Alright you fools

Help me get started. Me and Josh are gonna chase some in the delta. I have located turkeys before for giggles with a crow call. I had a mouth call I played around with and thought I was ok but in reality I probably sucked. Whats a good call for a beginer..a box?


Also, all I have is an 870 12ga with a full choke. Whats a decent load to try and pattern with it? How far will a 12 3" kill one? Or do I HAVE to have a 8gauge super nitromagnum with a XXXXX full choke?

Im afraid Im going to regret this decision.

Don't do it.

Box or slate is the easiest.

Shoot that gun at some paper and see what your pattern looks like.
Most say a 100 in a ten inch circle, limit yourself to whatever that range may be.

Im going to bet around 30-35 yards without taking alot of time trying stuff.

All I can say is if you do it, start selling your fishing stuff, and get ready to consider deer season just passing time until turkey season, because IT WILL HAPPEN! It took an act of congress to get me to go....actually 3 years of hounding....I finally caved. I no longer have a boat, no longer fish tourneys, actually sold about $2000 worth of rods/reels/tackle, and I find myself googling turkey stuff while in a treestand when I should be watching for deer. Once hooked, it is unlike anything you have ever gotten into.

BTW....if you like pickled feet, you should try pickled pig lips...I did on a dare...if you can get more than 3 bites down, you are the man....or very sick!

And cant see this happening. Thats sounds ludacris!



So would # 6's be good or do i need some of that fancy stuff in the box with turkeys on it?

THIS is why I say DON'T do it....unless you're prepared for your world to be turned upside down.

You need a "Haint" call. It brings them running in every time. It is especially effective on TV.

Just got off the phone with a buddy in N. Georgia. He's the most rabid turkey hunter I know. He's gonna mail me one of his almost new vests he has. He doesnt use the ones people give him as gifts, he uses the 25YO one thats falling apart and held together with fishing line because he is so superstitous. Freaking WEIRDOS you turkey guys are!

You will also need a squealing hen, must have for a beginner!

Been there done that! No boat , no tourny's any more, ex-wife ect. I still have one GLX rod with a calcutta reel on it just for when I need to put a kids @ss back in line for mouthing in the summer months. Yea, it happens once or twice ever 2 or 3 years I actually fish.
ALL I CAN SAY IS DON'T START IT!!! Worse than anything I have ever done. I own a couple of thousand dollars worth of shop tool just to build calls to be part of their demise

Dude...this is only my second year being serious with it, and I'm ate up with it...i can't use a mouth call to save my life and I still own everyone made...lol..I actually have the Cabela's Spring Turkey magazine on my desk as we speak....I bet I've looked through it 43 times

Turkey hunting is boring and the birds are stupid.

Thats what I aim to prove.

Next step is learning about jinxes.

Your screwed

I dont believe in all that hocus pocus and tomfoolery that yall do.

Its just a dumb bird Im gonna shoot in the face. Ive killed lots of birds.

We will see.

TC turkeys have really long toes and sometimes they just stand around and masturbate. You're gonna love it man.

There aren't many things that will result in me putting a knot on somebody's head, but this is one of them. You've been warned.

Hey N2, you notice the lack of any real "help" in this thread. No advise on calls..brand..chokes, loads, etc..selfish suckers.

This is the truth....sold my boat last year...did not go fishing not one time!

You rolled up in here trying to be a cheap arse...talking about using a full choked gun. You obviously ain't really serious. This is serious chit pal...don't be hacking at it and expect us to care.

We're actually gonna hog hunt and randomly shoot birds as we see them. Can't be that hard....

Hey Im willing to spend a little money. Just need to know where to start!

My buddy reccomended a Jellyhead choke. Im gonna patern it today with a full just to see. If I can get 10 more yards out of a better choke then Ill spring for it.

Im sure you hacked a few things in the beginning too.

Damn....LMAO!

LOL! The Jellyhead .660 for the 870 seems to be a great, all around choice that a lot of people have good luck with various loads. I don't think you could go wrong with that choke depending on what shell you plan to use. If you want to avoid a bunch of hassle and just KNOW what is gonna work right from the start though....I would buy whatever choke that Nitro recommends and some of their megaweight shells. Experimentation over with before it ever gets started.

Good Lord just looked em up, some of those shells are 8-10 bucks!


Heres what my buddy told me to do first. Sandbag the gun @ '10 aiming dead center of about a 3" circle, shoot plain #8's to see if its shooting straight. Then back up to 30yrd and check pattern with some heavy turkey 6's and go with it if its enough pellets.

I'm gonna shoot some 3.5's and kill a turkey at 85 yards.

That has probably worked for 100's if not 1000's of turkey hunters over the years. As long as you know your capabilities and limitations and stick to them, you should be good.

lol ,, it ain't that much trouble .

nearly any 20 or 12 gauge with full choke will kill a turkey at 30 yards with #6 shot but you do need to pattern the gun . you don't have to blow his off to kill him one pellet to the brain and that breaks his neck will do . ever time u hit the target if your putting 7 or 8 pellets in the brain or neck you'll be fine . use a turkey target !!!!

box or slate are good to start but at some point you gonna wish you had a mouth call.


you can't go wrong with Federal or Winchester #6 copper coated .

a good set up will beat good calling ever day of the week . i never set up where i can see much further than i can shoot but i never use decoys either . further u can see the more likely the turkey will hang up out of range .

good luck and wear good camo

[/quote] LOL! The Jellyhead .660 for the 870 seems to be a great, all around choice that a lot of people have good luck with various loads. I don't think you could go wrong with that choke depending on what shell you plan to use. If you want to avoid a bunch of hassle and just KNOW what is gonna work right from the start though....I would buy whatever choke that Nitro recommends and some of their megaweight shells. Experimentation over with before it ever gets started. [/quote]

What he said....No one ever said turkey hunting was cheap

Get ready for a new addiction, I've seen grown men fist fight and act like fools over a damn turkey.

Start with a slate and box call, listen to some calling and try to repeat the cadence and sounds. Try some hevi shot #6 with that 870 and jelly head. You need a face mask and gloves, you do not want any exposed skin. You will need a thermacell and a comfortable cushion.

turkey hunting is like any thing else , you can pour all the money into it you want but in end it don't mean you'll kill more turkeys


you set up right you dont need to shoot them at 50 yards .

i quit turkey hunting after 6 years of it. i sucked at turkey hunting but just like before i turkey hunted now i fish everyday again. you must have fished for those gay little bass. who wouldnt stop doing that so they could chase peckerheads around the mountains till 9 am and then be bored for the rest of the day?

If you are hunting public land you will only need a gobble tube, use it and call with it at almost every sound you hear, you can't use it too much! They will come running right in!

TC looks like everybody is trying to help so I will too!

Calling: You can't call too much, too long or too loud! Now you'll see where some folks say that's a no no but those are just the greedy hunters who don't want you killing any of their turkeys! Don't worry with all this rythm and cadence crap you hear about. Hens spit and sputter the worst sounding yelps ever and gobblers stay with them!

Decoys: You're gonna need at least 2 and the best ones out are the primos wounded gobbler and the funky lil chicken decoy advertised by cabelas!

Locator calls: Bar none must have is the screaming peacock! It'll have every gobbler for miles choked up he gobbles so hard! And again this is a call you'll want to keep handy so you can blow it every 30 yrds or so on your way to the turkey but remember not to get any closer than 40 yards from his roost! Any closer and you'll spook him!

Thanks! I figured about what you said on the calling. I figure if he aint locked up with hens after a little trial and error I could get a reaction. What we people think is a perfect call may not be. Always wondered how you "win" a turkey calling competition. I mean they dont even let turkeys enter one.

If you're gonna start off turkey hunting in the delta, don't sell all your fishing shite just yet. That will be a humbling experience. I think North40R gave that same advice to every hunter that sets foot on that place. Not a good place to start turkey hunting!!

That's where we send all the newbies and yes I give them all the same good advice!

Guys, I did not see the squeeling hen listed. He has got to have one of those also! Eddie Salter said so or so I think...Might have been Will Primos

Is an owl hooter a better locator than a crow?

Let me guess. You're one of those guys with a manly 250 hp motor on the boat that will run wide arse open down the lake only to pick up one of them upside down fairy wands and shake a little worm around to try and catch a damn 1 lb. spotted bass?

I've already told you pal! If you can't find the screaming peacock then you'll need the screaming woodpecker!

WTH, I just looked it up...thought you were kidding! How does a wild turkey know what a damn peacock sounds like??

Get you a slate or double glass from Fatal Attraxion(Stoney). You can't go wrong.

That raging rooster call makes them gobble pretty good. Air horns do too. Get you a couple of diaphram mouth calls and glue one on top of the other. They call that a double stacked call. Nothing sounds better.

Not to mention a train wistle will work as a locator

Chainsaws make good locators too....find you a good size tree to cut...when that saw motor starts bogging down, thats how you get them to gobble...

If I tell you a grasshopper will pull a turning plow you'd better hook him to it! Lol! You just buy the items I listed and take my advice to heart about calling and you'll be the talk of Mobile Co. this spring!

OK, which one of you goobers is gonna take me if I cant get on one?

Oh, nevermind yall dont share "your" birds.

is it a shameful thing for a Jake to be your first turkey kill?

I wouldn't think so, especially if you called him up yourself......but remember the ole' sayin'...."woulda been a goodun next year"....lol. My first (and only) kill in my year and a half at it was a 10 3/4" beard, 7/8" spurs, and 20lbs.....i was lucky!

You just need come to NA and hunt with Jughead, he killed the #3 bird in the state in what 4 or 5th year of chasing them. He has a camper that y'all could stay in with only a twin size bed but I'm sure y'all could make something work with sleeping arrangements .

TC I'll be glad to go help you if you've got land with plenty of gobblers!

2nd year....

TC,

Check out the thread posted to the top of the forum (First Time Hunter Advice)...LOTS of good advice in there....

If i were you, I'd get a Jellyhead and some 3" Hevi MagBlends....Should be a solid 40 yard gun....

What Thompson said except for the magblends part. They don't do worth a flip through some people's 870's; including mine. Ain't never heard anybody say that they were disappointed in hevi 13 6's.

i despise those ugly @$$ birds. all they do is scratch up green patches.I hope yall kill them all! I'll stick with Deer, Duck and Bass. Good luck

I like to soak all my mouth call's in clorox.It gives them a sound like no other !

I'll give you some good advise, take up crystal meth instead. Much easier habit to break and not as bad on your body, family and bank account.

Forget everything you've read in this thread; these guys are just plain mean. Listen to me if you want to actually kill a turkey.

Your gun will work fine; get you some Hevishot #6 and make sure they are turkey loads and not duck loads. Pattern the gun and don't shoot one any further than the point where you can't put 80 shot in a 10" circle. You can use 100 as the magic number if you want, but I say 80 is plenty.

FORGET any kind of locator. That's the last thing a newbie needs. Follow my Rule Number One at all times - don't scare the turkey. Be cautious in approaching a gobbling bird and set up far enough away that you are sure he can't see you. Then be still, call sparingly, and be ready. Keep the gun on your knee and pointed toward the turkey so that when he comes you have to move it very little to shoot him.

As far as calling, get a decent box call and learn to make a soft cluck. Its not hard, and it won't run the turkey off. Don't even try to yelp until you have hunted a season. I know an old man in GA that called over 20 gobblers to the gun in one season, and all he ever did was cluck. Its just something to let him know you are there. After you have hunted a while, you can try other calls and callers, but a good box and soft clucks is all a beginner ought to use, imho.

Set up where you think the turkey is gonna go, make a very few soft clucks, and stay ready. Don't wander around and flush your birds. If you gotta move, travel thru thick cover where they won't likely be.

Just imagine if you were hunting a buck, and every morning he started bellowing like a bull at daylight and walked all over the place bellowing all day. And pretend that he slept at night and was active only in the daytime. And pretend his nose was busted and he couldn't smell. And pretend he is always in the rut and you know how to make a soft doe-in-heat sound. Do you think you could kill that deer? I suspect so, and that comes pretty close to describing a spring gobbler.

Most new hunters fail because they call too much, call too loud, call too poorly, and get too close to the turkey and scare him off the property. Avoid all that and you will kill turkeys, IF there are any on your land. Good luck!

Oh, and don't shoot a jake for your first gobbler. Call up a longbeard yourself and you'll be proud you did it later.

Lots of great advice in here. I thought I would add one more thing. If your on wma land you really don't need any calls. Just walk around til you find someone working a bird and get between them and the turkey. Works every time.

Good stuff preach...thanks!!

BC, I dont want a turkey load up my kazoo!

So your the guy that keeps doing that to me!

Sorry outlaw, I had no one to teach me. I thought that's the way it was suppose to work. Have a guy calling q couple hundred yards behind you.

Just messing with you. In all honesty I've never had anybody do that to me. Hope it stays that way. From what I've experienced, everytime I've encountered another hunter in the woods we've always been very polite. Couple of years ago on Skyline, I actually had a guy to give me a couple brand new custom mouth calls before we parted ways. Guess he thought I needed them cause I had just got schooled by an EVIL mountain bird.

I know I try my dead-level best to avoid an area if I think there's somebody else in there! Too many folks getting shot each year.

I guess from reading all this killing a turkey over bait is frowned upon.

But TECHNICALLY you arent killing the gobbler over bait, he is just coming to the hens that are eating, he doesnt have eating on his mind so I guess its ok.

very good advice PCP about as honest as you could be,only thing you left out is that those little clucks aint just for beginners,I told a friend several years ago if more people would call this sport,letting a turkey hunt me instead of turkey hunting there would be more filled tags ever year,it really don't take much calling to get a bird interested enough to come to you. Good luck TChunter hope you kill a bunch if you listen to PCP he really is trying to help you...

While I agree 100% with y'all on the light calling and making the birds hunt you, I usually screw up my first few hunts calling away like I was on a tv show to get the birds to gobble and gobble some more. I am like a kid in a free candy store with no adult supervision, I know I will regret eating as much candy as I can but oh heck why not.
In all seriousness I have become a professional leave "scratcher", killed a bird last year that cut me off on my first yelp, sat down and only scratched in the leaves and killed the bird 30 minutes later. Clucks and leave scratching is a deadly combo

I also watched a hunting video where a guy was flapping a wing all around and then smacking it on the weeds like a fly down. Anyone ever do that?

The biggest problem with too much calling,I believe is after he hears it for a while is, he is just gonna stand there and wait on the excited hen to come on over there to him,he does not have to look for a hen that wont shut up he already knows where she is. If you want him to hunt you let him know you are there and shut up if he is gonna come he will.One of the best turkey hunters to ever step foot in these mountains once told me if a gobbler hears you he will eventually come looking for you,just may be 3 or 4 hours later. Turkey's have no perception of time so 3 hours means nothing to them,light calling,being in the right place,and patience will kill more birds any day of the week,than any of that pretty competition,loud mouth never shut up stuff.

TC ILL TAKE YA ON A HUNT HERE ON A THE MIGHTY CAHABA IN SHELBY COUNTY IF YOU WANT TO, BUT ITS A GOOD LONG DRIVE UP HERE AND I CANT GUARENTEE ANY BIRDS BUT THE OFFER IS UP AS LONG AS JOSH AND COLBIE STAY DOWN SOUTH ALABAMA

no im one of those guys with a manly 90 hp motor that will run 40mph down the lake only to pick up an uglystik with an ambassadeur and put a 1 lb shad on it and try to catch a damn 30 lb stripe. i hate bass fishing more than i hate turkey hunting.

I never hunted turkeys either but I'm gonna get one of them turkey fan thing and dance around like uncle si. Hell it worked for them.

Alot of good advice from pcp.

I personally believe there are alot of situations where you can call alot.

When birds get real hot, it does not matter. But thats something you will pick up on. Just for general advice, Dont scare the turkeys and you can kill turkeys.

Move not to be seen, and dont make alot of noise. These are two things that I never thought about much when I first started. Alot of times we run off birds and never see them.

Well, you ain't near as bad as I originally thought then. Would be better if you didn't blaspheme and say turkey hunting sux, but at least you aren't at the total bottom of the barrel by being one of those knothead bass fishermen.

That's about as good as any advice you could ever get.

No. Quit watching hunting videos.

And if you decide to buy a box call, buy a good one. I've seen some for sale right here that I'm sure would work fine. You only need one.

There are times when you can call aggressively and kill turkeys. I love to call aggressively, but the only time I can get away with it where I hunt is very early in the season. After that, less is more. I'm just saying that for a beginner, it would be far better to just make a few clucks and watch and listen for a season, then start to increase on your calls and calling.

I see too many on the Coosa WMA that have been to a turkey show, bought a bunch of calls, watched a few videos, and think they are ready to call up a turkey. Their chance of success is zero.

I think those are the same ones that dress in full camo and boots and drive from Mobile County to their Dallas county lease in $50K trucks. Size matters sticker mandatory.

HaHa! I just started last season and you just described me to a "T". I saw a lot of birds, but managed to run most of em off. I finally got a couple to play the game late, but wasn't able to close the deal. Needless to say, I am re-evaluating my strategy. Thanks for all the tips PCP

I'll be honest when it comes to hunting the swamp, you are about better not to go. You are lucky to hear one about every 5th trip. Really aint worth it. if that was all I had to hunt, I wouldnt waste my time.