Turkey

SUCCESSFUL TURKEY SEASONS START HERE.

The wild turkey is an elusive bird. To get the gobbler, get the know-how. Strategies, management and gear for the hunt can all be found right here.

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Creating Wild Turkey Hangouts

Jarrode E. Stephens Gamekeepers need to study the birds and understand the value of effective scouting. Ideally, anticipating the wild turkeys every move means success in the field. Understanding what turkeys want and then what your farm offers (or lacks) will help you discover ways to enhance your turkey habitat. Since turkeys prefer to travel in large numbers during much of the year, creating “social” areas for them to congregate makes sense if such areas

Turkey, Conservation, Land Management, How-To, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, Mossy Oak Properties

Hunting Turkeys on a Cattle Farm

We got a piece of cardboard and painted it red and brown, the same color as the cows in the pasture. We cut several holes in the cardboard and painted black around the holes, so they would look like spots on the cow. We could look through the holes, video through the holes and even could put our guns through the holes. Then we could shoot when we got close enough to the gobbler.

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession

Turkey Hunting in Cold, Windy and Rainy Weather

Even under the best of circumstances turkey hunting can be challenging. But when Mother Nature throws you a curve ball, the odds fall decidedly in favor of Old Tom.

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession, Firearm

Calling Tactics for Public Land Turkeys

Another trick I use a lot when I'm hunting public-land turkeys, especially late in the season, is I call very little. I also change calls for late-season hunting. I don’t use the calls that most turkey hunters use. One of my favorite calls for late season is a wingbone call. You have to remember that there's been so many turkey hunters calling to those gobblers in the early part of the season that the gobblers

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession, How-To

The toughest state I ever hunted was Alabama. Chad Hogle owns American Strutter, the company I make calls for, and he invited my team-calling partner Kerry Elliott and me down to Alabama to go turkey hunting with him. In three days of hunting, we harvested the only two turkeys we heard gobble.

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession

Calling for Turkeys is Easier than Calling for Judges

There is a difference in calling for competition and calling real turkeys. In a turkey-calling contest, I can’t make a mistake. I have to call perfectly. But in the woods, I can make mistakes, and those mistakes sound just like a hen. Wild turkey hens are sloppy callers. They couldn’t win a turkey-calling contest.

Turkey

Scatter the Flock for Realism in Turkey Calling

Jesse Martin, from Mount Sterling, Kentucky, won the Head-to-Head Division of the 2018 National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) Grand National Turkey Calling Championship, competing against 32 other callers. He also won the team calling championship with his partner, Mossy Oak ProStaffer Kerry Elliott. Last year at the Grand National, he won the Senior Open Championship. He's won 10 consecutive Kentucky state championships, more than 40 Open State Championship titles and two World Team Challenge Championships

Turkey, How-To

Turkey Hunting Tip: Using Funnels

It’s often discussed in deer hunting forums about how hunters can use diversions to direct or funnel deer toward particular areas. Turkeys can be directed in the same fashion.

Turkey, Land Management, How-To, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers

Managing Your Land for Wildlife a Little at a Time

Maybe you don’t have the money to spend on having the property cleared, plowed, planted for numerous food plots. However, that’s not what GameKeepers is suggesting.

Small Game, Deer, Turkey, Conservation, Land Management, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, Mossy Oak Properties

GameKeepers are Wildlife Managers, Not Just Hunters

Gamekeeping is not just for hunters, but for those who enjoy wildlife conservation and land management. It’s a way of life for people who just enjoy seeing wildlife, especially close to home. I don’t believe hunting and wildlife land management are opposite of each other. I really believe and know, at least in my house, they're the same philosophy.

Deer, Turkey, Conservation, Land Management, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, Mossy Oak Properties

Running and Gunning

For the most part, the last couple generations of turkey hunters have adopted a more aggressive and active hunting style commonly referred to as running and gunning. When things are slow, rather than sitting around waiting for something to happen, you go out and make something happen; at least you try to. And like any technique, it involves certain tactics.

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession, How-To, Firearm

Wild Turkey Egg Rolls

With the multitude of options to use up the ground gobbler, try making some egg rolls. They utilize all food groups with veggies, meat, and dipping sauce and will be an immediate hit with your clan or hunting crew.

Turkey, Wild Game Recipes, Ingredient Wild

A Passion of Enormous Proportions

Twenty-five years ago this spring a fire was sparked inside of me. A fire that would burn hot enough to sustain itself with essentially no fuel for some nine months out of every single year to follow. A passion of enormous proportions. A passion that would consume my thoughts many days and dominate my dreams many nights.

Turkey, Mossy Oak Obsession

Landowners Can Purchase Smaller Tracts for Hunting

At Mossy Oak Properties, we've also noticed a change in the size of land that people purchase strictly for hunting. Generally, if an individual wants to buy a piece of property strictly for hunting, he's looking for 100 acres or less, which is a big change in the hunter’s view of hunting, especially in the South.

Deer, Turkey, Land Management, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers, Mossy Oak Properties

Exercises for Turkey Hunters

Chasing long beards is not for the weak. Turkeys are not only fast, agile, and have amazing eyes, but they are able to spread their wings and fly as well. So when it comes to chasing one down, they definitely have an advantage. While we have some ways to improve our odds with Obsession camo, guns, the latest vests and great, new calls, one of the best ways is to ensure we are physically ready

Turkey, Mossy Oak Bottomland, Mossy Oak Obsession, How-To, Firearm