Turkey Hunting 101

Turkey Season

This year in Ohio, turkey season kicks off on April 15th for youth, followed by the regular season starting April 22nd. If you haven't already, now is the perfect time to get out and do some scouting, and get your equipment hunt ready. In this blog, I will go over some basic turkey hunting tips to get you started including call selection, commonly used decoy setups, and concealment tips.

Turkey Scouting

The obvious place to start scouting turkeys is their roost. However, most hunters won't have the luxury of finding a turkeys 365-day-a-year roost. Turkeys will roost in various spots due to wind direction and the amount of pressure from predators throughout their day. While walking the edges of fields is a great way to find tracks, feathers, and droppings, that won't get you the guaranteed tag fill. You will need to track deeper into the woods to find where the turkeys came from, and where they are going. An important factor to consider is where they are getting their food. Spring turkeys can usually be found grazing in fields of alfalfa, cover, and winter wheat. They also enjoy cleaning up acorns, hickory, and beech nuts from last fall.

If you want to take an easier route, you could always go with the trail camera option. This will allow you to scout multiple places at once and learn the times at which the turkeys are coming and going.

Call Selection

Turkeys are ranked among the most vocal of birds, and for that reason, it is important to know how and when to call them. Some of the most common turkey sounds are yelp, tree yelp, cutting, purring, gobbling, and clucks and putts. Unless you are looking for a one-sided conversation this spring, make sure to know which calls you'll need to communicate with the turkeys.

Locator calls can be very effective for helping you locate birds if you are hunting in unfamiliar territory and didn't see any turkeys on their roost the night before. Toms (adult male turkeys) have a habit of gobbling at loud noises, and this habit can play to the hunter's advantage. By using a locator call, especially in the early spring when toms are territorial due to breeding season, you can pinpoint the location of a tom by getting a return gobble from your locator call. These calls do not have to sound like a turkey. You just need a call that makes a loud noise, and you will likely get a response if toms are in the area. Common locator calls include owl hoots, crows cawing, rabbit squealing, coyote howls, etc. The response to these calls is known as a shock gobble and can lead you right to a fired-up tom.

Box calls are a type of friction call used for projecting the sounds a hen (female turkey) would typically make at a loud volume that carries over a greater distance than most other calls. Friction calls sound is created by using friction between two surfaces to imitate the sound of a turkey. Most box calls are constructed with a single screw in the top center of the paddle that connects to a hollow box. The single screw at the top allows the paddle to slide across the top of the box. The sound this call makes is dependent on the speed at which you slide the paddle over the box and the pressure being applied down on the paddle. Applying chalk to the surface can help the paddle slide over the box and manipulate the tone of the call.

Diaphragm calls are great for when the turkeys are getting close to being in range and you need both hands free to make the shot. They are constructed by using a u-shaped frame and reeds between two pieces of u-shaped tape to fit in the roof of your mouth. The call should be placed in the roof of your mouth and your tongue will be used to apply pressure to the reed. Once in position, you will be able to make a variety of sounds depending on the air pressure being used and the cut of the reed. These calls typically take a lot of practice to get right. I would suggest starting with a basic yelp, as it is a good base call to know and will make it slightly easier to learn the others.

Pot calls can be made from a variety of materials including wood, crystal, glass, slate, ceramic, and aluminum. All of which have their pros and cons. For example, slate calls are generally used for softer tones and are typically easy to use. Whereas glass calls produce a higher tone with a little rasp. Pot calls are another friction call and are best used for medium range calling. Changing the material can manipulate the acoustics of the call and produce different pitches and tones.

Decoys

Setting up your decoys properly can increase your chances of getting a bird, however, setting them up improperly could spook birds off. Your setup should be dependent on the time of the season. Early-season turkeys will be in larger groups, asserting dominance to claim breeding rights among the toms. During this time, it would be best to use a couple of hens paired with a full strut tom in an area where the turkeys feed. This will get a mature tom fired up thinking someone else is trying to move into his territory and steal breeding rights. However, as the season progresses, the aggression of the toms cools down. As hens are bred, the flocks will start getting smaller. Hens typically lay their eggs within four weeks after mating. Since they breed early, as the season moves on, you will see hens less and less. By late season, you only need one or two hen decoys to lay out in a feeding area. The hope is to make the toms think they forgot about a couple of hens and entice them to try to breed.

Concealment

Concealment is by far one of the most important aspects of hunting turkeys. Turkeys have excellent eyesight, three times greater than a human with 20/20 vision. They have a 270-degree field of view and are so sensitive to wavelengths that their eyes act like that of UV lights, and they can see things like blood, urine, phosphates in laundry detergent, etc. With eyesight that good, it's important to focus on concealment. A lot of hunters use 3-d leaf suits to try to blend in with common brush or trees. These can be very effective for blending in with your surroundings. One of my go-to setups is a natural blind. Usually with my back to a large tree or sitting in a patch of brush alongside an open feeding ground. The goal is to make the blind look natural by arranging sticks and brush around your position to hide most of your body. If you are wearing a leaf suit you can get away with not putting too much detail into the blind setup, however, the more you conceal yourself, the better off you will be.

I hope you found this blog informative and useful. If you have any further questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below. We offer a wide range of gear and equipment to help you have a successful hunt. From shotguns and ammunition to turkey calls and decoys, Vance Outdoors has everything you need to get started. Our knowledgeable staff can also offer advice and guidance to help you choose the right gear for your needs. Shop our website or visit our Hebron, Lebanon, or Obetz locations to gear up for your next turkey hunting adventure!