Essential (and Non-Essential) Gear for Turkey Hunting

This post will discuss some of the gear necessary to have a fun and successful turkey hunt. Almost as important as knowing the essential gear is knowing the non-essential gear. There's a lot of equipment and gimmick products available. A beginner can save a lot of money knowing in advance what gear is not necessary.

Essentially, turkey hunting gear can be broken into 4 major categories: clothing, calls, firearms, and accessories.

Clothing:

In many hunting activities, hunters chose to wear camo clothing. For most game, camo clothing is nice but not essential. Most states have hunter orange laws for deer hunting, so fancy camo does not do much when covered by a blaze orange vest. This is not the case for turkey hunting. In turkey hunting, good camo clothing is indeed necessary. Unlike deer that rely more on hearing and scent, turkey use their eyes to spot danger. They have excellent eyesight and are quite leery of anything they don't recognize. Camo is essential.

I recommend the following in the camo clothing department:

• Pants: I prefer jean-type camo pants. I bought mine at Walmart.
• Shirt: I use a long sleeve camo T-shirt. I think I bought it at Dicks Sporting Goods.
• Hat: I prefer a baseball cap style camo hat.

• Gloves: Turkey hunting is done in the spring, so the gloves are for concealment, not for warmth. Go with a light camo glove. There are gloves available made specifically for turkey hunting. The pair I bought is by Primos.
• Boots: These don't necessarily have to be camo, but most boots made specifically for turkey hunting are camo. The pair I bought are waterproof with a very light lining. I also use them for warm days deer hunting, and really wet days pheasant hunting.
• Face mask: This is a light mesh covering to camo your face. It also works well to keep the bugs away.

A factor to consider in your clothing choices are insects. Especially in the northeast, ticks are a problem. You'll want to cover as much exposed skin as possible. I recommend using insect repellent before entering the turkey woods. Remember, turkey do not smell, so it's ok to spray it on thick. I like to bring a small bottle with me, not just for the ticks, but for the mosquitoes and gnats that start to come out in the spring.

When it comes to your camo, pay attention to the details. Be sure your pant legs don't ride up when you sit and ruin your whole set up by exposing a bright white sock. Be sure you don't have a big shiny watch exposed. It does not take much to make you noticeable in the woods. However, when done right, you might walk within 10 feet of a full camo hunter sitting in the bushes, and never see them.

Calls:

Calls are certainly necessary for turkey hunting. Part of the fun is driving your spouse crazy practicing your calls in the house in the days leading up to the opening of turkey season. Calls fall into two categories. There are locator calls, and actual turkey calls (i.e. calls that sound like a turkey). Some of the more popular locator calls include crow, owl, and predator. Types of turkey calls include box, slate, mouth, push button, glass, and many others. Calls are highly dependent on personal preference. Some people simply prefer certain calls over others. You'll need to experiment to find out what calls work best for you. I do have a few factors to consider when picking out turkey calls.

Call guidelines:

• Consider having at least one waterproof turkey call. Even when it's not raining, a call can become ineffective if water from a leaf or the wet grass gets on it. Several box calls and glass calls are waterproof.
• Consider having one good box call. Box calls generally are the loudest turkey call. They are easy to use and versatile. They are especially good for long range calling.
• Consider a locator call. Locator calls are calls of other animals (owl, crow) that can be used to locate turkeys. Turkey will gobble when they hear a crow call or an owl hoot. I don't know why, they just do. Some people will locate turkey using a regular turkey call, like a box call. I do not prefer this method. A turkey that responds to a crow or owl call, will not start approaching the source of that call. If you locate with a turkey call, you run the risk of having the birds approach you before you've had a chance to set up. I prefer to locate the turkey with a crow or owl call, set up my spot, then start turkey calling. I carry both an owl and crow call. I've gotten gobbles from both, but I've had more success in Connecticut with the crow call. Usually I use the owl call to locate early in the morning, then after I hear my first wild crow, I'll switch to the crow call. That's my technique, but I'm not sure it's totally necessary. You likely could get away with just one or the other. If I had to go with only one, I would go with the crow call.
• Consider one close range call. A box call is good for long range turkey calling. However, once the birds get close, you'll want something that requires minimal movement to operate. Slate calls require little movement and can produce a wide array of sounds. The draw back to them is that they typically require two hands to operate. A push button call is super easy to use. It only requires one finger to operate. The drawback is that the variety of sounds it can produce is limited. Mouth calls require no hands (so they can be operated even when you have both hands on your raised gun), and are able to produce a wide array of sounds. However, they take some practice to use effectively. My advice would be to experiment with the different calls, and see what you're most comfortable using. I use a box call for long range, a slate call for mid-range, then switch up to the mouth call when the birds are in sight.
• You'll never know which type of call will get a response. Sometimes one call will be followed with dead silence, when another will produce multiple gobbles. Go with what works for you.

One call that is not necessary is a gobble call. In turkey hunting the goal is to sound like a female bird, not a tom. Gobbling is not necessary. Not only is it unnecessary, but it could be down right dangerous. Gobbling is more likely to call in another hunter than it is a big tom.

Firearms:

A 12 gauge shotgun is the gun of choice for turkey hunting, preferably one that can handle 3 and 3.5 inch magnum turkey loads. I use a Mossberg 500 pump. It's the field/deer combo version with two interchangeable barrels. The field barrel comes with 3 different chokes. I used the full choke for turkey hunting. This gun is a good value at ~$300. This gun can take 3 inch magnum shells, but it will not take 3.5 inch shells.

3 or 3.5 inch magnum turkey loads are useful to maximize the effective range with a shotgun. I've used both 3 and 3.5 inch shells successfully.

What's not necessary for turkey hunting is a fancy shotgun made specifically for turkey hunting. These guns usually come in full camo, with special sites, special gimmick turkey chokes, and accommodations for shells up to 3.5 inches. This gun might be a nice-to-have, but it's definitely not essential. I've successfully hunted turkey with an over-under gun I use for pheasant, as well as the Mossberg I described above. If money is not an issue, go for the specialized gun. However, if you want more versatility from your shotgun, go with a more generalized gun. Full camo is also not necessary for your shot gun. Brown and black blend in fine with the surrounding trees. If you absolutely must camo your gun, you can buy camo wraps. I recently bought a role of camo wrap from Cabela's for about $12. I tried it out, and it seemed to stick fine, but half way through I realized it was not necessary and I removed it.

Accessories:

• Turkey Vest: A turkey vest is an essential piece of gear for turkey hunting. You can buy a camo turkey vest at most sporting goods stores. I bought mine a Dick's Sporting Goods for under $50. A turkey vest contains many pockets to hold all your calls, gloves, tags, shells, and any thing else. It also contains a large compartment for decoys (discussed below). Most vests come with a built in seat pad. This is a feature to strongly consider in your turkey vest. The pad prevents you from having to sit on the wet ground, and adds a little comfort.
• Knife: All hunters should carry a knife.
• Decoys: It's possible to get a turkey without using decoys, but decoys are a great tool that significantly improves your success rate. They are worth having. With that said, I don't believe you have to go out and spend a lot of money on super-realistic decoys. The most realistic looking decoy may not be the best choice. Factors to consider in decoys are durability, ease of set up, and easy of transport. Many of the ultra-realistic decoys are hard the carry and set up. I prefer decoys that I can easily fold into my vest. My first set of decoys were foam decoys. They were very light, and easy to fold, but they were not very durable and lacked realism. I've since upgraded to some flexible plastic decoys. They are foldable, easy to set up, but are significantly more durable and realistic than the old foam decoys. I think they strike a good balance between realism and practicality.


• Insect Repellent: I carry a small bottle in my turkey vest.

Turkey hunting is a challenging sport, and it does require some specialized equipment. I've tried to give you an idea of some of the gear I use, and what might be necessary to get started and be successful. Below I've compiled a list of tips to keep the initial cost down.

Tips for Getting Started with Turkey Hunting on a Budget:

• Use the same shot gun you already use for pheasant or ducks or whatever. It's not necessary to spend hundreds on a specialized turkey gun.
• Buy your camo at a discount store. Remember, turkey hunting is done during the spring when the temperature is relatively mild. Warmth is not a big factor, so you can go with the cheap stuff.
• Don't go call crazy! You don't need dozens of different calls right away. Start with a couple of calls, and build your collection over time.
• Go with the less expensive decoys. They are generally easier to transport and set up anyway.