Turkey Hunters...got some questions....

[rj8806]

A little background first...my dad is from western PA and has been a hunter most of his life. I am from south FL. and have never been hunting. He recently bought 2 shotguns, a Remington 870 and a Benelli(sp?) and asked me if I was intersted in going turkey hunting with him. I thought the idea was interesting and would be a great idea to spend some quality time with my dad.
He has a friend who owns quite a bit of property over in spring city(near Watts bar dam) and says there are a lot of turkey running around there and we were more than welcome to come hunting.
I do have my HCP and carry a S&W .45ACP daily, so I am no stranger to guns but like I said, I have never been hunting before.
Can some of you "seasoned veterans" give me some insight and pointers? Dad said there were alot of crazy regulations on the books about turkey hunting(which we plan to sit down together tommorrow and go over them), such as the spurs must be over 1/2"(I think), can't use steel shot etc....

Basically I am just asking for some pointers and insight before I get out there so can anyone chime in and help me out?

Thanks

Richard

[mace8924]

When I go turkey hunting I use a 3" winchester turkey load shell and you are only allowed to take 3 toms per year. Unless you are drawn for a TWRA hunt and then you can get a bonus tom(male). I think the spurs would be over a half inch to be a legal tom. One key pointer be very still and patient those birds have eagle eyes and will bust you if you make the slightest move. Others on here may correct me but this is what I think I remember. Good Luck gobble, gobble

[rj8806]

When I go turkey hunting I use a 3" winchester turkey load shell and you are only allowed to take 3 toms per year. Unless you are drawn for a TWRA hunt and then you can get a bonus tom(male). I think the spurs would be over a half inch to be a legal tom. One key pointer be very still and patient those birds have eagle eyes and will bust you if you make the slightest move. Others on here may correct me but this is what I think I remember. Good Luck gobble, gobble

Thank you for the quick reply. The 2 shotguns my dad bought, came from a guy I work with and he said he uses a 3 1/2" magnum load. Is that too much based on you saying you use a 3"?
Do you know if it is legal to hunt on Sundays? Do I need a stamp or anything other than a hunting license? Is it legal or even adviseable to try and shoot one with a handgun?
Sorry for the "dumb" questions, just trying to learn.


Richard

[GLOCKGUY]

and get as much practices in with your turkey calls. specially if your going to be using a mouth call they can be real tricky :up:

[mace8924]

Sorry shotgun or archery only I believe.

Yeah you can use the 3-1/2 magnum just be prepared to be kicked by a clydesdale.

And yes sundays are a go.

Just combo small game hunting and fishing license will work.

Also there are no dumb questions.

Just post a pic if you get one. I havent been in a couple years so it would be nice to see what one still looks like

[strob2000]

You also MUST have a big game license ($28 I think) in addition to your small game/fish license. Turkeys are considered big game and are tagged out just like deer and bear. Your 3.5" shells will work fine, but good 3" shells work about the same with less recoil. Just make sure to pattern out to 40 or 50 yards to see how well your chokes work. I second the post about being still in the woods, they will bust you for the slightest movement. Good luck.

[lan2i]

Hunting from a ground blind is kind of cheating a little but screw it, it has gotten me a couple good turkey stews

[tn hp]

I might suggest that you go to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency web site and read, first hand, the regulations associated with turkey hunting. By the way, hand guns are not legal for turkey hunting and you cannot "carry" while hunting, per TWRA regulations.

The regulations will also tell you about what birds are legal, Jakes, Gobblers, etc.. I don't recall that the size of the spur has any bearing on what birds are legal or not legal. Anyway, read the regulations!

[rj8806]

Thanks to all for the replies and advice. You all are great.

As for 3" or 3 1/2" shells, is there a preference between a full choke or other? I mean, I know the difference, but in turkey hunting, is one preferred over the other and if so, which is the best to get the optimum pattern?
I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I have never fired a shotgun before.:eek:

On the bright side, I am going in the morning with my dad to the range to practice and "get used to it". Dad said he is going to be using the Remington 870 which leaves me the Benelli(sp?) to practice and hunt with. He did say he got 2 recoil pads(?) but that they didn't help a whole lot at least with the 870. Based on your opinions, I think I'll let him hunt with the 3 1/2" shells and I'll stick with the 3" shells. I'm assuming a 3" has more than enough "stopping power" to drop a turkey? Are there 3" magnums and non magnums and if so, which is the preferred shell?

tn hp:.. thanks for the heads up on carrying while hunting. I'll be sure to leave the .45 at home.:up: I'll be checking out the TWRA website in a few minutes to do alot of reading.


You guys are awesome...thanks again. I think we are going to go next weekend but I'll be sure to post up some pictures if I/we get lucky.
Over the next week I'm sure I'll have more questions so I will be posting more as I can.


Richard

[GUTTERbOY]

You want to use the tightest choke available. Keeping a small, tight pattern 40-50 yards out is the name of the game, and even a "full" choke is minimal at best. More advisable is to pick up a specialty turkey choke; these are even tighter than a full and will increase your effective range. Of course, the most important thing is to pattern the gun with the exact load you'll use, so you'll know precisely how far out you can keep a good pattern. If you have a variety of loads available, try them all- some will pattern better than others with a particular gun/choke combo. Sort of like finding a load that a rifle likes, if you've ever done that.

My experience shooting 3" turkey load out of my Browning BPS wasn't too bad at all. I wouldn't worry too much about the recoil unless you're either particularly sensitive or else haven't done a lot of shooting with centerfire long guns. If you get a chance to shoot at a turkey, I guarantee you'll barely even remember the gun going off.

As for 3" magnum vs non-magnum... there isn't a distinction. I believe 3" shells got the "magnum" name slapped on them to help distinguish them from the 2 3/4" shells. Basically the same way you might hear 3 1/2" guns/shells being called "super magnum" or some such.

[rj8806]

You want to use the tightest choke available. Keeping a small, tight pattern 40-50 yards out is the name of the game, and even a "full" choke is minimal at best. More advisable is to pick up a specialty turkey choke; these are even tighter than a full and will increase your effective range. Of course, the most important thing is to pattern the gun with the exact load you'll use, so you'll know precisely how far out you can keep a good pattern. If you have a variety of loads available, try them all- some will pattern better than others with a particular gun/choke combo. Sort of like finding a load that a rifle likes, if you've ever done that.

My experience shooting 3" turkey load out of my Browning BPS wasn't too bad at all. I wouldn't worry too much about the recoil unless you're either particularly sensitive or else haven't done a lot of shooting with centerfire long guns. If you get a chance to shoot at a turkey, I guarantee you'll barely even remember the gun going off.

As for 3" magnum vs non-magnum... there isn't a distinction. I believe 3" shells got the "magnum" name slapped on them to help distinguish them from the 2 3/4" shells. Basically the same way you might hear 3 1/2" guns/shells being called "super magnum" or some such.


I appreciate the response gutterboy. I spent quite a bit of time this morning at the range getting used to the shotgun. As I said before, I have never fired a shotgun until today. I am using a 12guage benelli pump and this morning I was shooting Winchester supreme 3 1/2" #6 shot. You guys were right, that thing kicked like a clydesdale :lol:. For my fisrt time, I was pretty pleased with the results. My dad was helping me get the pattern so I think we got it pretty good. I ended up picking up a box of 3" #5 shot shells, same brand and practiced with that too.
We are going out tomorrow morning so we'll see what happens. IF I get lucky enough to get a turkey, I'll be sure to post up some pics. I'm not expecting too much though for my first hunting trip. Kinda funny, I'm 41 years old and this is my first hunting trip ever(unless you count Desert Storm :D).

Thanks again everyone for the advice and oh yeah, tn hp.... I spent a good hour or so on the TWRA site last night reading up on everything I could find. Thanks for that. Well, wish me luck...I'm off to bed, 5:00am comes awful early.:up:


Richard

[strickj]

It it hurts your shoulder,Wal Mart has a shoulder pad thingy(forget the name)thats straps around your shoulder(not your gun stock,but your shoulder as in arm,lol)and really helps alot on top of your recoil pad.

[rj8806]

Well I made it back safely from my first hunting trip yesterday, unfortunately, we didn't get any turkeys. In fact, we didn't even see any but it was still a great trip. I must admit, I never thought I would become a hunter(growing up a surfer in south Florida) but it was actually very relaxing. Seeing the sunrise come up thru the woods was very cool and peaceful. We spent 4 1/2 hours there and could hear nothing except for nature.

We will be going again next weekend too so maybe then we'll get one. Thanks again to all who chimed in to help a noobie out with some basic, silly questions, I really appreciate that. You all are awesome.


Richard

[rj8806]

O.K., so I have some more questions...

We were hunting in the Watts bar area on 68 acres of privately owned land (dad is friends with the land owner) and we position ourselves on the top of the ridge looking down into the hollow. There were about 10 hollows coming together into one at the bottom of the ridge we were on. Is this the correct positon to be in for our scenario?
A guy I work with told me that a tom won't go down a hill to get to a hen but he would go up the hill, is that true? He also told us, based on the lay of the land, to position ourselves about halfway up the ridge and wait for the toms to come up the ridge to get to the hens. We tried that for a couple of hours and saw nothing so we hiked to the top and tried that out, which didn't produce any better results. We even tried positioning ourselves down in the hollow and waited for awhile with no luck. Now I'm not saying that my buddy gave me bad tips or anything, just wondering where you would position yourself in that situation? Also was told(and we'll try this Friday evening) to go out in the woods the night before planned hunting trip and use the turkey call to figure out where they are roosting so you know where to go the next morning. Makes sense to me, what do you guys think?

Anything else you guys can think of for tips?


Richard

[nb forrest]

For what its worth I killed two turkeys this weekend and they both came down a hill and around a feild instead of coming over the hill which would of been closer. From my experience a turkey is alot like a human, it would much rather take the easiest route. Try a crow call in the afternoon and an owl hooter just before dark to located a roosted gobbler.

[rj8806]

For what its worth I killed two turkeys this weekend and they both came down a hill and around a feild instead of coming over the hill which would of been closer. From my experience a turkey is alot like a human, it would much rather take the easiest route. Try a crow call in the afternoon and an owl hooter just before dark to located a roosted gobbler.


Thanks for the respons nb.... as for the crow call, my buddy told me the same thing. He said turkeys hate crows and that should rile them up.:D
Are you using decoys and do you recommend them?


Richard

[strickj]

I will throw a question out there for you.Are turkeys sensitive to sent like shampoo,and etc?

[nb forrest]

I'm a true believer in realistic looking decoys. Buckwing is the brand I like.

A turkeys sense of smell is not good at all, but he makes up for it with his sight.

[GLOCKGUY]

I'm a true believer in realistic looking decoys. Buckwing is the brand I like.

A turkeys sense of smell is not good at all, but he makes up for it with his sight.
this is very true :up:

[shortfri]

I'm a true believer in realistic looking decoys. Buckwing is the brand I like.

A turkeys sense of smell is not good at all, but he makes up for it with his sight.

When people use to tell me that i thought it couldn't be any better then a deer. I started hunting them and got really suprised.

[rj8806]

When people use to tell me that i thought it couldn't be any better then a deer. I started hunting them and got really suprised.


So a turkey does have a good sense of smell? I was told that they couldn't smell a pile of crap if they were standing in it?:eek: :D

Another question...... is there a preferred turkey call that you all use? I have a box call that I used sunday but with no luck. Of course, it would probably help if I knew what a turkey sounded like? :lol: I think mine sounded like a wounded chicken. I defintiely need practice. I'm hoping to hear them on friday night when we go back out in the woods.


Richard

[strickj]

Turkey call?
1-800-butterball :D

[rj8806]

Well now I know what a turkey call is supposed to sound like. MY buddy and I went outside today at lunch time and he was showing me how to use the caller and to my surprise, a couple of toms came out of the tree line and started strutting their stuff. I have seen them several times a month here at my work but never like this. Too bad I didn't have my shotgun.:) Just joking, I couldn't fire it off around here even if I did have it.
Anyway, now I know what it's supposed to sound like, hopefully we'll have better luck this weekend.



Richard

[shortfri]

[quote=rj8806;81345]So a turkey does have a good sense of smell? I was told that they couldn't smell a pile of crap if they were standing in it?:eek: :D

Another question...... is there a preferred turkey call that you all use? I have a box call that I used sunday but with no luck. Of course, it would probably help if I knew what a turkey sounded like? :lol: I think mine sounded like a wounded chicken. I defintiely need practice. I'm hoping to hear them on friday night when we go back out in the woods.

I was talking about their eyesight. As far as smell i don't think they can. But they can see a fly blink at 100 yds on a cloudy day

[rj8806]

[quote=rj8806;81345]So a turkey does have a good sense of smell? I was told that they couldn't smell a pile of crap if they were standing in it?:eek: :D

Another question...... is there a preferred turkey call that you all use? I have a box call that I used sunday but with no luck. Of course, it would probably help if I knew what a turkey sounded like? :lol: I think mine sounded like a wounded chicken. I defintiely need practice. I'm hoping to hear them on friday night when we go back out in the woods.

I was talking about their eyesight. As far as smell i don't think they can. But they can see a fly blink at 100 yds on a cloudy day


Yeah, I was told they could see like an eagle.


Richard

[rj8806]

Just thought I would post an update on my hunting experiences. I ahve now been 2 times, the last time, theis past weekend. So far, no luck. The 1st time out, I didn't see or hear any turkeys but this past weekend, at least I heard some.:D I also figured out what I am doing wrong, I think. I had a man tell me that the worst thing to do is "over call" a turkey. In other words, don't call the turkey every 10 minutes or so. Make your initial call and WAIT. If one answers, wait awhile and see if he comes. If after 20 minutes or so, you see no sign of him, give another call and see if he returns the call and hopefully he'll be a little closer than the last call. Also was told not to call LOUDLY. He said to do it on the softer side otherwise, you'll spook him. And lastly, don't move around at all. Pick a spot and stay there, even if your butt turns numb, stay put.

I am going again this weekend, so does this advice sound correct? Any more advice from the seasoned veterans out there?


Richard

[shortfri]

It seems they're not responding to calls real well right now. Of the advice he gave you the only thing i follow is to not move. I think it's different from place to place. It's kinda a learn as you go thing. Most of the time if hens don't turn the tom he'll come.

[nb forrest]

It seems they're not responding to calls real well right now. Of the advice he gave you the only thing i follow is to not move. I think it's different from place to place. It's kinda a learn as you go thing. Most of the time if hens don't turn the tom he'll come.


+1
I think the up and down weather is the reason they aren't coming to the calls real well.

[Reaper2U]

Well I was a beginner myself this season, as last season being my very first I had a friend of mine show me the ropes and do all the calling. I use a super mag 3 1/2" 870 with an advancec technology pistol grip stock (makes shooting and carring alot better). I shoot a winchester supreme high velocity #5 shell through a gobblin thunder choke tube .665. I got a nice tom last weekend @ 15 yards. I like using a slate call because I (as a noobie) can produce most of the sounds needed. A slate call does have its downs, as it is hard to use in the rain or dampness. The best thing to do is be in the woods well before daylight, then use an owl hooter to try to get a turkey to shock gobble while he is still on the roost. If it's after daylight use a crow call to try to get an answer. If he answers, try to sneak to within 150-100 yards of him (stay as quiet and hidden as possible). Give him some soft "tree" yelps. After you can tell he is on the ground give him some yelps and cutts. If he replies add in some purrs. BE VERY PATIENT, he may come in quietly looking for the hen (you) so be in a shooting position. THEY CAN SEE LIKE A HAWK, if you need to adjust positions wait till he is behind a tree and be sure he can't see you and then you move slowly as needed. Some turkeys may only gobble once while on the roost and then fly down with hens and never make another sound. Knowing the area where turkeys like to hang out is helpful too, scouting pay off. On rainy or windy days, hunt in green fields or open places, they can't hear danger, so the go into open places to see predators since their hearing is impaired.
In tennessee you can legally shoot any bearded bird (bearded hens are rare but have been seen). You are allowed 4 birds per season, 1 per day. If you are hunting on a WMA there may be other limits so be aware, the one I hunt on only allows a hunter 2 birds per season. If you go to the TWRA website, then click on the wildlife and hunting section, then go the the wildcast trophy room, click on the turkey album, look for Jeremy Bates in the turkey section and you can see the bird I called in and shot @ 15 yards!! I have decoys, but so far have not used them. They would be good to use on the rainy and windy days in the open for any passing turkeys to see since they may not be able to hear your calls. Don't get discouraged, do your homework and remember; you can't kill a turkey from the couch!!

[killemducks]

Cheek that gun, pull it tight to your shoulder!!! Stand behind that baby and don't flinch. If you get a big ole gobbler in front of you, you won't notice the mack truck feeling hitting your shoulder....

Be still, turkeys see better than good. Cover up, face mask, long sleeves etc..etc....

Good luck....

[my82cam]

well i learned something....

[Reaper2U]

well i learned something....

What?



BTW I was very successful this spring with 3 nice toms, not bad for my solo first year!!

:D