As turkey season approaches, or in some states it has already started, many hunters are rushing to get the scope on all the new gadgets for this season. With so many items to choose from, it can make your decision a hard one. From box calls to mouth calls every company now days claims to have the call that will bring in that big gobbler. In the hands of a seasoned turkey hunter or in the right situation this is true. They will and can help bring that gobbler within range.

Some of the gear a turkey hunter would look for, for starters, would be camouflage clothing. Most of your camouflage patterns on the market today cater to the turkey hunter. I would recommend a pattern to match the terrain that you will be hunting. Here in Florida season starts in early March and by that time a lot of the trees and under brush are already greening up. The Obsession pattern from Mossy Oak I find matches the early greening that will darken up as summer approaches. The Mossy Oak Break up is also a good pattern if hunting states where spring takes its time and the greening of new growth has not yet started. When shopping for your camouflage you will not want to forget to pick up a good pair of camouflage gloves and a face net.

Because turkeys have such good eyesight these are two important items. Again these are my personal favorites and most of you will have yours. Remember, try and match the colors that are in the areas that you will be hunting. Another big item on most turkey hunter’s list would be a good vest and like everything else there are many to choose from with all offering a little something different. PRIMOS, has come out with a new vest this year the new GOBBLER VEST. http://www.primos.com/product_info.php?products_id=340 The GOBBLER VEST, was designed with enough pockets to hold whatever you may need when turkey hunting. Here in Florida the temperatures can get pretty hot in the spring sometime reaching into the high 80’s, so in some cases a vest may be too hot. This is when a good turkey-hunting belt comes in. These belts are designed with pockets to hold your calls gloves and face nets. You will be limited in space compared to a vest but they are a good option when temperatures are hot.

Again my favorite is the Tarantula Run and Gun Gear Belt M04636. This unique gear belt is lighter and cooler than traditional vests. Tarantula has designed a system of pockets to hold every type of call, including slates, strikers, locator calls, box calls, and mouth reeds. Extra pockets are for gloves, and face net. Included is a molded foam Shell Saver. This gear belt is more than an alternate to a full vest. Now that you have your clothing it's time to outfit that new vest. First off, every turkey hunter is going to need an assortment of calls. Like automobiles, turkey hunters have his or her favorite brands. I would suggest that you visit one of the many turkey-hunting expos and seminars going on each year. This is a great way to get fired up before season starts. Take time to talk to the folks that the companies have on site. Most of them have used the calls and field tested them before they hit the market, so they know what works and if you have an ear for turkey sounds you will be able to make your own choices.

Take time to run a few calls yourself. The calls I like to carry to start off with would be a box-call, next an assortment of diaphragms or mouth calls. I always carry a call that I can make the gobble sound on, whether it be a gobbler shaker or a tube-type call. The old snuff can is also another favorite of mine when wanting a call for making the gobble sound. Pot-type calls have always been popular in the turkey hunting community and I will say it again, like everything else there are many choices that can be made: from slate, glass, glass over slate, slate over glass, aluminum and copper and a few others. For me, I prefer a good slate or glass call or a slate over-glass. The PRIMOS POWER CRYSTAL has been a top seller and has become a favorite with a lot of turkey hunters.

For the folks that have problems operating mouth calls, PRIMOS has the FREAK. The FREAK is a pot call designed with a sound chamber and a strap that enables it to be strapped to your leg or the butt of your shotgun, freeing up one hand and enabling the hunter to call and move the other hand with less chance of alerting the turkey when close in calling is needed. There is one important item I have not talked about yet: the weapon! The weapon of choice for most turkey hunters is the shotgun. The most common are the 12-ga. 3” and 3.5” models. Most of the big name companies make shotguns just for turkey hunting.

These high tech precision weapons are designed specifically with one quarry in mind, the wild turkey. A turkey gun will usually be camouflaged; the barrel is shorter making it easier to handle around underbrush and tight setup situations. Your turkey guns will come with two beads mounted along the top of the barrel. Because these guns are designed to shoot a tight pattern, I recommend when aiming at your target you do so as if you where shooting a rifle open sighted. There are also many light gathering sites that can be purchased to fit any shotgun. A good sling equipped with swivel mounts is something to consider.

I shoot a Remington and prefer The Total Shotgun Sling System by The Outdoor Connections Inc. http://www.gunaccessories.com/OutdoorConnection/TotalShotgun.asp. All your turkey guns will come with a factory fitted choke. You can also purchase one of many aftermarket choke tubes designed to lengthen the barrel by as much as two inches and tighten up your pattern. When patterning your guns you may want to try some different shot sizes; the most common sizes would be #4, #5 and #6 shot. You will want to pattern your gun from 20 to 40 yards starting at 20 and backing up in 10-yard increments until you are at 40 yards. With the shotgun setups available on the market today, a 50-yard shot is not uncommon but I do not recommend it. Try to keep your shots to 30 yards or closer. To me, it’s not just killing the turkey but how close I can get to him before I kill him.

After all, why waste all the time looking for camouflage and calls if we don’t get the bird in close enough to see if they work. With all our gear in tact we are ready to head to the woods. Wait a minute, what about decoys? I first started using decoys about ten years ago. To be truthful, I don’t use them on every hunt. I may have them with me but depending on the situation they may not leave my vest that day. Decoys have come a long way since they first where introduced. I am sure there are folks out there that may have been using homemade decoys. I have seen some older decoys that were made from plywood and from the string of beards that old timer had. They must have worked well.

Anyway, going back to where I said that I only use decoys in the right situations. What I meant is, if I am hunting a field where a gobbler can see the decoy a good ways off, I will use them. If I am hunting some woods that are fairly thick, I usually will not use them. Reason being, when hunting thick woods, by the time a gobbler gets close enough to see the decoy or decoys, nine times out of ten he is close enough to take. I like to use three decoys when setting up, a jake and two hens. When I first started using decoys all that a hunter could get was hen decoys; and most hunters back then only used one.

One day when hunting with a good friend of mine, we got on a gobbler that was roosted on the edge of a peanut field. My partner said that he had a secret weapon. To my surprise he had taken a hen decoy and turned it into a jake. By adding a touch of red paint and a three-inch beard he had created what he called, the competition. Hey! It made sense to me. When setting the decoys up, he set them to our left about 20 yards, being the gobbler was roosted to our right, which is the way we figured he was going to approach. He set one hen three feet from the jake and the other hen. He set the jake and the second hen decoy up as if the jake was getting ready to breed the hen. By setting the decoys up twenty yards to our left, he said, would work to our advantage because the gobbler would have to walk by us to get to the decoys.

As day was just starting to break, we heard our first gobble. He was right where we put him to bed. Twenty minutes went by and it was light enough to let that old boy know where we were. The crows had been crowing for about five minutes and that old gobbler was hammering at every crow that sounded off.
I took my PRIMOS LIL Heart Breaker and did a fly down cackle. Goooooooooooobble he answered. I followed it up with some hard yelps. Gooooooooooooble he answered again. A few minutes later he was on the ground. When he hit the ground he gobbled again; this time I didn’t answer him. I let him gobble a few more times and then I yelped at him again; this time nothing. I yelped again, nothing. After a few minutes went by, I tried another yelp, this time with a mouth call. Goooooooooooooooble. I could tell he was closing in on us.

When that old boy finally made the bend, he looked over at them decoys and started his charge toward them, in a full-out run. My game plan was to putt at him when he got in front of me to try and stop him, so I wouldn’t have to take a running shot. When the gobbler got to where I wanted him to stop, I gave him a sharp putt. He never paid it no mind and charged right over to that jake and started pouncing it. For the next two minutes, we watched that old boy beat the snot out of that jake decoy. My partner took that bird that morning; after all it was his setup.

I learned something that day about decoy setup. From that weekend to this day, I never do a decoy setup without a jake. From my experience, using a jake in my decoy setup, the gobbler will almost always go to the jake first. Using this to my advantage, what I always do is to make sure the jake is the decoy I setup closer to me. Most gobblers will walk behind a jake before attacking it, thus presenting the hunter with a good clear shot. I would advise that you check your state regulations or the state you may be hunting to see if decoys are legal to use.

One last note! If it were not for the National Wild Turkey Federation, the sport of turkey hunting would not be available today. Get involved with one of the many local chapters and learn what the NWTF is all about. Don’t forget: take a kid hunting. They are our future to keep the great sport of hunting alive.

As always hunt hard and be safe.

© Copyright 2004 Donald Parker