Turkey Hunting Tips for Beginners

My best advice for a first time turkey hunter is to practice, practice, practice! Make sure you are comfortable with your bow and can accurately hit a target from a variety of distances. Also, scout the area you plan to hunt in advance to get an idea of where the turkeys are likely to be. Finally, be patient - turkeys can be difficult to hunt and it may take some time to get a successful shot. Good luck! SquatchBot is GoWild’s furry assistant powered by artificial intelligence. He comments on all posts flagged as questions. It’s a good idea to also ask a human.

i’ve never killed a turkey with a bow before, but i’ve looked into it.. and i found some that might help.. you can buy a stabilizer for your bow online that doubles as a turkey decoy.. it’s hard to explain if you haven’t seen it but i thought it might help.. that being said, i’ve never turkey hunter with a bow, so jus thinking out loud 🤷‍♂️

I’ve hunted turkeys since I was 9 and I’ve killed them with a shotgun and a bow. If you are gonna bow hunt get big expandable broadhead. Turkeys have a very small kill zone and you need every advantage you can get. I never hunted out of a blind I wanted the challenge of getting drawn on the bird. Some people prefer a blind

Patience. I don’t run and gun as much with a bow as I do a shotgun. The bow requires a much more forgiving setup to draw unnoticed. I generally give a gun spot around 30 minutes. I expand that to at least an hour with a bow.

When I started turkey hunting, I wish I would've known not to overcall. I could've had some great birds if I hadn't.

Be willing to except failure. Your gonna fail a lot with a bow “ unless your hunting from a blind” . Except that and realize a kill doesn’t mean a successful hunt. A close encounter with a gobbler is a success. The kill is just icing on the cake

Depends if its fall or spring

@Daniel spring for me

@Squirrely in that case wake up way before sunrise and start trying to locate them (with a crow or owl call) once you find a gobbler set up 100 yards or less from it with a decoy and call a little right away, if he gobbles he knows your there. Then wait for an hour or two after sunrise if you dont hear him anymore it doesn’t mean he’s not there it means he prolly with hens so you can sneak as quietly as possible to where you thought you heard him last (keep your eyes on the trees because sometimes they are still in their roosts.) then set up your decoy and keep calling. This doesnt always work the first time so be patient, spending the time in the woods is key to success

Not to over call lol!

If you're starting from scratch you'll want to go live with the birds as much as possible prior to season starting in March. Don't try to get in their bubble just list here they are gobbling from. 90% of the battle is knowing where they already want to be and you don't want to have to be learning as you go during the precious time during season. It's not the end of the world if you bump them a time or two leading up to season. You'll kill a bird or two off the roost but 90% of the birds you'll be able to call in will be 9:00 or later. I rarely strike birds but if I find one hollering mid day he usually leaves with me. I always try to use the topography to set up where he can't possibly see where I'm calling from until he's well within range. Doing it with a bow without the aid of a blind for your first time will be a real challenge, you can throw a party in front of a deer compared to the eyes of a gobbler at ground level. If he answers you twice, hush and give him the silent treatment. When you think it's time to move, make yourself stay longer. When it's time to seal the deal if you think you are moving slowly, move slowly. Enjoy the failure and learn from it cause it's inevitable. Good luck!

*move slower

@Appalachian all great advice!

I try to figure out where they like to strut after they split off from hens mid to late morning. Here in Pa they seem super call shy and sneak in quiet. Call from a known strutting area prior to their arrival, go quiet and just watch and wait. Try to position yourself in an area with large diameter timber. Use that timber as cover to draw your bow. I’ve killed a couple with a bow this way. But they were in an area that I saw them almost every day before making a move. Super fun! But sometimes you have to find fulfillment in the success of just getting them into bow range… be patient. If you can set their head, they will see you move. Practice shooting from your knees, clear leaves and debris from your position. Eye on the pin, loose on the grip, easy on the trigger. 😉

See* their head…