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 MISSIPPI.

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

TURKEYS HAVE EXCELLENT HEARING AND EYESIGHT, ALTHOUGH THEIR NIGHT VISION ISN’T THE BEST.

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

THEY GO TO ROOST JUST PRIOR TO SUNSET AND STAY THERE UNTIL THE SUN RISES.

THEY OFTEN ROOST ON AN EAST FASING SLOPE, TAKING ADVANGE OF THE SUNS WARMTH AND FLYI 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.

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 MY HUNTING GEAR.

THE 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 ALSO 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.

TO HUNT TURKEYS, YOU’LL NEED TO BE IN THE WOODS WELL BEFORE DAWN, TO SET UP IN THE DARK!

TURKEYS ROOST IN THE TREES AND AS THE SUN BEGINS TO RISE, AN OWL CALL, A (HOOTER) OFTEN TIMES WILL MAKE THE GOBBLER GIVE AWAY HIS LOCATION!.

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, SQUAT 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!