1.) Scout alot---most of the birds we hunt are seen when driving to and from work. We locate the flocks and know the area where we intend to hunt.

2.)Don't practice calling on the birds you intend to hunt, it doesn't take an old boss gobbler long to figure out that when he here's your call he never finds a hen there and he won't come and visit, as tempting as it is sometimes, don't do it, it will only ruin your chance of a successful season later on.

3.)Spend as much time in the woods as you can in the A.M. hours in the spring when the birds start to gobble, an owl hooter is my a.m. call of choice for locating gobblers. A good "WHO COOKS FOR YOU, WHO COOKS FOR YOU TOO" is about all it takes to fire up a gobbler on the roost and getting him to give away his location.

4.) When you sit down at your calling position before dawn, it is hard to see into the trees, when it starts to get light look up around you to make sure you have not set up right in under roosted birds, many time I have set up only to find out that a flock of hens were roosted right over top of me and when the gobblers start up in the morning those hens would fly down as far away from me as possible and take the gobblers with them.

5.)Don't call to much, I cannot stress this enough, when a gobbler gets hot and is double and triple gobbling, allot of guys want to call more frequently to keep him hot. If he's double and triple gobbling and headed in your direction only an occasional yelp or purr should keep him coming towards you.

6.)If you are a beginner and are looking for the right call to use, I suggest the box call for all beginners, it is easy to use and has probably had more birds called in than any other call on the market. As you advance as a turkey hunter you will undoubtedly end up owning all the various calls out there.

7.) For the beginning hunter I also suggest a single hen decoy , one of the flambaeu decoys can be purchased for around $15.00 at most sporting good stores. It takes the eyes of the gobbler off you and puts them on the decoy, allowing for you to have a better chance to harvest the bird.

8.)If you can hunt everyday get out there and hunt, we have taken birds on the most miserable of days. Don't stay in bed and dream about them, get out there and hunt them. And if your buddy don't show up cause the weathers bad, get out there yourself and when you take the big boy you can rub it in real good.

9.)Remember to put shells in your gun, don't laugh, it has happened many times. You get up and head to the woods and set up on your located bird, he flies down off of the roost and struts in front of you and you slowly ease gun in his direction , line up bead on head and neck and pull the trigger only to here that very audible click. I prefer to load my gun before entering my hunting area, and since that incident-----I always make sure there's shells in the gun.

10.) Watch you movements, all movement should be kept to a minimum and slow is the key. Allot of times a bird will circle you and come in from behind and when he rips one of those hair raising gobbles from 10 yards behind your position it's hard not to jump out of your camo. We do allot of filming and most hunters are surprised how much they actually move when waiting for birds.