Your Favorite Turkey gear?

[joebuck]

A larger part of the traditional bowhunting experience is the gear we choose from season to season, animal to animal. We may change from longbow to recurve or wool to Kuiu! But i love the gear choices out there.  here's a snapshot of some old gear i have up to some new gear i have.

1. Wensel camo hat with WIRE brim...absolutely love the hat especially the brim. I can fold the brim up and it holds my headnet perfectly right against my eyeborws. Love at first sight..i bought 3 before i had one. 100% cotton and fits great.. wife hates it and say i embarress her infront of her parents when i wear it....so its a keeper.

2. Deet......i hunt usually in the south...100% deet, nothing else..therma cell close second but......dont skimp on %...100.......will rub your bow finish be carefull...i personally own 2 gallons of fullerplast!  it actually stands up pretty good against DEET

3. Russell Snake Boots...i have had maybe 20 years?.....everytime i look at those boots it reminds me of turkeys. if you ever turkey hunt with me you'll see why i wear them..i usually walk in a straight line and snakes are not on my mind. Sure a snake can bite over them.....but they havent!....hand measured boot, oh my gosh if i had a tie to match , i would wear them to church.

4. Carbon Mask...i camo my fave and bow hand. This is the only camo make up i like. Goes on easy and comes off QUICK.. not like the other stuff that feels like putty...no brainer...carbon mask forever

5. Waldrop pacseat! Just bought but been using for years. I talk about it a lot over on my PBS thread Bowhunting Turkeys Up Close and Personal.  I made a knock off of David's personal seat 12 year ago. he was using an alaskan pack frame. Wel;l low and behold he is makin them to sell now. It is far better than the one i made. i got mine in the mail yesterday and it is the ticket.. G Fred sells them on is site. You can sit leaning against tree or upright. I bunge all my decoys on it.. its the rig

6. Lieca Bino...10 x 25......had them...well i do not know...paid $223....so when was that? fit in my front pocket. I have them duct tape to correct distance between my eyes. man are they clear...i am not pimping Lieca here but good glass in general.....

7. TB Knife......1095 or D2 cant remeber but the perfect blade design to skin out a bird if you are going to mount or eat. slides on my belt paralell and whip it out as fast as i need it in a Mississippi Delta Pool hall fight.....

8. last but not least...Rodger Parks Tree Talker...makes incrediable accurate monotone tree yelps and soft purrs when they get close..Old Desighn Rodger has somehow re-invented. he is a disciple of DD Adams and if you know of DD Adams then you know some stuff.

heres it my favorite stuff to turkey hunt besides my Wooden Hen scratch boxes and Swamprooter bows......This stuff is fun..

 

[Dirtybird]

Thats some great stuff Joey

[Dirtybird]

The wooden scratch box I got from you last year at PBS banquet is a sounder for sure and had birds close to me last year.  This year I will hopefully have a better outcome.

[Knapper]

You are right about how much enjoyment that I and we all should derive from preparing for the hunt and trying to get the perfect equipment and then refining that equipment .  A good example for me is I purchased my first gillie attire from Ranchero about six years ago.  It was the long coat in burlap and cotton. When I purchase it I realized that it could get warm in turkey season but I am cold natured. Well it was almost too hot at times.  Then I had to crawl up a small incline to spot a turkey.  I then found an major draw back, you can not crawl in a long coat and it cost me a possible shot.  So a month ago I ordered a shaggie short jacket with hood and pants in what is called the ultra light from Ranchero.  The material is all polyester in a multi light shades of green camo.  I think that this will be perfect for turkey hunting in the spring and possibly very early fall.
Another example, is the perfect hunting seat.  I either own or have owned virtually every seat on the market and yet have not found what I need and want.  The requirements are as follows:
Must weigh in at about 5 pounds
Must not be bulky
Must pack well
Must be quiet
Must have a back
Must swivel
Must be quick to set up
Must be built well
Must be a quality product

There are seats out there that meet many of the requirements but unfortunately, I can not find anything that is being made that meet all of these requirements.  I do wish that some ingenious individual would make one as I would buy it in a heart beat and price is not an issue as I would be happy with it he rest of my hunting career.

[woodchucker]

Bow, Arrows, and a sweet sounding box call...  

[Dirtybird]

Knapper the waldrop seat is the ticket.  You can attach a swivel seat from gander mountain and be on your way.  This seat might be the best investment I've made in years.

[bayoulongbowman]

Joebuck, had Turkey sandwhich today , what is your fav call...thanks,,,did the man say swamprooter bows, well man can dream!!!  

[joebuck]

hello Mark, for working a bird in......Crystal Mistress by David Halloran.....yelp,keekee,purr,cluck ..it s got it all..I quit making pot calls when I stumbled on this kid's calls.

To locate.......sharp Gobbler Cluck from my Wooden Hen.


Tree Call ....roger parks tree talker.....it's fool proof and I get nervous sometimes right before fly down !


Purr..........my own mouth call...I make up a 3 reed cut call the Pros call Shane Hendershot cut....trick is to blow across the call and gargle slowly....fast purrs can turn into aggressive purrs which I don't want..I like a slower ,lower tone purr that is contentment all the way....

aggressive Cutts........my same mouth call....or my wooden hen scratch box..for softer tone

Clear Yelps.....Wooden hen scratch box with a cedar sound board.

Gobble.......well I gobble with my natural voice but I like to Jake gobble on mouth call sometimes....keekeegobblegobble. Especially when I set up a strutting Jake decoy and gobblers hang up.


Screaming Hen is my favorite...........I'm KIDDING........every year a call comes out that .....well let me say takes the cake....Eddie Salter went a notch or two down in my book pushing this.


Did you say one Mark?

[Don Stokes]

Joey, I'm still loving the Wooden Hen you made me. No birds on my place yet.   :(

[Warden609]

screaming hen makes me  

[Friend]

1. My complete bow & arrow set-up.

2. My trumpet calls.

3. My dummy blind

4. My antler handle turkey tote

   

[hardwaymike]

Could someone show how to use a scratch box call? I have not been in the turkey hunting game long(read as not at all/never,LOL). Until today I had never heard of one. They look to be rather easy to make. Not saying it is easy, just saying that it looks like it would be easier. But having never heard of them, you can imagine that I have no idea how they used. So I turn to the vast amount of knowledge here on the Gang. Thank you in advance for any info thrown my way, Mike.

[Dirtybird]

Joey makes them and they are easy to use with a little practice.

[joebuck]

hard way mike...a scratch box is an old form of folk art. This style of turkey call is possibly160+ years old. It gets it name from scratching one wood against another piece of wood. most are front pocket size and produce nice soft yelps when used properly. Majority of scratch boxes are made out of red cedar. National wild turkey federation has a class for several calls to be judged each year in competition. Scratch has it's own class. Google nwtf convention and there are tons of pictures of scratch boxes. Also another good site is the Osage roost. It is web chat room full of the top call makers in the country. Thousands of pictures are also on this site too.

Sboxes are easy to use if you follow one rule. hold the box slightly less than 90 degrees tilted away just slightly from the direction of your stroke and let the back HALF of the rail (that's the edge that scratches the wood) scratch the chalked striker. call will not make a peep if you try to scratch with the leading edge. Experiment holding the call and striker with light to moderate pressure to vary rasp of yelp. They are a lot of fun to use and will absolutely drive your wife crazy practicing.

Hope this helps

DB and Don...glad you still enjoy your calls and good luck this season...I have not been in MS yet. Season starots too early and my truck is in the shop.......

[Dirtybird]

We have a month till season.8-@ look forward to chasing them in Nebraska this year as well.

[Duckbutt]

New items I'm excited about this year...

Joebuck's Wooden Hen
Wensel Hat
DSD Feeding Hen decoy

One piece of gear I still think has an incredible value for no blind turkey chasing is my Sneaky Leaf.  I get the leafy suit effect without wearing more clothes and I spent $15 on a bag several years ago.

No photos, but the gear part is FUN! My list is as follows:
-16" LLBean boots
-Predator Spring Green shirt or jacket, hat, mask and gloves
-Mossy Oak Breakup or Obsession pants depending on how late in the season (green) it is.
-Thermacell
-Browning Turkey vest w/ built-in cushion seat
-Tomey Knife
-10X25 Leica binoculars
-camo coffee mug, full.
-breeding turkeys decoy(s) (the key to success!)
-Assorted box,slate and mouth calls
-Knight TK2000

[Dirtybird]

Decoys, can't wait to see the new sink avian feeder.

[beauleyse]

No pictures but my gear list will be...


-A few Diaphrams that are custom cut just the way I like them..
-Full Strut Shirt and Pants..
-Rubber calf boots
-New Ole Tom Turkey vest
-New David Holloran Slate call
-ton of locator calls
-a pretty boy and pretty girl with a the jake fan of a bird from last day of season last year...
-Face Paint
-Martin Mamba
-Carbon Shafts tiped with Snuffers
-and a few prayers that the old bird thinks my turkey talk is seductive, willing, and not to far for a little look-see..

Good Luck to all in the up coming seasons

[sawtoothscream]

using the same cheap camo i have been using since i was 12 since i t works great, primos a frame triple reed bat cut mouth call since it really brings in the big birds, primos decoy and my beeler longbow.

trying to decide if i want a blind or not. probably not his season