Turkey season is finally here once again, and if you’re still filling out your turkey arsenal, you need to take a look at the items mentioned below. Here’s our round-up of some of the best turkey gear to bag your bird this season.
H.S. Strut The Flock Decoys ($79.99)
If you’re looking to add a whole flock of decoys to your setup this season, be sure to check out the The Flock from H. S. Strut. This Strut Lite series of decoys delivers handcrafted detail and a no-flake paint scheme for added realism. The decoys feature a lightweight and collapsible design that will continue to hold their true-to-life shape without creasing. The Flock comes with stakes for each decoy and access openings that make your setup fast and easy. The setup includes a feeding hen, standing hen, and semi-aggressive jake. Best yet, the price of the whole flock of decoys is what you might expect to pay for a single decoy elsewhere. That’s right, at $79.99 for The Flock, you really can’t go wrong with this setup.
Winchester Longbeard XR ($23.99)
www.winchester.com
If you’re not familiar with Winchester’s Longbeard XR turkey loads, you need to give them a look. They are some of baddest turkey loads you’ll find anywhere. In fact, they are delivering performance that rivals many of the top-end custom loads out there. We got a good look at the performance of these loads at the NWTF Convention this year. The number of pellets, and through the ballistics gellatin no less, was pretty impressive. These loads were designed to thump turkey heads at longer ranges than ever before.
NAP Mantis Ground Blind ($199-299)
The new Mantis Ground Blind from NAP is the perfect solution for bowhunting turkey hunters, or gun hunters wanting better concealment for hunting with kids, or riding out a rainstorm. The Mantis blind is perfect for blending in and getting away with moving your gun, drawing your bow, or maneuvering for the shot. The Mantis is one of the lightest blinds on the market, making it perfect for run-n-gun ground blind hunting. It offers quick and easy setup to get you in the game fast. The Mantis is available in a 2-hub and 3-hub option, both providing ample room. The 2-hub blind weighs just 14.5 pounds, features 38 square feet of space, and a height of 5′ 9″. The 3-hub blind weighs 22 pounds, has 48 square feet of space, and a height of 6′ 1″.
NOMAD MG Turkey Vest ($129.99)
One of the best new turkey vests to hit the market lately is the new NOMAD MG Turkey Vest. It’s a super cozy option with a big, thick butt cushion to keep you comfortable on extended sits. It’s got pockets in all the right places to keep your gear accessible when the action gets fast and furious. It’s adjustable to give a perfect custom fit.
On X Hunt Turkey Layer (Free with Membership)
On X Hunt mapping software is one of the slickest mapping apps ever created, with features designed to help you hunt further and and access more land than ever before. Now they are taking this technology to the turkey hunter. The NWTF Wild Turkey Records Layer was built in collaboration with the On X mapping team and the National Wild Turkey Federation. This nationwide layer was built using over 23,000 submissions from NWTF members since 1982. There’s a ton of turkey info packed into this particular category from On X. You’ll find records for number of entries, top scores, beard length, weight, and spur length, all displayed by county. Another really cool feature is that any county can be queried for additional information, such as which subspecies are present. This is a great resource for the traveling hunter looking to find locations to complete their slams, particularly in states that have multiple subspecies within the state.
Killer Gear JakeFan ($139.99)
The new JakeFan follows the success of Killer Gear’s TurkeyFan introduced in the last couple years. The JakeFan is a nice addition to the decoy lineup, with a scaled down version of its bigger brother, a decoy I think is more approachable due to its smaller size. The beauty in these decoys is their ability to pack down to a super small unit that easily fits in your turkey vest. It’s one of the most packable strutting decoys on the market, no doubt. The JakeFan can be used as a traditional stationary decoy or a run and gun fanning decoy all in one. This style of decoy was designed to trigger the territorial response of a dominant tom against an adolescent jake. It really works well on those tough field turkeys.
Mossberg 930 Turkey Gun ($924)
Looking for a new turkey gun this spring? Check out the Mossberg 930 Turkey Gun with pistol grip. It’s a smooth handling and shooting shotgun designed specifically for run-n-gun tactics in the spring turkey woods. It’s available in 12 gauge, with a 3″ chamber and 24″ barrel. Other features include a vent rib, adjustable fiber optic sight, XX-Full Choke, Mossy Oak Obsession camo, pistol grip, and weighs in at just 7.5 pounds.
Birchwood Casey Targets ($9.99)
The Birchwood Casey Pregame Turkey Target is the perfect solution for patterning your shotgun or just practicing out back to build confidence in your shotgun prior to opening day. These realistic full-color targets are a lot of fun to shoot with their splatter-on-impact design for visual confirmation of whether your shot strikes. The targets are 12″ x 18″ and come 8 targets to a pack.
DSD Mating Motion Decoys ($299.99)
Adding motion to your decoys is a game changer when it comes to fooling turkeys. Decoys will catch their attention, but motion in the decoys will be what seals the deal. The new Mating Motion Pair decoys from DSD bring a realistic decoy presentation like no other decoy scenario you’ll use all season. Few gobblers will tolerate the sight of another male bird breeding one of his hens. This decoy presentation works when nothing else will. A simple tug on the jerk cord causes the young gobbler decoy to gyrate in the breeding position on top of the hen decoy. The jake and hen are included.
FOXPRO Turkey Pro ($165.95)
The FOXPRO TurkeyPro is a game changer fool fooling tough toms. It’s the perfect solution for having another caller working for you, even when you’re hunting alone. The unit comes with 16 turkey sounds, 19 predator sounds, and holds 300 sounds total. The TurkeyPro uses a single, high- efficiency Mylar cone speaker. Connect an external speaker to the jack on the side of the call for even more volume. The TurkeyPro remote features an elastomeric keypad for effortless use, even with gloves. It also has category files for easy navigation through sounds. The remote has a power on/off switch, volume up/down buttons, scroll up/down buttons, a mute, and much more.
TRUGLO Hip-Shot ($34.95)
We first encountered the Hip-Shot back at the ATA show in Indianapolis and were immediately impressed with its ability to stabilize your shot, whether hunting with a shotgun or crossbow. You can rest the Hip-Shot against your hip or ground while turkey hunting to steady your shot, or hold your gun in place as you wait out your bird.
Alps NWTF Vanish Turkey Chair ($34.95)
If you’re looking for the ultimate in comfort as you wait out your turkey this spring, look to the Vanish turkey chair from Alps Outdoorz. No more numb legs and backside while sitting on the ground. This chair will provide serious comfort for all-day sits. I used this chair last spring while turkey hunting in Nebraska. I stubbed up some brush around my chair to help me blend in and then kicked back for a long afternoon sit. In the last hour of the day, I was able to shoot the prettiest bird of my turkey hunting career, with my bow, while seated in this chair. It features a powder-coated steel frame, folding chair design, and the fabric comes in Mossy Oak Obsession camo. The dimensions are 22″ wide x 14″ deep x 24″ high. The Vanish chair weighs 7 pounds, but I promise you, it is worth the extra weight. And though it’s a small chair, it has a weight capacity of 300 pounds, so even the big boys can take advantage of this chair.
Primos Tall Timber Gabriel Box Call ($49.99)
The Tall Timber Gabriel is Primos’ premium box call, featuring double thumb holes on the box to allow easy and perfect clucks and cuts. The name is derived from a book written by Will’s good friend Charles Whittington. Mr. Whittington wrote about his turkey hunting exploits in 1971 in a book entitled, Tall Timber Gabriels. He affectionately called a gobbler “Old Gabriel” after an angel. Hence Tall Timber Gabriels because gobblers sing each spring from their tall timber perch sending out their love song for all to hear. This is a special call for the Primos crew. They’ve put all they know and cherish about the box call into this one. The choice of woods, the curves of the striking surfaces, the shape and cutouts of the sideboards as well as the finish to give hunters the finest instrument in reproducing the sounds that “Old Gabriel” so badly wants to hear.
H.S. Strut Custom Craft Pan Call ($29.99)
From the Custom Craft Series from H.S. Strut comes the Custom Craft Series Pan Call. This call produces some of the richest sounding calls you can take to the woods. The specially designed sound board and the American walnut pan resonates to project an authentic sound. The call includes a tuned H.S. Strut Wood Striker. The call comes in three options, slate, glass and aluminum. The slate version is especially good for soft purrs and clucks when you need to close the distance on a gobbler. The glass version lets you reach out and touch long distance turkeys with high-pitched sounds and great volume. The aluminum pot call is easy to play and very versatile, creating high-pitched yelps and soft purrs.
We want to hear from you. What’s your best turkey gear – the must-have gear items you wouldn’t head to the turkey woods without? Comment below and let us know.