Successful Turkey Hunting

by M. D. Johnson

Give readers a cure for their gobbler fever with this glossy, full-color turkey hunting guide guaranteed to produce results! Second in the Successful Hunting series, turkey hunters will learn strategies for bagging the wily longbeard. Thoroughly describes essential turkey hunting gear such as clothes and accessories, shotguns, calls, and decoys—everything needed for a successful hunt. The authors detail popular turkey hunting regions across the U.S. as well as provide techniques for bagging all major turkey subspecies. A manufacturers listing identifies who's who in the world of turkey hunting. • Second in the Successful Hunting series
• Discusses essential turkey hunting techniques and strategies
• Identifies popular hunting areas and all major turkey subspecies

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Elwin Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it for the most part, it wasn't anything earth shattering or remarkably amazing... but it's a book about turkey hunting. Probably close to 75% of this book revolves around calling, which apparently is a huge part of turkey hunting.. and that's why I decided to read this book as I am planning my first ever turkey hunt for Spring 2020.

It's not a bad book, it's just not a great book. Reading lines of text about calling techniques and hearing "war stories" is great... but, a wannabe turkey hunter like myself would probably get more value from watching videos, practicing the calls live and in person, and getting out there in the woods/mountains and looking for turkey sign, seeing them out of season, time at the range/shooting tarets, so on and so forth.

And of course also covered in this book is just being generally prepared. Marksmanship skills well practiced, calls practiced, scouted off season, proper clothing/gear/etc. All broad/basic/generic stuff that I learned from Elk/Deer hunting, that I suppose may be of more value to someone who has absolutely zero hunting experience and they are using this as a starting point.

If you want to save yourself the read, or take a sneak peak of what to expect, I'll provide my summary/take-a-ways from the book in bullet format below:



o Calls. Calls are good. Practice your calls. Research calls. Call some more. Watch videos on calls. Call off season. Expect the unexpected no matter how many times you called when it's hunting season. Locator calls are good to have too (owl/crow). Did I mention... calls are important?

o If you are sitting in your spot for hours and hours and not hearing anything... don't be afraid to reasses the situation, look for sign, and come up with a new plan. Especially with Merriam, they like to move.

o Expect Murphy to join you on your trip.

o Be an prepared as possible with your weapon of choice, may it be traditional bow, crossbow, or shotgun. Use a range finder and know your effective distances at your set-up, before a tom decides to stop by.

o Start early, stay late. Also, many hunters have harvested turkeys at high noon. So think twice before heading back to camp for lunch.

o Use game cameras if you can.

o Use decoys... my big take-a-way would be to use the Hen + Jake set-up. A submissive hen and a jake together, will have the big meanie tom come charging to bully the inferior jake away from a stray hen. At least, it sounds good on paper... right?

o Camo everywhere.

o Enjoy the experience of being the great outdoors participating in an American past time.

o In closing, some advice I got from an old timer, who has been Elk hunting for decades... "Just like a first date, don't expect on your hunting trip to get everything you want right away." ... However you can always increase your chances,... showing up on time, being prepared, and gifts don't hurt either (calls, decoys... versus flowers and chocolates).



Either way, I did enjoy the book (although I am happy that I picked it up at the library instead of purchasing it) and I am super excited for my calls to come in the mail and start practicing, scouting in March, and getting out there and turkey hunting for the first time in 2020.