Wild Turkey Facts

Wild Turkey

The Eastern Wild Turkey is growing in numbers, making it one of the most popular big game animals for springtime. Wild turkey inhabit wooded areas, where they feed primarily on insects. The male has dark iridescent feathers overall, red wattles on the throat, and a dark tuft suspended from the breast. The female is duller than the male, lacks wattles, and often lacks a breast tuft.

Latest Wild Turkey Tips

You've got permission to hunt for wild turkeys on a large farm. Where to begin calling? Use these tips to eliminate unproductive areas and hone in on where the birds will concentrate.

Several factors go into having a successful turkey hunt, but perhaps nothing is more important than picking a good calling spot. Pick the right spot, and your chances of calling the gobbler up are good. But pick the wrong spot, and you may as well be back home in bed. Here are some things to remember when picking a spot to try to lure that tom into gun range.

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: It’s raining. How do wild turkeys respond to rain, and what’s the best advice for hunting them in this condition?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: It’s late afternoon, close to time for wild turkeys to fly up to roost. You know the area where a gobbler has been roosting. What’s the best strategy for intercepting him and calling him into shotgun range as he makes his way to his “bedroom?”

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: It’s mid-morning, and you are “running and gunning,” covering ground quickly to locate a wild turkey gobbler. Suddenly you hear a bird, and you move in and set up. When you call, he answers, but he is farther away. You move toward him, and he gobbles again, but he’s farther still. He is gobbling at steady intervals, but despite your calls, he continues moving away. He is a “marching gobbler,” and he’s covering ground quickly looking for a hen or heading to his strut zone. What’s the best strategy for getting “up close and personal” with such a bird?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: It’s early in the season, before the leaves have budded out, and the woods are wide open. A wild turkey is gobbling, and you move in to set up. However, since visibility is so good, you have to be careful not to be seen. How do you maneuver on such a bird, and how do you set up for the best chance of calling him into gun range?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: You’re walking and calling, trying to get a response from a wild turkey gobbler. Suddenly you get an answer, and the gobbler is fairly close. You set up and get ready. Then you make a call, and he answers again, but he’s still in the same place. You wait awhile, make another call and get another answer – same place! After a half hour, it’s obvious the turkey isn’t coming. What is the best strategy to hunt this bird?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: The wind is gusting, making hearing difficult. It’s impossible to hear a wild turkey gobbler at long range. What’s the best chance of locating a gobbler in this situation, and how do you set up and call him?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: It’s mid-morning, and the woods have been silent. You’re walking through your hunting country, using loud yelping and cutting to try to get a response. Suddenly you hear a wild turkey gobble on the next ridge, several hundred yards distant. What do you do next? How do you approach this gobbler, and how do you set up and call him?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: You slip up on an open field, and there’s one or more wild turkey gobblers strutting behind a flock of feeding hens. This is a tough situation, but it’s not impossible. Where do you set up and how do you call to get one of the gobblers to break away and come to you?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: One or more wild turkey gobblers have been roosting in a woods just off the edge of a field. At dawn, their pattern has been to fly into the field and strut until their hens show up. How do you maneuver, where do you set up and how do you call to lure these gobblers in when they leave their roost?

Wade's World Hunting: Scenario: A wild turkey gobbler has answered your call, but he’s across a creek or deep gully that you cannot cross. How do you set up and attempt to call him across this natural barrier to ground travel?

Wade's World Hunting: Locator calls are calls hunters use to get a response from a gobbler for location purposes. Many hunters use loud hen yelping to get a response. However, sometimes gobblers will respond to any loud sound: thunder, a distant boom, a car door slamming, etc. They will also frequently gobble at sounds other animals make, and this is what locator calls imitate: an owl, crow, coyote, woodpecker, etc. To locate a gobbler, many hunters cruise through the woods, using a locator call every few hundred yards to prompt a response.

Wade's World Hunting: Lot of elements go into being successful in the turkey woods.  But one of the most important things is picking a good spot to call from, a place where you have a better chance of luring a tom into shotgun range.

Wade's World Hunting: A turkey vest carries everything the hunter needs for the tasks at hand. That makes knowing what to pack, since you are wearing all the gear.

Wade's World Hunting: Learn from this turkey hunting expert how weather affects success with changing conditions of spring.