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Starting turkey hunting?

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horseshoe crab

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Hello all,
I am interested in turkey hunting, though I know nothing about hunting on land (I get lobsters and such while diving). I have a New England Firearms Pardner 20 gauge.
Questions:
1.Is this gun appropriate for turkey?
2. I am on a very tight budget. What is the bare minimum equipment I would need? What kind of budget am I looking at to get started? I already have a gun, ammo, and gun club membership, but nothing else. I would like to have gear that would give me a reasonable shot at being successful, but as I say, I am counting every penny.
3. Are there any books or resources that would be helpful to a beginner like me?
4. Is turkey a good animal to start with? My main goals are to have fun hunting and cooking what I hunt, and also to start to reassess/change how much factory farm meat I eat.
Thanks!
 
Turkey hunting is a great place to start. The basics you should have:

-full camo outfit including gloves, head cover
-your 20 ga should work. You need an extra full choke and to pattern your gun
30 yds is where I pattern mine.
-basic calls what ever you can use best. I like a mouth, and slate call.

Optional stuff include decoys, vest, numerous calls.

Another place to get good info is the NWTF website.
 
Uhhhh. Do you have a hunting license?

Start with the hunter's ed class. You'll actually learn a lot about it there.

There are thousands of articles and such about it. Try googling "turkey hunting basics."


The National Wild Turkey Federation has a decent site, with some good information that might get you started too. http://www.nwtf.org/
 
See bold

Hello all,
I am interested in turkey hunting, though I know nothing about hunting on land (I get lobsters and such while diving). I have a New England Firearms Pardner 20 gauge.
Questions:
1.Is this gun appropriate for turkey? Sure is. Just use the best turkey loads you can find
2. I am on a very tight budget. What is the bare minimum equipment I would need? What kind of budget am I looking at to get started? I already have a gun, ammo, and gun club membership, but nothing else. I would like to have gear that would give me a reasonable shot at being successful, but as I say, I am counting every penny. Hunting license + Turkey permit+ some camo and a call = $60 if you do it right
3. Are there any books or resources that would be helpful to a beginner like me?Google is your friend, tons of info out there
4. Is turkey a good animal to start with? No, I would suggest waterfowl, squirrel, rabbit, game birds etc. as these are much more "active" than turkey or deer hunting IMO My main goals are to have fun hunting and cooking what I hunt, and also to start to reassess/change how much factory farm meat I eat.
Thanks!
 
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For a beginner, I'd recommend you hunt from a ground blind. Much more forgiving for your movement. Sitting motionless for long periods of time can suck, and all you'll need is to wear black. Calls and decoys are your best bet also.

But first you need to be licensed.
 
ThePreBanMan said:
I've never hunted waterfowl myself, but that has always interested me. Do you need dog(s) though? Or a boat? How do you retrieve?
Click to expand...
Don't need dogs, I bring my dog but he is useless as a hunting dog and will only retrieve a stick. I have a row boat but find I almost never need to put it in. Most of my ducks can be retrieved with waders or a "floaty thing" on a rope I made but that is because my spot is very shallow.
 
To the OP:

If you've never hunted, you'll need a Hunter Ed course. The courses are run by MassWIldlife (assuming you're in Mass; if not, your state analog to them will do it). You can go to MassWildlife's website, and sign up for a course. Do it ASAP. They fill up fast!

After that, ask around your Club, and let it be known that you want to learn to hunt, and would like a Mentor. Having someone that has boots-on-the-ground [blind, boat, field, whatever] experience to help you will make a huge difference.

Go to the Trap and/or Skeet range at your club, and make lots of broken birds.

As for equipment, it varies by species of target animal, both from a practical perspective, and WRT what's required to be legal - some birds, you gotta have an orange hat; others, not. Turkey hunters generally wear camo; and so forth. This is addressed in hunter ed.

The Pardner 20 is not ideal IMO for hunting - most people use a 12, as you can get more shot downrange; but if you can hit your target, it will be adequate.

TO PreBan: WRT waterfowl....it depends. When I was a kid, I'd go out with my dad to the salt marshes in the Newbury area, and jump-shoot ducks. No dog; had a boat locked to a tree to cross the big-ass tidal river that the ducks would occasionally fall on the other side of. We'd get there 15-20 minutes before shooting time. We'd walk out, duck would jump up out of a "guzzle" as my dad used to call them....bang. When the sun was up, the day was over, as the ducks were not stupid enough to fly within range.

So, yes, it's doable.
 
boxerjake77 said:
For a beginner, I'd recommend you hunt from a ground blind. Much more forgiving for your movement. Sitting motionless for long periods of time can suck, and all you'll need is to wear black. Calls and decoys are your best bet also.

But first you need to be licensed.
Click to expand...

I'd buy a complete camo outfit...stay away from BLACK, RED, WHITE, BLUE those are all turkey colors...you'll get shot.
The 20ga is good under 25yds, with #4 shot 3" magnums. Blind is a great idea, roomy with a chair, get a couple of calls, listen to real calls on the web, practice! Get out to a location before season and scout birds at 4:30am for roosting patterns. Plan to spend $300+

There's a lot to this...I put my 13yo in the State's youth Turkey hunt this past April, he nailed a 22lb longbeard with the above load.
 
Thanks to all for the responses. Another quick question:
i realize this is highly variable, but how long do people typically hunt for before getting their first turkey?
 
horseshoe crab said:
Thanks to all for the responses. Another quick question:
i realize this is highly variable, but how long do people typically hunt for before getting their first turkey?
Click to expand...

It's really a crap shoot. (The Turkeys get an email 10 days prior to the season opening. )

MisterHappy is right. You could get lucky or you could just have a nice day outside. Either way is a winner.
 
Mike-Mike said:
It's really a crap shoot. (The Turkeys get an email 10 days prior to the season opening. )

MisterHappy is right. You could get lucky or you could just have a nice day outside. Either way is a winner.
Click to expand...

Yep, that is how I approach fishing, and I have always had a great time.
 
After you get your hunting license squared away, you should ask around your friends or to experienced guys at your gun club to see if someone will take you turkey hunting with them. If you cant find someone you know, you might want to think about spending the money to go with a guide and learn from him. The two of you could set up in a blind and he could show you where and why to set up in a particular location, how and when to call (especially when NOT to call) etc, etc. Going with somebody knowledgable on your first couple of turkey hunts is really worthwhile and will save you a lot of time and frustration from sitting in spots that no turkey is ever gonna come to or calling to birds in a manner that will drive birds away instead of drawing them in.
 
Spend some spare time over the winter months learning to call and drive everyone in the house nuts.
If you become a good caller, your gun will do the trick. You do not need a big 10 or 12 gauge shooting
3 1/2" magnums out of an extra full choked 32" barrel.
 
horseshoe crab said:
Thanks to all for the responses. Another quick question:
i realize this is highly variable, but how long do people typically hunt for before getting their first turkey?
Click to expand...

I have 2 seasons under my belt and no turkey to speak of. I've got to dodge them like a living slalom course in my car on my way to where I can hunt, but I have yet to see or hear one in the woods. I have come to hate turkey and turkey hunting for this reason.
 
MisterHappy said:
Go here, and see what you're up agianst!

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/education/hed/hed_basic_listing.htm

The classes fill up fast!


New classes are posted about once a month, and you need to jump on it, quickly.

Hunting up a Hunter Ed course is the first step!
Click to expand...

Duly noted. I did see that before, and was pleased that so many people are hunting. I will not have an opportunity to take the class until summertime.

- - - Updated - - -

Uncle Fester said:
I have 2 seasons under my belt and no turkey to speak of. I've got to dodge them like a living slalom course in my car on my way to where I can hunt, but I have yet to see or hear one in the woods. I have come to hate turkey and turkey hunting for this reason.
Click to expand...

Yikes, that's foreboding. Have you been with a knowledgeable hunter?
 
deadhead133 said:
Spend some spare time over the winter months learning to call and drive everyone in the house nuts.
If you become a good caller, your gun will do the trick. You do not need a big 10 or 12 gauge shooting
3 1/2" magnums out of an extra full choked 32" barrel.
Click to expand...

How much will a caller run me? Which do you recommend?
 
I prefer diaphragm calls. I practiced a lot with them and became a good enough caller to
harvest several birds with them. You are not moving your hands as with a box call or a slate. I do carry a small box call with me to reach out when I start. This is just my personal preference, and others do really well with other calls.
My best hunting friend has a box call that ,to me, sounds like a cat with its testicles caught in a door.
He has had some great luck calling in some really nice birds with it.
I think you will find that diaphragm calls are reasonably priced compared to others. Good luck.
 
horseshoe crab said:
Duly noted. I did see that before, and was pleased that so many people are hunting. I will not have an opportunity to take the class until summertime.

- - - Updated - - -



Yikes, that's foreboding. Have you been with a knowledgeable hunter?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no. My Father only really hunted grouse, and he had pretty much hung it up by the time I was born anyway. None of my friends hunt, and I got into it pretty late in life. My other issue is time. The only free time I can devote to hunting (or learn about hunting) is whenever I get up until a little after 9 monday through friday. It's fine for me, but it's asking a lot for another hunter to get up at 5AM before or after hunting season to teach me anything. I just read a lot about it. I think my biggest problem with turkey hunting is the calling. It's hard to read about how to do that. I've checked out some videos online, but I still don't know if that's helped. I don't really know what to look for in the woods when it comes to turkey either. I haven't gotten a deer yet, but I see them on a regular basis so it's not nearly as frustrating. I even got a shot off at one during RI's early archery season this year, but I shot a little high and he jumped the string.
 
The best advice for turkey hunting and the key to success is to find them at sundown the night before. They will roost up around sunset. Sneak in the next morning and call. If you can see the bird while it's roosted then your too close. Hit the box when they are still in the tree. Hit when you hear them fly down, then relocate them to your position once more. Bang you got a bird.
 
Much good info here, thanks. The general consensus online seems to be that a box call is a good place for a beginner to start. Can anyone recommend a particular brand? Money is tight for me at this time. It would also help if I could purchase it at a brick and mortar so that I won't have to pay for shipping.
 
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I also do a lot of hiking and running on trails, including in the winter. I'd like to scout out some areas. What should I be looking for, and where should I be looking (not specific locations, but general types of areas - edges of fields, near a water source, whatever).
 
horseshoe crab said:
I also do a lot of hiking and running on trails, including in the winter. I'd like to scout out some areas. What should I be looking for, and where should I be looking (not specific locations, but general types of areas - edges of fields, near a water source, whatever).
Click to expand...
They prefer doing their mating / strutting (spring hunting season) in open areas like fields, or not too dense woods.
If you mean looking for roosting birds then... Tall pines over looking a field (preferable with a pond near bye) so they feel safe when they fly down in the AM.
 

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