HOW I GOT INTO TURKEY HUNTING & WHAT I’VE LEARNED

March 22nd, 2023 

By: Alex Comstock (@whitetail_dna)

Growing up in northern Minnesota, turkey hunting wasn’t really a thing. Where I grew up, turkeys weren’t abundant, and it was a kind of hunting that I wasn’t exposed to. All I did was bow hunt deer and that was pretty much it. Eventually as I started traveling to deer hunt, Nebraska was first on my list of places to go. I was in college, and my cousin Kaleb lived down in Nebraska and it just made sense to give it a go whitetail hunting in the cornhusker state. So, in 2016, I made my first trip to Nebraska to chase whitetails. I honestly don’t remember how it went exactly, but Kaleb invited me down to turkey hunt the following spring and I thought why not give it a whirl. I truly knew zero about turkey hunting and thought it would be a good excuse to head back down to Nebraska in the spring, see family and learn about turkey hunting from Kaleb, who was a turkey fanatic.

The following spring, April of 2017, I went down to Nebraska to turkey hunt. Looking back on it now, it’s kind of cool my first ever turkey hunt was out of state. What it did though was cut the learning curve down drastically. I got to hunt with my cousin who had turkey hunted for years and the experience was one I’ll never forget. On our first morning hunting, I had two Jakes strutting, spitting, and drumming right in front of us, and I couldn’t help but shoot one of them. From that moment, I was hooked. Since that day, I’ve hunted every spring in Nebraska, and as of the last few years, have even started hunting them in my home state of Minnesota. Since that first trip to Nebraska, I’ve learned a ton about turkey hunting and I’m going to share some of those things I’ve learned below.

How Do You Want To Hunt Them?

This is by far my biggest takeaway from just six years of turkey hunting. When I first started, I chose to bow hunt turkeys. Often, this led me to hunting turkeys out of a blind. I had some success hunting this way, but I also had some mishaps. Eventually, what I learned more than anything was that after a long fall of whitetail hunting, where I hunt 99% of the time out of a tree, sitting and waiting, I wanted to be aggressive and “have fun” with my turkey hunting. What this meant for me was running and gunning with a shotgun.

Once I began running and gunning with a shotgun, I haven’t turkey hunted with a bow since. I have found I would much rather be out in the open and if things aren’t going my way I can quickly make a move. It’s all personal preference, but I’ve learned that run and gun turkey hunting is the way to go for me. 

It Sharpens Your Hunting “Skill”

Another thing I’ve learned through turkey hunting is that by simply hunting a living and breathing animal in the spring, it’s making you a better hunter overall. At the end of the day, I’m trying to be the best overall hunter that I can be. It’s easy to be humbled by a mature whitetail, but when I got into turkey hunting, I thought it would be “easy.” And let me tell you, I’ve been humbled by more toms than I care to admit. Turkey hunting in the spring can help keep you sharp. It’s the little things such as knowing when you can get away with movement, reading sign, etc. The more time you spend hunting, the better hunter you’ll be, which can translate to other things such as becoming a better whitetail hunter in the fall.

“Stress Free” Hunting

As you’ll probably begin to notice, what I’m covering in the things I’ve learned about turkey hunting have nothing to do with tactical advice. And that’s because my biggest takeaways from turkey hunting have nothing to do with when to call, when to be aggressive, etc. My biggest takeaways have been to how do I enjoy turkey hunting to the fullest? Now, everyone is different, but I take my whitetail hunting seriously. Probably too seriously to be honest. I definitely put pressure on myself and though I enjoy whitetail hunting, it’s just “different.” It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but turkey hunting is much different.

Here’s the best way I can put it. If I miss a mature whitetail buck, you may not want to talk to me for a while, and I’m talking a few days at minimum. If I miss a big strutting tom, that timeframe may only be a half hour and I’ll get over it. What I love so much about turkey hunting is that it gives me the ability to hunt something and truly have stress free fun. There’s something freeing about hunting an animal and truly not being afraid of messing up. It’s made me a better hunter, and I have a ton of fun while doing it. No matter how much you want to shoot a turkey, go into it with an attitude of not stressing out. You’ll be amazed at what it can do for you.

Conclusion

As the snow hopefully starts melting soon here in northern Minnesota, I know I’m counting down the days until that first sunrise with a gobble cutting the morning air. It’s something I’ve come to love, and I can’t wait to see what I learn this spring.