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.

Filter

One Small Mistake Can Ruin Your Turkey Population

The wild turkey is an amazing bird. Although their numbers across the U.S. are really good, most any hunter or sportsman wouldn’t mind seeing a few more where they hunt or manage land. A simple mistake we see made every year that can have a negative impact on your turkey numbers is the good old bush hog. After being on your property during the spring, you begin to see a lot of things you would

Big Game, Turkey, Conservation, BioLogic, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers

Building the Next Generation of Turkey Hunters

The sport of turkey hunting will continue if each of us dedicates ourselves to teaching the next generation (including our children and our grandchildren). Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland, vice president of Mossy Oak Television and Video Production, says, “Turkey hunting trips with my grandchildren are some of my best turkey hunts ever.” To understand why, we asked Cuz to tell us all how he’s training his grandchildren to turkey hunt.

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

Turkeys Across Deep and Wide Creeks

One of the toughest questions is: “How do you take a turkey that’s gobbling across a creek that’s too deep to wade and too far or too cold to swim?” When I find myself in this situation, I say, “Is that water too cold for me to swim, or is there another way that I can get on the same side of the creek as that gobbler?”

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

A Turkey Decoy May Work, But Perhaps Not

I really like to use a strutting gobbler decoy. However, you don’t know which gobbler in the flock may come in to your calling. If a subordinate gobbler comes in, and he's already been beat up by a dominant gobbler, there's a very good chance that he's won’t come in and get his head bloodied again.

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

Matt Morrett on How to Take a Field Turkey

On most fields, the edges of the fields are wooded. Finding a gobbler out in the field is the easiest way to locate a turkey to hunt. However, a field turkey oftentimes is one of the most-difficult turkeys to hunt. A really-smart field turkey will fly down from the roost, land out in the middle of the field, strut, drum and call his hens to him. He’ll stay out in the field until the sun

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

Matt Morrett Loves to Use Friction Calls for Gobblers

In 2 minutes or less, you can learn to push the dowel on a push-button call and call in a wild turkey. In 5 to 10 minutes you can learn to use a slate or a glass-type friction call. You can make a yelp, a cluck, a purr and a cutting sound and call in a wild turkey. For this reason, friction calls are the easiest and simplest to learn.

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

Solving Tough Turkey Taking Problems

Matt Morrett represents Zink Wild Game Calls, Avian X decoys and the Plano Company. He has been a Mossy Oak Pro most of his life. After winning his first World Turkey Calling Championship when he was 16-years old, he has stacked-up turkey calling championships higher than he is tall. During turkey season, he probably sleeps in Mossy Oak camo, so he can jump out of the bed before first light and get out into the

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland on the Different Types of Eastern Wild Turkeys

In my own mind, there are several different types of eastern wild turkeys. I know the turkeys in Missouri are eastern wild turkeys, but they gobble so loud and so much that believing they have turbo chargers on their chests is easy. So, I classify them as a different species of eastern wild turkey in my mind than some of the other eastern gobblers. Turkeys in New York also gobble pretty good, but they seem

Big Game, Turkey

Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland’s Favorite Turkey to Hunt – Merriam’s Gobblers

I like Merriam’s gobblers, because those birds like to talk. If they can hear you, the Merriam’s gobbler won’t hesitate to come to you from a mile away. If a Merriam’s gobbler answers my calling, over the years, I've learned to sit down and eat a candy bar. By the time I’m finished with that candy bar, the gobbler will be right in front of me. I think one of the reasons that the Merriam’s

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

If You Want to See More Wild Turkeys

Most wildlife species require the “F+W+C+S Formula” (Food, Water, Cover, and Sanctuary) functioning in an area for them to take up residence. For wild turkeys it’s a little more involved than that. Turkeys need each element listed, but they are a bit more persnickety, everything needs to be just right for turkeys to take up residence in your hunting area. There are also a couple things you MUST NOT have for turkeys to be found

Big Game, Turkey, Conservation, Mossy Oak Gamekeepers

New Zealand Gobblers - Rio Grandes Imported from the U.S.

We had heard that a lot of turkeys were in New Zealand, but not very many people hunted them. We also learned that these turkeys were originally Rio Grande gobblers that had been imported from the U.S. However, they were blondish-white color phase turkeys. I don’t know how that turkey phase got mixed-up with Rio Grande turkeys, but they did.

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

The Gould’s Turkey in Mexico and the Ocellated Turkey in Central America

For me, the Gould’s turkey is much like a Merriam’s turkey. My first trip to Mexico was many, many years ago. Back then, we couldn’t take a gun across the Mexican border. The guide service we were going to hunt with said, “Don’t worry about your gun. I've got you covered. I've got a gun you can use. I’ll meet you at the border and help you get across the border.” Back in those days,

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak, Firearm

Cuz on Hunting the Different Subspecies of Wild Turkeys

Most of us want to hunt a turkey we've never hunted before in a place we've never been. Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland, vice president for media, TV and video productions for Mossy Oak, has hunted all the subspecies of wild turkey in the United States and two other countries. This week Mr. Cuz will tell us the differences in hunting each of the different types of gobblers.

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak

When You Think a Turkey Hunting Tactic Won’t Work – It May

Turkey hunting in the spring is not only my passion, it’s also my job. Each spring, I hunt with outdoor writers, store owners, dealers and distributors who buy and sell Quaker Boy Calls. One of the best ways to sell turkey calls is to call up the turkey with the calls we make at Quaker Boy for the people who sell our calls, or, for the outdoor writers and TV hosts who write about and

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak, Firearm

What To Do When A Critter Spooks the Turkey

You can do everything right, and the turkey is doing everything he’s supposed to do. He’s coming to you, you’ve got your shotgun on your shoulder, and your cheek is against the stock. You know within less than a minute you'll be squeezing the trigger on your shotgun. Then, a fox, a raccoon, a coyote, a cow, a dog, a horse, a goat or another hunter walks between you and that gobbler and spooks your

Big Game, Turkey, Mossy Oak, Firearm