For fist time turkey hunters with a shotgun do you all recommend investing in some form of a blind like a hub style tent looking blind for example or just good Camo and sitting up against a tree or one of those Camo vests that has the padded seat attached or like a wall screen type blind with a small low profile seat? My turkey hunting will be deep woods hunting in the spring. April and May.
That's a lot of extra work packing in 15-20 pounds waaaay back in. They DO make some lightweight full enclosure blinds but you may want to look at a wall or umbrella type blind, depending on your state's regs. In PA you're required to be covered 360 degrees when in ANY kind of blind, natural or man made. It's a ridiculous regulation, but when field hunting I follow it nonetheless. Combine a simple screen type blind with a comfortable, low profile seat and you should be just as concealed and it'll help first time/younger hunters stay concealed without sacrificing visibility or hearing.
As far as regulations go this is what I know:
Legal Spring Turkey Hunting Equipment
Hunters may only use the following to take turkeys during the spring seasons:
Breech-loading or muzzle-loading shotguns no larger than 10 gauge and no smaller than .410.
Breech-loading shotguns must be plugged to hold a maximum of three shells (two in magazine and one in chamber).
Lead or non-toxic shot no larger than No. 4.
Longbows, recurve bows and compound bows of any draw weight (no minimum).
Crossbows of any draw weight (no minimum) with a working safety device.
Non-barbed broadheads with a minimum cutting diameter of 7/8-inch, whether expandable or non-expandable.
Prohibited Spring Turkey Hunting Methods
A person hunting wild turkeys shall not:
Hunt over bait. An area is considered baited until 30 days after the bait has been removed. However, a person may hunt wild turkeys on an area where grain, feed or other substance exists as the result of a bona fide agricultural practice or manipulating a crop for a wildlife management purpose.
Use a dog during the spring season.
Hunt from a boat, or from any type of vehicle unless prescribed by regulation (see "Hunting Method Exemptions" in the "General Information" section of this guide).
Use or possess an electronic or digital calling device.
Harvest a roosting turkey.
Use live decoys.
Back in the timber don't ever use a blind, and 99% no decoy seems to be enough cover and tom is coming in looking... I do hunt fields quite a bit and that's where I use them...
Double Bull Blinds!!
MK M GOBL
Back against a tree that is wider than your shoulders. Be still and only move if you cannot see the gobblers head. Been working for me for 35 years. Sometimes I will stick limbs or cane in the ground in front and around me. Even get behind logs and in blow downs from time to time.
No blind. You can always cut a few small bushes to break your outline if you need to. I've had a lot of turkeys walk by at a few feet and they never noticed me. I walk a lot and a blind would only slow me down not to mention the weight and noise setting up. If you spend all your time staring at decoys in a field I guess a blind would be a good place to sleep but not for turkey hunting.
Sounds good! Thanks everyone, saving me money already!
Well between my ADD/ADHD and the pain I have from 2 car wrecks a blind is essential to me because I am constantly moving my legs. I have 3 blinds 2 which are left up with rotating seats in them and the other which I would suggest is the Ameristep chair blind. I have the 2 man blind as shown here but they do make a 1 man blind that may suit your needs better. Here is a photo of the single chair blind and the info says it weighs in at 6 lbs.
Only problem I have had with the blind is a skunk coming in on me last spring a few days before the season started. lol luckily it did not spray me. Hope this helps and good luck.
Normally, I carry a 4'X6' piece of die-cut blind with a paracord around the edge. It's weighs practically nothing and I can deploy it in seconds. The paracord lets me hang it off a twigs, or over a barbed wire fence. It's been with me since the early 80's and I've used it against deer and turkey both. Under normal circumstances, that's about all I ever need.
I do have a couple of more elaborate blinds that I set up before season. Turkey don't demand all that much. They have a hard time understanding the idea of something lurking behind something else. Here's one of my blinds:
(http://genesis9.angzva.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/4.jpg?ver=1)
Burlap is fine, but in this case, the camo had faded, and I needed some more dark lines to hide my form. A can of spray paint was all it took. Folks tell me that I spelled "Hunter" wrong. I tell them "Turkeys can't read."
BTW: I spent over a decade at this location (well, 10 yards North) without any sort of blind and bagged many, many gobblers. However, the tree at the old location fell over, and the next-closest tree sticks up more. Without the burlap, I'd be waaaay too exposed.
Quote from: shaman on March 15, 2018, 08:52:39 AM
Normally, I carry a 4'X6' piece of die-cut blind with a paracord around the edge. It's weighs practically nothing and I can deploy it in seconds. The paracord lets me hang it off a twigs, or over a barbed wire fence. It's been with me since the early 80's and I've used it against deer and turkey both. Under normal circumstances, that's about all I ever need.
I do have a couple of more elaborate blinds that I set up before season. Turkey don't demand all that much. They have a hard time understanding the idea of something lurking behind something else. Here's one of my blinds:
(http://genesis9.angzva.com/wp-content/uploads/wppa/4.jpg?ver=1)
Burlap is fine, but in this case, the camo had faded, and I needed some more dark lines to hide my form. A can of spray paint was all it took. Folks tell me that I spelled "Hunter" wrong. I tell them "Turkeys can't read."
BTW: I spent over a decade at this location (well, 10 yards North) without any sort of blind and bagged many, many gobblers. However, the tree at the old location fell over, and the next-closest tree sticks up more. Without the burlap, I'd be waaaay too exposed.
Hey Shaman, you misspelled hunter.
Just kidding........ I figured that was your last name or something.
To the OP, what gear you require depends a lot on the area and terrain of where you hunt as well as your body type.
As MK M GOBL mentioned, certain scenarios call for decoys and a blind and certain times it would add a hindrance.
Phillipshunt gives good reasons why a lot of woods/timber hunters don't use decoys or blinds.
If you will be moving a lot, a low profile chair might not be needed, but for long sits, they are quite comfortable. A vest is often so much more than just a piece of clothing with a seat cushion. My vest has a nice cushion, but sometimes my butt is more comfortable sitting on the ground.
A bad back forces me to use a lounger type chair these days, no matter where I hunt. If you're comfortable, you can definitely sit still longer. I look for big downed trees that lend themselves to being good natural blinds. One of my best setups ever was a foxhole from where a big tree uprooted when it blew over. The wood had rotted away, but it left a nice depression from the root ball that hid everything from my waist down and the dirt mound was a great backrest. I killed at least a dozen longbeards from that one spot.
If you can find several fallen trees in the same block of woods, moving from one to the other depending on where the birds are roosted or traveling can help make your hunt successful .
I also carry a small stake blind that can be deployed in a minute if needed.
I hope some of this helps you. Good luck.
Jim
I use a ground blind like HUNNER with a Gobbler Lounger chair. This helps me sit comfortable and concealed for as long as I want.
If you sit still in the shade with your back or lounger to a wide tree, then they won't see you. Turkeys look for danger as out of the ordinary things hiding behind things.
If you have a single location with a large flock of turkeys then, perhaps, a blind would be advantageous. However, you will enjoy the sport more and you will learn more from the base of a large tree. Just be sure the tree is large enough to cover your outline.
If you have a pretty good idea where the birds wanna be such as a certain field, a ground blind is great for concealment and has probably been more effective for me personally. That being said, walkin' & squawkin' through the brush is way more fun!
If anybody wants to use an artificial blind to hunt turkeys, more power to them,...go for it.
...But here is my personal perspective:
Choosing a set-up on a gobbler by using the natural terrain and cover is part of the game for me. Sometimes that is nothing more than sitting down with my back against a tree, and sometimes the decision on how and where to set up is more involved than that,...depends entirely on the circumstances and my judgement as to what I should do.
If a gobbler somehow busts me and gets away, or comes in and I have chosen the wrong set-up and can't shoot him, that is just part of the game. I just didn't make the right choices. It's kind of like calling,...make the right moves and you win,...make the wrong one and he wins.
Again,...not making judgements about anybody else's attitudes about blinds. Do what ya'wanna do. The point I am making is that there seems to be a relatively new attitude about turkey hunting that having some sort of artificial blind is a necessity. It is not. :icon_thumright:
Quote from: GobbleNut on March 22, 2018, 08:49:15 AM
If anybody wants to use an artificial blind to hunt turkeys, more power to them,...go for it.
...But here is my personal perspective:
Choosing a set-up on a gobbler by using the natural terrain and cover is part of the game for me. Sometimes that is nothing more than sitting down with my back against a tree, and sometimes the decision on how and where to set up is more involved than that,...depends entirely on the circumstances and my judgement as to what I should do.
If a gobbler somehow busts me and gets away, or comes in and I have chosen the wrong set-up and can't shoot him, that is just part of the game. I just didn't make the right choices. It's kind of like calling,...make the right moves and you win,...make the wrong one and he wins.
Again,...not making judgements about anybody else's attitudes about blinds. Do what ya'wanna do. The point I am making is that there seems to be a relatively new attitude about turkey hunting that having some sort of artificial blind is a necessity. It is not. :icon_thumright:
Not for many people no, for me there is no choice, due to pain from a car accident I simply can't sit still. You throw that in with ADD/ADHD which makes it very difficult to sit still and has my entire life and it is a matter of necessity. I did like it more when I did not use them though, it was harder because I have never in my life been able to sit still but now with the pain I just can't control it.
To the OP, if you're new to turkey hunting don't worry about blinds or decoys. Get a vest with a seat and go chase turkeys and learn how to hunt them. Once you learn HOW to hunt them, then you'll know when the right situations are for blinds, decoys, etc....
i like you cut some limbs and stack in front off me if time allows this is a blind i built the other day that i killed a bird from this morning. (https://i.imgur.com/cHtJrDL.jpg)
i am standing where the bird is, looked back and after seeing all the grey i think the green stuff i built did help hide me