Beretta Blog

The art of talking turkey is essential to becoming an independent hunter. While many people will go with friends who know how to call, you can learn and do it yourself. You may have been hunting on your own for years, but talking turkey is a skill that separates the serious hunters from the beginners. When you learn to speak turkey, you'll be proud to proclaim, “Look! I’ve learned to talk!”

How to Hunt Turkey Series

Part 1: Why You Need to Hunt Turkeys

Part 2: How to Locate Wild Turkeys

Part 3: The Gear You Need for Your Turkey Hunt

Part 4: Learn the Art of Talking Turkey

Your hunting license, Beretta turkey shotgun, and ammunition are at the very top of the ‘Must Have for Turkey Hunting’ list. However, there is a long list of other items you need and can use to help make the hunt more productive.

Getting outdoors to turkey hunt is good for the soul. Bagging a bird for dinner is even better. If you want to fill your tag, the very first thing you need to do is find the right hunting locations.

How to Hunt Turkey Series

Part 1: Why You Need to Hunt Turkeys

Part 2: How to Locate Wild Turkeys

Part 3: The Gear You Need for Your Turkey Hunt

Part 4: Learn the Art of Talking Turkey

There’s an excitement in the air as friends, clients, and guides prepare for the turkey hunting season. We look forward to the morning chill, sometimes with a bit of frost, fog, and dew. Heck, some places even contend with snow. We prepare our gear, purchase new layers, hats, gloves, devices, and such to keep us warm. Some may think it’s pure insanity to go out in these conditions. Turkey hunters are a die-hard breed of which you should be a part.

How to Hunt Turkey Series

Part 1: Why You Need to Hunt Turkeys

Part 2: How to Locate Wild Turkeys

Part 3: The Gear You Need for Your Turkey Hunt

Part 4: Learn the Art of Talking Turkey

A week before our turkey hunt, the weather report wasn’t looking good. This was the only weekend we had to head up to Scottsbluff, Nebraska and predictions were calling for sub-freezing temperatures, snow, and high winds – not exactly prime spring turkey hunting conditions! I tried to manage my expectations, but fears of not having the opportunity to finally harvest my first bird raised their ugly head.

Recently, I've written about how to get started with turkey hunting and how to prepare yourself and your gear to go afield. Within my family, there's not much more enjoyable than taking our Beretta A300 shotguns out to the field to tag and bag a spring-time wild-turkey.

However, there's more to the thrill of hunting wild turkeys than the process of hunting the bird. While the challenge of outsmarting these savvy birds and putting the knockdown on them is part of the fulfillment in the hunt, there remains the question of how to make the most of your wild turkey harvest. Today, I'd like to share one of my favorite recipes for wild turkey.

There’s more than one reason to pattern a shotgun before you head out on a turkey hunt. One is to make sure the gun is shooting where it’s supposed to; the other is to make sure the shooter is shooting where he, or she, is supposed to.

Taking shots during turkey hunting is a bit different than those during waterfowl season. When you’ve got just one shot on a big bird, you want to make sure it’s a good one. Take your Beretta Turkey shotgun to the range and make sure you know where it’s hitting. Aim it at a turkey target, so you can verify the pattern impact where you aim.

Turkey hunting seasons are opening all around the country. I’m on various social media outlets, and the other day a follower asked me a question, “What advice would you have for a lady who is a first-time turkey hunter?”

A million thoughts went through my mind as I read the request. My first thoughts included a lot of questions, which would narrow down specifics to her scenario. Then I considered, “How about some advice, not just for the lady who wants to hunt, but for men as well.”

I look up through the tree branches to see bulbous bodies silhouetted against the forest scenery. The chilly air bites at my cheeks. Slowly the sky lightens, and the figures begin to take shape. Then hen those figures begin to move. A shiver of excitement runs through my body as I see one puff and fan its tail. I know it’s a gobbler.

Why do we hunt turkeys? Every spring I go after them, and every spring I seem to find myself using language that would make a sailor blush and vowing to give it up. It’s not as though I’ve never been successful at it, but they rank pretty high as one of the most frustrating birds to hunt.

But it’s the challenge that makes them worth it, isn’t it? If it was easy, it wouldn’t be as much fun. The wild turkey is a great symbol of our hunting heritage. If Ben Franklin had had his way, it would be our national bird, supplanting that the bald eagle. Each spring hunters from all over this great land head to the woods in search of a long beard. Some of us are motivated by a strong desire to spend time outside after a long winter. Others are after the thrill of the hunt. Me? I’m out for blood.