Many hunters like to test their skill at bringing home their own wild turkey for dinner. While it is a fun and exciting hunt, it can also be a challenging and tiring one. Turkey season is often offered in both the spring and the fall; this will give hunters a chance at turkey a few times a year. Tactics are different for both the spring and the fall hunt though, so with a little bit of time and research a hunter can step out into the woods confident that he's acquired all the tools to bag a trophy gobbler.
Scouting your local area for popular turkey haunts is an important part of planning a turkey hunt. Many hunters make a point to do this outside of turkey season so they can get an idea of the habits of the turkeys in their area. For the sake of practice, many hunters also like to use a call when scouting areas outside of turkey season. This will allow the hunter to perfect his call by the time season comes around. When practicing your call with real turkeys though, it's important to listen for their habits when gobbling. It doesn't take much for a turkey to grow tired of too much gobbling and move out of the area.
Because there are two turkey seasons many hunters like to switch up their game plan. Turkeys are smart creatures and often grow wise to the hunter's tactics. In the spring of the year when males are trying to mate with as many females as possible, they are much more interested in investigating every call a hunter may make. In the fall, however, when mating season is past its peak, it can be more difficult to call turkeys in with calls. Instead of using a mating call, many hunters try to mimic the turkeys; for instance aggressive calls should be met with aggressive calls and soft calls with soft ones.
Another great thing many hunters like to use is the help of another hunter. For instance, with two hunters properly positioned a few yards apart, one hunter can call in a gobbler right into the other hunter's line of sight. When it comes to turkey hunting there are a number of tips and tricks hunters like to use, but the key is also to practice your game even in the off-season. The hunter who knows more about his target will have a more successful hunt.
