Get Ready For Turkey Season Now

Turkey season opens in my state of South Carolina April 1.

The night before opening day is when most of the turkey hunters at my camp break out last year’s turkey calls, getting ready for the morning hunt. They squawk for a while on their calls and want to know why they do not sound very good.

The answer is, they need to start practicing a little earlier. Here are a few tips that will help you become a better caller:

Start practicing now. The sooner, the better.
Buy a DVD with actual turkeys doing the calling. “Real Strut Talk” from Hunter’s Specialties has some good turkey sounds recorded.
Videotape yourself calling. You will find out just how good or how bad you sound.
Try different calls. A couple of my favorites are H.S. Strut Cutting 2.5, E-Z rasp and Split V. Look these up at www.hunterspec.com.
Don’t forget the friction calls. Most people sound way better with a friction call than they do with a diaphragm call. A slate call, glass call or box call is hard to beat in the woods.
Get advice. Every turkey hunter knows someone who calls better than they do. Ask for some help. Something very simple may make all the difference in the world with your calling.
Confidence. Once you gain confidence in your calling, you will become a better turkey hunter. The more you sound like a real hen, the more productive hunter you will be.
Attend a National Wild Turkey Federation-sanctioned turkey calling contest in your area. Go to www.nwtf.org to find a contest near you.
Put the time in. Spend as much time listening to wild turkeys in the woods as you possibly can.