Turkey Hunting

Turkey hunting in America probably had its origin in the state of Pennsylvania. Today a population of more than 350,000 eastern wild turkey keeps this state in the top five for an exciting turkey hunting experience. Anywhere there are large tracts of national forest lands and thousands of private acres, wild turkeys flock there to breed and raise their chicks.

The turkey thrive in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and the low swamplands in Alabama. They are, also, found in the rugged mountains in the western part of New York State. There are many other states providing plentiful wild turkey such as: Wisconsin, Mississippi, Michigan, Okalahoma, Texas and Kentucky, as well as many others. Turkeys have also grown in large numbers in many of the western states.

Each state has it’s own laws regarding the type of firearms permitted for turkey hunting. Some of the firearms allowed are shotguns plugged to 3 shells in the chamber, muzzleloading shotguns of all types and gauges, utilizing shot sizes no larger than No. 4 lead, bismuth-tin, and tungsten-iron or No. 2 steel. Most states allow bowhunting with a longboe, recurve or compound bow with cutting-edge broad heads. If you plan on hunting with an outfitter, they can give you the requirements of their state.

Turkey hunting proves to be one of the most challenging and exciting types of hunting in the world due to the gobblers’ own self-preservation skills. The gobbler is a “wily” fellow, more often outsmarting the guy or gal pursuing him. Along with incredible eyesight, their ears can decipher fake calls made by the hunter. When you try to use one of your fancy calls and the sound isn’t just "right" they know you are an imposter trying to bring them into the open. It is truly a duel between man and a very smart bird. At the end of the hunt, sometimes the hunter isn’t sure who is the biggest turkey, him or the gobbler.

There are five subspecies of the American turkey, yet they cluck (speak) the same vocabulary, which consists of 28 different calls. Each call has it’s own message. These are the five utterances:

The "Yelp" is rhythmic with a 4 to 10 note series. Turkeys yelp to locate other turkeys. The "Tree Yelp" is a softer shorter version of the basic yelp. This is used to chat with one another as they awaken in the morning. The "Cluck" is inborn to both the gobblers and the hens. It is a short one-syllable soft cluck used to communicate with one another. The "Cutt" is usually a loud aggressive, irregular cluck used by hens when they are lost, excited and looking for other turkeys. The "Cackle" is a 10 - 20 note series. The hens cackle while flying up and down from trees, or when sailing across creeks, rivers, canyons and such. The "Purr" is uttered by both gobblers and hens as they feed, or when relaxed and in a flock perched together. It sounds like they are expressing contentment. The "Gobble" is the language of the gobbler as he attracts females and speaks his dominance over subdominant males. There is definitely a pecking order among the male species. The male uses the “Spit and Drum” call during the spring months to attract hens. It is a melodious, two note vocalization forced deep from the gobbler’s chest, as the male struts his stuff with tail feathers fluttering. During strut, he appears to be saying, "Hey ladies, I am the best of the best, come follow me." The "Kee-Kee" call is a soft and musical three- note call that combines whistles and lost yelps.

So you see in order to call these wise critters near enough to bag one, you will need to have someone with you who has some expertise in their language and their craftiness. You can readily see why the turkey hunt is such a challenging, popular hunt.