Have you missed a turkey? Join the club. Here's how to improve your shooting skills. 1. Quick Shot The flock suddenly appeared, materializing on the high Pennsylvania ridgetop. Driven by target panic, I raised my gun, swiftly took aim at a legal turkey, and fired. While I fully expected the...
Calling wild turkeys to your setup position is the essence of this tradition. But sometimes it's not enough. Tired of that longbeard tossing you courtesy gobbles? Sure, that bird might be henned up. It might also not like the view between where it struts and where you sit. Your yelps...
Shooting a turkey always makes the old emotions flow. There’s much joy for the success achieved, some measure of relief from the hunt's intensity (especially those make-or-break closing minutes as a gobbler finishes his approach), and even a little regret for removing such a creature from the face of the...
Turkey season is upon us -- or soon will be, depending on where you live. The landscape is starting to green up. The dogwoods will soon begin to bloom. And, if this season is like years past, you’ll be preparing yet another list of excuses for why you didn’t get...
Snakes. Just the thought of them makes some folks quiver in their boots. But, thanks to the irresistible lure of the longbeards, even the most snake-wary turkey hunters find themselves trekking through prime snake habitat come spring. If you’ve turkey hunted long, you’ve no doubt had some snake encounters —...
Not every spring day is clear, calm and warm. In fact, those days are the exceptions. But never fear. Here's your guide to turkey hunting in any weather. Even in the worst weather conditions, turkeys are out there somewhere. But finding them requires thinking like those birds. Paying close attention...
As the saying goes, "If you haven't missed a turkey, you aren't hunting enough." I did plenty of research to write this piece – all of it unintentional. Lessons learned from such experiences follow here . . . 1. Shooting Too Fast The flock suddenly appeared, materializing on the high...
As a teenaged turkey hunter, my late dad imparted words of sage turkey hunting advice to me. One of his insights has served me well over the years: "Sometimes turkeys that have been gobbling will go silent on the way in." You, in turn, might also want to shut up...
Often, as that gobbler struts toward us, wheels and turns, we first glimpse leg spurs on the bird. Wild turkey spurs are expected and common on male wild turkeys, though some atypical specimens are occasionally spurless. We often age a gobbler by spur length: 1-inch long or so at two...
The morning broke still, clear and crisp. It promised to be a good gobbling day. My partner and I were positioned on a ridge where we could hear turkeys in any direction. The first gobble came early, a good sign. We did not move. Ten minutes later, six gobblers were...
There are tried-and-true ways to assure you’ll come home empty-handed from the turkey woods. They’re easy. Just follow these steps as laid out by champion turkey caller and Realtree pro staffer Anthony Virga, who has seen them in action and learned some of them first-hand. Mistake 1. Be Impatient. “Everybody...
This feature article first appeared back in 2001 as “Turkey Hunting Safety,” a chapter in the Team Realtree Turkey Hunting Fieldbook (now a collectible classic). Written by the late Aaron Pass, and as the title suggests, it contains cautionary advice to help turkey hunters stay safe. Some of it might...
The alarm chimes as the clock strikes five in the morning. Before the big hand reaches five past the hour, I am pulling the last knot tight on my snake boots and walking across the creaking wood floor at my parent’s house to the door. It has become tradition for...
Some springtime longbeards take their marching orders from the boss hen. At times, the only way to get him in range is to call her in. How do you sell yourself to the lady turkey in charge in order to pull that dawdling strutter into range? Read on. Payback Okay,...
If you’re going to learn one call for turkey hunting, one turkey sound that will let you speak their language and provide the best chance for you to lure in a gobbler, learn how to yelp. The Yelp The yelp is the most common sound a hen turkey makes when...
If you’ve never helped a beginning turkey hunter start climbing the learning curve, you’re missing one of the most enjoyable aspects of the sport. Archibald Rutledge wrote many years ago that “Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters,” and he was right. There’s something about this bird, and...
There are turkey hunters, and there are turkey hunting addicts. My wife Jill Easton and I fall into the latter category. We learned long ago the hunting opportunities provided by a single state just don’t quench the fire. So we travel. Boy, do we travel. In 2016, we hunted turkeys...
You’ve called a strutting spring gobbler into range, aimed at his fist-sized head and fired. Problem is, the bird flopped then got up like a boxer in the ring with some fight left in him, and is running, or worse: flying off. It’s your move, now or never. Most of...
Long-awaited opening morning is here. You dreamed of turkeys flying off the roost, working toward your perfectly located tree. Your calls are prepped and waiting. Your shotgun cleaned, patterned and cleaned again. Your overloaded turkey vest is straining the coat hook by the back door. License, check. Everything is ready...
