Hunting Turkey

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My roomate and I been talking, and we decided it would be neet to try out hunting. Problem is, neither of us have ever hunted before. We know that turkey season will be going on for some time, so we would have plenty of time to prepare and get the gear.


Does anyone know of hunting classes where they take you out and teach you to hunt? Basically we need to know everything from finding the animal, setting up camp, killing it, gutting/cleaning it, and cooking it.

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hey bud
i dont know of any classes like that, other than the hunters safety course (which you are required to have taken before hunting anything). this course is very basic though and doesnt cover much in the way of skills. best thing would be to find someone that is willing to take you out in the woods and let you hunt with them a few times before ya take it on your own. for beginning id reccomend deer season in the fall. turkey is a somewhat skill intense animal to hunt, but by all means you can still start there. depending on where your from you can join a club and hunt with them for deer, they tend to be very helpful, other than that its up to who you can find that will let you go with them and show you the ropes. if ya have anymore specific questions i can try and answer.
cheers
-B

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backdraft1009 wrote:

hey bud
i dont know of any classes like that, other than the hunters safety course (which you are required to have taken before hunting anything). this course is very basic though and doesnt cover much in the way of skills. best thing would be to find someone that is willing to take you out in the woods and let you hunt with them a few times before ya take it on your own. for beginning id reccomend deer season in the fall. turkey is a somewhat skill intense animal to hunt, but by all means you can still start there. depending on where your from you can join a club and hunt with them for deer, they tend to be very helpful, other than that its up to who you can find that will let you go with them and show you the ropes. if ya have anymore specific questions i can try and answer.
cheers
-B

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If you hunt private property in VA, you are not required to take a hunter safety course. I've hunted for many years, and never had been required to take hunter safety.

If you hunt any public property or any of the military installations, I believe that they do require proof of safety training.


I am in agreement that the best thing to do is find a buddy who has hunted before and ask them to show you the ropes and all that stuff. How to track, field dress, etc...

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backdraft1009 wrote:

hey bud
i dont know of any classes like that, other than the hunters safety course (which you are required to have taken before hunting anything). this course is very basic though and doesnt cover much in the way of skills. best thing would be to find someone that is willing to take you out in the woods and let you hunt with them a few times before ya take it on your own. for beginning id reccomend deer season in the fall. turkey is a somewhat skill intense animal to hunt, but by all means you can still start there. depending on where your from you can join a club and hunt with them for deer, they tend to be very helpful, other than that its up to who you can find that will let you go with them and show you the ropes. if ya have anymore specific questions i can try and answer.
cheers
-B

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I am from Richmond (Chesterfield area) but I basically live up in harrisonburg for 9/10 of the year (go to JMU).

I thought it would be best to start hunting small game before moving up to something as large as deer. Another thing to consider is I will eat turkey, duck, or any bird-like animals. For the 2-3 times I ate deer in my life, I hated the taste of it. Being able to eat the meat is an important factor for us, we aren't looking for trophys or a quick thrill kill.

Now these clubs... how do they work? It would be really nice to join a group of individuals and learn from them. None of my family in VA hunt.... I suppose I could ask some of my old scout masters and see if they would take me out (but I think they only do deer, not sure).

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DDrake wrote:

My roomate and I been talking, and we decided it would be neet to try out hunting. Problem is, neither of us have ever hunted before. We know that turkey season will be going on for some time, so we would have plenty of time to prepare and get the gear.


Does anyone know of hunting classes where they take you out and teach you to hunt? Basically we need to know everything from finding the animal, setting up camp, killing it, gutting/cleaning it, and cooking it.

Click to expand...

Go to thehttp://www.dgif.state.va.us/ to find a Hunter Education Class in your area. We would generally run a hunter ed. class before Spring Gobbler season. Also the National Turkey Federation has hunter ed. classes. One thing, never wear the colors of the Turkey when hunting. I remember the Last time I let a friend of mine go turkey hunting with me. She wore the colors of the turkey. Plus she got up and walked around, changing her location to the point that she didn't stay in her assigned area. This is very dangerous, besides wearing those colors. You do need to wear Blaze orange I especially wore mine until I found a place to sit, then I wrapped my Orange around the tree where I planned to sit all dressed in cammo.

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vrwmiller wrote:

If you hunt private property in VA, you are not required to take a hunter safety course. I've hunted for many years, and never had been required to take hunter safety.

If you hunt any public property or any of the military installations, I believe that they do require proof of safety training.


I am in agreement that the best thing to do is find a buddy who has hunted before and ask them to show you the ropes and all that stuff. How to track, field dress, etc...

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This is the link for Hunting On Private Property: http://www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/regulations/privateproperty.asp

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vrwmiller
thanks for catchin that, you are correct.

DDrake
i know your area pretty well, im from hampton roads and go to school at VMI so were not too far away. i inderstand your call on the turkey versus dear. turkey would deffinately require you to go with an experienced hunter the first time though, a lot of skill involved. up here is mostly rifle hunting country so there probably arent any clubs. i am a member down in my hometown area and i do a lot of hunting there. i ussually dont kill more than i know will get eaten but the upside of a club is you can always give it away or participate in "hunters for the hungry" as my club does. when it comes to fowl or small game i dont have a lot of experience but i know squirrel is a blast! its a good time with buds and doesnt require an overly long amount of sittin still. might try that. dont know that i can help ya much more than that but deffinately get on that safety course first because you cant buy a liscense without one unless as (vrwmiller) stated you are on private property with land owners consent. hope ya have a great time with whatever you choose.
-B

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backdraft1009 wrote:

dont know that i can help ya much more than that but deffinately get on that safety course first because you cant buy a liscense without one unless as (vrwmiller) stated you are on private property with land owners consent. hope ya have a great time with whatever you choose.
-B

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The only problem with that is, to hunt with out a license would mean he would have to hunt his parents, or grandparents property. You can't get away without having a license on other people's private property, other wise you are a poacher. My brother thought he could get away with hunting his friend's land without a license, if he said he rented property from his friend; he would have been telling a lie if he tried putting that over on the game warden. I suppose that the OP should get a clarrification from a game warden about land rental stuff. I could not have hunted my brother's property without a license. Only his wife, son, or daughter could do that.

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i dont understand why poeple say hunting turkey is so hard... i used to hit them frequently when i was was in oregon, they can do a lot of damage to a dakota. plus i have had them chase while mowing grass in out field up there. then again i never see them when i have my shotgun so i dont know.

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packingdressagerider wrote

Go to thehttp://www.dgif.state.va.us/ to find a Hunter Education Class in your area. We would generally run a hunter ed. class before Spring Gobbler season. Also the National Turkey Federation has hunter ed. classes. One thing, never wear the colors of the Turkey when hunting. I remember the Last time I let a friend of mine go turkey hunting with me. She wore the colors of the turkey. Plus she got up and walked around, changing her location to the point that she didn't stay in her assigned area. This is very dangerous, besides wearing those colors. You do need to wear Blaze orange I especially wore mine until I found a place to sit, then I wrapped my Orange around the tree where I planned to sit all dressed in cammo.

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Are turkeys really that smart? Is it possible to hunt them in orange (like people do with deer).

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DDrake wrote:

packingdressagerider wrote

Go to the http://www.dgif.state.va.us/ to find a Hunter Education Class in your area. We would generally run a hunter ed. class before Spring Gobbler season. Also the National Turkey Federation has hunter ed. classes. One thing, never wear the colors of the Turkey when hunting. I remember the Last time I let a friend of mine go turkey hunting with me. She wore the colors of the turkey. Plus she got up and walked around, changing her location to the point that she didn't stay in her assigned area. This is very dangerous, besides wearing those colors. You do need to wear Blaze orange I especially wore mine until I found a place to sit, then I wrapped my Orange around the tree where I planned to sit all dressed in cammo.

Click to expand...

Are turkeys really that smart? Is it possible to hunt them in orange (like people do with deer).

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They are not smart, they are just very wary.

You should check out your local Isaac Walton league. they will have a lot of the info you are looking for, and a lot of folks that are turkey hunters. They will also be able to provide you info on the best places to hunt. Most of the local IWL clubs will have shooting ranges as well.

Regards

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Do not take any hunting advice from the Vice President... Thank you

Two words for you while hunting.... Muzzle Control!!!

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DDrake wrote:

Are turkeys really that smart? Is it possible to hunt them in orange (like people do with deer).

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The reason the department stressing blaze orange especially in Spring Gobbler season is because you want other hunters to know you are in the woods. It's actually required for general firearms season-blaze orange. You want turkey hunters to know you are a person with that blaze orange on you. Stil, there are a lot of idiots who will shoot at a noise, the colors of the turkey (red, white, and blue, sometimes purple), movement, sound--without making sure that what they are shooting at is actually a turkey. Turkeys are stupid birds, but they have good eye sight. I think they are harder to hunt than deer. For Turkey season, I put on all cammo; when I walked to my hunting spot, I had on blaze orange. Then I put my orange on the tree I was sitting beside.