New to hunting

[talt1]

Hey I am a resident of NC, and would like to get in to turkey hunting.  My father owns land right on top of 6000 acres of game lands in the mountains, so I would be in this area.  I have read through many tips and pointer for turkey hunting on all sorts of websites, and they all seem to be the same, saying that 25 to 40 yards is the normal range to try to take a turkey. Where I'm at it does seem like there is any open area  that is more 25 yards wide and in many cases I have ran into 10-12 turkeys on an ATV.  They generally wont even move unless you get with in 10 feet of them (I have literally had staring contest with a bunch of turkeys 15 feet away from me).  To me it doesn't seem like it would be much of a sport to drive a ATV around until I ran into a bunch of turkeys? Is there a better way to go about doing this?  Sound also doesn't travel very far where I'm at either, so I don't know how effective calls would be. 

[Morgan]

The sport is callin the gobbler into shotgun range....the turkeys will hear you ..it is incredible how well they can hear and pinpoint the calling....
 
And Welcome to the forum.....

[talt1]

No body I know hunts. What would be a good way to learn how to use calls?

[NEbeardhunter21]

Welcome talt!
   Practice, practice, practice. Buying a few different calls and workin em is the best way to learn them. There are cd's out there by Primos, H.S. Strut and others that teach you what the different sounds are and when to use them. That's probably the best place to start. That helped me quite a bit.

[Gobblerman]

Talt1, welcome to the forum.  First thing I would recommend you do is contact the National Wild Turkey Federation and ask them to direct you to one or more individuals in the closest NWTF local chapter in your area.  Call him/her/them and find out when they meet, and start going to their meetings.  You will most likely find a number of folks that will be happy to get you started in the right direction.  Doing this is very likely to cut years off of your learning curve in being a successful turkey hunter.
 
Jim

[silvestris]

Do a google search on Tom Kelly.  Find his book/DVD "A Fork in the Road".  Read and watch and adhere to it and you will not be confused and you will do fine.  He can be trusted to tell you the truth and he will give good competent advice.  Trust me on this one.

[silvestris]

Frank, I haven't seen it.  It is supposed to be his how-to.  I agree that he can be a little verbose at times, but he was hunting turkeys before he was writing about them and he don't like decoys.  Not a bad place to start and concentrate on before entering the world of varying opinions which tend to confuse the new wanna-be.

[tracebusta32]

Talt, I'm in the mountains of NC as well, shoot me a private message and I would be glad to take you along on some of my hunts. I have land in Boone,Burke and Rutherford Counties.

[Gobblerman]

There you go, Talt1,...problem solved!  Great gesture, Trace.  Just another good reason for turkey hunters, and would-be turkey hunters, to come to this place!  ...Who said we're a bunch of reclusive, tight-lipped, SOB's?!  
 
Jim

[swpatrkyhunter]

First let me welcome you to a sport that you will love! Second. Unless you live in a vacuum or an area that has dense vegatation like a jungle the sound will travel! Sounds like the birds you have seen have not been pressured by hunters for a long time. But that don't always mean they will be easy targets eaither. As for how close you should get them. Pattern your shoutgun and find out the most effective range it shoots at. That will be the distance you want. Practice your calls. i can't express this more. It's more then just being able to make turkey sounds. you have to have an idea of what it is your saying. When i first started turkey hunting I made this mistake. LOL! I had a few birds get close then just take off for God knows where. Here I was giveing Alarm Putts. LOL! WHOOPS! But i have learned alot since then and you will too. Find out the daily habits of the birds on your hunting ground. Where they roost, Strut zones, Feeding areas, Where they fly down from the roost, etc.... But remember. Don't ride your ATV right up to where you plan to hunt. Park it at leat 100 yards or so. Good luck and have fun out there. I know you will enjoy this sport for years to come and pass it down to your future generation.