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First Time Turkey Hunting

I'm not 100% yet, it will be public land though. I'm not a member of any club, nor do I know anyone with private land or have anyone to hunt with. Honestly I dont expect much this year except to get out in the woods and try to learn some sounds/behaviors so I'm all eyes/ears.

If you have suggestions I'm clearly in need. Do you recommend anywhere specific?
Wherever you go, get deep. Most hunters will not go more than a 1/4 mile from a road or trail. If you go at least half a mile, you'll have the woods practically to yourself. The game knows this, too. A lot of the time the amount of game in these deep areas goes way up right after the hunting season opens because a lot of what was near the roads or trails moves deeper in.
 
Someone already said it but here it is again, turkeys are either very hard to kill or they run in to commit suicide. If you have never ever hunted anything why start with the one we all try and kill and mostly don't, I mean why not hunt squirrel first, kinda ease into it. But if this is your calling (pun) then I suggest going with someone, listen to all the instructional cd you can pay attention to the cadence of the calls, and practice calling until you are confident, then don't call very much while hunting. I killed more turkeys with less calling than constantly yelping just to make him gobble again.
 
I used to have very good compass and map skills about 15 years ago, but in the new tech world traditional map reading is a bit rusty.

Honestly I don't want to hunt anything 1. I'm not interested in learning about 2. I don't find interesting/beautiful and 3. I won't eat. So squirel, pretty much is a miss for me on all those criteria. I am honestly fascinated by turkeys and think they are although a bit goofy a pretty animal and there is something about getting then to respond, like you're speaking to them. That's why elk is also very high on my list, when you hear them gobble or an elk bugle there is just something special about it.
 
Well lucky for me most people piss me off so a turkey should fit right in!

I will do my best to maintain patience, I have all the time in the world until I don't anymore, lol.
 
I catch some flack about this from time to time, but i wear some good comfortable tennis shoes when i turkey hunt. you may have to cover some ground trying to get out in front of them and cut them off if you hear them moving out in other directions. i just cant move as fast in boots, but it's just part of the game.
 
Turkey hunting is hard because you’re trying to get the Tom to go against nature, the hens usually come to him not the other way around. I believe it has a lot to do with timing. If there are plenty of willing females then you’re probably not going to call one in.
Basically I’m saying the more you’re in the woods, the better your chances are. Don’t get crazy with a ton of calls and decoys and gimmicks, get a couple quality calls, some good camo, and a decent gun with a good turkey choke. Less is more when it comes to calling. Buy a few different boxes of turkey loads to see which one performs better with your setup.

Those new Federal TSS turkey loads look pretty good. I’m going to pick up a box and try them out.

 
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