Turkey hunting, a popular sport in the United States, involves chasing a turkey to capture or kill it. Turkey hunting in America can be traced back to the era before the Europeans set foot on the continent when the native Americans used to hunt this bird for food. It developed into a full-fledged sport in the last century, when this bird captured the attention of hunters due to sudden rise in its population.
The two methods most often used for hunting down a turkey are stalking, wherein the hunter moves towards the bird quietly and attacks it, and calling, wherein the turkey is lured into a trap by the hunter. Being a timid bird, the turkey flees with the slightest disturbance it observes. Therefore, the stalking method is quite popular among hunters. In the calling method, equipments like turkey calls or decoys are used to lure the bird towards the setup.
Turkey Hunting Tips
For a hunter, irrespective of whether he is an amateur or a veteran, it is indeed a great feeling to chase and kill a turkey. The hunting technique improves with time, but every outing has something new to learn from it. Here are some tips for turkey hunting that are bound to improve your chances of becoming an ace turkey hunter.
The most important thing is to be well-equipped with all the requirements, including some basic knowledge about turkey hunting regulations in your area. Some places restrict the use of weapons like shotguns according to the seasons, while some only allow killing a gobbler during a particular season. It is essential to get a hunting license and a turkey permit from the concerned authorities.
The hunter’s preparatory list of turkey hunting equipment must include the basic items, like a camouflage to avoid being noticed by the bird, decoys to prepare a setup, turkey calls to lure the bird into a setup and weapons like a shot gun or a bow to kill the bird. Many hunters these days use a bow and arrow for hunting turkeys as this conventional weapon makes the task much more challenging.
When you hear a turkey gobble, never rush towards its direction. The noise made by you is bound to scare the bird off. Follow the sound and slowly get as close as possible, using natural cover to hide yourself. Approximately about 200 yards would be an ideal distance to be situated. When preparing a set-up for the bird, make sure that the place chosen is a gentle slope or an open area. This will make it easier for the turkey to walk into the set up.
Another most important thing to be kept in mind is – never shoot until you sight the bird. If you shoot in the direction from which the sound is coming, there are high chances of you taking down a fellow hunter, who was possibly using a turkey call to lure the bird.
It is very important to know the different calls of this bird when utilizing the calling method. Switching between different calls is always advantageous. Avoid making continuous calls for a long duration of time. If the tom hears the hen calling for a long time, but doesn’t see it, then he is bound to get suspicious and flee away on the slightest unlikely disturbance. A few yelps or clucks here and there would make it curious enough to walk into your setup. Friction calls, calls made by rubbing things made of hardwood, glass, etc., against each other, are preferable because they can be heard farther than the mouth calls.
Do not give up very soon. Early morning is the best time to hunt a turkey, but that doesn’t mean that you should wind up by 9:00 am. Hunters who wind up very early are as much in a loss as those who start very late. Patience is the key when it comes to hunting any animal.
For some people, turkey hunting may be just another sport, but for the hunters it is a passion and obsession. It is a test of accuracy and nerves, hence, its very important to sharpen your skills and have a clear mindset before you set out on this adventurous and enjoyable task.
