Scout Your Area
If at all possible, make sure you take some time to scout your area prior to hunting. Although turkeys can be spontaneous, they usually have a general pattern they rely upon each day. This pattern can be altered from the smallest of things like a hunter in the field, which is exactly why your first hunt can be your greatest chance of catching a gobbler off guard and punching that tag. The greatest information you can gather during your scout is to figure out where they are roosting. Unless conditions change or something disrupts their general pattern of their day, you can safely assume that those turkeys will be returning to their roost area. This knowledge gives you a tremendous upper hand in planning out your hunting strategy. If the turkeys plan to use their same roost as the night before then they will perform a large loop over the course of the day. As they make their large loop from starting and ending at their roost location they will be seeking out food, water, and hens. Try to scout these exact locations. If they’re consistently using a watering hole or secluded pasture to strut during the day, you will easily be able to plan an ambush hunt. I personally believe the best scouting technique is to set far off with binoculars and just observe. This way you can witness their behavior, direction of travel, and key locations that they visit. The use of trail cameras can be helpful as well for all the times you can not physically be on the property watching. Always double check your cameras to make sure the dates and times are correct, as this information is crucial to planning out your hunt. Once you are confident that you’ve gained some valuable knowledge, it’s time to plan out your hunt.

Plan Your Hunt
Planning your hunt is something that will be specific to your property. The information gathered through your scouting, the expected weather conditions, who will be hunting with you, as well as your weapon of choice (gun vs. bow), will all be important factors to consider. My general tactic for hunting spring turkeys is to sit inside a ground blind with decoys set and try to call in the gobblers. Depending on all the factors considered previously, I modify this general tactic to fit my specific situation. When you’re choosing a location to set your blind consider easy access in and out, have a quick escape, and think about your decoy placement.

• Easy Access in and Out – The last thing you want to do is spook turkeys out of their roost. If you think you can sneak by roosting turkeys to set up beyond them, DON’T! It’s way too risky in the morning and you don’t want to ruin your hunt before it even begins. The same goes for an evening hunt. Do not set up where you’ll have to walk by them in the roost to get back to your vehicle. Keep the odds in your favor and increase your chances for a future hunt.

• A Quick Escape – Although I plan to start off my hunt in a ground blind, I remain flexible with the situation at hand. I always pack in a smaller wrap around blind with me that fits in my turkey vest for spot and stalk scenarios. If your hunt quickly turns from a “sit and stay” to a “spot and stalk” you want to be able to make the transition as stealthily as possible. I plan for this to happen and set my ground blind with the door facing away from my decoys. Ideally, my door will be backed up against thick brush, a little ravine, or creek bed. This allows me to slip out of my blind undetected and then have freedom to make a move on the turkeys while still being concealed.

• Decoy Placement – Be thinking of where you’ll set your decoys before you set your blind. You want your decoys to be highly visible. Up on top of a ridge or at the high point of the pasture or field will help draw in birds from farther away. Your blind should be placed close to your decoys so you’ll have optimal shot opportunities at the birds they bring in.

• During the Hunt-Blind, Decoys, Calling – One of the most important things to know about turkeys is that they can see insanely well! In fact they can see 3 times as well as humans, have a vision range of 270 degrees and keen in on movement with an excellent sense of depth perception. What this means as a hunter is that concealment is crucial to being successful. Turkeys do see in color and are experts at picking out anything from the ordinary. You may have a ground blind with excellent camo but it still is not enough. Always pack in some snipping shears and a small hand saw so you can layer on brush and grass to make your blind literally invisible. A perfect location with excellent decoys will not seal the deal if your blind sticks out to them at all. When it comes to decoys there is room to experiment and try out what you like best. I will advise that it is worth it to make them as realistic as possible. Like anything, there are low and high end decoys. Considering that your decoys should easily last a lifetime as long as you don’t purposely abuse them, it may be worth it to purchase the high end realistic decoys. My personal decoy set up usually consists of a full body strutting tom, one walking fold up jake, and a feeding hen. My full body tom is a Pretty Boy that I fully coated in real feathers from a big tom I had harvested. I also repainted the head to a bright red rather than the white it comes with. I use a fully mature tail fan and even replaced the beard with a long thick frayed piece of black rope. (They no longer produce the Pretty Boy but here is a very similar decoy). My jake decoy has a great paint scheme on its head but it’s body is rather small and deforemed, being it’s a foldable decoy. I always use this decoy slightly hidden on the edge of a field in some thicker vegetation as if it’s poking its head out about to approach the tom and hen. My feeder hen decoy is also fully feathered from a real hen I shot during a fall season. If you have the available resources I highly suggest adding feathers to your decoys. You can turn cheap decoys into turkey magnets! It’s hard to beat the real thing no matter how great the paint pattern is. I always like to put at least one decoy really close to my blind, it shows incoming turkeys that there is no threat and it’s safe (because even with the best camouflage, the turkeys may still pick out your blind). My fanned out tom decoy I will place in a highly visible area within 20 yards of my location. Most times I will then place my hen decoy in front of the tom and often facing towards my blind. In all cases make sure you have good shot opportunities at your decoys. I have had tremendous success with this decoy set up year after year. I have heard and read a lot about people preferring to use a jake fan tail for their decoy or a smaller beard so that it doesn’t scare off any birds. In my personal experience I have drawn in many turkeys- jakes, toms, and hens, from hundreds of yards out by using a mature tom decoy. The realism of the decoys and changing the factory white tom head to red indicates a high level of excitement. I believe this is why I have been able to bring in all sorts of turkeys time and time again with this setup. The use of decoys for turkey hunting is extremely rewarding and don’t be afraid to experiment with different types and setups. Just remember that realism is the key component.
When it comes to calling turkeys you don’t have to be the best in the world but there are some key tips to improve your success. My weapons of choice are a box call and a slate call with multiple strikers. When I don’t see any turkeys I generally use my box call to help locate them. It’s a call with high volume capabilities that can really reach out far. For this reason I also use it when I’m trying to capture the attention of turkeys a good distance away. I mix up yelps with some clucks and usually start off soft and quickly get louder in a 8-12 yelping sequence. After a decent pause I’ll do a shorter series that is slightly quieter. My goal is to mimic a relaxed loan hen looking for company. For all close range calling-150 yards or less- I use my slate call. This is where you can really sweet talk the birds by holding the striker in different angles and making various swirling or striking motions. I like to create softer yelps and then throw in some real loud excited cackles. If you have a vocal jake or tom nearby this type of call is sure to get them to gobble. By applying firm pressure on the striker and moving it along the slate in a near vertical position I also will create a collection of purrs and puts. The reason I like to carry multiple types of strikers is simply to mix it up. A lot of times I will be communicating with some long beards that are neither here nor there to my calling, but a mix up of tone and pitch (from a different striker) will be just enough to get them really interested. As long as the birds are responding well, I will continue to work the calls until they’re just out of range and I’m preparing to take the shot.

Going after the keen eyed turkey is an involved and exciting hunt. With your gun/bow, a blind with chairs, decoys and your hunting vest with all your gear, it sure can be a lot of hard work but it more than pays off when it all comes together! Don’t be afraid to get creative, try new things and learn as much as you can. Turkey hunting is just another great way to enjoy the wonderful outdoors!