Patience is a rare virtue today but sometimes there are good reasons why you may be pressed for time and need to find turkeys fast! On this episode I talk about how to find turkeys quickly on public land. This episode is sponsored by Midwest Gun Works, use the code NHG25 at checkout to get free shipping on your first order at www.MidwestGunWorks.com, some exclusions apply, see website for details.
Every year many excited hunters venture into the turkey woods, but sadly some never make it home. The vast majority of the time, this is completely preventable. This episode is more than a safety briefing, it delves into many things that few people talk about and gives easy to follow steps that can very literally save your life.
The hardest part of turkey hunting for beginners is usually finding that first bird. On this episode I dig into how you can locate your first gobbler and the many tactics that can help you realistically find an area with active turkeys.
This is your beginners guide to turkey hunting, starting at level 0. Of course, there is no way for one podcast to give you everything you need to know, but I do try to point you to everything you need to do from wanting to hunt turkeys to getting into the woods after them.
Turkey nuggets are many people’s favorite part of taking home a turkey, but what is the best way to cook them? Well, I do not think there is a “best” way but there are lots of great ways to do it depending on what you like. On this episode I share five different ways to cook and prepare this spring delicacy.
Turkey nuggets are almost always fried, but there are many ways to fry a good nugget and there are other ways they can be cooked.
- Deep frying is the most common approach, this involves using enough hot oil to completely submerge the nuggets in some kind of a pan or pot.
- Pan frying is another option that requires enough oil too to partially submerge the nuggets in the pan and then flipping them halfway through cooking.
- After this you have the sauté method that requires a small amount of oil or butter. This is one of the only cooking techniques that you can use butter for. Here you end up with a little bit of a healthier product and possibly more flavorful, but it does not have that regular deep fried nugget texture.
- The next way too cook turkey nuggets is with an air fryer. These contraptions are very useful, but they take up a lot of space and are harder to clean. Here you can use very minimal amounts of oil and a much more controlled cooking environment that will enable you to find a good recipe and replicate it easier every single time. But there are those downsides which I mentioned.
- The last technique is the sear method. Rarely used for nuggets because you are not able to use much breading, searing the nuggets can still product a very flavorful dinner but this technique needs a little moisture to shine its brightest. So, consider pairing it with a sauce, such as a blueberry wine sauce, finished with a little butter. More details are in the episode.
Beyond the actual cooking technique, you have a variety of breading approaches that you can pair with each, such as dipping in flour, using milk or egg wash to get more flour to stick, or even double breading them. You can use corn starch instead of flour, breadcrumbs, or gluten free flour as well. Some people will dry dip the meat into corn starch, then dip it in buttermilk before dipping into flour.
Every breading method has pros and cons, I personally prefer less breading because I don’t want it to soak up too much oil and initiate a bad post meal experience…
Listen to the entire podcast episode for all of the detials!
Is it possible to improve the turkey population in your local area by actually hunting more? Well, yes, yes, it is. But it’s not what you think. Killing more turkeys won’t result in a bigger turkey population, but hunting and trapping turkey predators that have grown to out of balance proportions in your area can make a difference.
Depending on where you live, predators like coyotes, foxes, raccoons, crows, possums and other predators may be overpopulated and causing undue issues with the turkey population, and potentially the populations of other game animals. Hunting or trapping these overpopulated predators can improve the wildlife balance and give turkeys better odds at survival.
Turkeys are especially susceptible to predators when they are young and unable to fly. They are in even more danger as eggs, before they hatch when almost anything from crows to raccoons can eat an entire nest. After they survive their first winter, they are much hardier. But making it to that point can be very difficult if the predator population is out of balance.
Coyotes are one of the most widespread problems nationally as their populations have been expanding unchecked in many areas. They can not only kill turkeys but also drive them out of ideal habitat which impacts their ability to survive in other ways. If you and a group of friends are able to exert concerted efforts to hunt or trap these kinds of predators you can make significant difference in your area. But it may take some sustained effort before it pays off.
You need to learn about your local wildlife and identify what populations are out of balance first. Going after foxes for example if the fox population is average or below average will not help, in fact it could cause other issues. We do not want to kill all predators, we only want to help restore population balance, especially when the populations have gotten out of balance due to manmade situations, which is often the case.
Then you need to study your local hunting and trapping laws to see what your options are. For many of these animals, trapping is more efficient and easier than hunting. Particularly with racoons and coyotes. Whatever efforts you may take, stay safe, legal, and ethical in all that you do.
If turkeys are not gobbling, moving, or in any way detectible, how do you hunt them and salvage your season? In this episode I dig into the details of how to hunt gobblers when all else fails.
If turkeys are gobbling and not coming in that is one set of challenges, but this is different. This is when all the turkeys seem to completely disappear from the woods and you cannot find any action anywhere. I’ve been there. The answer is simple, but not easy. You have to change your mindset and your tactics from turkey hunting to turkey finding.
Set out looking for birds and sign, similar to pre-season scouting but unique in that you are looking for concentrated movement areas that you can then setup in as if you were ambush hunting. I like to start in the low lands, where there are streams, puddles and soft ground where turkeys will leave tracks. I am not just looking for a stray track here and there but lots of regular fresh tracks that will let me know that lots of birds come through this area on a regular basis and spend time eating, socializing, or trying to find mates in this spot.
The goal of this scouting is to locate areas that have birds that you can come back and hunt, but you also want to move quietly. After all the season is on and you have a shotgun, you do not want to disturb the birds that you discover since you plan to hunt them that day or the next. Instead you want to move quietly, gun in hand but being careful to analyze the ground and watching for turkeys on the other side of every hill you crest and every field you move into.
When nothing is working, you come to feel like there are no birds in the woods and it can be very discouraging, but if you can find the birds, and fresh sign, it will put wind in your sails and motivate you to get out and get after the birds.
Also keep in mind that as the season goes on, the habits of birds can change. As one area grows up it may push birds into other areas. So a spot that is cold today could warm up in a week or two or three. Do not abandon historically good areas but diversify where you spend your time. Perhaps rotate between spots in order to keep on top of places that might heat up later but do not spend your entire turkey season in a spot with no action.
Listen to the whole podcast episode for all of the details!
Are you taking turkey hunting shortcuts? Most people may think not, but there is good news if you are willing to honestly examine yourself. If you can identify and stop taking shortcuts, you can start taking more turkeys out of the woods and be more effective. In this episode I break down 10 different shortcuts that hunters are taking.
Here are some turkey hunting shortcuts that you need to stop taking right away:
- Not patterning your gun. This is a major issue. Too many people just get a shotgun, choke, or maybe new ammo and go right into the woods. You need to shoot that combination at paper at the ranges you plan to hunt to find out where the point of impact is and what the pattern looks like. If you do not test it you can easily find yourself in the field missing a turkey because your range or pattern were not as good as you hoped.
- Not practicing your calls. You need to use each one of your calls before turkey season starts, not just to become a better musician with them but to make sure they all still work, sound properly and you can do any maintenance that is needed before you are in the woods. Take everything out before season and make sure it all works and sounds right. For getting to chalk a box call, or finding a call is broken, or not surfaced right in the field can be a major issue. Finding out the day before can make all the difference.
- Not practicing shooting from a sitting position. The moment you sit down, you change your body position, how you mount a shotgun, and potentially where your pattern goes. You need to practice firing from a seated position, and not just a comfortable seated position. A good drill to do is walk out about 20-35 yards from some targets, clay discs on a hillside works well, and close your eyes and spin around a few times in a circle and then sit down. Open your eyes and try to hit the targets without getting up or changing position. You will have to twist, bend, contort, etc to get on target, and this is very similar to shooting at a turkey that comes in from an unexpected direction.
- Not sitting in your spot before the hunt. Scouting is one thing but sitting in your spot before you hunt there is another. The biggest issue people run into is they walk up to a tree and sit down and setup in the dark, only to realize they can hardly see anything once the sun comes up. A little bit of preparation goes a long way, especially if you are in an area where it is difficult to move once it is daylight because turkeys may see you. When possible, you should test out and prepare your spot in advance, removing leaves, twigs or other debris that might cause you to make extra noise in the spot.
Listen to the whole podcast episode for more detail and to hear about the rest of the 10 turkey hunting shortcuts that you need to stop taking right now.
How do you hunt turkeys in the rain? Is it even worth your time to try? On this episode I talk about how rain impacts turkey behavior and I work to help you determine if and how hunting turkeys in the rain could work for you.
Rain significantly impacts turkey behavior, however, that does not mean you cannot hunt them. In fact, you can use their change in behavior to your advantage if you plan well and have the right kinds of hunting habitat available to you.
While neither turkeys nor much else moves in heavy rain, they will move in light to moderate rain, and of course all heavy rain eventually ends. If the weather is very bad, birds may not leave the roost, or if they have already flown down, they may hunker down in thick cover if the storm is bad enough. But once the weather breaks, they will begin to move again, looking for food and company.
The rain creates a lot of noise and reduces the effectiveness of a turkey’s hearing to keep it safe. So, the birds often move to larger open areas where they can see for long distances in order to detect predators by sight. And after the rain ends, the trees still drip so turkeys will move into open areas to begin drying out faster. These could be fields, clearings, burned areas, gas line roads, food plots, etc.
So, you want to try and identify these areas that the birds will move to and get their first if possible or arrive just before the rain lets up. The good news is that if the weather is very bad, you can arrive in the woods hours later and be present when the birds begin moving mid-day.
People often assume hunting blinds are the answer for poor weather. These have pros and cons. Yes, a pop-up blind can keep you dry and comfortable and keep your calls and gear dry and effective. That is great. But blinds are most often placed in areas that are good turkey hunting spots for fair weather. Often these are not very productive foul weather spots. So, while the blind is a great resource, if the rain turns a good location into a bad location, then you may be better off just staying home or moving out on foot.
Personally, I do not like to hunt rainy days because of the extra gear challenges that rain causes for turkey hunting. But if it’s a Saturday I will still likely go out because those days are fixed, I only have so many weekends in any given turkey season. However, if I am taking time off work and it’s raining, I may reschedule my day off for better weather. If I can shift the day easily, it can be more enjoyable to hunt a nice weather day.
Ultimately you need to decide for yourself if going out on a rainy day is a good idea for you and your hunting style. Listen to the full episode to hear all the details!
Maps and apps are all the rage but how you can effectively use them to scout for turkey hunting? The unavoidable truth is you must put boots on the ground to scout for turkeys effectively. But these tools can help you focus your time on the most promising areas. On this episode I talk about how to read maps and find the ideal landmarks that signify good spots to go and check out.
The single most important part of turkey hunting is picking an area that holds turkeys. If there are no turkeys nearby then it doesn’t matter how good your gear is, how expensive your TSS ammo may be, or how skilled of a caller you are, you will not be taking any turkeys. They must be there. And using maps and apps can help you save time. In truth nothing about this is new, it’s just done digitally vs. on paper. Old time turkey hunters used these same tactics to find good hunting spots.
Using maps and apps for scouting turkeys is all about knowing what to look for, or rather what can be seen from a satellite photo or topography lines. Understanding how to read a map is critical to doing this but this podcast episode is not on the subject of map reading but rather using the knowledge gleaned from the map.
In order to locate ideal turkey hunting habitat, you must look for numerous features that intersect in close proximity. The first thing I look for is clearings. Turkeys like open spaces in the spring, natural or man-made. They want to be able to see each other and see predators at a distance and often they will spend a portion of the day in these open spaces. They prefer full clearings but will settle for open spaces in the woods, such as under mature oak trees.
Once I find open spaces, I begin looking for water. Turkeys do need to drink periodically but the bigger reason I want to find water is because soft wet ground holds turkey tracks and makes their presence easier to detect. Streams and possibly even better, muddy puddles, make it easy to see turkey tracks, which can give you a very important indicator that they are in the area. And if they are in the area, you can hunt them. You can also setup trail cameras around tracks to get more information about how often and when they are in the area. This intel can help you pick and prioritize spots.
Streams and clearings are easy to see from satellite images, and often map apps will overlay stream info onto these images to make it easier to see them. To hear about the other things you want to look for, listen to the full podcast episode.