WHEN I FIRST STARTED HUNTIN GOBBLERS, I ASSUMED THAT IT WOULD BE A TOUGH GO, BUT AFTER SPENDING TIME IN THE WOODS, SCOUTING THEM AND LISTENING TO THEIR CALLS, CALLING THEM BECAME FAIRLY EASY.

IT I’VE HUNTED SPRING GOBBLERS IN NUMEROUS STATES INCLUDING SOUTH DAKOTA, WYOMING, MINESOTA, KANSAS, MISSOURI, GEORGIA AND

GIDING HUNTERS IN MANY OF THESE STATES, WITH EXCELLENT SUCCESS RATES.

MY SHOTGUN IS A 12-GAUGE, CHAMBERED FOR 3” OR 3 ½” WINCHESTER SHELLS IN 4 OR 5 LOAD.

PRIOR TO SEASON, I USE A TURKEY TARGET TO FIRE SEVERAL DIFFERENT ROUNDS TO SEE WHICH GIVES ME THE MOST HITS IN THE VITAL AREA.

SINCE I’M NOT SURE WHATS GOING TO CAUSE THE GOBBLER TO RESPOND, MY VEST HAS MANY CALLS, WITH THE DIAPHRAM CALLS BEING ONE OF MY FAVORITES AS THEY REQUIRE NO MOVEMENT.

ANOTHER CALL WOULD BE A BOX, SLATE CALL AND THE CHALK AND ROUGH SANDPAPER TO USE TO TUNE THEM.

 CAMOUFLAGE IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF HUNTING GEAR.

CAMOUFLAGE GEAR I TAKE TO THE FIELD INCLUDE MY TURKEY VEST, CAP, FACEMASK, GLOVES AND MY SHOTGUN.

SINCE IT’S HARD TO FIND A PERFECT SPOT TO SET UP, I CARRY A CAMOUFLAGE POP UP GROUND BLIND IN THE BACK OF MY TURKEY VEST, ALONG WITH MY TURKEY DECOYS, A SMALL JAKE AND A LOWERED BREEDING HEN.

I SET THEM OUT IN THE AREA I ZEROED MY SHOTGUN.

TURKEYS ROOST IN THE TREES AND AS THE SUN BEGINS TO RISE, AN OWL CALL, A (HOOTER) OFTEN TIMES WILL MAKE THEM GIVE AWAY THEIR POSITION.

THEY OFTEN ROOST ON AN EAST FASING SLOPE, TAKING ADVANGE OF THE SUNS WARMTH WHEN FLYING DOWN INTO AN OPEN AREA.

THERE ARE SEVEARAL THINGS THAT WILL GIVE AWAY A GOBBLER’S LOCATION, INCLUDING THE NUMBER OF DROPPINGS BELOW THEIR ROOST TREE.

SINCE THEY DON’T ALWAYS ROOST IN THE SAME LOCATION, YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR FRESH DROPPINGS BELOW THE ROOST.

DUSTING AREAS WHERE THEY, SCRAPE A SMALL DEPRESSION, KNEEL DOWN, FLAP THEIR WINGS TO DUST THEMSELVES TO REMOVE INSECTS FROM THEIR FEATHERS.

HUNTING SPRING GOBBLERS IS AN EXCITING ADVENTURE AND ONCE YOU’VE DONE IT, YOU’LL BE BACK FOR MORE!