For thousands, the beginning of spring brings with it the desire to try what is perhaps the most difficult game known to the bowhunter. That game is none other than the wild turkey. This bird affords an extraordinary challenge and reward. Occasionally a gobbler will come to bag quite easily, but at other times the chore of collecting one can seem insurmountable, producing a high level of frustration even for the seasoned veteran. The truth of turkey hunting is that the pursuit is neither easy nor impossible; it can be done, even by the beginner, but it does require some very basic abilities.

Let’s quickly dispense here with shooting. The vitals of a turkey are small, perhaps the size of a softball. If an archer can’t consistently hit such a spot at his or her self-determined range, he or she should probably pass on this bird until shooting meets the demands. A sharp broadhead, steel or stone, put into the vitals will take a turkey down; however, one that goes any place else will likely result in a lost gobbler. Avoid this. Don’t hunt turkeys if your shooting skill is not up to the task.

Do consider a blind of some sort. Movement to draw a bow is the No. 1 problem facing the turkey hunter, because a turkey is hatched spooked and then something scares it! The tiniest movement that greets the turkey’s eye will have that bird’s undivided attention; consequently, a natural or popup manufactured blind can save the day. Perhaps the greatest mystery surrounding turkey hunting is calling. Some would have the hunter believe that he or she must possess some secret talent to call in a bird. While experience and woods lore will make the hunter a more successful caller, there is little secret involved in the initial work. And, with the proliferation of calling devices on the market, the hunter can easily find one that works sufficiently to create a few viable calls.

The two most popular and productive calls are the yelp and cluck. Either of these, or the two in combination, will call in a gobbler. Both calls are easily mastered and should be the foundation of a calling regimen; learn them well, regardless of the type of call you use to replicate the sounds. And when using these and/or other calls, moderation is a good guideline, because too much calling can be a recipe for failure. Knowing how much is too much comes with experience, but if you can hear turkeys responding, call in the basic patterns and regularity those birds are using.

What of those other fancy calls, such as the cackle and cut and feeding purr? They are grand; learn them as you can, but don’t stay out of the woods if you don’t know how to make these calls. Turkeys will come to a basic conversation of yelps and clucks.

Experienced hunters have faced, and new hunters will face, that situation where a gobbler hangs up and refuses to close the distance. There are a great many things that can cause this, most of which are difficult to resolve with any call. The first thing to do to avoid this is to know the terrain. A ditch, stream, fence, thicket, or any other natural barrier can stop a turkey. A thorough knowledge of the hunting ground can help the hunter rectify this situation. Gobblers with hens present a unique problem. Seldom will a gobbler leave hens to come and investigate a call, but the savvy hunter may be able to slip ahead of the birds and join in on the conversation with soft yelps. The entire flock may drift in that direction as a result of the calling, and if one particular hen becomes highly vocal and argumentative, cackles and cuts can often arouse that hen and her comrades to the point that they will come to investigate.

What about the call-shy gobbler, the one that gobbles from the roost and/or maybe a time or two from the ground but moves away from your best efforts to entice, even if he is not with hens? This is a tough bird. In truth, however, the gobbler is not likely as call-shy as he is huntershy. “I don’t think turkeys get educated to a specific call,” says Will Primos of Primos Game Calls. “They just get harassed and conditioned.” To get these birds, tactics must often change from the entrenched format of obstinately sitting and calling. Moving ahead of the turkey and calling softly with yelps and clucks can tip the scales in your favor, but there is no guarantee that the gobbler will come even then.

Primos, as well as many other skilled hunters, have come to rely a great deal on “visual” calling in such situations; specifically the use of decoys where they are legal and safe. A strutting gobbler decoy gives the impression of an intruder and can often bring the real gobbler in. A hen decoy, alone or in the company of other hen decoys, and/or a strutting gobbler decoy can add validity to those quiet yelps made by the hunter and assuage suspicions of a reticent tom that would otherwise keep traveling away from the calling. Any of these approaches can work in a given situation, and they are certainly worth trying when it becomes obvious that the gobbler you are hunting is not going to come to a traditional call/set-up.

Bowhunting for turkeys comes with a limited warranty. Success, if this is judged solely by collecting a gobbler, is not one of the promises. What is included, however, is a thrilling experience and the opportunity to match skills with perhaps the most difficult game available to the archer. And, if that archer is fortunate enough to talk turkey with a live bird, and perhaps from time to time shoot one of those grand creatures and leave the woods with the gobbler over a shoulder, that hunter has entered a realm of hunting like no other. That hunter will never be the same.