Ep. 69: Just Go Turkey Hunting - Listener Q&A
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Welcome back to another episode of Cutting the Distance. Today I'm not going to have a guest. I'm just going to go over some listener questions. You know, a lot of times we interview somebody, we talk about turkey hunting, and maybe some of those tactics are too advanced, or maybe those tactics don't make sense to them yet. So I've been getting a lot of questions by maybe a big game hunter or somebody just wanting to get into turkey hunting, and they've got a lot of questions on what do they need, what's a minimum, what do they have to have, what's a...

you know, something that's nice to have, but not necessarily needed. So I was just going to take today's time and just kind of go over that for a new turkey hunter. You know, it's the middle of January, late January now. Turkey hunting is kind of right around the corner. And for those that haven't did it, it may be a little bit of a daunting task on what do you need. And if you're a beginner turkey hunter or a seasoned turkey hunter, there may be a few things you can pick up during this episode that you did or didn't already know.

So the first thing we're going to go, we're going to, we're going to skip the listener questions, um, today, and we're just going to go into a list of questions that I've kind of copy and pasted in here from people over the, over the last couple of months. Um, they want to get into turkey hunting and then we'll go through those. So what do you need as a minimum to go out in the turkey woods? Um, I would say ideally you're going to have to have either one, a, a 20, um,

or a 12-gauge shotgun with some of the new ammunition. You can actually get away now with some of these 410s with specific ammo loaded for turkeys. With TSS coming online the way it has and some of the things we've been able to do with some of the smaller shots, 410 is now a very good option for the youth or for anybody on turkeys. I would say 20 and 12 gauges are still...

more widely used, just a little more range, a little denser pattern typically. So you either need a shotgun or if you want to take on archery, you know, trick handing out of the gate, your bow setup will do as well. You know, there are other states that allow for other weapons, but for today, we're just going to talk shotguns and archery equipment. Shotgun is easy to understand. You're looking to get a hit on the head, neck area.

And we're going to get into ammo a little bit as well. But one thing you need to do is find a good ammunition. And I just mentioned TSS. And I would say TSS makes the 410s a viable option. But if you're wanting to do this on a budget and don't want to shoot a shotgun shell that's anywhere from $5 to $15 a piece,

I would recommend you, you just, you got to pattern your gun, but, um, there's a lot of different manufacturers out there that make, um, you know, fours and fives and sixes, whether it's heavy shot, whether your state allows lead or copper plated lead, whatever it may be. Um, just go pattern your gun. And when I go to pattern my shotgun, uh,

I'm not looking for a certain number of hits within a certain, you know, area. I know a lot of people talk about, you know, three to four hits within the neck and brain area. What I'm looking for is I typically draw like a 10 inch circle, which, and then within that 10 inch circle, I'm looking for a very even uniform and as dense of pattern as I can get. I want there to not be, you know, too many areas in there that doesn't have a BB within like a one inch circle area.

you know, out, out to about 30 yards. Um, and then checking for the, the, the effectiveness of that, that load, um, you know, some of these TSS that I do shoot out of my 12 gauge, um, you know, I can keep that sort of pattern density all the way out to 50 or 60 yards. Um, just because there's so many of those number eights or number nines, um, in that shot that, um, you know, my, my pattern is, is viable, um,

um, yeah, out to that 50 yard range. Now, do I want to shoot a Turkey out there? Um, ideally no, but knowing your guns capabilities, um, and also, uh, you know, with that load, you need to, you need to find the load, uh,

that your gun with your choke shoots well, just because your buddy has the same gun you do and the same choke you do and shoots a certain type of ammo doesn't necessarily mean that that gun is going to shoot identical to your buddy's. Now, the chances of it shooting similar are more likely, but you still need to go pattern and test your own gun, your own load to make sure that that's

you know, a good option. Now, if you're going out with archery gear, there are different trains of thought. You know, they've got, you know, a lot of broadhead companies have specific, you know,

you know, broad heads with, with very large cutting diameters, um, for, you know, shooting them in the head. Um, there are also, you can use, um, standard, you know, broad heads, uh, expandables, um, fixed blades and, uh, you know, shoot them in the vitals, uh, just like you would, uh, you know, like, like your big game hunting, um,

I personally, you know, aside from the kill zones that are put on the turkey targets, I've never went out and archery hunted turkeys until this year. And so, you know, that's one thing that I'm going to have to educate myself on a little bit more is based on shooting angles and, you know, vitals kind of where, where,

i'm gonna need to aim you know on a big game i've kind of got it dialed you know no matter which angle the animal is i know where the vitals are where i can get through what that bone structure looks like on a turkey i'm gonna have to kind of refresh where the vitals sit um you know if it's not a headshot where where's a good shot and then also um you know an archery hunter has got the the big drawback of uh

not being seen while you try to draw your bow. So a lot of times if these toms are in full strut or whatnot, you need to figure out when you can draw your bow, not be seen and be able to be an efficient archery turkey hunter. So with that said, those are kind of the two things you need to turkey hunt. And aside from a license or a tag for your respective state or the respective area you want to hunt,

I would say that's really all that's required for turkey hunting. A weapon, a tag and license, everything from there on, turkey hunting is going to be a bonus or a luxury at that point. Do you need calls? No. Do you need decoys? No. Do you have to have a blind? No. There's a lot of things you can do, especially on certain turkeys that are patternable or if you scout them, you can just set up on their travel pass and do just fine. Now, that...

Isn't why I set out every spring to turkey hunt. I want to interact with the bird I want to get them to gobble I want to be on their path but being a well-rounded turkey hunter being able to use some of that scouting and some of that path You know pathways and stuff that the turkeys just naturally want to use will go a long ways and allowing me to be in the right spot to call them in So let's go into to like camo does do you need specific leafy suits or will any camo do?

i guess i'll start off it really depends on whether you're in a blind or not if you're in a blind black clothes on on a travel path would work just fine like you don't need to have um you know the best camo um out there now

I will say movement is more important or lack of movement is more important than camo, in my opinion. Whether you're wearing the best camo, completely concealed, if you move at the wrong time when that turkey can see you, if they detect anything out of the norm, they're going to typically bust and you're not going to get a second chance at them.

if this is a new turkey hunter and you haven't got a chance to experience just how much they pick up and how slight of movement they will pick up, um, you'll be, you'll be in for a surprise. Um, when you, you go to, you know, to, to move your foot or your foot to sleep and you, you move one way or the other, why they're there, um, they, they will pick it up. So when I'm turkey hunting movement is sloth like slow. If I've got to bring the gun up, if I've got a pan, um,

Everything is very deliberate and very, very slow, like over exaggerated, slow to get my gun in position. Unless I need to make a quick shot or I can swing really quick and know I'm going to get on it. Everything else I do is very subtle. We'll get into calling in a little bit, but even as far as running box calls, pot calls, mouth calls, if that movement's involved and you think they can see it, you need to be smart about when you're calling and when they can pick it up. So camo, I say...

It's best to wear a camo that fits in with the area you're hunting. You want to you want to be as natural and you want to disappear as much as possible in your surrounding. Myself, I'm a tree sitter. I don't like to be in a blind. I don't put myself behind a pile of brush. I found that I can't shoot as well.

And while you're trying not to make noise, if you've got to swing your gun or try to get drawn in a brush pile, it's going to be detrimental.

So I try to sit in front of a clear tree, let the tree break up my, my outline and use that to my advantage. And, uh, you know, when you set up on the tree, one thing you need to be looking for as a turkey hunter is that you've got clear shooting lanes out in front of you that you didn't, um, give yourself like little small slivers on where you expect that turkey, uh, to be coming from. So camo, um, not,

But definitely, in my opinion, adds to the success of a turkey hunter and lets you get away with a little bit more movement. Now, on the same topic as camel, like, are there any, you know, absolutely do not white turkey hunting. And I would say colors that you'll see on turkeys that you want to shoot. So let's say a Tom, right?

Um, reds, whites, and blues. Um, you know, the color of, of Tom Turkey's heads, especially on public land, maybe not as important on private land, but I would still definitely avoid those colors. Um, don't wear red, white, and blue. Um, if at all possible, um, you know, why you're, why you're hunting. Um, it's just, it's,

there's no need to and all you do is open yourself up to the potential of somebody that doesn't identify their game very well um you know there's been lots of horror stories of people being shot in the turkey woods so we just want to avoid that if possible one thing that does kind of go along with camo as well is face mask is there any need for face covering and i don't have any scientific uh backup for this but i feel like

a turkey both eye eye contact and like facial recognition like it's one of those things that a turkey will pick up uh more so than not and so i always wear a face covering um as much of my nose my mouth you know chin everything that i can basically just leaving my eyes exposed um i found seems to get me picked off a little less than um

than by not wearing a face covering or just having face paint on or whatever it may be. A full covering mask seems to be the ticket. Let's move into scouting.

You can be the greatest caller in the world. You can travel a bunch of distance. You can do a lot of things to make up for this, but I feel like all of that aside, scouting your area, knowing where the birds are at, knowing where the birds want to be is going to be one of the best things you can do to ensure that you're going to have some success come your spring season.

With that said, we also need to be very, you know, we need to recognize and be conscious of those. If you're scouting earlier, let's say in the March or early April, that flock and where those birds are at is going to change fairly drastically from the start of that scouting, you know, mid-March.

to the start of hunting season in April. And so if you were to go on a scouting trip mid-March and come back over on the opener, you know, April 15th, come back over on your trip May 1st, whatever it may be, those turkeys are going to be at different areas. The flocks are going to look different. The dynamics of those flocks are going to be different. And so the closer you can scout to season and ensure that those birds are where you think they are, the better likelihood of them being there, you

which, you know, not to, not to be obvious, but, but the closer you are to season, it's just something I've heard over and over. They've went and scouted middle of March. They're antsy coming off a winter to go, to go look for, you know, turkeys, they find them and then they go back in the middle of April. And then the next message I get is where are the turkeys at? Why aren't they in that area where I had them everywhere? Um,

Um, you know, typically during the, you know, whether it's human pressure, whether it's just areas they want to be in, did they fall the snow line up? It just really depends, um, where you're hunting and what those birds want to do. I know the place we hunt in Kansas, um,

the earlier in the season, the better, um, that property holds the birds early, but then as the, as the, you know, spring goes on, those toms continue to disperse and cover more ground and kind of, they don't all leave his property, but they definitely become thinner, um, on some of those properties here in Washington where we're hunting, you know, mountain country. A lot of times we still have snow fairly low, uh, middle of April. And as you know, may, uh,

Mago moves on and that snow lines moving up. Some of those birds will walk up the mountain with the snow line so you could see those birds move. Yeah, they're only 500 feet up in elevation, but they might be a couple miles away as they as they moved up. So you got to keep all of that in mind as you're scouting for birds and then kind of where you're going to find them come season.

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Do you need decoys or not? I always have decoys with me. Um, you know, when I first started and couldn't afford anything, it was a lot of like the little flambeau little, uh, foam folder decoys I could throw in the back of my vest. Now I, I tend to carry a life-size Dave Smith around with me at least a hand, if not, um, a hand and a Jake, um,

I will say, especially in Kansas on Easterns, when we were running and gunning in Washington last year, we did pack one of the hens around, but we didn't have as much time to set her up on certain scenarios. It's been a little hit or miss. Sometimes you will see birds decoy perfect. They'll see the decoy. They'll come in. Other times they'll see the decoy maybe out of place or it just...

it surprised them and it hasn't worked. So I, I would, I would recommend everybody play with it. Um, see if it works for you. I've had great success with them and I've had times where I wondered like, huh, I wonder if I didn't have a decoy out there, if it would have worked. So it's, it's really trying to find your own way to hunt. Um, I always have decoys with me, whether we elect to use them or not is a different story. Um,

If I'm in, I would say my general thumb is if I'm in a spot where that decoy can get that, that turkey's eyes off of me or can be seen from a long ways away, you know, if they're going to be on a,

on a power line meadow or they're going to be somewhere where they can see a long ways and that decoy can get their attention we'll typically put it out um if we're in tight um if we're in the timber or a bird it's not the the visual is not going to be to our advantage then we'll typically leave you know just set the bag next to our chair um and go with that um

Do you need to bring blinds or makeshift ground blinds out in the woods? I don't like being tied up in an area. Now, if you've got really good info and you've scouted well and you know birds are likely to come by, get your blind out early. Make it so it's not a surprise to the turkey on opening day all of a sudden a blind shows up.

You can use them. I like to be more mobile. I like to kind of run and gun regardless of whether I'm, you know, hunting Easterns or Rios or Merriam's here in Washington. I like to stay mobile, but on that same thread, what I do like to do is carry, um, some pruning shears because a lot of times there may be brush that's in the way or an area where you want to set up, um, where you've got good visibility, but some of the brush like within five to 10 yards makes it so you can't, um,

You can cut that out of your way, cut it out in a way where you can still see, but kind of gives you some, some concealment. And that's, that's one thing I do like to do is, is cut myself into a hole. I've got good visibility, maybe not giving up my entire face by cutting out limbs and making so that you can see out and get a shot if needed. So rather than carry a,

blinds or concealment cloth or makeshift blind material, we typically bring shears and we can, we can kind of brush ourselves in or add some brush, um, as needed. Um, so that kind of goes for gear. The last thing I'll talk about, and I would say this is definitely a luxury, not a requirement. Um,

Um, there've been plenty of days where I've got calls kind of stuffed in, in all my pockets is, do you need a vest or do you need a pack of any sort? I grew up, um, turkey hunting. I always had a vest of some sort, you know, back in the day, I think I was running like a Primo's one of Will's vests that was, you know, I had all kinds of pockets and holes and, you know, striker holders and shell holders and, um,

Well, I loved it and there was room for everything. It was pretty heavy. And on some of these warmer days, when you get into early May, um, becomes a warmer option. It seemed to be a lot. Um, nowadays, uh, you know, Paul FHF, he's designed an apex belt. I was able to test it.

You know, last year they released it, limited release here prior to 23, and then it should be a full release for 24. I really like it because it's really streamlined. It allows me to keep a chest pack on. It lets me have some pockets on the belt, but it's a very lightweight, breathable system, and I don't feel like I've got a heavy, cumbersome vest on as I hunt. So a vest is another one of those things where it's not a requirement. It is a luxury, but...

for those that have them or can afford them, want them, it can definitely be a nice addition for sure. You get the season and a lot of guys, you know, you need to locate turkeys. And this is different whether I'm in Kansas or around home.

In Kansas, a lot of times we may not even roost birds because they typically, if they don't get bumped off of those trees, they will typically roost in those same trees. So a lot of times we will go out at night, listen, but we're not so dead set on roosting those turkeys as we are. Let's say we're in eastern Washington and these birds are following the snow lineup or these merriams are all over the mountainside. They will roost potentially in a different spot night after night after night.

And, um, we found that if we don't go roost birds here in Eastern Washington or, you know, same goes for the Idaho mountain birds or so on Montana birds, it's a little more important. So we go out every night, um, you know, about that time of fly up. So I would say, you know, about, you know, sundown on, um, you know, there'll be on the ground for another 20, 25 minutes and then eventually they'll fly up. And then you've got about a 30 to 35, maybe even a 45 minute window we found over there.

where those birds will talk a lot while they're in their roost. So we will, uh, if we're driving roads, if there's a County road, if we're in on a ridge system, we'll go in there and just listen. Um, after, you know, after fly up, um,

Some calls you can use during that time. You can use your owl hooter. You can use crow calls. One of my favorite nighttime locators, which I do not use during the daytime because I don't want them to feel that there's a coyote on the ground, is just a quick coyote howl. It's a great nighttime locator. We seem to get really good responses out of that. So we'll go up, get to a good vantage, just like you're trying to locate a bugle or anywhere up high where you can hear a lot of country howling.

and locate a bird. Then if we need to, we can drive to a lower area, try to get a better pinpoint on them and then make sure we've got a good idea because in the morning we're going to want to start there. That's where we're going to start our hunt.

When you do find a roost tree, if you've got them pretty, you know, pretty well defined to that, the next thing I like to do is get on on X or if you know the area really well and try to figure out which way they're going to pitch out of that tree. Um, if you haven't got a chance to see them pitch out of that tree, if you haven't had a chance to see what they do in that area, um, a

a lot of times we set up wrong in the morning or we go in kind of blind and we just set up close to the the the the roosting birds and they typically pitch out the opposite direction um so so put a little thought into where you think that bird is going to pitch and why and then that could definitely help um and even more so you don't have to be so close to the bird you can go out 150 200 yards if you think that that's where that bird's

gonna gonna push out or feed or you know where they're gonna strut um definitely go that direction rather than um you know just just below the tree somewhere now with that said i seem to always struggle regardless of where i set up on a roost tree um it seems like the bird always wants to do something um you know that i don't want them to do or go a direction i don't want them to go and i've always struggled like you do some tree alps you always want to get their attention or at least let them know you're there

versus being completely quiet, hoping that you picked the right direction. And I always kind of, you know, go back and forth. And there's been some times where it's worked great. And there's been some times where it's like, I shouldn't have, shouldn't have made a sound. So it's really up to you to kind of figure out, um, you know, what, what you, um,

what you want to do if you want to make a sound or if you want to alert them of your location so at least they know um there's no real right or wrong answer there but i would say typically lean towards at least making some really soft tree alps and then putting the call away um so let's get into um you know one thing that a lot of people for me spring turkey is about using the calls and the vocalizations and getting these things to come in on on a string if possible um

So what vocalizations as a turkey hunter do you need to be able to make, um, to call a bird in? I would say if you can only learn one sound, just your typical seven to nine note Yelp is going to be, you know, your best, your best call that you can go out in the woods with. Now, not saying that you're limiting yourself because being able to have the ability to cluck per bubble, you know, bubble, cluck, cut,

Um, you know, any of those sort of calls can add to the realism, especially if they're doing it out in the woods, but going out there with a minimum of the ability to Yelp will be to your advantage. Um, how do you mimic realistic turkey calls rather than what you hear everybody do? Um,

When I'm testing turkey calls or when I'm researching vocalizations or maybe I'm recording audio, a lot of times I just go to real turkey sounds. I go out to video clips of real turkey sounds. I don't try to sound like another caller. I go to try to sound like realistic turkeys, real turkeys. YouTube is a great spot to go listen to real turkeys do their thing and call.

You know, we always try to put their calling into a perfect little cookie cutter box. You know, a 7 to 9 note Yelp. Well, guess what? You can go on YouTube and listen to a turkey rattle off 50 or 60 Yelps in a row. You can also hear turkeys very subtly. You know, they'll do like four Yelps. You just need to go and decide for yourself what's realistic turkey calls and

and what you need to do to mimic those. Now, with that said, one of the main questions I get manufacturing turkey calls is which ones do I need or which ones should I get? I always recommend mouth diaphragms for people that are learning or experienced. The best thing about mouth diaphragms is the movement is minimal and it allows you to have access to your weapon.

Um, any other call that I know of aside from a mouth diaphragm will require you to use your hands in some form or fashion. Number one, making more movement. Number two, not allowing you to have access to your weapon at the same time. So mouth calls are always number one, but the level of difficulty in learning those is, is typically higher, um, than the other calls. So, but I always recommend you at least get one and practice and give it a shot. Um,

From there, I would say box calls and pot calls are sometimes equally as easy to learn. I would say box is maybe easier. You know, you got a box call typically made out of a wood base with a wood paddle. And by running those over and creating the friction from the base to the paddle, you get, you know, a turkey yelp or a turkey sound. You can,

You can cluck on a box call. You can purr, you can Yelp. You can do a lot of things. Um, and very easy to use just by swiping the paddle. Um, pot calls are made out of a multitude of materials. I would say the most common would be a wood pot or a plastic pot with slate glass, aluminum, copper, um, a slate tech type material, uh, a material that's kind of an engineered material. And, um,

Typically, you will use a peg with that. So you'll use a striker on top of the condition surface. So by making small semi circles or oblong circles, small J's by dragging your striker down, you can get your purrs sharp pushes down the board. You can get your clucks or cuts depending on how loud you want those.

And those are typically going to be also a lot easier to run, a little less movement than box calls, but maybe a little more difficulty in learning to run those. Those are kind of...

The three calls. Now there's a lot of other specialty calls. We've got tube cutting calls. We've got spring box calls where, you know, there's a, there's a spring and you can push or push or pull pin calls. But I would say the majority of your tricky calls are going to be mouth diaphragms, box calls or pot calls. Now that you're out there, can you recommend, you know, calling sequences for different phases of the hunt? How does varying your cadence affect, you know, responsiveness, all of this stuff. So,

it's very tough on a hunt to go out there and tell you exactly how you should call. Now I'm going to leave you with a few things is when you're out in the woods, what are the other turkeys doing? Are those hands being very, very boisterous? Are they being, um, to the point of over calling? Um, are they being aggressive? So you're kind of, you're kind of reading, kind of reading the room. Uh, how are the other turkeys responding? How talkative are they? But then the other thing you're going to do is how is that Tom that you really want

to come into your location how is he responding to your calling is he fired up when you cluck is he fired up when you yell is he fly you know is he fired up on this or that um last year in washington uh i was there with my good buddy john and and simone um eastern washington and you know we don't typically pull we've always got a box call with us um we've always got what you know all of our calls with us but there's just some that we use more than the other

On this particular hunt, um, we kept coming back to my box call, which is the, the meat eater X Phelps box call. There was something about it, whether it was a time of the year, whether it was, you know, quietness, whether, you know, whether it was elevation, whatever it may be. Um,

We could get turkeys to respond to that box call better than we could our mouth diaphragms or our pot calls. So it was one of those things where just because what those turkeys in the field wanted to hear, what they responded to, we picked up on that and we used that box call more so than not. Now it did add some difficulty, like I said before,

we're trying to call those birds into our location with a box call it's sometimes very very tricky for me my right arms got to move you know to the extent of you know five or six inches on the end of the paddle so a lot of times when we were setting up if I wasn't the shooter I would set up maybe more so out of out of the visible you know area of that turkey I would

kind of go hide myself, which wouldn't be ideal if I was calling for myself, but calling for my buddies, I was able to make work. One time I was the caller and the shooter. We were being very strategic on listening where the birds gobble was, how close we thought they were. Can we hear them spitting and drumming? And then at some point I was going to have to put the box call down and just hold on to my gun and hope that that was enough to finish him.

So using kind of all of those cues throughout a hunt to decide whether or not, you know, you need to keep using that call. Or you may run into a turkey that doesn't care if you're yelping on the mouth diaphragm, a pot call, or a box call, or any combination thereof. So you're really...

One, like I said, I don't think you can go wrong if you listen to all the other turkeys in the area. How loud are they being? If you've got boss hens that are just real squawky, you may need to get squawky because you're trying to call him away from her. Or number two, if that bird's just soaking up everything you throw at it, continue to go down that path during your call-ins. Different terrains is one of the other things is how do you...

Is there a difference when you're hunting them in the mountains of Washington versus the open fields or the open meadow country of Kansas? And I would say yes, but it's more so on the subspecies. I would say it was a question about terrain, but the stubborn Easterns of the Midwest are a completely different animal than our Merriam's out there.

out in the West, you know, you've got big thunderous gobbles or a bigger bird, but an Eastern is very, very stubborn and sometimes very, very hard to get them to give up your location.

when they do give up their location, they sometimes seem to care a little bit less about your calls. I know this all depends on the time of the year. Um, but Eastern's more difficult. You go out West and we're hunting our Rios and our Merriam's, um, a lot more talkative, a lot easier to get to say something early in the morning or middle of the day. When I'm hunting, um,

Merriam's or Rio's, I feel like I've got a good chance all day long where when I'm hunting Easterns in Kansas or wherever it may be, I feel like at times I just need to set up on a travel corridor, maybe do some, um, you know, a little real subtle calling every hour or so, and just hope that they want to walk by me. Um, so that's one of the, the, the big differences now terrain, um,

I've always felt turkeys would rather come uphill to a call because if they run into danger, they can pitch away from the danger. So that's one thing I always try to keep in mind, either on contour or calling them uphill. Imagine if you're trying to call a bird downhill and they run into danger, they can still just run up the hill, but it puts them at a disadvantage versus just being able to pitch off the hill. They don't want to pitch out and over the danger of what may be there.

So that's, that's really when it comes to terrains, kind of what I'm thinking of as I, as I go into that, you know, setup, can that Turkey get away from danger? Are they going to be comfortable and you know, look at it from, from that, that standpoint, aside from that, like,

and that's kind of that's kind of my advice for a turkey hunter um you know a lot of people think you need to have all the specialty gear i would say a weapon some understanding of of being able to make some turkey calls and then it's really just spending time out in the woods and understanding you know understanding the birds um you know as i've said before i've got lots of podcasts that goes very very deep with dr chamberlain and and some of these um research biologists that talk about like we get into

you know, nesting cycles and why, you know, turkey hunting may be better later in the season than early. Um, you know, we, we talk about hunting pressure. We talk about all those things, but it, it's very basic. Um, you know, the foundation of turkey hunting. Um, I wanted to do this podcast to really just kind of say what you need, um, what you don't need, um, necessarily, but what, what are kind of some of these luxuries and, uh, you know, turkey hunting, just a blast, you know, some people out West,

you know love to hate on turkey hunting um you know it's we should be spring bear hunting or doing something man i absolutely love it when i can get an animal to interact with me um regardless of what they say it's very very similar to elk hunting um i get something to respond with a locator call something i didn't talk about but you can use all these locator calls you locate them you

you take a guess at where you think they are, you move in as close as you can without busting them, and you sit down and try to call them in. Very, very similar to elk hunting. Yeah, I'm calling in a 20-pound turkey instead of an 800-pound screaming elk, but the game itself is similar, and I love everything about it, and...

If you have any other questions for me or my guests on the upcoming Turkey episodes that we're just starting to get into, please email them to us at CTD at Phelps game calls.com. Or you can send us a message on any of our social media platforms and we'll do our best to get them plugged in here. But with that said, Turkey hunting, isn't some big giant complicated thing where you need all this fancy gear, weapon tag,

Do a little bit of scouting, learn how to call, and go hunt and have a blast this spring. Thank you, everybody. Hey, we're going to take a little break here and talk about interstate batteries. Now, if you're like me, enjoying the great outdoors, you need gear that is as reliable as it gets. That's why I power my adventures with interstate batteries. I use interstate batteries in my boats. I use interstate batteries in my camper. Great for your truck, too. From Alaska to Montana, they're outrageously dependable.

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