Apply liberally, scent control is not an issue with turkeys. Here is the spray I use.

Show Notes:

A turkey vest is not the type of gear that will make you a more successful hunting, but it can make you a more comfortable and a more organized hunter. On today’s episode I talk all about the features and benefits of turkey vests and my experience hunting with and without them.

Take Aways:

• Turkey vests encourage you to pack light, travel light, and ultimately carry less gear which means it is less taxing to hunt.
• They have lots of pockets specifically designed for the most common types of turkey calls.
• The better vests are engineered so you can access your regular calls and seat with little to no noise. They can very much help stealth.
• The ones worth buying have attached seats that flip down so you can setup anywhere and at any time.
• Nice features to look for are a built in orange flag you can deploy, padded back, fabric covered magnets to hold things closed and keep things quieter, padded shoulder straps, and a game pouch for game birds (or water, sandwiches, umbrellas, or extra clothes.)
• Here is the review I did on TideWe’s new turkey hunting vest, it has been working really well for me. 

A turkey hunting vest is a very important piece of gear for some hunters, it enables them to carry many small intricate things in an easy to access organized way. It is certainly not required, but if you enjoy them, you can really come to rely on how helpful they can be. I do not use one when hunting from a blind on small properties but if I am on the move, I am almost always wearing a vest and thankful that this tool exists.

They have become one of my favorite pieces of gear because of how easily the seat integrates in along with the cushion on the back. You can sit very comfortably for a long period of time and then just pick up and move quickly and easily.

Listen to the whole podcast episode for more information.

Show Notes:

No matter how you prefer to hunt turkeys, it is good to have options for when things end up being different from the ideal situation. On this episode I cover several advanced strategies for hunting spring gobblers. These are not strategies I recommend you lead with, but they are extra tools in your toolbox to help you up your game.

Take Aways:

• Roosting birds can be a great technique for hard to hunt gobblers, and/or when you have the time and knowledge of the landscape to keep tabs on where birds spend their time and where they fly up to sleep.
• Moving and calling can be a good way to shake things up when a bird gets stuck. Moving a little further and playing hard to get can be a great approach, as can moving side-to-side and calling.
• Decoys are often just as much liability as benefit, but in certain situations, like with picky toms, or outside of a blind at a fields edge they can be helpful for sealing the deal. Just make sure if you do get some, you get ones that really look like turkeys.
• Out calling hens is an approach where you try to beat the other hens in the woods at their own game by sounding like an entire flock of turkeys yourself. It’s risky but it can be a way to win a distracted gobblers attention.
• Ambush hunting involves using your knowledge of a toms habits or making the best use of the available terrain to out do a wary bird, or one that does not answer to any calls.

Show Notes:

Field dressing and preparing a turkey to cook is a fast and easy process, it is something that any beginner can do and there is lots of margin for error. On today’s episode I talk about the actual process, how you can overcome any “yuck” factor, and the best way for beginners to approach cleaning a turkey. You do not need any special tools or skills, once you’ve shot the turkey the hard part is over. 

Take Aways:

• Field dressing a is a misnomer, you do not need to do anything to a turkey in the field under normal circumstances.
• If it is very hot and you have a long way to go home, then you can remove the entrails, wash out the bird, and stuff it with ice. 
• Normally you can just take the bird home and prepare it there.
• It is popular to pluck a turkey and preserve the skin to cook it whole. That is a great approach, but beginners do not need to invest that kind of time unless you want to.
• The fastest way is to skin a turkey, then quarter it, and cook each quarter for separate meal. With this approach, you don’t even need to remove the guts.
• A turkey is just like a big chicken once you start to work on it, thinking about it like that can help you get past any yuck factor.
• Keep the beard and the fan, and use some borax and/or salt to dry out the little bit of skin still attached. 
• The beard is a nice trophy. The fan is also a good trophy and it’s something you can use to decorate future decoys.
• If you are a beginner then you do not need to keep the ends of the wings with the feathers, but some expert hunters do keep these to use for simulating turkey fly down sounds in the woods.

Field Dressing Videos:

Show Notes:

So much has been said and written about the best turkey hunting guns and shells that it can dizzy the head of anyone who hasn’t spent dozens of hours researching and experimenting.  On today’s episode I simplify things and focus in on the best shotguns and loads for beginners. You shouldn’t need a degree in turkey hunting firearms to get started with the sport, it’s a lot easier than most people make it sound.

Take Aways:

• The best shotgun for turkey hunting is the one you can shoot the best. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 410 or a 10 gauge, what you are the most comfortable and most consistent with is the gun you should use.
• The best place to start is with the shotgun you already have. Get into the woods and get some experience, that experience will guide you towards the shotgun that fits you best. Research cannot beat experience.
• If you need to buy something, the best shotgun is a the most cost effective used one you can find. Again, get started, and get experience. If you can find something for $100, get that and get started.
• Tried and true, cost effective, and mass produced pump shotguns are the Mossberg 500 and the Remington 870. You cannot go wrong with either.
• If you want a semi-automatic, I recommend the Mossberg 930. It’s cheap, easy to operate, rugged, and I’ve had 100% reliability. And no, Mossberg is not a sponsor of this podcast. 
• If you have a choice between a wood stock and synthetic stock, get the synthetic. It takes less maintenance, it is more rugged, and you won’t feel bad about scratching it. If you want a show gun or a target gun get wood. If you are a new hunter, plastic makes your life easier.
• You want a full choke for any shotgun you get. Extra full, or extra extra full can be helpful but you don’t need them to get started. They only provide incremental benefit over a regular full choke anyway.
• Ideal turkey hunting distance is 25-35 yards. Practice for that, get gear for that.
• It is very easy to underestimate range, if you practice for 50 yard shots you are likely to take 70 yard shots where there is almost no chance for success.
• Get a 12 gauge shotgun, between target loads and magnum loads you will find shells that are a good fit for you, whether you need light recoil or want high power.
• You want #6, #7, or #8 shot.  Bigger shot (smaller numbers) means there are fewer pellets in each shell, which means you have fewer chances to hit a turkey’s vitals.
• Regular, cheap, #7.5 target loads of 2 3/4″ is all you need. Some of the most seasoned turkey hunters on the planet shoot that. And at 35 yards, it’s great.
• If you want to go bigger, then #6 express loads that are 3″ are the biggest, most powerful that you need.
• Do not pay more than $1 per shell, you do not need anything more expensive to get started.
• More powerful shells create more recoil and more noise which means most hunters do not shoot them as accurately, consistently, or enjoyably. The benefits they provide are not worth trade off.
• You want a shotgun that you can shoot effectively and enjoyably, with affordable shells that use small shot, while hunting at reasonable distances. 
• Now get into the woods!