what are your "keys" to turkey hunting???

[quavers59]

Public Lands seem to be getting tougher. Late Season-- I use very soft yelps and purring.

[Vabirddog]

#1 key, don't spook em.

[fallhnt]

^^^this. I have a buddy that goes in late and busts birds off the roost Spring and Fall or walks around bumping birds in early archery season and it DOES change things.

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[Tombo]

Location, location, location

[earl9932]

I fairly new to turkey hunting and some years have only had a weekend or two to hunt. What I have found to be very consistent is:
* when walking and calling, don't call unless you are prepared to sit on the spot and have a good spot to sit.
* set up is crucial e.g where you sit and how you sit. Too close to edge and you have no way to adjust once the bird is in shooting range, too far and he sees you before the game starts, not enough cover, you might get lucky and if you aren't comfortable, it is a mentally and physically stressful which leads to mistakes.
* soft clucking and purring is absolutely deadly on birds that go silent, you just have to have patience.
* walking in and later walking out knowing that I've had a good time and learned something new is what it's all about for me.

[Calikev]

90% location, 10% everything else.

If you are in an area that holds a lot of birds with very little pressure then success seems to be very, very high.  That's my experience.

Hard pressured public land you are almost best to hunt later in the day, avoid as many people as you can and call sparingly.  That is where the woodmanship seems to come into play more.

I know guys who shoot turkeys on private land every year who lack good hunting skills.  However, they don't need them because they are premier access.

Kevin

[Meadow Valley Man]

Being willing to put some walking miles in and lots of scouting are keys for me.

I'm probably going against the grain here, but calling to me is very important.  Being able to put urgency in your call helps a lot. Sometimes challenging the gobbler's girlfriends turns a hunt around in a hurry. Not being afraid to make a mistake is important.  I've made bad moves before, and will again, but I make far more successful moves than the mistake ones. I've always felt that making a blunder just allows me to hunt again the next day.

Getting as close as possible to the bird is very important, especially in the later part of the season.  Take advantage of heavy foliage to get close-gobblers can lose interest very quickly late in the season.

Again, these are just things that have worked for me over the last 34 years.