Your first year of turkey hunting is bound to be a learning experience. You’re going to make mistakes. You’ll bump birds, push forward when you should’ve backed off, and sit tight when you should’ve been on the move. This is all part of the process—an absolutely necessary phase in becoming a better turkey hunter.
The key to improvement is simple: the more turkeys you chase, the better you get. If you want to become a skilled turkey hunter, you need to hunt more turkeys. Each bird is unique, but with time, you’ll start to recognize patterns and situations. These memories, even if they’re subconscious, will inform your future decisions in the field and turn you into a seasoned hunter. There’s no substitute for experience. Taking shortcuts with decoys, reaping, or blinds might put a few birds down today, but you deprive yourself of a rewarding experience and they only slow down the learning process. The best way to learn how to turkey hunt is to walk into the woods with nothing but a call and a gun, and start working turkeys.
Finding and Setting Up on Turkeys
The first step in your hunt is finding turkeys. If you're consistently seeing turkeys somewhere, they probably live in that general area. Their home range is oftentimes relatively small. The next step is waking up before light, quietly positioning yourself in the area you’ve seen them, and listening. If you don’t hear one gobble from the roost, even after using a locator call, it’s time to start covering ground. Your goal is to find a gobbling turkey on the limb. Once you’ve found him, you’re in business.
Ideally, the gobbling turkey you’ve found is by himself. But more often than not, he’s not alone. If he’s henned up, that’s a different challenge altogether (we have another article dedicated to that situation). For now, let’s assume he’s alone. Many hunters will advise you to get within 50 to 150 yards of him, preferably on the uphill side. While this is solid advice, every situation and every bird is different.
In our region of Michigan, for example, longbeards often prioritize getting to a place of visibility as soon as they pitch down. So, we may set up in a nearby clearing or field edge instead of following a more textbook approach. In Texas, the game changes again. Only experience and persistence will teach you what works best in different situations. The more you hunt, the more you learn.
Working the Bird
When I start working a turkey off the limb for one of our hunters, my main goal is to make him aware of my presence as naturally as possible. I’m not waking him up—he’s waking up on his own. I usually try to let him gobble first before I give him anything. The volume I use with my first notes depends on the situation. My aim is to give him just enough to know I’m there and keep him interested. Less is often more here—a few soft pops and purrs, maybe a very soft and short series of yelps. Once I’m sure he’s heard me, I go silent.
Knowing when to break the silence and re-engage is an art form. The more birds you talk to, the better you’ll get at it. There’s a noticeable change in a turkey’s attitude when he commits to you—sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s more obvious. It could be a change in pitch or volume, but as you gain experience, you’ll start to sense when he’s decided to come your way. Once he’s committed, things can happen fast.
The Final Moments
The most important rule here is to be in position before the turkey shows up. If you’re not using decoys, remember that you’re working him purely with sound. He’s constantly scanning for the hen he hears—or the hunter. Many times, a last-minute position change or barrel adjustment is needed. Don’t hesitate to make quick, silent movements if the bird steps behind a tree or out of view. If you’re on a guided hunt, trust your guide’s judgment. If he's telling you to get your barrel swung to the right to the other side of a patch of mesquite trees, get it over there. We see more turkeys taken in a season than the average hunter might in a lifetime. While we’re not perfect, our experience generally makes our judgment reliable.
Summing It All Up
Your first year of turkey hunting is about making mistakes, learning, and growing. Every turkey you hunt teaches you something new. Don’t rush the process—embrace it. With time, persistence, and a lot of patience, you’ll become the skilled turkey hunter you aspire to be.
