Where are you from?
Where do you hunt? If you don't want to name the state, at least describe terrain, flora, etc.
What's the style of hunting? Run n'gun? Blind? Patient waiting?
What sort of calls do you favor?
I'll go first:
I hunt in East Tennessee. Lots of hardwoods, hollers (hence the name), and ridgetops and bottoms—even right up to low-elevations at the rivers. Timber maturity varies greatly, even in the same property. Traditionally we have lots of dairy pasture where I live, so sometimes there's nice meadows. Less often agricultural fields, but these days they overwhelmingly plant corn.
Run and gun is the most fun, but property lines, force me to play the "wait him out" game more often than not.
I like friction calls. Pots especially because of convenience and control. But I also really love a box. Just less confident in being able to switch of cadences with it. Still looking to find exactly which cut of mouth call I find easiest for hands-free work (or just trying something different). So far a batwing is the best.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mountains. Big woods. Usually hiking into poplar coves at green up. Very much a striker more than a rooster. Tend to go into places somewhat blind and just cover ground till I find something to work. Birds tend to hold in a lot of those same places annually. Pot calls and yelpers is 90% of what I carry.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mountains of Arkansas, big woods, mixed hard wood and pine forest. Scattered clearcuts, thickets and mature hardwoods, pines and mixed. I only hunt public land. Terrain can be steep and rough with plenty of rocks to trip over. I run and gun 99% the time and try to strike one and head him off
Lived in Maryland for last 20 years, killed 1st bird here, grew up in New Jersey, do most of my turkey hunting there. Mostly public, go in mostly blind, but after so many years have a pretty good idea where they want to live. Pot calls, box and trumpet, only use mouth calls to finish.
Hunt mostly West Virginia but get into Virginia early since it sarts sooner. Hunt mostly private in WV have several properties i can bounce between. Usually go to public after i get one tagged on private. Virginia i hunt almost exclusively in George washington national forest. I like seeing new country so will usually pick a different section every year. Like hunting hardwoods and ridges mostly.
Hunting style is run and gun when i can. I never use decoys on public and rarely if ever on private. Not against it just don't like to from a safety standpoint with WV being a rifle legal state. It can be pretty dangerous to sit behind a decoy. I like box calls and pot calls. Started making my own boxes this year going to try to get a kill with one of them this spring. Also made a couple of wingbone calls from a gobbler i killed last year I'm going to try. I have tried to learn mouth calls but struggle with consistency. Oddly enough i can elk bugle like hell with them but struggle with turkey sounds.
I live in SE MN, which is dominated by rolling hills, and 50-250 acre corn and soy fields. So, I usually hunt on the edge of a field where I know turkeys can display but quickly find cover if necessary. No running and gunning around here.
North Carolina, mostly run and gun
I hunt in Florida, mostly private land ( hunt club). The land is mostly swamp land and pine thickets.
I prefer to run and gun, but not above setting in a blind if that's what it takes.
Hillclimber, do you hunt near the Lost River area of WV? When I still lived in WV (my birth state), I had permission to hunt on several hundred acres of land just outside of Lost River that shared a border with the Georgia Washington National Forest.
Quote from: notsure on March 11, 2022, 12:34:08 PM
Hillclimber, do you hunt near the Lost River area of WV? When I still lived in WV (my birth state), I had permission to hunt on several hundred acres of land just outside of Lost River that shared a border with the Georgia Washington National Forest.
Last year i spent the virginia season opener right outside of wardensville off of 55 where it drops off the mountain into VA. That was my first time in the area. I hunt mostly in either Mon County where i live or Pendleton where i grew up in west virginia.
I used to be a run and gun guy...now I just like to prop up against a big tree and take my time if I know turkeys are in the area.
I'm in Northern Virginia and have a few smallish 1-300 acre farms of different types I can hunt on. Most of it's been on 1 sod farm and generally I can pre-scout, know where they usually roost, set a blind up a few day to a week early filled with a chair decoys etc. then just get in real early and pop the decoys out and wait. I mostly use mouth calls but carry a pot and box. More than once they've just flown down right in the middle of the decoys. I'm hoping to try a few more properties this year I have no experience with but in areas some folks claim are known for big birds.
What gun and shell combination are you guys running this spring? I'm gonna be carrying my stoeger 3500 trulock 655 choke and 3.5" long beard number 6. Have been waiting on it to warm up here to do some pattern test. I just picked up the trulock this winter last year i used a carlson 650 that put 150 in the 10 but could be more even. I've got some # 5 longbeard 3" I'm gonna try in my a300 gonna throw the carlson in it. If i get a bird early I'm going to try to fill. Tag with my grandads savage 24 22wmr over 20 gauge. It doesnt pattern the best and shoots a foot left at 30 yards so i have to get them close. It was the first gun i ever carried turkey hunting and i couldn't get it cocked when my uncle called in 3 gobblers. When he tried to help me get it they putted and took off. Its haunted me ever since. I decided to put a red dot on it last fall and used it squirrel hunting. Has me wanting to get it back in the turkey woods.
That would be awesome to take a Tom with your Granddads gun, wish you lots of luck. I am using my all around gun still, Beretta AL 391 with Hevi shot .671 choke or Indian Creek choke. Still finishing up Hevi shot 5 and blends. Want to get a 20 and build a gun strictly for turkeys. I am a die hard bow hunter, but still haven't killed a Tom with it. If I can get into a limited draw hunt on a state game land in Maryland I will carry bow and gun. Jersey requires me to buy another hunting license on top of the one I already have, another $135 just to carry bow.
My all-around gun is my 28" Winchester SXP with a .665 Indian Creek choke.
Going to pattern several new lead loads: 3" Winchester XX #5, 3"Remington Nitro Turkey #6, and maybe 3.5" Win Longbeards in #5 in addition to my usual 3.5" Win XX. Really hoping to roll with some 3" loads instead this year. Last season I grabbed three boxes of the 3" Win XX's. Might roll with the Nitro #6's after greenup.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm in California and we haven't been able to use any lead for any hunting since 2019, now we're restricted to using bismuth, steel, hevi shot, solid copper or TSS. I'll be using a Benelli 20ga. Carlson's choke and Apex 3" 1 5/8 oz #9 shot, (I posted my patterns last year), currently over an open bead but that may change as I'm getting older. I hunt with my son who'll already have done the scouting for us and usually has a couple places set up. We hunt all different kinds of terrain, flat, rolling hills and some pretty steep places, from orchards and open fields to mountains with oaks and pines. It can be hot and sunny or wet, cold, raining and foggy, we never know. I'm not much for patient waiting but I have a chair, a pad and I've sat almost all day in blinds, I love upland hunting, with lots of walking and searching for the birds, so run and gun is more my style. I usually let my son do the calling, I have a couple boxes, some mouth calls, one slate pot call, a push pin and I just made some wing bone calls this year and I've been practicing with one of them. So I'm not a call collector but would like to purchase a trumpet in the future. Good luck to everyone on the team.