# Lets talk turkey



## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

I like custom calls and have way too many...

If I had to choose one call to take in the woods with me it would be a slate style call with 10-12 strikers...


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## TritonBill (Apr 9, 2004)

I'd like to try turkey hunting this year. I have about 300 acres I can hunt on but don't have the know how or prob the equipment. The only thing I have is my Remington 870 12gauge. What's the minimum I'd need to get rolling to call some turkey in? This is something fun my son and I could do together. He's only 6 but he may enjoy the calling part. I'm not about to give him a gun yet!!


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

I like turkey sandwiches, deep fried turkey, turkey pot pie, smoked turkey....


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

Hey Bill...
Does your 870 have choke tubes? If so good if not OK...
Purchase one box of #5 turkey loads in the longest size your gun will except them 2 1/4, 3 or 3 12/ inch... step off 25 yards and see how your gun patterns at that distance. Then move out to 30 yards and so on... Find the range your gun will shoot a good pattern at and do not shoot past that point.
Call wise you can't beat a box call for a new caller for ease of use...
If there is anyway we can meet somewhere near us both I'll meet you and bring some of my calls and show you some pointers...
Not sure where your from...


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

Hey twistertail I like all those too


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

Hey Bill your from down by my cuz... I'll send you a PM


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I decided to down size a few years ago. I seldom buy turkey calls anymore, other than mouth calls. I take a slate style and carry a few strikers, a homemade box call, and my mouth calls. Once I truly learned how to operate a mouth call, I use them more than anything else. I've yet to hear another call that can produce the raspy yelps and cutting that a good mouth call can, in the mouth of someone who knows how to operate one correctly. But, if I HAD to choose one call, it would be the slate. Nothing is quite as versatile, at least for me. I just never used a tube style enough to get the hang of it.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

me2 on the tubes...
last year the kee kee on my mouth calls had the gobblers responding when nothing else would... But I had to finish them off with the slate  
The last gobbler I called in took over 2 hrs and my 9 year olds were getting bored out of their minds LMAO... That bird gobbled 1000 times unreal


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## steelmagoo (Apr 13, 2004)

I'm going turkey hunting for the first time this year. For a total greenhorn, what is the easiest call to learn and be effective? I practiced a little with a single diaphragm mouth call last year but I don't think I was real good at it. I'll probably buy a slate with an instructional tape soz I can learn the language. I'll probably use my Remington 870 and wrap it in camo tape.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

It doesn't get much better than a slate. Easy to use, and very effective. I'd suggest getting a synthetic one, which will continue to work in wet weather. I like my Sla-Tek (with the right striker), but there's many out there. Also, rent some turkey hunting videos from the video store. You can learn a lot of things from watching and listening, but nothing will take the place of time in the woods. It can take a few years to really get the hang of it. Even after 15 years, they beat me more often than not.


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## TritonBill (Apr 9, 2004)

I can screw the chokes in and out and get different chokes. Don't know a ton about them since all that I had previous to this new gun was an old Iver Johnson single shot 20 gauge!


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## Reel Thing (Apr 5, 2004)

I like the box and the slate 
Worked on mouth calls and just cant get the right sound consistant guess just need to practice more. Any Tips???????
Going up to Presque last saturday about 20 miles before I got into Pa. there were about a dozen turkeys in a field and the Tom was in full strut that will get your blood boiling.
Geowol
George


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

> Worked on mouth calls and just cant get the right sound consistant guess just need to practice more. Any Tips???????


 Practice, practice, and more practice. If you don't hear "Shut that thing up!!!" being sceamed from the other end of the house, it's not enough yet.


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## Procraftboats21 (Apr 6, 2004)

ah I drive my parents nuts practicing before turkey season. I know I'm gettin good when I'm not using the call and theres a turkey hunting show on in my room and I get yelled at to put the call away  

I use a split v double reed mouth call by Penn's Woods but I wouldn't dare go in the woods without my lil duce slate call by H.S Strut


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

Hey Morgan sent you a PM ... 
Bill we'll hookup I'll bring my calls...
The thing most turkey hunters do wrong is not scout and call too much... 
Set up where the gobbler needs to come in to find the hen not in an area where you can see 70 or more yards of open woods/field because if oyu can see that far then so can he and he'll expect to see a hen...
I hunt gobblers not areas... Learn a gobbler and find his strut zone, where his hens nest and areas he fills comfortable in and at some point in the season you will harvest that bird... do not spook an area or goobler you can shut both down for the whole season... It is far better to slip out then spook a gobbler...
You won't learn everything in one year and not all gobblers can be taken and you'll loose more then you'll win by far but there is nothing that I know of that can compare to calling in a spring gobbler... It will get deep into your blood


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## stilesp (Apr 8, 2004)

I've gone through alot of calls myself and have killed alot of turkeys. Oddly enough my H.S. strut push button box call has killed at least %70 of them. Like atrkyhntr said don't call too much. My dad taught me this when I first started to hunt turkeys. Majority of the turkeys I hunt I didn't make more that 5 or 6 calls to and it wasn't anything fancey. I've killed two turkeys without even making a call. Like atrkyhntr said if you pattern a bird well enough before season you may never have to talk to him. If I know where a tom is going to pass by I will set up a jake and hen decoy and usually they will want to come whoop his but and u know what to her. Two years ago my dad and I got a double this way and both of them had 10 inch beards. It was raining buckets and neither one of us had pulled a call out of our pockets yet.

Second I would pick a good slate as it is hard to mess up after a little practice. I still have trouble with mouth calls because I get so dang excited I don't have enough control to sound realistic. I sound fine practicing at home but put a gobbler out in front of me and forget it.


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## stilesp (Apr 8, 2004)

Check out my gallery for last years double that my dad and I got. Two years in a row. I hunt in KY. Don't have a place in OH. If anybody needs a hunting partner this year in OH let me know.


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## Walter Adkins (May 20, 2004)

I have hunted turkeys since I was 8. I have enough birds over my shoulder to say that I am still learning. Scout, Scout Scout you have to scout or just be plain lucky.
I raised turkeys when I was a little kid and learned to call from them. I do not use a diaphragm but just my mouth. Sounds far fetched but I have the turkeys to prove that it works. But like most things every turkey wants something different than his rival. Practice is the only way and never end on a bad note.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

> never end on a bad note


for those who don't know explained he means do not end a calling sequence on a bad sound/call simply carry it 2-3 calls longer...


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## TritonBill (Apr 9, 2004)

I was talking to some serious turkey hunters that hunt my father's land and they mentioned NOT to call alot before season started where you plan on hunting because the birds will get "Call Shy". What do you guys think about this?


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## stilesp (Apr 8, 2004)

I'm not positive but I think that it is actually against the law to call before season at least in KY I think it is. Like I said I think, I haven't looked it up yet.

Don't end on a bad note. I usually yell 'SORRY' right after a bad note. Heee hee. just kidding.


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## TritonBill (Apr 9, 2004)

Not sure how it could be against the law if your just calling and have no weapons. There are crazier laws though....


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

Hey Bill I will when scouting let out a yelp or 2 to locate birds but will not call to call them in that only educates them... Calling to locate them has never hurt my harvest rates and I have been hunting them for over 30 years...
WOW that makes me sound *OLD*


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## stilesp (Apr 8, 2004)

Prohibited hunting methods from KY 2005 spring turkey guide

7) Call or attempt to call wild turkeys by
mimicking the sounds made by a wild
turkey from March 1 until the opening
day of spring turkey season in any area
open to turkey hunting if turkeys are
reasonably expected to occur.
Locator calls such as crow or owl calls
are permitted. (301 KAR 2:140)

Also found interesting in same guide

Hunters Note:
A person may assist or call turkeys for another legal hunter.
The assistant/caller does not have to possess a hunting license
or turkey permit, BUT shall not carry any type of hunting
equipment. Only hunters with a valid license and permit who
have not taken the season bag limit can carry a shotgun,
archery or crossbow equipment when turkey hunting.


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## Ovation (Apr 7, 2005)

If you are just starting out turkey hunting the easiest way to go is a good push button call. I was calling in birds with a push button call when I was 10 years old. Learn how to do a basic yelp, cluck and a purr and you can bag a turkey with one. Although if you practice with one I think a good mouth call is hard to beat. The key to calling in turkeys I think is to get as close as you can to a bird before you even call. If I can I like to get within 75-100 yards before I call. This is not always possible to do but it greatly increases the chance of a bird coming in.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

...why in the world is someone posting Ky regulations in reference to Ohio hunting?
Has much to do about nothing here in Ohio and only serves to further confuse those who already have limited knowledge of Ohio hunting regulations...


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