Editor’s Note: Matt Kelly of Alabama has been hunting turkeys for 40 years and guiding to turkeys for 12 years.

I was hunting with an older gentleman, and we were walking to the next place where we were planning to hunt. We started talking about TSS loads and other super loads that would allow a hunter to harvest a bird at 50 or 60 yards. This older gentleman got quiet for a little bit and then said, “If a turkey hunter is shooting a gobbler at 50 or 60 or more yards, he has a lot more work to do to become a good turkey hunter.” Meaning, he believed that the game of turkey hunting should be played by the hunter to take a gobbler within those 30 to 40 yards. He thought that if you couldn’t get a turkey to within those 30 or 40 yards, then you shouldn’t take the shot.

Of course, that was just his opinion. Taking the bird for him wasn’t nearly as important as being able to call that turkey into that 30- or 40-yard distance before he squeezed the trigger. For me, I don’t have to kill a turkey to enjoy a hunt. I feel like if I can’t get that tom within that 30- or 40- yard range, I haven’t earned the right to take that bird home to supper. For me, the joy of turkey hunting is getting that bird to believe I’m a hen and forcing him to want to walk within 30 yards of where I am before I squeeze the trigger.

I once had four turkeys roosted on the edge of a creek. I just knew for certain that my hunter would kill one of those birds when they flew off the roost. That day was a high-pressure morning with a bluebird sky – all perfect conditions to bag a gobbler. All four of these birds were gobbling like crazy while they were still on the roost.

We set-up right where the turkeys should land. But before those turkeys flew down, my client started coughing loudly. I looked at him and asked, “What are you doing?” He answered, “Well, I had to cough.” Of course, the gobblers flew off the roost away from us. We didn’t hear another turkey gobble the rest of the morning.

I’ve had hunters swat at mosquitoes with the turkeys looking at them, and even had hunters scratch themselves with their gun sights. I’ve seen a hunter lift his head up to try and see the turkey coming in and spook the gobbler. Just remember to be as still and as silent as possible for the best turkey outcome.

Looking for more content? Check out our YouTube channel and watch “3 Bill Zearing and Preston Pittman Calling the Gobbler Away from the Hens” by John E. Phillips.

Check out John E. Phillips’ 12th book: “Turkeys: Today’s Tactics for Longbeards Tomorrow“

Expert Guidebooks on Turkey Hunting: Best Sellers

Turkey Hunting Tactics
This turkey hunting audiobook has entertaining chapters like: “How to Miss a Turkey”, “Hunting with a Guide”, and “The Turkey and the New York Lady”.

You’ll learn about all the subspecies of turkey across North America, how to use a turkey call, how to scout before turkey season, how to find a turkey to hunt, and what hunting gear you’ll need to put the odds in your favor to take a wily gobbler.

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE, KINDLE & PRINT

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How to Hunt Turkeys with World Champion Preston Pittman
You easily can take a turkey if you don’t make any mistakes, but you have to know what the deadly sins of turkey hunting are to keep you from making those mistakes. If you understand how to hunt a turkey, you’re far more likely to take a gobbler than if you just know how to call a turkey.

Of course, calling is important, and if you want to learn to call a turkey, Preston Pittman will teach you how to call turkeys with box calls, friction calls, diaphragm calls, and other turkey sounds.

You’ll also learn why Preston Pittman once put turkey manure all over his body to kill a tough tom.

When you have turkeys that strut and drum in the middle of a field, when you know there’s no way to get close enough to get a shot, Pittman will show you some weird tactics that have worked for him to help you hunt tough ole toms.

But the main thing you’ll learn in this book is how to become the turkey.

Using what he’s learned while hunting wild turkeys, he’s also become a master woodsman who can take most game, regardless of where he hunts. To learn more secrets about how to be a turkey hunter from one of the world champions of the sport, this turkey-hunting book with Preston Pittman is a must.

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE, KINDLE & PRINT

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The Turkey Hunting Guides’ Bible
The quickest way to learn how to turkey hunt successfully is to either hunt with a turkey hunter with years of experience or a turkey-hunting guide. These two types of turkey hunters have solved most of the problems turkey hunters ever will face. 

Just as one size of shoes won’t fit every person, one style of turkey hunting doesn’t fit each hunter.  Each turkey-hunting guide interviewed for this book has his own style of calling, hunting, and outsmarting turkeys.  

While listening to this book, make a list of the new information you’ve learned, take that list with you during turkey season, and try some of the new tactics. Then you’ll become a more versatile turkey hunter and prove the wisdom from The Turkey Hunting Guides’ Bible.   

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE, KINDLE & PRINT

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Outdoor Life’s Complete Turkey Hunting (2nd Edition)
This Audible book will help you learn how to call turkeys with two of the nation’s best, longtime and well-known turkey callers, Rob Keck, formerly with the National Wild Turkey Federation, and Lovett Williams, a wildlife biologist who recorded wild turkeys giving the calls that you’ll learn how to make on various types of turkey callers.

VERSIONS: AUDIBLE & KINDLE

To see more of John E. Phillips’ turkey-hunting books, go to www.amazon.com/author/johnephillips.