New To Turkey Hunting need advice

[NJDeerNBeer]

This will be my first year turkey hunting.  Ill be out in Z15.  Im pretty excited to try something other than deer hunting.  Any advice on a call for a novice?  Any recommended decoys to use as well?  Thanks for any advice in advance!

[Fred Flintstone]

Buy yourself a Push-Pin/ Easy Yelper Small Box.

  Try like Hell to Find someone  to go with who has some Experience.  I had No Mentor-- took me to my 5th Spring to Kill a Tom.

If you can't  find a Mentor and you have to hunt Public as,I do- make sure you are the 1st to Park at a popular parking area. 

 Most Guys start to pull in at 3.50am. And more continue to come at 4am and after.

  Park at 3.40am and Hustle to a promising Field. Get there before the next Man and set up. Put out a Decoy. Prices range from 20 Bucks to $120+    Don't  kill the wallet. I use a $70 Grind Feeding Hen about 10% of the Time.

 No Fields- Hustle to a Highline Right of Way.

 Treat Clothes  with Permitherin.  Take a Thermacell  to Wetland areas also where Skeeters are an issue. 

 Be safe out there. Constantly  look for another Man who is also closing in on the Gobbler you are Yelping to.

   More Members will post below,I am sure.

[archer36]

Have you scouted your hunting area? Have you confirmed that Turkey exist there? No amount of decoys, calls, and other equipment will matter if the Turkey are not there. 

You best chance of seeing if Turkey are where you plan to hunt is to locate them on the roost in early morning before sunrise. Walk around your area with a locator call and see if you can get them to shock gobble. Sometimes, it's not even necessary. If you walk in the woods a pre dawn, you will hear them gobbling. It can be from long distances.  If you hunt big fields, then you can set up with binoculars during the mornings to see activity also. 

If the Turkey are there, follow advice from others on here on how to set up and call them.  The area I hunt deer has been hot and cold over the last 20 years. If I see lots of Turkey activity while deer hunting, I will usually try Turkey hunting that Spring. 

Once you confirm they are there, they will be easy to kill. Put in the time and it will happen. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by archer36

[Batsto]

Good Luck! Lots of Turkeys in that  Winslow area. Do some pre scouting and pick up a slate call. Quaker Boy makes a nice reasonable call. Check out YouTube and practice. It’s easy! Turkey hunting is very fun. 

[Bucndoe]

Slate or box call is easy to learn for starters. Decoys can work but they can be pricey. Plenty of tags get filled without them, they aren't a necessity to be successful. Before pulling the trigger on decoys you might want to get a season under your belt to see if you want to put more into it.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Bucndoe

[hunterbob1]

Turkey hunting can be a blast. One thing not mentioned here yet and I cannot stress this enough. Do NOT do what I did in my first year, and that is overcall!!! If you found a nice spot you like in your pre-season scouting, possibly ahead of time put up some kind of ground blind cover put a couple decoys out within your shooting range that you patternerd your gun. They don't have to be expensive and fancy trust me. A Laying down hen and and a standing jake. So back to callin, at daybreak sometimes a gobbler will give up its location. That's the perfect scenario, I would respond with a quick cadence of loud yelps then shut up amazing thing about turkeys they have a built-in GPS they know exactly where that ping came from be patient grasshopper wait to see if he gobbles again getting closer. I would do a softer yelp. Then sit and wait, locked and loaded in anticipation of incoming moving only your eyes as still as a rock, they can spot unusual unnatural movement and be gone as fast as a woodchuck . So I  hope this helped you a little bit, Lastly I would like to add,Hunting thunder chickens can be equivalent to hunting the rut, one week or two could be dead as a doornail, don't get discouraged if those days happen the next week all hell could break loose!

So if you really want a turkey I suggest if time work and money allows the more you get your boots on the ground the better your chances are cover your bases.Good Luck👍

 

[NJDeerNBeer]

Thank you all for taking the time to post and all the great advice!  Ive been watching a ton of videos.  I hope I can make it all come together and will post pics!

[Buckeyes11]

Do not over call. Once he’s fired up.  Tone it down. He’ll come in.  Curiosity always gets him. 

[hunterbob1]

1 minute ago, Buckeyes11 said:

Do not over call. Once he’s fired up.  Tone it down. He’ll come in.  Curiosity always gets him. 

And they're sneaky like a cat they'll come in silent