Few things are as thrilling as the hunt. It’s even better when you successfully bag an old longbeard tom turkey, especially during the springtime, when the woods are coming back to life from the dead of winter. Everything is greening up and blooming, the days are getting noticeably longer, and the turkeys are gobbling!

While there’s no guarantee that your hunt will be a successful one, I’m sharing some of my best tried-and-true spring turkey hunting tips to improve your chances.

Fall vs. Spring Turkey Hunting: What’s the Difference?

During the spring, you could say “love is in the air.” In most states, spring is the best and most thrilling time to hunt turkeys, as this is when their breeding season peaks. Male turkeys, or toms, are out and about putting on a show, strutting and gobbling to attract hens and establish their dominance within the flock for the right to mate. 

Fall turkey hunting is very different. Turkeys form winter flocks and stick together nearly 24/7, so there’s no reason for toms to separate themselves and look for mates. Winter flocks also typically establish a small home range and don’t venture far outside of it — again, there’s no reason to. Combined, these factors amount to it being significantly harder to call turkeys in during the fall.

For hunters who genuinely enjoy the thrill of the chase and interacting with the animal they’re pursuing, spring is where it’s at. But how do you ensure a successful pursuit? A good start is learning some of the best, proven spring turkey hunting tips.

Spring Turkey Hunting Tips

1. Know the Rules

This first one sounds almost too simple, but it’s extremely important to familiarize yourself with local turkey hunting regulations. Each state is different and sometimes, even certain public hunting areas within a state are governed by different sets of rules.

It’s not uncommon to find that in some states, certain counties only allow a 1-bird harvest, but the state as a whole allows a 3-bird harvest. Some areas don’t allow hunting past 1:00 pm, but others may allow hunting all day. There are even some states that don’t permit any hunting on Sundays, period (I’m lookin’ at you, Maine and Massachusetts).

Perhaps the most important part of this particular spring turkey hunting tip is to secure the proper licenses and stamps first. Hunting without a license can, and very likely will, subject you to hefty fines and other penalties. Not knowing the proper rules and regulations of the state you’re hunting longbeards in can cause some serious headaches and disappointment, not to mention get even more expensive.

2. Find the Right Spot

Before you go any further into spring turkey hunting tips, you need to make a choice: private or public land. Of course, you’ll hear hunters on both sides argue that their way is “right,” but there’s truly no right or wrong method; it comes down entirely to personal preference.

Private lands are generally more favorable for giving you more control over where exactly and when you hunt. However, hunting private land does require a lot of research and sometimes, good old fashioned door knocking. You’ll need to get permission from the landowner, whether you intend to hunt just once or lease the property’s turkey hunting rights.

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen turkeys on a farm as I drove by, pulled up on a whim and visited with the land owner to get permission to hunt their property, and actually built a good relationship with them, resulting in permission for years afterward. It never hurts to ask — but ask FIRST. If they say no, thank them for their time, be nice, and move on. Nothing gives out-of-state hunters a worse name than harassing locals and landowners.

If you’re hunting public land, DO YOUR RESEARCH! Some states do not mark boundary lines of public lands and before you know it, you’ll be a mile in on someone’s private land and get caught trespassing and worse, hunting without permission.

Turkey hunting on public land also comes with its own set of etiquette. If you know that someone is working a bird, leave that bird alone and go find your own. Don’t be that guy! Take special care not to set up too close to other hunters when blind calling, and always make sure that others are aware of your presence. 

3. The Early Hunter Gets the Bird

There are a few advantages to getting into the woods well before daylight, so this is one of the most valuable spring turkey hunting tips, not to mention one of the easiest to master. First, you have enough time to locate the general (or even exact) area that you roosted the gobbler the evening before. This allows you to be set up and ready when he starts gobbling and flies down at daylight.

Next, getting there with plenty of time to spare gives you enough time to come up with another game plan if something goes wrong. More than likely, when you roosted that gobbler the night before, you also heard others in different areas, so you can make a quick plan to go after one of those.

Finally, you can scout where the turkeys are, giving you an advantage over other hunters as to where they’re heading after flying down. You can back out and make a plan to get to the general area they’re heading and set up quickly.

4. Hunt With a Gun You Know

Like so many other things in life, one of the best spring turkey hunting tips involves having the proper tools for the job. Despite what any expert or trend says, the “right” shotgun in this case is one that you’re already familiar with and comfortable shooting.

Turkey hunters take building their shotguns extremely seriously; it’s basically attempting to turn a shotgun into a sniper rifle. Before you go hunting, familiarize yourself with the choke and ammo combo you’ve chosen, shooting it at various ranges so you’ll be aware of how it patterns and have confidence when it matters in the woods.

Remember, no two shotguns shoot the same, and certain ammo patterns differently with certain chokes. There’s no worse feeling than missing a bird because you didn’t take the time to pattern your shotgun.

A lot of turkey hunters, including myself, like to use optics like red dot scopes on their shotguns. Essentially, because you’re choking the gun down and shooting an extremely tight pattern, it can help you create a more precise aiming system.

5. Don’t Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb

Blending into your surroundings is arguably one of the most important spring turkey hunting tips. Turkeys have some of the best eyesight of all game animals, 360-degree field of vision and the ability to see in color. You’re not going to fool their eyes.

It’s not enough to wear a camo shirt and pants. When it comes to turkey hunting, you’ll want camouflaged gloves, a hat, face mask, and footwear. Even 90% of turkey shotguns out there are camouflaged! You basically have to become a sniper (remember, us turkey hunters use makeshift sniper rifles) and be completely concealed from head to toe.

Another important tip is to match the camo you’re going to wear to the areas you’re going to hunt. I have a specific camo pattern for when I hunt the Midwest, and a completely different pattern for turkey hunting in the South.

6. Take the Right Calls

As even the most inexperienced turkey hunters know, you have your choice of multiple types of calls. Most turkey calls are designed to attract longbeards within range by imitating the sweetly seductive sound of a hen looking to breed. Some mimic the sound of a gobbler to entice other longbeards in the area to come in and defend their dominance.

Locator calls are made to shock a longbeard into gobbling by imitating a howling coyote, a hooting owl, or a peacock. This call is extremely effective for locating a tom. In fact, more often than not, you may find that you call him right to you before you’re ready. You never know which call will attract a bird on any given day, so one of the best spring turkey hunting tips is to carry several of each kind.

7. Use Locator Calls Wisely

Speaking of locator calls…if there’s a roosted turkey nearby, a coyote call could have the unintended effect of making the bird leery of getting eaten. Remember, turkeys are inherently scared of just about everything.

If you’re within 200 yards of a gobbler, owl hooter, woodpecker, or hawk cry type of calls are highly recommended. A general rule of thumb is that unless the longbeard is still in the roost tree, stay away from predator-style locator calls. And even then (this is one of the most overlooked spring turkey hunting tips!), don’t overwork it once you’ve shocked him into gobbling.

The last thing you want is the bird pitching down in the other direction because he assumes there’s a pack of coyotes or other predators in your direction.

8. Place Decoys Carefully

Decoys are easily overlooked when people think about spring turkey hunting tips, and while they’re far from a sure thing, it’s important to be careful about how and where you create your setup. You want to avoid setting your decoys up too close to your seating position, but you also want them close enough that your target longbeard will be within an effective and ethical shooting range.

Never set the decoy up between you and the bird you’re working. This will lead to you being in his direct line of sight as he approaches the decoys, and will likely make even the slightest movement noticeable.

When you have an idea of what direction the turkey will come from, set your seating position off to the side of your decoy setup. This way, he’ll be looking at them and not you. If you use a jake or tom decoy, avoid setting it up facing you, as this will result in the longbeard coming in and facing your decoy. If he’s strutting, all you’ll see is his backside and tail fan, making it impossible to get a good sight on his head.

9. Come Before You Call

You stand a much better chance of catching a gobbler by getting as close to him as you can before ever using a call. If you spot one in your binoculars, try to get closer without being seen. It happens occasionally, but for the most part, a longbeard is increasingly harder to call in if he’s 300-400 yards away, versus if he’s in that 100-150 yard range — especially if he’s with hens.

Use the natural vegetation and terrain of the landscape to your advantage. There have been times when I’ve had to circle around a large field by almost a ¼ to ½ mile just to be in effective calling range of a tom. If he’s in the field strutting but closer to the opposite side, most of the time he’s not going anywhere and you have plenty of time to improve your odds by moving in closer.

10. Practice Your Cadence

Although there’s some debate when it comes to the best calls, some experts believe that the cadence of your call is actually more important than the tone or sound. Practicing your rhythm for hen yelps, purrs, whines, and cuts can go a long way in attracting gobblers.

Another of the best spring turkey hunting tips to keep in mind is that often, less is more, especially when in heavily hunted areas. All turkey hunters live for the gobble, but be patient. If he answers you frequently right off the bat, back off a little. Get less responsive and go longer between your replies to his gobbling. In return, he panics, thinking you’re losing interest and that he needs to make a move quickly, before losing you for good. 

My personal rule of thumb is that once he cuts my call off with a gobble, I stop calling. In most cases, 10 to 15 minutes go by and he’ll gobble again. I refrain from answering back and if he gobbles again within minutes, then I know he’s getting desperate and panicky. I’m in his head and have him in the right mindset where he’s likely to make a mistake.

Most times after his quick second gobble, I’ll reply with a low tone sounding small yelp, trying to sound uninterested. This often results in him standing within shooting range in a matter of mere minutes.

Whether you’re new to the sport of chasing longbeards or hunting in general, you’ll get more out of your excursions by trying out some of these spring turkey hunting tips (several of them apply to other types of game hunting, as well!). As you gain more experience, you’ll get a feel for which approaches work best for you and the places you hunt. Good luck this season!