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Post by eg2222 on Mar 14, 2006 21:46:11 GMT -8
Well, here goes. I'm heading out turkey hunting for the first time ever this spring. Can anyone point me in a good direction as far as any quality books or videos out there that would be a good starting point on turkey hunting. Also any ideas on good calling audio tapes or DVD's to learn from would be greatly appreciated. Pretty much any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks all and I look forward in you feedback and getting started in the learning process. Eric
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Post by Billybob on Mar 14, 2006 21:49:54 GMT -8
I'm in the same boat as you. I don't know much on turkey hunting but you know what. There is a great bunch of hunters here and I am willing to bet you will get pointed in the right direction. Good luck with the hunting and be sure to take some pictures so you can share them with us.  ;D  |
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Post by Wapitiwill on Mar 16, 2006 4:51:42 GMT -8
AS far as books I don't know many but the primos new sound dome turcky calls are great. They also have some great videos on calling and hunting. Where are you looking to hunt?
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Post by eg2222 on Mar 16, 2006 22:13:02 GMT -8
I haven't figured that out for sure yet to be honest. I'm doing some research right now on possible places to go. I'll check out the Primos call you mentioned. I've already picked up a push-button call that mounts on my gun and a pretty nice slate that I'm working with now along with one video that seems pretty good but I want to check a few more out too. I think I'm getting pretty decent with the slate but I guess we'll let the turkeys decide that...lol. Any suggestions on possible places to look into (I'm not asking for your personal hot-spot just any general places....lol)?
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Post by eg2222 on Mar 16, 2006 22:27:15 GMT -8
wapitiwill...you lucky dog. I just saw that you're in Winston....Douglas County right? I was reading somewhere that Douglas County has more turkey per square mile than any other county in Oregon. Is that true in your opinion/experience? On the downside for me...I also read that about 90% of the land in Douglas County is private and what is public gets hunted extremely hard so it's not too great on the public land for turkey. Once again...based on your opinion/experience does that sound pretty correct?
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Post by Wapitiwill on Mar 17, 2006 5:05:40 GMT -8
Yes and no. There is a lot of private but you would be suprized on how many will let you hunt! There is a few over looked public spots but not many.If you are interested I can pm you a few spots and maybe a couple of phone numbers. ;D
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Post by eg2222 on Mar 18, 2006 7:46:14 GMT -8
Definately....any info would be greatly appreciated! Go ahead and PM me.
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Post by buffalocounty32 on Mar 18, 2006 12:32:44 GMT -8
for videos its very hard to beat the primos lineup of videos, and if you want to see alot of birds real close look at double bulls year on the ground series.
as for where to hunt this can vary fromt time to time, the best thing to do is go in a couple mornings and jsut watch the birds, see where they are roosting, flying down and where they are going after they are on thr ground, if you find where they roost try to set up within 75 yards but no closer 25 to them...in the morning after they get a few gobbles off try a few soft yelps and clucks just to let them know you are there, then just sit tight and wait for them to fly down...chances are they will fly towards you, if not they know you are there and will be back, or they have buddies interested.
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Post by Billybob on Mar 19, 2006 19:16:55 GMT -8
Great advise buffalo. ;D
How long have you been hunting for these buffalo?
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Post by buffalocounty32 on Mar 22, 2006 20:03:33 GMT -8
Great advise buffalo. ;D How long have you been hunting for these buffalo? 4 years...turkey hunting is my passion...we video tape all our hunts, last year we called in15 birds for 18 guys......turkey is literally a 2nd language to me |
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Post by eg2222 on Mar 26, 2006 18:01:36 GMT -8
Thanks to all for the responses and the help! I have a few more questions. Please excuse the fact that these questions are probably on the VERY beginner side. Here's what I've done so far.....bought and watched 3 turkey hunting videos, bought multiple call including predator calls and practiced almost non-stop (my girlfriend is threatening to leave me if I don't stop..lol), bought a good topo map program, done some research on the net, and talked to couple people on this site. Wapitiwill helped me out greatly by pointing me in the direction of a couple spots in Douglas County he suggested that I try (thanks again wapitiwill) and I mapped them out with my new program. Sounds good so far huh?? I sure thought so. I was feeling good, this is going to be easy!! Hold on there...lol! This morning my alarm goes off at 2am. I'm out the door by 2:30am. I'm excited as can be! I drive the 3 hrs or so to do some scouting. I get there just before sunrise ready to find some turkeys. At this point I'm figuring that I'm going to be getting run over by turkeys all day long...I'm ready and I'm sure that it's going to be that way. 8 hours later I'm driving home with my tail between my legs wondering what went wrong. I went the whole day without seeing a single turkey. I did get a gobble in response to a crow call but it was from extremely far away. So I came to one conclusion.....although my learning process has started I sure have a long ways to go so I'm going to ask some real basic questions that I realized I don't know the answers to. So I'm going to ask them.
1) Where do turkeys hang out ie elevation, terrain, features,etc ? I was assuming and looking in mid to lower elevations (although I did spend some time higher up) in the more open areas and around water. Is this correct or am I looking in the wrong spot?
2) All the videos and a couple posts in this thread talk about setting up in the vicinity of a roost tree. Makes sense to me. But how do you find a roost tree? I listened and looked at sunrise but never heard or saw any flying turkeys leaving a tree. Are there areas or features to look for in finding a roost tree?
Not only did I not see turkeys, I really didn't see any sign either. I looked for tracks, scratches, and feces but didn't see anything. Wapitiwill gave me a couple great areas to look in but I'm convinced that I'm not knowledgeable enough to look in the right places within those areas hence the reason I saw no turkeys. I'm sure the area is full of turkeys if I just look in the right places but I don't know where to look.
So guys and gals I need your help. Any and all info will be greatly appreciated!!
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Post by archerynut on Mar 27, 2006 9:55:24 GMT -8
the best thing I could suggest is to go out to Melrose and Lookingglass area and start knocking on doors. Finding a ranch out in the country and getting permission is the ticket to turkey hunting Douglas County. Also try around Winston. You may aslo try up the North Umpqua. But anyone you can talk to is worth a shot.
You might even check it out around Berry Cr. Reservoir. Thats mostly public and there are quite a few birds out that way.
Carl
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Post by buffalocounty32 on Mar 30, 2006 18:41:14 GMT -8
from what i have seen all our birds seem to hang out at low-mid elevation....they prefer open areas, unless acorns or other on ground food sources are avaliable
it may be that you dont have many turkies around you so you may have trouble just looking/listening for a roosting spot....what to look for are big trees, turkies like ig oak trees with big thick limbs to sit on...they usaully roost(depending on the tree height) 15-25ft up
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