Phillip Gentry
March 28, 2008 - 12:14 a.m. EST

Turkey season for Upstate South Carolina opens next Tuesday, giving area hunters only one more weekend to prepare for the season opener. Don’t make the mistake that many hunters do by dusting off those calls and decoys the night before opening day and going into the woods unprepared. Even if you haven’t thought about turkey season since the last day of last year, there’s still a little time to up your odds for getting a bird this season.

Get your tags. Recent changes in the licensing system have allowed the DNR to build a larger database of turkey hunters. If you are in the system, chances are good that you’ve already received your tags by mail this year. If you haven’t received your tags or are aren’t in the system, you can still obtain tags online from the SCDNR. Depending on how hunters acquired their current hunting licenses, which are required in addition to tags, they should have been asked if they turkey hunt and would be mailed tags. Online tags are free by applying online at www.dnr.sc.gov/turkeytags/. Turkey season in Game Zones 1 and 2 (Upstate SC) runs from April 1 – May 1. The limit is 5 gobblers per season with no more than 2 in one day.

Here’s your sign. Scouting is an important tool for patterning the behavior of wild birds on the land you intend to hunt. It’s best, however, to use your eyes, ears and legs to locate turkey sign--feeding areas, grooming areas, strut zones, and roosting sites. Listen for turkeys to gobble early in the morning. Resist the urge to call. Blind calling only frustrates birds that may respond to your call and actually lessens your chance of locating a willing bird once the season is open.

Pattern your gun. The variables of different chokes, different guns and different shells means not all guns shoot the same. Take your shotgun to the range and look at how it patterns on paper with the same loads you intend to shoot at real birds. Know how your gun patterns at 10 yard increments out to 50 yards. Try different loads to see which newer loads might work better for your gun or if your current load will still get the job done.

Have a game plan. Don’t just wander through the woods calling every five minutes. Patterning how turkeys use a particular piece of ground takes time to learn, maybe even years. But you can get a leg up if you’re new to an area or just starting out in the sport by recognizing that turkeys, just like deer, have different travel routes and frequent different areas for a reason. Use this pattern, borrowed from a veteran hunter as a guideline and then adapt it to your hunting grounds: Look for roosting turkeys near low lying areas, especially near water, at daylight. Check for birds to be in or around food plots or open fields by mid morning. Watch for birds to cross firebreaks or logging roads during the middle of the day. Check ridge tops and saddles early in the afternoon, then look for birds around edges-pine thickets, briar patches, or cane breaks until late afternoon. The last hour of daylight should be spent back in the low lying areas locating birds going to roost or roosting sites. If you find a bird already on the roost, wait till dark to make sure he’s tucked in for the night, ease out quietly and start making up that excuse for calling in sick tomorrow.