You might have discovered that turkey hunting is harder than it seems – particularly if you’re a beginner or intermediate hunter.

A turkey in the woods is quite challenging to stalk and hunt (even with its name). The bird has a remarkable intelligence and ultra-sharp eyesight, and you should not take its survival skills for granted. It can take you long to master the skills necessary for closing in one and sneaking up on the turkey.

Ejoy the rest of this guest post by the founder of BuckWithBow.

But if you arm yourself with the turkey hunting tips below before the next turkey season begins, you’ll increase your odds in turkey hunting and give yourself an advantage (yes, an advantage).

Turkey Hunting Tips Every Hunter Must Know:

1. Flush Them: Scattering of flocks is one of the most common and highly successful techniques for turkey hunting. Though this trick works mostly for fall hunting, you can as well utilize it in the spring season. If you come across a flock of hens and gobblers and it’s hard to lure them in, moving in and dispersing them can pay off. Ensure this move is fast and decisive; run with your unloaded gun and yell loudly to clatter them away.The idea here is, the birds will try to get back together. And if you use some artful calling, you’ll easily draw one of the big gobblers back and take him down quickly.
2. Conceal Yourself: Turkeys are smart – they’ve got sharp eyesight. As such you’d want to hide completely from the bird’s eyes. Dressing in camouflage suits will help decrease your visibility to the animals in the fields. This will break up the human pattern and confuse the smart bird, making it easy to lure them into your range.
3. Learn To Call the Turkeys: Employing turkey calls is one of the truest ways to kills that big long beard. When utilizing the calls, you’re trying to produce sweet yearnings, seductive sounds of a super-exited, lonesome hen. This will draw the gobbler faster than anything else. Alternatively, you can learn to make sounds similar to those of a lonely hen with your mouth (usually after an extended period of hunting).

   Important Tip: When calling, remember that you’ll attract many toms into your range. Don’t let them sense your presence in any way. The toms aren’t dumb. And the reason they live enough to become dominant is that they’ve evaded the shotgun blast a thousand and one times!

4. Decoys! Decoys! Decoys!: Pairing your calls up with the real things – the decoy – will make the turkey more submissive to you. That is, it will be easier for you to bring in the Tom (or several of them) into your range.What type of turkey decoy should you use?If you use the Jake decoy, the bird tends to slut in with slow movements – he’s not jumpy. If you use the stutter decoy, the turkeys come, but they stay on edge (they shy away from the gobbler). So, using the Jake in pre-breeding position works better.While jakes and stutter decoys bring in shy, uncooperative birds, you can never go wrong with the single hen decoy. Pair this with yelps of a hale and Knight, and you’ll make an irresistible offer to the gobbler.
5. Roosting Works Too: The easiest method to take down a gobbler in the spring so far is by finding his roost a night before. With your pre-season scouting observations, you’ll be able to key in on the general area where the bird might be spending his night. Head to the woods in the evening. Without spooking the turkey, get within earshot and carefully listen for light calling and wings flapping as the birds fly up on their roosts to prepare for the night. Using an owl or turkey locator call can also help you make them tom gobble on its roots as it starts getting dark. By observing and listening to the Tom on his roost, you’ll know exactly where and when to be the following morning.Now, wake up early the next morning and walk in the cover of darkness. Set up close to a tree and avoid using ay light. Call to your target lightly after he starts talking in his roost. If you let him know there’s a hen in your direction, he’ll defiantly come to investigate.
6. Explore the New States: As a turkey hunter, it’s not wise to confine yourself to a single state. Remember that each state offers different birds, different scenarios and even different thrills. Your primary task here is to explore your options.For instance, you can set out to hunt in South Dakota in the next season. Here, you can obtain an archery tag as well as prairie tags. Often, you’ll find leftovers in these prairie units. Above all, you’ve got an opportunity to hunt up to three species in this state – the Rio’s, Merriam’s and the Eastern’s (in the Eastern part of the state).Likewise, you’ll get different birds, scenarios, and thrills in other states.Just make sure you fully understand the turkey hunting regulations of the new state you’re planning to hunt in.
7. Mind Your Safety: Before we call off our post on the important tips to make your turkey hunting success, allow me to remind you to keep as safe as possible while in the fields. Whenever you’re embracing on a turkey hunting excursion, you must carry with you the full hunting gear. This includes a bulletproof vest, gloves, eye goggles and any other protective gear. Keep in mind that turkey hunting involves the use of the guns and things can go wrong at times. So, it’s important always to be prepared.While still at it, it’s important to avoid wearing with the white, red or blue colors (consider blaze range instead). These are turkey colors and could easily draw undesired attention from the careless turkey hunters and their shotguns or bows.

   Final ThoughtsSo, these are the top turkey hunting tips every serious turkey hunters need to know before the next turkey hunting season kicks in. All the tips we have discussed above are the secrets that experienced turkey hunters have been employing every other season and enjoying the best hunts. Whether you’re a beginner or intermediate turkey hunter, these smart techniques will take your hunting skills a notch higher.

   Hunting turkeys with a bow? Make sure you check the best single pin bow sight here to increase your shooting accuracy.

   Good luck!
   Author Bio: Jennifer is the founder of BuckWithBow, a great blog that focuses on helping you learn how to hunt deer with a bow. As an experienced bow hunter, she will guide you through the Do’s and Don’ts of the bowhunting world and transform you into a better hunter. Whether you are an experienced bow hunter or an absolute beginner, you will find BuckWithBow a gem!