Turkey gobbler dominance battles vary from simply a menacing look, threatening body posture and chase, to full-blown, down-and-dirty combat. Wing flogs and spur jabs are the more common behaviors in gobbler fights. Beak stabs, facial and wattle pinches, beak-gagging throwdowns and shoving matches are the hallmarks of a serious and...
Public land. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with it. We love it because of the access to hunting it provides us. We hate it because the game we chase on it is generally much smarter than their private-land counterparts. Try these seven unique setups on your next public...
I like change. I realize many people don’t. But being that I do, I like trying different methods of hunting. Over the years, enjoyment for trying different tactics has opened up doors to new ways of killing turkeys . And some of them might sound weird . All of that...
These four-legged demolition teams are literally taking over, damaging nesting and brooding habitat and competing for food sources. Feral hogs are not welcome on the Randle Farm. Since 2010, our Alabama county’s been a hotspot in their range expansion. We’re in an all-out war with pigs to salvage the habitat...
I killed my first turkey with an old Savage double-barrel 20-gauge shooting a 2¾ inch, No. 6 high brass pheasant load. Following a 70-yard standoff where the tom strutted, gobbled, and finally began inching closer after what seemed like an eternity, I pulled the trigger and killed him dead as...
The Realtree Half-Ton Hauler Lift-Assist and Swivel Utility Dump Cart by OxCart is the ideal cart for use around turkey camp this spring. Use it to haul equipment, blinds, decoys, firewood or anything else you may need for a great turkey season. Best of all, the Half-Ton Hauler makes hauling...
There are many intricacies involved in a successful turkey hunt. Calling, camouflage, the right gun and ammunition all contribute to putting a gobbler on your shoulder for the walk back to the truck. One thing that is often overlooked is how you sit to a turkey. By sit to a...
Turkey decoys are all the rage. The designs are endless including mounted real birds, hardbody, softbody, photo-realistic, silk-screened and inflatables. Fakes are a key tool in a turkey hunter’s bag of tricks. They can deceive the wariest of wild turkeys. Some gobbler and hen fakes are so realistic that attacks...
Big timber. It isn't like hunting open-country turkeys . It can be a real pain to chase turkeys in. When all you have is acre after acre of standing timber and forest floor to work with, things can get difficult. But there are things turkey hunters can do in order...
The bulk of my time in the turkey woods these days is spent in the company of one or more of my kids. I still enjoy time alone in the woods, but sharing a love for the outdoors with them is a lot more fun. Trouble is, in today’s fast-paced...
Save a buddy’s turkey season, or maybe your own, with this easy to put together emergency kit. With all apologies to Mr. Disney and his theme park, turkey camp is the "Happiest Place on Earth." Or it least it should be. But even turkey hunters are human, and the hurried...
As turkey hunters, we’re known for nicknaming gobblers, especially the Houdini-like, nearly unkillable ones that taunt hunting skills and haunt dreams. From late-February through mid-May, I enter the wild turkey’s world regularly. Patience, a thick bun cushion and the good Lord have rewarded me with opportunities to capture several nameworthy...
As we wandered the crowded aisles of the NWTF Convention in Nashville, all three of my kids homed in on one booth in particular. It belonged to Brookside Game Calls and it was adorned with all manner of call-making supplies. As the kids ogled the pot blanks in various woods...
Action is nonstop in the turkey woods from late winter through early summer. Gobbler and hen flocks converge to settle their respective pecking orders, defend territories, court, breed, nest and just be turkeys. Learn every phase of the wild turkey’s spring breeding season on your hunting grounds. Use good ol’...
By the end of the season, high-pressured birds have heard just about every trick in the turkey hunter’s handbook. The answer? Give them a sound they haven’t heard before. To do that, many hunters turn to a call used by some of the earliest turkey hunters on this continent. Those...
The gobble of the wild turkey is one of the most unique sounds in nature. To the experienced turkey hunter, there is no other sound like it. To the novice, it can be hard to discern, especially at a distance. Even harder to detect are the more subtle sounds made...
The Wild Turkey (John Hafner photo) I’m primarily a “ deer guy .” But I’ve long been a turkey hunter, too. It’s my second greatest passion — behind whitetails — in the outdoors. And I feed that desire to hunt every spring. There’s one thing I love most about turkey...
Editor's note: The Realtree.com editorial team flew off the roost and landed in Nashville, Tennessee, for the NWTF Convention and Sport Show. Our photo editor Bill Konway covered the floor and put together this photo essay. If you attended, maybe you're in it? If you didn't, see what you missed...
Look back at photos of the early pioneers of turkey hunting. In a great many of them, the hunters are running a slate call with a corn cob striker. Over the years, these strikers gradually gave way to solid hardwood or plastic and wood models. These newer strikers held up...
Turkey hunting is a pretty fun thing to do. But it’s also a very aggravating deal when you can’t close in on them — especially when you can see them from a mile away and can’t do anything about it. Hunting open-country turkeys can be really easy. And it can...
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