9 Awesome Turkey Hunting Tips (Ones You Must Know!)

Turkey hunting is a blah sport right? Quite to the contrary in Tennessee alone hunters tagged 37,000 turkeys. Turkey hunting is one of the most popular sports in the world. There is even a world turkey hunting championship site. This is the time for you to get involved in turkey hunting. Let me help you get started with 9 awesome turkey hunting tips.

1) Distinct Signs to Look for in Finding Gobblers

I have learned that Wild turkeys leave distinct signs to their whereabouts. You can trace their movements by their sloppy existence. You will see where the turkeys have left their droppings, molted feathers, where they have scratched leaves looking for food. Where they have rolled in loose soil and you will find wing drag marks from where they were strutting.

Turkeys are definitely creatures of habit because of this you can track them easily. Turkeys will always return to the same fields at the same times during the day. I like to keep track of where I see turkeys then I can go to those spots and set up early to make the kill.​

​2) You Cannot Lose with These Unmistakable Turkey Calls

​I laughed the first time my neighbor made the stupidest sounding turkey call. He attempted to replicate their natural sound by running a gobble tube. The sound was the most hideous noise I’ve ever heard. But you too would have stop laughing when two birds answered his call to reveal their location.

​Believe it or not part of calling a turkey is where you setup. You need position yourself in a place where the bird will come. Next, make sure you have set yourself up where you have open shooting lanes available. You want to be able to site the bird as soon as he appears. My two most successful turkey calls are the: plain cluck and hen yelp. I have killed my fair share of turkeys with these two basic calls.

​3) Don’t Blind the Turkey when He Approaches

our natural tendency when hunting is to keep the sun to your back to give you the advantage. But, this very advantage may be your downfall. Try reversing the process. Sit with the sun in front you instead of to you back. Contrary to common sense, the turkey may just come running into you when you sit with the sun in front of you. Yes, the turkey will have the advantage but you may have a better chance of getting the game.

​I found my best bet to bag a turkey is to set-up with the rising sun in the bird’s eyes. This gives me the advantage to try and outsmart the famous keen eyesight of turkey.

4) Two Important Tips for Beginning Turkey Hunters

​My best advice for you if you are a beginning turkey hunter is: Bring an experienced friend with you. While you observe your surroundings the friend can set up the kill for you. Have him call the bird 20 yards behind you. The closer the lethal shot the better chance you have of killing the bird.

Make sure you set up a pre-scouting trip before your actual hunt. You should set out on your scouting trip two weeks before opening day. It’s paramount you know the patterns of the birds so you know where they will be in an open field hunting scenario. You must know where their feeding and roosting grounds are.

​5) Proper Habitat For Hunting Turkeys

​If you think that turkeys need heavily timbered areas is simply not true. Case in point the multitude of turkeys who are thriving in the Great Plains. As long as turkeys have food, water and shelter they can survive. For Instance turkeys love lush green food plots that usually are created for elk or deer. If you can plant a green lush food plot on your own land. The turkeys will come calling!

You can find turkeys in habitats around rivers and streams. Turkeys are attracted to these types of habitats because they provide them essential traveling paths and there are plenty of mast trees along these streamside and river habitats.​

6) Top Physical Conditioning for Endurance on the Turkey Hunt

Sometimes when you turkey hunt you have to sit for prolonged periods of time. This will not be restful for you or me. So having excellent muscle endurance will benefit both of us greatly. Visit this site for five great exercises to keep you fit for turkey hunting.

I have hunted in mountain areas before and I found that jogging and running up and down steep stairs aided in my ability to hike for long periods of time in high elevation terrain. You will benefit from staying in high elevation camps one or two days before the turkey hunt.

7) Use the Terrain to your Advantage to get the Tom Running

Use the hills as cover to sneak right up on the unsuspecting bird. He will never know you are coming if you track along the cover of hills. In lower flatlands use the cover of the woods and ditches to kill your prize. You cannot loose using your environment to nab that bird that won’t budge.

Taking terrain into consideration when turkey hunting is critical for your kill. In the flatlands you can hike a few hundred yards with ease. But hiking a few hundred yards in the mountains can be a challenging affair. So hiking in flatlands over the mountains is to your advantage.

8) Turkey Hunting in the Sunshine

I prefer to hunt in the sunshine. The conditions are much drier and the whole experience is just more comfortable. The birds are more likely to be out in open areas. The sun keeps their bodies warm in the cool spring days. Their feathers are a lot more visible in the sunshine making it easier for them to have a breeding experience. Also, it is a lot easier to walk on dry ground for miles instead of sloshing through mud. Some prefer hunting in the rain, but you just cannot beat hunting the gobblers in the sunshine.

Another advantage to hunting on sunny days is this: The hens have more time to incubate their nests. The toms will be out more in abundance during these times. Looking to catch their beloved hen!

​9) Effective Turkey calling

Cadence! Cadence! It’s all in the cadence. You may have mastered the sound of a gobbler but if you cadence is off (your calls are too slow or too fast) you will never call a liv bird into view. You need to find the perfect cadence right in the middle not too fast and not too slow. Once, you get this down the birds will come running to you.

The key to making realistic cluck sounds is getting a bubbly sound. You really need to fill your mouth and cheeks with a little air. After I have done this I slowly let it out by pushing it through my lips. My lips make a popping sound like: puht sound! You got it.

I hoped you thoroughly enjoyed reading this article. I wrote it so I could help you become the best turkey hunters you can be. These tips have really improved my overall turkey hunting experience. I hope I have given you a solid foundation with which you can go out and start killing your own gobblers! Please share this article if you have enjoyed it.