2024 Wild Turkey Thread

1963beretta

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Whats going on ladies and gentlemen?? There are only 4 days left for the opener here in Ontario and we still don’t have a thread for 2024 wild turkey season??

Lets get this thing started folks!
 
Oh yeah! As much as I'm envious of the hunting you folks out west have, one thing Ontario has going for it some prime wild turkey hunting! Bird numbers in my area seem very strong so I think our mild winter should translate into a successful season for a lot of hunters.
 
I'll be hitting 92A for opener on Thursday. Bringing 2 people who have never been turkey hunting before to hopefully get them a bird. They are from up north, never even heard a wild turkey gobble. I'm pretty excited.

Dare I jinx it?... weather looks great for opener this year cou:
 
I may miss the opener for the first time in almost 25 years. On the first business day of January, I booked the day off. Then at the beginning of April I got a subpoena to be a witness in court for the 24th and 25th. I’m hoping the matter is resolved on the 24th so I can get out on the 25th. Otherwise, I may not be able to get out until the 28th.
 
Following this thread with interest. I have zero experience but I’m going to take the plunge this season. Been waiting for an opportunity far too long, gotta just go out and do it myself.

Any advice for a total noob? I need to understand WMU, tools, type of shot, calls, etc.
 
Well nothing like waiting till the last minute! Not trying to put you off but you shouldve already had your gun patterned to find out your effective range with a sample of different ammo. Hunting ground with birds present shouldve been secured with legal permission. Learning to call while hunting is not usually productive. There are basically two types of calls. Friction and air. Friction calls include Box calls and Pot calls and both are friction type calls producing turkey sounds by creating friction between two things. Box calls are basically a box with two curved sides and a top which is curved and chalked with soft chalk. When the top is dragged oved one side it creates a call and when on the other side a different toned call. Pot calls have a pot made of many different materials. The pot is hollow with a top of Slate,glass,ceramic,aluminum or other material. A striker of many types of material(usually woods of different types) is worked at a 45 degree angle to create all the various turkey sounds. Diaphrams placed in the mouth and sealed against the roof of the mouth are another type producing all the turkey vocalizations and requiring limited movement which is a positive allowing free use of both hands. Its not really that complicated but like most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it!!!
 
Well nothing like waiting till the last minute! Not trying to put you off but you shouldve already had your gun patterned to find out your effective range with a sample of different ammo. Hunting ground with birds present shouldve been secured with legal permission. Learning to call while hunting is not usually productive. There are basically two types of calls. Friction and air. Friction calls include Box calls and Pot calls and both are friction type calls producing turkey sounds by creating friction between two things. Box calls are basically a box with two curved sides and a top which is curved and chalked with soft chalk. When the top is dragged oved one side it creates a call and when on the other side a different toned call. Pot calls have a pot made of many different materials. The pot is hollow with a top of Slate,glass,ceramic,aluminum or other material. A striker of many types of material(usually woods of different types) is worked at a 45 degree angle to create all the various turkey sounds. Diaphrams placed in the mouth and sealed against the roof of the mouth are another type producing all the turkey vocalizations and requiring limited movement which is a positive allowing free use of both hands. Its not really that complicated but like most things in life, you get out of it what you put into it!!!

I appreciate the info, certainly a lot to think about. I may not be successful this hunt and I’m prepared to fail, but as long as I learn from it I’ll be happy.
 
No matter how many years I've been hunting wild turkey, I always learn something new every hunt. Be it the way the birds reacted to calling, weather conditions, moved around the terrain etc. I always say that every hunt is a success, whether you harvest a bird or not, as long as you learn something.
 
I appreciate the info, certainly a lot to think about. I may not be successful this hunt and I’m prepared to fail, but as long as I learn from it I’ll be happy.

Grab a box call - easy to learn and you'll be able to make decent yelp sounds with 5 minutes of practice. You don't have to be an expert caller to draw in a tom but you can over-do the calling so try to avoid that. When starting out, I'd suggest doing a few yelps about every 45 minutes or so and once a tom has a visual on your decoy, stop calling. When you get some experience you'll understand when to keep calling and when to stop as well as different calls. My first half dozen toms were taken with nothing more than yelps to get their attention and then their curiosity did the rest.

Patterning your gun with different types of ammo is ideal but not necessary. Grab a turkey choke and some #5 turkey loads and don't shoot at a bird over 35yds away. Put your decoy(s) out at 20 yds and use that as your way to judge distance - anything with a beard in a 10yd radius of your decoy is a dead bird. Aim for where the neck meets the body.

Turkeys have amazing eyesight, movement is your biggest enemy. You'll learn how good their eyesight is the hard way, we all do eventually.

You've got the right attitude. Good luck and report back on how your season went!
 
If you’re not willing to fire a few rounds to make sure the POI is the same as POA then you shouldn’t be shooting at any living creature. How many guys with Binellis know what I’m talking about??
 
Grab a box call - easy to learn and you'll be able to make decent yelp sounds with 5 minutes of practice. You don't have to be an expert caller to draw in a tom but you can over-do the calling so try to avoid that. When starting out, I'd suggest doing a few yelps about every 45 minutes or so and once a tom has a visual on your decoy, stop calling. When you get some experience you'll understand when to keep calling and when to stop as well as different calls. My first half dozen toms were taken with nothing more than yelps to get their attention and then their curiosity did the rest.

Patterning your gun with different types of ammo is ideal but not necessary. Grab a turkey choke and some #5 turkey loads and don't shoot at a bird over 35yds away. Put your decoy(s) out at 20 yds and use that as your way to judge distance - anything with a beard in a 10yd radius of your decoy is a dead bird. Aim for where the neck meets the body.

Turkeys have amazing eyesight, movement is your biggest enemy. You'll learn how good their eyesight is the hard way, we all do eventually.

You've got the right attitude. Good luck and report back on how your season went!

This is great advice, thank you. I’ll be practicing this right away. I’m sure it will take time and patience on my end but there’s only one way to move forward; I just have to try. I’ll make sure I document as much as I can for future noobs.

No matter how many years I've been hunting wild turkey, I always learn something new every hunt. Be it the way the birds reacted to calling, weather conditions, moved around the terrain etc. I always say that every hunt is a success, whether you harvest a bird or not, as long as you learn something.

This is my attitude. I’m in it for the journey. I get to be outdoors, feel the elements just like the animal, and dare I say it, experience what it’s like to be a turkey for a few moments. That in itself is so worth it for me.
 
No matter how many years I've been hunting wild turkey, I always learn something new every hunt. Be it the way the birds reacted to calling, weather conditions, moved around the terrain etc. I always say that every hunt is a success, whether you harvest a bird or not, as long as you learn something.

Well said. I like the way you think!.
 
I've been walking around my shop practicing a mouth call,hard to get past that gag reflex but it's getting better.As for the turkey population things are looking good,I'm lucky to has a local private farm with plenty uneducated birds 5 minutes from my home(weekday hunts) and on the weekends I head up to my farm,lots of space(800 acres)birds and just me,time to disconnect .Only three more sleeps
 
I've been walking around my shop practicing a mouth call,hard to get past that gag reflex but it's getting better.As for the turkey population things are looking good,I'm lucky to has a local private farm with plenty uneducated birds 5 minutes from my home(weekday hunts) and on the weekends I head up to my farm,lots of space(800 acres)birds and just me,time to disconnect .Only three more sleeps

As far as the gagging, you can trim the back of the call, so it doesn't sit so far back. May help.
 
Grab a box call - easy to learn and you'll be able to make decent yelp sounds with 5 minutes of practice. You don't have to be an expert caller to draw in a tom but you can over-do the calling so try to avoid that. When starting out, I'd suggest doing a few yelps about every 45 minutes or so and once a tom has a visual on your decoy, stop calling. When you get some experience you'll understand when to keep calling and when to stop as well as different calls. My first half dozen toms were taken with nothing more than yelps to get their attention and then their curiosity did the rest.

Patterning your gun with different types of ammo is ideal but not necessary. Grab a turkey choke and some #5 turkey loads and don't shoot at a bird over 35yds away. Put your decoy(s) out at 20 yds and use that as your way to judge distance - anything with a beard in a 10yd radius of your decoy is a dead bird. Aim for where the neck meets the body.

Turkeys have amazing eyesight, movement is your biggest enemy. You'll learn how good their eyesight is the hard way, we all do eventually.

You've got the right attitude. Good luck and report back on how your season went!


Great advice. Curiosity has probably killed more turkeys than anything else.
 
Anyone have any luck today?

I had a couple jakes come in silently but I passed on shooting one. Too early in the season to put a tag on a jake. Other then those two birds, it was a ghost town. I only heard a couple shots in the distance. Seemed like a slower morning than usual.
 
WMU 92A
4:00pm
25.5lbs
1.5" spurs
10.5" beard

SZGdr.jpg
 
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