Our spring turkey season opens this saturday(Tennessee). It'll be my first time out for turkey. Just curious if anyone else out there likes takin out turkeys. I don't have a shotgun or muzzleloader, so I'm heading out with my bow. Any tips you can give?

 

April 6 here. I have been out a couple times listening, looking for water holes they might be roosting over, that kinda thang. I plan on being out there...

 

for bow, go with a partner, and if legal a decoy , set the decoy out in the clearing, call in the tom's, when they show up, stop calling and wait, wait tillthe last one is leaving with its back to you, draw the bow and aim for the spot where the neck meats the body. Using expanding broadheads, 2 1/2 cut inch size is great. turkey will feed about 8 people, and you will be surprised at how much meat there is. O, by the way, I got my first Turkey this verry way, witha bow, 23 3/4 lbs gutted weight, and 1 3/4 inch spurs !

 

here in MO, season opens 4/16... i hunt quite a bit with my dad... took me 15 yrs before i got my first one (without him, sorry dad)... i've since got one 3 out of last 4 yrs... key is scouting & calling... know the land & where they want to go... a good caller helps bring them in the last few yards... i like to hunt where there are a few open areas for the toms to strut in

i use a single shot 12 w/full choke... gun has earned the nickname of Widowmaker

good luck & be safe... it's crazy some of the stories i've read about people being shot because other hunters aren't sure of their target

 

I'm probably going to go with someone I work with. He's got a little bit of land. It has some nice wooded area and a creek that runs through it. Pretty much spot and stalk. Stalk down the creek and at the last second pop up and have at em. Might be a little harder for me with a bow, but I'll give it a shot(no pun intended!) I've got a couple tips on areas, just need to go scout them out.

 

When i was 15 my dad took me turkey hunting for the first time. We saw several toms running together about 300 yards away. So dad set out a decoy and started calling. They came in hot, struttin around infront of the decoy. I picked out the best bird and shot. Not one, but TWO turkeys hit the ground. I hit the big bird right in the neck, but there was another bird behind him that took a few pellets to the chest. They were both nice birds, one had a 10 inch beard and the other had a 9 and 1/2 inch beard. Its illegal in Kentucky to kill more than one bird per day, but honestly it was an accident.

 

Goin with a bow? Man, I can barely hit'em with the 12 gauge. Are you using a cross bow or compound? I would hate to try and pull back without them seeing me much less banging that arrow on something. Can you tell I'm not a bowhunter? Good luck.

 

That's one of the biggest things I've found to make a Turkey hunt succesful. Toms will 'Hang up' on some of the simplest obstacles, NO matter their level of....Need to procreate! Fences are the absolute worst, right up there with bodies of water. You can call till the cows come home and the Tom will gobble back at ya, and have a clear line of sight of your deeks but he just wont hurdle that fence! As far as decoys go Hens works good, but don't discount the jake deek. Toms HATE jakes, specially if you pair a jake and hen together! That Tom see's a jake cuttin' in on his action and the fight is on!

MAN I love spring turkey season! Deer huntin' is great and all, but spring turkey is so much work and so much fun all rolled into one, I find myself freezing my butt off in my deerstand dreaming of spring turkey season!

PETA SHMETA!

 

Yep, Gotta a new place to hunt this year and it is also crawling with wild piggy's. Hope to bag more than just a bird.

 

hey mcoleman... my dad is dying to go wild pig hunting... are you referring to private or public land near you?

 

Dude, that is the TRUTH!!! I've had good luck doing that here in Tennessee. If you can roost them the night before, find a good path to where they roost and get set up before they come down.... call him in, and like that other guy said. Pop him when he's walking away. Your BEST shot with a bow would be while he's strutting facing away from you. You have a better chance of not being seen drawing the bow that way.

I usually hunt on the Cheatham WMA. I have 80 acres in Ashland City, but the WMA has some jurrassic sized birds. Monsters I tell ya.

 

It's private land. Belongs to a customer of mine that I'm training a horse for. He deer hunts but doesn't turkey hunt. He told me I could turkey hunt but if I saw a pig I had to shoot it. Like I wouldn't anyway. They are destroying his pastures. He shot a big sow a couple of weekends ago. There are 2 sows, 1 boar, and about 25 to 30 little ones left in the area.

 

Hey Andy ya got any spots you wouldn't mind sharing? I'm not real familiar with cheatham, but someone I work with knows that place like the back of his hand. Went out coyote huntin and that place is massive! He said there's some big birds out there.

 

i'll have to hook up with you at PWs!!!

 

pretty much need like a double bull blind... or need a caller and you set up away from the caller, tuff to do by yourself with out a blind..