Don't be that guy........April 25th will come fast

[MikePal]

John, what load are you looking to use for the 16 ga. I've been thinking to put mine into circulation for the spring.

I think you mean me....I usually use #5s, but I don't have enough of them left to pattern/ hunt with. I usually get my 16 ga shell at the gun shows and wasn't able to do that last year. So I'll be using either #4 or #6's this year. Have see which patterns best out of the Mossburg.

[Sprite]

If only we could get the BOSS loads up here -- they've got a 2 3/4" Bismuth load of #5s, 6s or 7s that would work well for turkeys.

I've been trying for two years to get them to supply up here.

[js4fn]

I think you mean me....I usually use #5s, but I don't have enough of them left to pattern/ hunt with. I usually get my 16 ga shell at the guns shows and wasn't able to do that last year. So I'll be using either #4 or #6's this year. Have see which patterns best out of the Mossburg.

Same here 16g #5 out of $100.00 mossburg with accuchoke dials pattern right in

[MikePal]

If only we could get the BOSS loads up here -- they've got a 2 3/4" Bismuth load of #5s, 6s or 7s that would work well for turkeys.

I've been trying for two years to get them to supply up here.

Kent used to make a Turkey load with #4 #5 #6 combo. I used in in my 870 for yrs, the beauty is that the mixed shot sizes compensating for each other at different ranges.

[Ata83]

is a decoy necessary ? or can they be fooled with just calling ?

if yes, which I think is the case, what would be your first decoy ? a hen or a tom ? or other suggestions ?

TIA

[finsfurfeathers]

is a decoy necessary ? or can they be fooled with just calling ?

if yes, which I think is the case, what would be your first decoy ? a hen or a tom ? or other suggestions ?

TIA

No a decoy is not necessary. The consideration though is if your calling the birds they will be coming to you and will focus all their attention on the spot where the call is coming from. Almost impossible not to be picked off by the bird. I like a decoy to give them something to look at other than in my direction.
For that a realistic hen decoy ups your odds

[Ata83]

Thank you for the explanation, makes perfect sense. will start with a Hen decoy.

[410001661]

Thank you for the explanation, makes perfect sense. will start with a Hen decoy.

Learned that early........I was yelping on a field edge with a jake decoy in the field. Had a gobbler come out of the bush and stop in his tracks and stared at my decoy for a couple of minutes and then high tailed it out of there. There is a reason why they become big old Tom's - they are not dumb. Great learning moment - LOL

[GW11]

is a decoy necessary ? or can they be fooled with just calling ?

if yes, which I think is the case, what would be your first decoy ? a hen or a tom ? or other suggestions ?

TIA

I've had really good luck without a decoy on a number of occasions. Where this seems to work best is calling from a treed fence line between two fields with a gobbler out in front of you. Sometimes his curiosity gets the best of him and he just has to come over close to where I'm calling from to see if he can see the "hen" in the field behind me. Works great with a pop up blind.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

[410001661]

I've had really good luck without a decoy on a number of occasions. Where this seems to work best is calling from a treed fence line between two fields with a gobbler out in front of you. Sometimes his curiosity gets the best of him and he just has to come over close to where I'm calling from to see if he can see the "hen" in the field behind me. Works great with a pop up blind.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

Remember you do not always need to call in the Tom........a hen can help you get the job done as well. My early season field set up is 2 hens and a jake. A couple of times you will see a 4-6 birds cross your field and because hens are with the Tom's and/or Jakes they will usually not pay attention to your decoys. Usually the males will not leave the hens they are with. You have two choices.......wait for them to service them and start looking again or get that hen to come to you bringing those boys into range.

I have done this several times and it is cool to watch. Start cutting to get the boss hen to respond to your calls. When she does respond back to you copy her calls note for note and watch her get agitated. When she starts cutting even try to cut her off and send it back to her with an attitude and she might come over to give that hen a piece of her mind bringing boys into range. Just be careful because when they are in range because you now have 5-6 sets of eyes watching you.