Turkey Hunting: The Ultimate Guide
To a hunter, spring is all about the sound of a gobbling turkey, or a tom in full strut coming into your calls.
Photo | Tyler Hawley
Spring is here and hunters are brushing off the winter- lull and prepping for another season of hunting. The best way to start the season is to hunt the kings of the small game world. The Wild Turkey. A bird worth naming a whiskey after.
This will be your ultimate guide to spring turkey hunting. With these turkey hunting tips and tricks, & turkey hunting videos, we teach you everything you need to know about turkeys to help you hunt more effectively. All your questions will be answered in this guide.
The best time to hunt turkeys is going to be in the spring when the male gobblers are in their peak breeding season. Your best chance at a successful turkey hunt is to cover as much of your body as you can with quality camouflage and avoid being seen or heard by the turkeys surrounding you. A good technique to call a turkey in is to call every 5-10 minutes using calls that resemble a hen. Strategy is key when you're hunting turkeys, make sure to utilize a hunting and mapping tool like HuntWise to maximize your hunt.
Chapter 1: The Wild Turkey
The wild turkey was hunted nearly to extinction by the early 1900s when the population reached a low of around 30,000 birds. But restoration programs across North America have brought the numbers up to seven million today (Smithsonian).
The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) has made it their mission to create habitats, reintroduce and preserve these wild turkeys.
Standing behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights, the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973. There were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America & after decades of dedicated work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys.
They have improved more than 17 million acres of wildlife habitat.
Eastern Turkey in full strut
Turkey Species
If you are a turkey hunter then you have certainly heard of the famous Grand Slam; making a plan to outsmart every breed of turkey on the list, sometimes all in one season.
Eastern Turkey - Found in the eastern half of the United States, they stick to the more forested areas and open grasslands. They are the most common of subspecies. You’ll find them snacking on beetles, grasshoppers, insects, tree nuts, and even acorns.
Osceola Turkey - Found in central and southern Florida, named after a Seminole Chief. One of the harder turkeys to find since they are only found in one state. They typically eat lizards, blackberries, and acorns.
Merriams Turkey - Found in the mountain regions of the western United States. These Turkeys are very similar to the Rio Grande and tend to overlap regions so make sure it's not a hybrid if you are trying to achieve your slam. These Turkeys have more white throughout their tail fan.
Rio Grande Turkey - Found in the south-central plains and Northeast Mexico and commonly Texas. They have the same diet as an eastern but a very unique gobble that will be hard to mistake for another.
Gould’s Turkey - Found in parts of Southern Arizona and New Mexico
Ocellated Turkey - Found in Mexico, the beautiful colors make this turkey the most unique. Colors that look very similar to the peacock, ocellated means having eye-like markings.
Strutting Merriam Turkeys
Turkey Diet
Now that we went over where turkeys can be found and what they eat, you can now identify the gender of a turkey based on its poop. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, male droppings are "j-shaped," while those of females take on a more "spiral or curlycue" shape. This will help you to identify them when you are out hunting. The wild turkey's diet is typically omnivorous. Constantly foraging for nuts, seeds, berries, small reptiles, succulents, plant foliage, and insects, turkeys have quite the variety. To find their food, turkeys will scratch their feet on the ground to uncover their meal.
Turkey Super Senses
Turkeys are known for their supervision and hearing, making them challenging to hunt. According to "The Wild Turkey; Biology and Management," compiled and edited by Dr. James G. Dickson, wild turkeys have flattened corneas and can see colors to some degree. Their eyes are located on the side of their head, meaning they have a monocular, periscopic vision. They use their vision to locate food and potential threats and have the ability to detect movement and process detail quite quickly. This is why sitting still is very important when you are hunting. When turkeys hear a noise, their immediate response is to look in the direction of the sound, allowing them to react quickly to predators. The takeaway from this information is, a turkeys’ senses are what makes them so challenging to hunt. Maintain proper position, as you won’t be able to move as soon as they are within sight of you, or utilize a hunting blind.
Photo | Tyler Hawley
Chapter 2: Turkey Hunting Season
Spring Turkey Season
A turkey's peak breeding season is in the spring. Hunters are targeting male gobblers. This time frame is when the toms are strutting around and showing off to attract the hens, making spring the best time to hunt turkeys. April - May is prime turkey season for most states and states like Florida are as early as March. You can check local laws and regulations to find out the specific dates for your region. Spring is the time of year when turkeys are the most vocal, trying to attract hens with their gobble. Hunters can use this to their advantage by mimicking the sounds of hens to call them in. Turkeys are more spread out in the spring, not yet in flocks, so this will be a vantage point for hunters. Easier to lure and trick toms into coming into your calls.
Joe Griffin hunting from a ground blind during spring turkey season
Fall Turkey Season
During the fall turkey season, hunters can target males or females depending on local guidelines. It’s not the most common time for turkey hunters to be out, but when whitetail season is in effect it’s nice to have a tag in your pocket in case a turkey walks by. This time of year they are in larger flocks, so they are more difficult to hunt or call in.
Chapter 3: Turkey Hunting Gear
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Turkey Hunting Clothing
The key to success with your hunting clothing is to cover yourself head to toe, avoid being seen at all costs. This includes a face covering and even thin gloves. Not to mention, the mosquitoes can be brutal this time of year and the face-covering will help!
Pictured | Joe Griffin
Turkey Hunting Vest
Turkey hunters have a lot of gear. Multiple calls, flashlight, strikers, water, decoy, shells, and all of the snacks. Getting yourself a good vest is a good investment to keep all of your gear secure, organized, and silent. They even have a nice seat attached to the bottom to sit your butt on for those longer sits.
Hunter Specialties Vest
Turkey Calls
Hunters rely a lot on calls to help bring gobblers into shooting range. Having a variety of calls, and learning to use them, will make or break your hunt. A box call is going to be great for beginners, as it’s the easiest to get a consistent sound. You can use a slate call, mouth call, or a locator call such as a crow call to try to get a turkey to do a shock gobble. The goal is to imitate the hen as much as possible or get a gobble fired up to reel him in. Some basic calls are going to be cluck, purr, putt, and yelp.
Turkey Hunting Ground Blind
Hunting from a ground blind can make things a lot quicker and easier for hunters. They can be set up in just a few short minutes and fully enclose you, to prevent being spotted. If you decide to switch locations, these ground blinds don't need to be brushed in and are very easy to move around.
Hawk Turkey Blind
Turkey Decoys
The biggest factor is whether or not you should use one at all. The goal is to get the turkey within 30-40 yards of you. If you're hunting in the woods with low visibility you can probably pass on the decoy. The tom will be looking for the hen hiding in the trees, so keep calling until you can get a shot. If you're hunting a field edge with open visibility, use a hen or Jake decoy. The turkey will want to breed or fight. Hens are often the best decoys to use since that's what the toms are looking for. Another option is to use a hen and jake combination, this will challenge most toms, 2 year old turkeys can be aggressive and a little reckless. A strutter decoy will rarely be used. This could scare off most turkeys, but in a confined area with a dominant bird, it might not be a bad idea.
Avian X Feeding Hen Decoy
Turkey Hunting Weapon
The most common weapon for hunting a turkey is going to be a shotgun. A shotgun that is black or camouflage will work just fine, the key is to not draw attention. Gauges of 10, 12, 16, and 20 gauge. A lot of people also wonder what choke tube is best to use while turkey hunting, a full choke is the best option as it will give you a tighter pattern with a lethal shot at 30-40 yards. The most popular choice of turkey load is going to be 4- 6 shot, heavier pellets have a more packed downrange punch. Another method is to hunt them with a bow, a little more challenging, using a standard broadhead for the body and a guillotine-style broadhead to remove the head. Learn more about hunting turkeys with a bow.
Chapter 4: Tips and Tricks on How to Turkey Hunt
Habitat
Turkeys, like most animals, have basic needs. They need food, water, trees to roost in, open fields, and plenty of cover. As long as they have enough cover to hide, they can survive. Food plots aren't just for whitetails, turkeys can benefit from these too. They are attracted to grub and green foliage. Plots of clover and winter wheat tend to attract a lot of bugs, which is what hens need to produce eggs, so don’t hesitate to plant a plot for multiple uses.
Hunters heading into turkey territory
Scouting and Patterning
When it comes to turkeys, proper scouting techniques could make or break your hunt. To avoid wasting valuable time, you’ll want to pattern these birds by doing some early morning listening, and glassing from the road. Find out where they roost, and you can sneak in on them on an early morning hunt. Turkeys are usually out in the open at dawn, midmorning, and in the evening. This will make it easy to see the strutting toms and how many hens he has with him. The fewer hens, the easier it will be to lure him away. Turkeys have the same habits, travel areas, fields, and open spots in the woods for feeding and showing off to the hens.
Finding The Roost
One of the most important factors in achieving success in the woods is to find a turkeys roost. When the sun goes down, you'll see some turkeys in the field. They aren't worried about showing off at this point, more so finding a safe place to sleep. Wherever you see these birds after sunset, will give you a good idea of where they will be roosting for the night. You can even hear them. Listen for breaking branches or wings flapping. If you can pinpoint this area the night before your hunt, you can set up nearby in the morning.
Calling Turkeys In
Less is more when it comes to calling in turkeys. One of the biggest questions is how often you should call when turkey hunting. A good rule of thumb is to call once every 5-10 minutes. Despite how fired up the turkey is. Turkeys have a brain the size of a pea, they may not be the smartest, but they are the most paranoid and have impeccable eyesight and hearing. This is where patience comes in, and the ability to sit very still. The “purr and cluck” call is commonly used to bring in a tom. Avoid this. Hens use this call when they are mad, so unless you are trying to keep a hen in the area, then avoid using this call.
Hunting the Weather
Temperature plays a huge role in turkey hunting, and whether or not the turkeys will be talking. They will slow down if it’s colder, and not be as vocal if it’s windy, they won't be able to hear you or your calls as well. When you're hunting in the morning, you’ll have a few tactics to choose from; ambush them or call them in. They will be coming off the roost looking for food and hens this time of day and even into the afternoon, so you’ll know where to look for them. Weather can be detrimental to the success of a turkey hunt. Maximize your hunt by following these tips.
Chapter 5: Using HuntWise to Hunt Turkeys
Strategy is key when you're hunting turkeys. Lucky for you, turkey hunting in 2022 provides new innovative tools that make your experience that much easier.
If you’re serious about your turkey hunting and want to maximize your time chasing gobblers, HuntWise has you covered. From planning out your turkey hunts to e-scouting, HuntWise can help you stay one step ahead with live weather reports, weather forecasts, sunrise/sunset times, and species-specific turkey predictions. Here is a look at the top tools in HuntWise to help prepare for, and improve, your spring turkey season.
E- Scouting & Public Land
The month of March is the perfect time to start e-scouting. It's wet, snowy, or rainy and you're stuck indoors, spend some time getting on your HuntWise app to scout a new field or search for potential private land. The mapping layers make it easy to identify public land and access points. Checking for smaller plots of land that might be overlooked by other hunters. Hunting turkeys on public land comes with challenges. Here are some top strategies for public land turkey hunting.
Using Markers
Using markers is one of the most useful tools within the HuntWise app. Marking any area of interest. Roosting locations, turkey scat, entry trail, etc. You can easily share these points with your buddies making them even more useful. Markers are great for navigating to your hunting spots, but they can also help you see the larger picture. They allow you to see the relationship of how these different turkey variables sync to each other, How turkeys interact with food, roost locations, and travel paths. Understanding this equation will make you a better hunter when scouting new areas, and being able to adjust your strategy when things go sideways.
Offline Turkey Hunting Areas
It’s not uncommon to get into a location without service. Especially when you are out west. Before heading out into the field, make sure to download your HuntWise maps and markers to have access without a cell signal. However, you can still utilize your GPS and navigate without cell signal if you download the map offline. Another beneficial feature within the app is the cell coverage map layer, helping you plan ahead if service is unavailable.
Topographical Maps and Locating Turkey Roosting Locations
Turkeys love to roost in higher elevations, whether you're hunting the plains or the high mountains. The topographic map feature can help you uncover Turkey routes and where they may be headed to feed. Using the topographic map you'll be able to see the draws and valleys, or which swamps or cliff sides to avoid. Outsmart turkeys in their own habitat.
Using HuntCast To Choose The Best Time To Turkey Hunt
The weather is always unpredictable. Sleet, rain, fog & snow; the weather certainly affects the turkeys’ patterns. Knowing how the turkeys are going to behave when this unexpected weather hits, can help you punch your tag. Using HuntWise stay one step ahead with live weather reports, weather forecasts, sunrise/sunset times, and species-specific turkey predictions.
Chapter 6: How to Cook and Clean Your Turkey
Plucking, Skinning, and Quartering. Just when you thought the work was done. Plucking a turkey is the perfect way to prepare your turkey to be roasted, smoked, or even deep-fried. You’ll want to pluck the turkey's feathers to preserve the skin and maintain moisture. It’s a tedious process and not everyone's favorite so skinning could be another option. You can skin the bird and fry or grill the meat. Work along the breastbone to remove the breasts, then down and around each leg. Utilizing as much of the bird as possible.
Turkey hunting can be a challenge and a gateway or introduction into the sport of hunting. A way to challenge yourself or just get out and have a good time with friends. Waking up early to see the sunrise or enjoying the peace and quiet of the woods is what makes it worthwhile. Success isn't guaranteed, but now you have the knowledge and the tools to have an opportunity to take one of these elusive birds.
Cited Sources
Mayntz, Melissa. “Brief History of the Wild Turkey.” The Spruce, The Spruce, 25 Nov. 2020, https://www.thespruce.com/wild-turkey-history-385522.