It's a ways off but

[Bowguy]

Turkey season is now about as far away as its gonna get. Id bet lots of new guys got a taste this year n either succeeded or nearly so. Either way they're bitten.
Some of them may be reading posts hoping to glean some info for next year. Maybe we can talk about a bird we wish we would have worked differently n why or one we did something outside of the norm. Perhaps just a helpful hint.
To me one of the most helpful hints besides scouting, finding and being in the right place cause you can't kill what doesn't hear you is to read the birds.  Id bet some of the new folks may be duck hunters. When you call ducks you read their reaction, wing beat, neck cranes, etc.
Same for turks except very often you can't see them.
I'll give 2 easy examples. First was NY opener. Those birds we could see. They walked away from us n were headed to a field. They weren't responding to soft calls. Jrrodc on here was w me. He grabbed a call n cutt a little at em they went nuts. Positive response n we had nothing to lose. I grabbed his call n started hammering cutts. The birds came right in. Got a double
Next was one of my youth hunters. 
We saw that bird alone, fly down n start to lower field. I did a fly down. Bird gobbled. Very little calling after that, just enough to give the impression of a bird in area. We had no competition n thus time. Bird started gobbling non stop but in one place. We just let him think, eventually some leaf scratching n that was it. Wanted the bird to think we were disinterested n get frustrated in a sense. Get him to come look for us. He did, youth hunters first bird. Two dif scenarios n both had to do w reading birds

[Happy]

Don't over think it. It should be a reaction to what the bird is doing and not a long drawn out decision. If you have to stop and mull things over for a bit then you are more than likely about to screw up.

[wvmntnhick]

Fella told me the other day (when I called to congratulate him on a fine bird he'd shot this spring) that he may not have done everything right but he didn't do anything wrong either. That took me a second to comprehend but he's got a valid point. It's not always a matter of being perfect. We're going to mess up. The thing is, often times, our mistakes are easily avoided by simply not over thinking things and "pushing" too hard.

[EZ]

Relax. Don't think you must have every call, best gun, best equipment, etc... to be successful. You don't. I spent years slipping around with two mouth calls, three shells and an old model 12...killing turkeys.

And don't think you have to know/ learn everything in a couple of seasons. You just won't.

Enjoy the learning curve. Ask questions, but more than anything, spend time in the turkey woods. The birds will teach you.

[Bowguy]

 

Relax. Don't think you must have every call, best gun, best equipment, etc... to be successful. You don't. I spent years slipping around with two mouth calls, three shells and an old model 12...killing turkeys.

And don't think you have to know/ learn everything in a couple of seasons. You just won't.

Enjoy the learning curve. Ask questions, but more than anything, spend time in the turkey woods. The birds will teach you.

That's really good advice. I used nothing more than a mouth call or two for many years. Never felt handicapped. To this day I still am fine w just that. Though we love our gear, calls, guns, etc it doesn't have to be that serious initially.
Mistakes/failures will be told by the birds. Great advice!

[supremepredator]

Yep just got to go out, mess up and learn from those mistakes. Don't drive yourself insane thinking about how you should of hunted, called, setup, etc. on a particular bird. Instead learn something from that experience and apply it next time when your in the turkey woods. Ive had my fair share of mistakes this year and ive definitely learned from them and it will make me a better turkey hunter.