Alright . . .

Although I suspect that this is something that one doesn't simply jump into, can anyone point me in the right direction?

I know that I mentioned California in particular - (a) I live here and (b) I've seen turkeys here - but I'm tossing this out to you guys because I know that there is a veritable treasure trove of information on this board.

Shotgun?

Bow? Thoughts and comments on preferred hunting method?


Many thanks in advance,


Andrew

Andrew,

Personally, I don't hunt(don't own guns and can't afford them) but I think that you could probably get alot of your questions answered at your local Turner's Outdoorsman as they really focus on the hunting, H&L fishing seemingly secondary.

You can find the store nearest to you here:
http://www.turners.com/

I'm not sure about the hunting laws of California but I turkey hunt here in Florida... Some folks use a bow but it takes a lot of skill to take one down... Turkey's are notorious for running off even when you shoot them with a gun, or at least flopping around for quite a while. I've seen turkey's shot with a rifle that ran miles and were never found.. The best way to avoid this is to use a turkey load in a 12 gauge 3 to 3 1/2 inch magnum shell and shoot for the head. Turkey's have really good eyesight so use a ground blind, or some good camo and sit very still. I think turkey's have better eyesight than a deer and will spook pretty easily.

The way most folks find turkeys here is to go around just before sunset and use a turkey call to locate where they're roosting, they normally will return a call to a gobble, cluck, or even a hoot owl call. If you come to the same area the next morning (in the place you got the return call from the day before) before daylight you can get setup before they fly down from the roost just before the sun gets all the way up and you'll be right there at them. This keeps you from having to call them up or sit around all day hoping one stumbles past. Some folks use a decoy hen to bring in the gobblers or you can just cluck them up if you're good enough.

PM me if you have any more specific questions, I'll answer them the best I can.

Mike, you can pick up a used single load 12 gauge for $40 that you can use for turkey, deer, whatever.

Turkeys can see 360 degrees without turning their head. Calling them in really helps. I haven't specifically targeted them but I've seen many while sitting in a deer stand.

I understand you guys have Merriam and Rio Grandes turkeys in California. The Merriam birds must be the ones found in the north part of the state and the Rio's down south. Somewhere in between you must get some hybrids. Of those two subspecies I have found the Merriam birds to be the easiest to call and the least weary of all of the turkeys I have hunted. I am sure this has some correlation with the amount of pressure the birds get so this may not be the case where you are targeting them. If you seek ways to increase your odds of success I would suggest finding either remote areas with less pressure or securing permission to hunt them on private ground. With that said turkey hunting goes like this.

Go to an area that has turkeys. Sounds like a "No Duh" statement but it is the most important part to the whole thing. You can't kill birds where there are none or where there are very few with lots of pressure.

When you see birds while scouting (whether strutting in a field or crossing a logging road) take notes of the location and time. This is key. Turkeys are creatures of habit. They will often be in the same place they were the day before and pick these areas because they suit the activities they are engaged in. While seeing birds is the surest way to ensure you are in an area that holds them it is not the only way to know birds are about.

Turkeys calls (specially gobbles) carry very far distances. Stay alert for this (gobbles) and again take note of the time and location of your encounters. If you hear yelps, cackles, puts or clucks know that you are practically on top of a single hen or a flock of them.

The last two things that can indicate the presence of birds are their tracks and their scat (poop). Look for tracks and scats while you scout and pay special attention on roads and sandy open areas. Turkeys like to dust (all year) and strut (in the spring). You can tell the strut marks of a tom apart from the tracks of a hen or jake in two ways. First tom tracks are noticeably larger than either (jakes and hens) and second toms that are strutting will normally drag their wings on the ground as they puff themselves out for display of their dominance to other toms, jakes and to impress hens. This wing dragging creates marks on the ground next to their tracks which look like circles or half moon shapes like a broom might make. Now that you know where there are a few good flocks of birds or one or two specific toms you want to target you are ready for the next step.

Fall and Spring.
Depending on the season the birds you target will behave in markedly different ways. In the spring hens remain in their large family groups and toms often bunch up in smaller bachelor groups and seek out hens to breed. Spring is the time most people hunt turkeys because it coincides with the time of year they are most susceptible to calling. Fall turkey hunting is a whole different story so I will not address it in this post.

Roosting and calling
One of the most productive ways to ensure you are calling to a tom when the birds come off the roost in the morning is to "roost" a bird the day before. You are not literally putting them up the tree rather you are searching for birds that are trying to roost or are already roosted and marking the spot the day before.
Turkeys roost after sunset just before the light fades to where they have trouble seeing enough to fly into their perches. An audible confirmation of their presence can be coaxed from a bird with anything from an owl, crow, hawk or peacock call to a loudly slammed car door. These gobbles are called "shock" gobbles and are a result of the birds seemingly uncontrolled reflex to call back to loud noises or predators when they are roosted. Be very careful to not overdo this type of calling. If you can see the birds flying up or silhouetted in the tree or can hear them as they fly up (this is very noisy) do not coax shock gobbles from the birds. There is no reason to do it unless you like hearing turkeys more than you like hunting them. Birds that are pressured this way can fly off sometimes taking the entire flock with them that night or worse yet sometimes flocks will abandon the roost tree and change areas completely.

If you could not roost a bird the night before all is not lost. Get out there at least an hour before sunrise and try to get a shock gobble from a tom by using your "shock" calls. If you hear a response gobble move closer to it until you are within 75-100yds of the bird and get set to call him in. Refrain from getting too close as the bird may spook off if he spots you or you could bump off other turkeys roosted in the trees surrounding the one that responded to your calls. Now for the fun part...

Calling

Calling is the single most important skill to develop when specifically targeting turkeys. Get some tapes or videos that have turkeys calling on them. Listen and using your favorite type of call try to imitate these sounds. Practice, practice and practice some more. If you do not like the sounds turkeys make give it up NOW. When learning and getting geared up for the spring every year while in college I called so much I thought my roommates where going to either put out a hit on me or call the guys in the white suits. Turkey calls are on the average pretty loud although some of the finesse calls are meant to be only a whisper. One good place to practice is in your car while you drive...plus when using a mouth call and you are at a stop light some of the confused faces you get are worth it even if you never kill a turkey.

This brings us to the type of calls. The three main types are the diaphragm, the slate & the box call. All of these come in a dizzying array of variations and from multiple manufacturers. Diaphragms come single, double, triple and split reed. Boxes from different types of wood & synthetic materials, different sizes and tones. Slates are made from everything from glass to plastic to actual slate with strikers made from a wing bone, wood dowels and corn cobs, antler, etc, etc. Any one of these 1000's of calls are more than adequate to make the range of sounds necessary to bring your quarry within distance of your weapon of choice. If you are a hunter and know these things then you will also understand that while any one of them is adequate it is also the same reason why you must posses several of each. Once you have too many to carry in your fanny pack then you must graduate to a full on dedicated turkey pack fully equipped with pouches and compartments for your calls and extras such as protein bars and if you are not too loaded up a small canteen or squeeze bottle full of your favorite beverage. Some of these packs have diaphragms for easy dispersal of liquids to quench the thirst you will undoubtedly build while putting miles on your boot soles in your search for your feathery quarry. Make sure your pack has a comfy amount of padding. These look like a seat pad that is sewn in to the pack and allows you to plop down virtually anywhere and await the arrival of the turkeys you are after. There is a point where padding that is too good actually decreases your chances of success. If too comfortable you can end up feeling so good your desire for a nap will overcome you after several days of waking up at 3 am and walking for miles looking for birds. Not enough and you will not be able to sit still as the only pointy rock in the woods for miles will surely find some bony part of your posterior or back to remind you of the sacrifices we make for the thrill of the hunt.

I could write another page or two on strategies and the type of calls you will need to master to increase your sucess but with what I have given you now you should have plenty. Begin to work on your calling and scouting and then you will be ready to graduate to more advanced turkey techniques. If for some stroke of luck you are successful on one of your first outings I have some ideas I would like to share. First congratulations... you have managed a great feat many have failed at and you should be commended. You have managed to outwit a animal that just a few decades ago was considered mystical and almost a grail like. I have a friend in Illinois that tells me when he was growing up if you saw a wild turkey track most would make a cast to preserve the memory and demonstrate to your friends that you were not ready for a new eyeglass prescription. While turkeys have a brain smaller than their eyeball their senses are keen and it is not everyone that can manage to outwit such a crafty animal specially in their first season afield. Second whatever the cost for mounting the bird get it done. When you compare the cost of this to plane tickets, vacation time, gear and incidentals having a constant reminder that you have already overcome the desire to hunt wild turkeys will make it apparent that the $400-$500 you spent for taxidermy is a bargain indeed.

Good luck and Happy Hunting.
PS use a shotgun...if you start by flinging arrows at birds and either miss or hit one you do not recover you will be hopelessly lost to join the hordes of incurable turkey hunting fanatics. Believe me or be doomed to this destiny

Fall and Spring.
Depending on the season the birds you target will behave in markedly different ways. In the spring hens remain in their large family groups and toms often bunch up in smaller bachelor groups and seek out hens to breed. Spring is the time most people hunt turkeys because it coincides with the time of year they are most susceptible to calling. Fall turkey hunting is a whole different story so I will not address it in this post.



Excellent,excellent post,Apex !:smthumbup:

In the fall,you normally have the young of the year traveling in flocks.This best way to hunt these ,and it's pretty exciting, is to sneak up on the flock.Get as close as you can and then run in and bust 'em up.It's important to get as close as you can,otherwise they'll just run off together.You wanna scatter 'em.Afterwards,take a seat and wait.They will begin to call to each other to re-assemble.If you want,try calling sparingly with 'kee-kee runs'(easily done with a gym whistle without the pea) and soft yelps.'Fore long they should begin to mill around ya and present a shot.Enjoy and have fun.

Excellent,excellent post,Apex !:smthumbup:

In the fall,you normally have the young of the year traveling in flocks.This best way to hunt these ,and it's pretty exciting, is to sneak up on the flock.Get as close as you can and then run in and bust 'em up.It's important to get as close as you can,otherwise they'll just run off together.You wanna scatter 'em.Afterwards,take a seat and wait.They will begin to call to each other to re-assemble.If you want,try calling sparingly with 'kee-kee runs'(easily done with a gym whistle without the pea) and soft yelps.'Fore long they should begin to mill around ya and present a shot.Enjoy and have fun.

Why not shoot them before you run the damned things off? Sounds like extra work to me. :D

Why not shoot them before you run the damned things off? Sounds like extra work to me. :D

Because he is a turkey hunter:awink: This is the accepted way fall turkeys are hunted. Bust up the flock and call them back in. Let me give you another example of how turkey hunters think.

I have a friend in Illinois that used to come all the way from there to hunt Osceola turkeys with us. He has over 400 acres in Illinois and their birds are HUGE!! 24-25lbs in not uncommon for them and he takes several a year on his own land. Osceolas are on the other hand much smaller in overall weight 17-19lbs average, many are very call shy and sparesely populated and they are found in places that harbor mosquitos and snakes. Add to that that the spring is a generally miserable time of the year to be walking around in head to toe camo because of the temperatures and somehow the guy still loves it.

First year he came down we hunted hard and had a few chances. The first set up of the second day we called in a great longbeard but he came in from behind us. My buddies hearing is a little shot because he is a waterfowler and he could not hear the bird but I was twisting around and looking at him strutting and drumming a mere 40yds from where we both sat. We were spread about 15ft from each other and I was working hard to get his attention. Finally when he saw me I mimed that there was a tom directly behind him and then his eyes got as big as saucers. Turns out there was a hen behind me about 7-8yds and she ended up cold busting me. She let out two or three alarm putts and the tom folded up his tent and took off like a carpetbagger with a lynch mob in tow.

The hen was confused still standing where she busted me and then I noticed she had a double beard. One was a good 6" long and the other about 4". I again mimed to him that the bird had a beard and he should shoot. I'm thinking this is a once in a lifetime and he can't see her beard. Well she eventually had enough of my shenanigans and took off as well.

We got up and conferenced on what just happened. I heard the tom drumming as he strutted and he came in silent from behind following the hen. I saw him for almost ten minutes before I could get my partners attention. The tom took off but the hen was a trophy animal in my book as I had never seen one with such a long beard and never one with two separate beards. I asked "why didn't you shoot the hen then?...didn't you see her beards?!!" His response I didn't come all the way from Illinois to shoot a HEN! I asked how many times have you ever seen a hen with a not one but two beards?? Never he responded....isn't that a trophy then and don't you have two tags? We stood there looking at each other silently each more confused at the others responses. This sealed it for me...the guy is a turkey hunting lunatic for sure. He has probably 30 or more turkey seasons behind him and has never seen a hen like the one he just passed and probably will never see one again but it wasn't what he wanted....go figure:D:D

Why not shoot them before you run the damned things off? Sounds like extra work to me. :D

Where's the fun in that ?:slap::biggrinangelA:

Wow...you guys are serious. That's F'd up.

What...are they too easy to find and shoot in the fall? So..to make it sporting you scare 'em away....then callllll them back in? :crazy:

Wow...you guys are serious. That's F'd up.

What...are they too easy to find and shoot in the fall? So..to make it sporting you scare 'em away....then callllll them back in? :crazy:

You'd be trying to shoot a flying or running turkey and that's a very low percentage shot and your probably not going to be able to sneak close enough to get a shot.So...charge 'em,make 'em panic and scatter,and let 'em come to you.
Turkeys are like schizo's with binoculars.

Love your boobees.

Love your boobees.

I've a pretty nice ass too.

Boy, this post is going to look strange after my avatar is changed. :D

I've a pretty nice ass too.

Boy, this post is going to look strange after my avatar is changed. :D

Just say you used to take steroids,now you've got no nads and a great rack.:D

Wow...you guys are serious. That's F'd up.

What...are they too easy to find and shoot in the fall? So..to make it sporting you scare 'em away....then callllll them back in? :crazy:

No not really they are much harder to get in the fall. Busting up a flock scatters all the birds in the flock not just all the ones you see initially. Usually you just see the hens but there are jakes and sometimes toms in the flock. When they are scattered they want to find each other and flock up again so they are more likely to come into gun/bow range.

They will usually bust up way before you are in gun/bow range so you are not really just scattering them to make it more sporting but to make it more likely you will get one close enough to effect your hunt. The worst thing you can do is be moving. They pick it right up. When you are sitting motionless they can be right next to you and not notice that you are there so this business of busting the flock up...setting up...calling them back is more necessity than raising the level of "sporting" behavior.

BTW in Florida it is legal to take turkeys with a rifle and some people do while deer hunting as a incidental encounter. But most would argue that that is turkey killing vs. turkey hunting. Also turkeys are incredibly resilient...I have seen some take direct hits from rifles and not drop or just run off and die where recovery is unlikely due to the lack of a good blood trail.

I have heard the quote "turkey feathers are not turkeys" when looking for a bird I thought I dusted while hunting with my pistol years ago. Hit it good and rolled it but he got up, tucked in his wings and ran off for parts unknown. I have also put more arrows then I care to remember through turkeys and have only recovered 3. Limiting arrow penetration is the best way to anchor turkeys with a bow. This mucks up their mobility long enough to give you time to get on them and finish them off either by snatching their necks and swinging them around or by stepping on their heads while pulling their legs up until they settle down.

snatching their necks and swinging them around or by stepping on their heads while pulling their legs up until they settle down.

I'm pretty sure I've seen that in a cartoon once. :D

And I thought Duck hunters were nuts, you Turkey hunters are lunatics. I was thinking about giving Turkey hunting a try next year, but I think I will just stick to the ducks. I need another obsession like I need a hole in my head.

I need another obsession like I need a hole in my head.

That's my big fear here, too.

Emil, why don't you pack Speedy, some 7mm wetsuits, 70 cm guns, and some hunting gear and we'll blast turkeys in the AM, dive during the day, and scout in the evening? Although I suspect that the chances of getting Speed-o into the water up in Mendo are pretty slim.

Thanks for all the terrific information.

A