Spring turkey season is the most exciting time of year. The weather is finally starting to warm up and the trees are budding. After a long, cold winter, there is no better way to greet the spring than by getting out and trying to call a in a wily tom turkey. Even if a tom turkey never comes within shooting range, there's just something great about calling back and forth to a tom in the springtime.
This beginner's guide to turkey hunting is for the first-time turkey hunter looking for some basic information to get started in this exciting sport. If you've never been turkey hunting, you may be missing out on a new favorite way to enjoy the woods. It doesn't require a lot of specialized gear; scouting is relatively easy; and good public hunting areas are easily located in Oklahoma. Additionally, the action is usually steady.
Getting started is relatively inexpensive. Sure, there are tons of products on the market aimed at turkey hunters from turkey hunting vests to specialized shotguns, and while those things can be nice, very little of it is necessity. All it takes is a hunting license and a turkey license if required, a shotgun, ammunition, the call of your choice and some camouflage clothing. With the proper preparation, anyone can have a successful first turkey hunt. Scouting, turkey calling, patterning your shotgun and getting close to a turkey for a shot will give you the best possible chances.
Scouting
Scouting is the most important thing new turkey hunters can do to have a chance to bag a tom this year. While good turkey calling technique will many times bring a gobbler running to you, it's always easier to call a turkey somewhere that they would probably go to anyway. Scouting can take place year-round but should definitely be done in the last few weeks leading up to your hunt. Start by getting a general idea of where turkeys are located on the area you plan to hunt. Use binoculars to scan open areas, and look for feathers and droppings in blocks of timber. The idea is to figure out where the turkeys are moving during the day so you can find a roosting area. If you don't spend a lot of time at the area you are going to turkey hunt, ask the landowner or area biologist where they are seeing birds. Pay attention to what time of day you see birds where they are going when you see them.
Try to locate the roost so that you can have a starting point on opening morning. Turkeys like to roost in large trees with relatively straight branches in somewhat wooded open areas. Look for trees close to water with a large number of turkey feathers on the ground. If you spot birds while scouting, remember to stay as far away as you can from them. Disrupting them too much may cause them to leave an area for a period of time that could affect your hunt.
Calling
Another important skill to learn is turkey calling. It's true that it is possible to ambush turkey by learning their patterns, but you'll be much more successful if you become a practiced turkey caller. Plus, hearing a thunderous gobble in response to your call is one of the most thrilling experiences you can have outdoors.
The best turkey call for you is the one that you are most comfortable using. The most popular three types of calls are the box, slate and mouth call. The box call is a wooden call that scrapes two pieces of chalked wood together. It is the easiest call to learn to use. The slate call consists of a wooden striker and a piece of slate, glass or other hard material that you "strike" together to produce a sound. Finally, the mouth call is a diaphragm that you place inside your mouth and blow air across to make a sound. The nice thing about a mouth call is that it leaves both of your hands free and you can call without making any movement with your hands. However, many hunters consider them the hardest to learn to use. Perhaps the most successful turkey hunter would be one who was proficient with all three types of calls to best fit the hunting situation. Using a mouth call in conjunction with a slate call, for example, allows a hunter to produce the sound of two bird together at the same time.
There are many different sounds to learn and use in different situations. Luckily, you can get by with knowing a few basic calls. You should be able to have a successful hunt by learning the yelp, cluck and cut. The yelp is used to locate gobblers and get them to re pond to you. There are lots of good online resources that will help you learn the different sounds to make on different types of calls.
Patterning Your Shotgun
Patterning your shotgun helps determine which loads will work the best in your particular shotgun for a given species that you plan to hunt. For turkey hunting, you generally want to know which shotgun shell will put the most pellets in the turkey's head and neck area. You'll need your shotgun, the shells you plan to hunt with and a 40" x 40" piece of paper or card board with a turkey's head and neck drawn or printed on it. You can either trace your hand and forearm with your hand held at a 90 degree angle to your arm so that it resembles the size and shape of a turkey's head and neck, or purchase a turkey patterning target at your local sporting goods store.
Tack up the target 40 yards away with a safe backstop, and take a shot at the center of the head and neck. Then simply count the number of shots in the head and neck. There should be at least 8 or 10 pellets in the head and neck. If not, you might want to adjust your point of aim or try a different shotgun shell load or choke. If there are enough pellets in the area, try shooting it from about 25 yards to confirm that it is still getting enough pellets in the head and neck areas. Also, try some close shots at five and ten yards. Most of the turkey chokes throw very tight, baseball-sized patterns at these ranges and if you turkey hunt enough, eventually you will have an open shot at turkey that is 10 feet away or less. There's not much margin for error when taking that close of a shot.
Playing the Bird’s Game
It's good to be in the woods about half an hour before sunrise. You should be as camouflaged as possible. Unlike deer hunting, turkey hunting just about requires full camouflage; and not just shirt, pants and a hat. Wear gloves and a face covering as well. Do not wear red, white or blue; they are the colors of a turkeys head, and wearing them may cause you to be mistaken for a turkey.
If you know where a roost is located, you should position yourself so that you can call to roosted toms and monitor what they do when the sun rises. Produce a few soft clucks and yelps as the day first begins to dawn. If you hear a gobble, sit tight and stop calling. If you hear no response, keep at it with the clucks and yelps, but grow slightly louder as the morning light arrives. If you see or hear a gobbler traveling toward you, stop calling and wait. He may come all the way into range. Resist the urge to call more, unless it becomes clear that the gobbler is "hung up," then work the call again, but softly.
It's important to remain as motionless as possible even if you don't see a turkey. They will often hang back before they move into an open area or until coming all the way in to they believe is a calling hen. Their eyes are sharp, and they will leave at the slightest discomforting motion. If you're going to get a clear shot, then shoulder your shotgun in one smooth motion when the tom looks away or mid-gobble.
If you are unsuccessful on your morning hunt and want to hunt in mid-morning, one good tactic is to move about your hunting area, stopping frequently to listen for gobbles. A cluck or yelp or even crow call might instigate a gobble. If you hear a gobble, you response may be to move in closer or, if the bird is already close, pick a spot in your immediate surroundings to quickly set up for a possible shot. Keep in mind that it's easier to call a tom to a spot that he was already going to than to call them in an opposite direction. Also, if you are going to be moving through the woods and carrying a decoy, always make sure it's covered. It's may be good idea to wear a single piece of blaze orange clothing while moving through the woods.
Spring turkey season is around the corner, but there is still time to gather what you'll need, scout and practice your skills before heading to the field opening day.
For more information about how to hunt the wild turkey in Oklahoma, check out our turkey hunting page. The site has a range of information expanding on the tips in this article, but also covers topics such as cooking your wild turkey, turkey management in Oklahoma, fall turkey hunting, thoughts and theories from other hunters and more.
Tap into Wildlife Department Resources
Every year the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation publishes a Gobbler Report and sends it to the agency's email subscribers. Normally published within a week of the youth spring turkey season opener, the report provides the most up-to-date status of turkey breeding and activity from every region of the state. The info comes directly from Wildlife Department personnel stationed across Oklahoma, giving insights to hunters who are making plans for opening day. To receive the Gobbler Report, make sure you're signed up to receive Hunting Updates emails from the Wildlife Department. If you've purchased a hunting license through the Go Outdoors Oklahoma online license system and provided a valid email address in the process, then you should be signed up already, unless you've unsubscribed. If not, go to the Department's Outdoor News webpage to sign up.
You can also check out the wild turkey section of the Department's Hunting Resources webpage. You'll find additional tips and information about spring and fall hunting, as well as maps, articles and links with information that might help you in your quest as a turkey hunter in Oklahoma.
We'd be remiss not to remind you also to read up on turkey hunting regulations for the season and area you plant to hunt. Spend time reading through the general regulations for hunting in Oklahoma, the section directly related to wild turkey hunting, and also the special area regulations if you plan to hunt public ground. That way, you'll be educated on what the rules are and how to comply. The regulations are available online here, or via the Go Outdoors Oklahoma mobile app for iPhone or Android.
Finally, don't forget to obtain your hunting license and turkey license through your Go Outdoors Oklahoma online license system. Youth under 18 need only the annual youth super hunting license to be ready for whatever hunting opportunity comes their way. Whether resident or nonresident, the super license is the best thing that's happened for youth hunting in decades. We've written all about that here.
-Sidebar by Michael Bergin, senior communication & education specialist for the Wildlife Department