A lot of turkey hunters think that the whole key in being successful is to learn how to call superbly and that’s all they focus on. In my turkey seminars, I teach that calling is about 20 percent of the puzzle. You have to also learn strategy, camo, decoys and many other details if you want to be successful. Calling is actually only a small part of ensuring that you have a successful turkey hunt. There are many champion callers that can call a whole lot better than me but they aren’t good hunters.

So with the above said, let’s discuss an often-forgotten piece of the puzzle — patterning your shotgun. On most of your shot gunning you can switch out the choke and use one shotgun for multiple hunts but if at all possible, for turkey hunting it is nice if you can designate one shotgun for turkeys. Here’s why. To shoot out to 40, 50 or even 60 yards, you’re going to need a sight or a scope because using the beads on top of the ventilated rib just doesn’t work. If you have to mount, unmount a sight or scope every spring on your multi-purpose shotgun it will be a pain.

This year I got a Mossberg 930 and mounted a Vortex SPARC AR Red Dot scope on it. If you can’t afford to designate one shotgun for turkeys, don’t panic. But for sure use a good turkey choke like a TruLock .650 or .660 choke so that you can get a tight pattern. Even my youngest daughter looked at a target I shot and said, “Daddy, you don’t want that many BBs in him do you?” It put 132 BBs on the target.

After you get a good choke, test three or four different loads because they vary in how they perform. Turkeys are tough birds so you want to make sure you use the best shells. The bad deal is, the good turkey loads are expensive. They run from $1 to $5 per shell so you don’t want to waste too many on the range but still, if you go to all the time, trouble and expense of going hunting it’s a small investment to do so. From what I’ve tested, HEVI-Shot out performs everyone else.

To make the choice even more complicated, manufacturers offer different sizes of shot and HEVI-Shot even offers a blend of 5, 6 and 7 shot in one load. The theory is, the 5s are heavier and even though lighter, the 7s provide for a tighter pattern. You’ll have to decide what size shot you prefer.

If you test a lot of different manufacturers then you ought to buy a Caldwell Lead Sled. If you don’t, after shooting a few of the 3-inch or 3 ½-inch shells you’ll be flinching. (OK, I hate to be a wimp but the 3 ½-inch shells KICK BIG TIME.) Also to reduce flinching, wear double ear protection. I wear foam earplugs and earmuffs.

To pattern your shotgun, aim 5-7 inches below the head. That way the bulk of the pattern hits from the heart to the head. If you shoot at the head, half of the BB’s whiz harmlessly overhead. I like to use Birchwood Casey Shoot N-C targets. They make it easy to count how many BBs are in the kill zone. To count how many BBs hit in the kill zone I lay a piece of paper over the target and count holes as I slowly slide it down. Shoot and then count how many BBs hit in the head/neck area. I’m sure there is a socially accepted number you want to obtain but I don’t know what that is.

Do you have to buy store bought targets? If you’re a kid on a paper route budget — no! you can get a large piece of cardboard and draw a turkey on it. Color the head red so it’s visible at 40 yards. After you’ve decided which shell to use, shoot at 20, 30, 40 and 50 yards. That way you’ll know how effective you’ll be at each range. If you have a really tight choke it’s easy to miss if one is really close.

Some of the loads will have up to 2 ¼ ounces of shot so they kick. So it doesn’t scare off young hunters and women, have them shoot a 3-inch mag in a 20 gauge. Put a recoil pad on their gun.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

I got up this morning at 4, ran to the airport and jumped on a plane heading to the inaugural Shooting Sports Showcase in Alabama. We boarded and it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. One and a half hours later they deboarded and herded us into a long line for rebooking. Five hours later I’m back home where I started.

The plan was to meet the publisher of Ammoland Shooting Sports News, Fredy Riehl, who is a good buddy of mine, in Atlanta. From there we’d run over to Alabama a day early. There’s a park where you can shoot howitzer cannons and drive tanks. Scratch that item from the agenda.

Oh well, I got to go home and be with Katy one more day. I was going to write my article for the next week on the four-hour flight, so I’ll also get that done while at home. I set down to plan what topic to cover and suddenly it hit me. I’ve never written an airgun article for the ISJ! Wow, how did I let that one slip by me? I’m big-time into airguns. Tested airguns for a lot of the major airgun companies, been on prostaff with one of the major ones, hunted big game with the big Umarex .50 cal. Hammer etc. etc. So I’d like to encourage you to check out some of the modern airguns.

I won’t be able to do airguns justice in one small article so I’m going to do a four-part series to pique your interest. (That is unless some other hot topic pops up in the meantime, like whistle pigs attacking school kids at their bus stop, in which case I’ll have to do my civic duty and write about that).

So with all of the above said, let’s get started on airguns. If you’re like me, I got a BB gun when I was 6 years old, a pellet gun at 9 years old, a shotgun at 10 years old and then a .22 at 12 years old. I think I started deer hunting at 9 to 10 years old. So by the time I reached this level I left my airguns in the dust never to be shot again.

Decades later, I started hearing rumblings about the modern break barrel air rifles. Then my brother-in-law had me shoot his new break barrel air rifle. For the life of me I could not understand why a grown man would digress and go back to airguns.

Finally I thought well, I might as well check them out. I’m always scrambling for new topics. Airguns should be good for one. Little did I know how deep I would end up in them.

Shortly thereafter I was at the Professional Outdoor Media Association Convention in Missouri. At the Media Day at the Range event, I met with Winchester. She showed me the ins and outs of a break barrel and before long I had one in my hot little hands.

But upon shooting it, I was sadly disappointed. I could only get a 1 ½-inch group at 15 yards. I had a buddy on the SWAT team shoot it. He only got a 1 ¼-inch group. That’d never work. With airguns you’re hunting small animals with small kill zones. I called Winchester and they said yea, we expect a 1 ½-inch group at 13 yards.

Why I didn’t give up on airguns right then I’ll never know, but I persevered. Before long I got invited to the 1st GAMO Squirrel Master Classic and tested out a pile of airguns but still wasn’t convinced any of them were accurate.

Then I got put on prostaff with Crosman and obtained an accurate airgun. The whole process took me probably five or six years to make the decision that I wanted to be an airgunner. So you don’t run out and buy an airgun and become disillusioned like I did. I want to write this series on articles so we can speed up your learning curve and so you don’t go through the same frustrations that I did.

Let’s start off with the first item: Which caliber should you buy? At the first SMC event, they gave us .177s to hunt with. The next year they supplied us with .22s. I noticed it took 40 percent fewer shots with a .22 than it did with the .177s to get a squirrel out of the tree. I was sold on .22s.

I was fat, dumb and happy with my .22 for years until I got a Umarex .25-caliber Gauntlet. I’d seen .25 pellets for sale, but why get into them? Then I’d need to have a supply of .177, .22 and .25 pellets.

With the Umarex .25-caliber Gauntlet I noticed as much of an improvement inn efficiencies as there was in a .22 as compared to a .177. There is just as much of an improvement in jumping up from a .22 to a .25.

Moral to the story: Don’t buy a .177. I’d recommend getting a .22 since pellet availability is better than a .25. Heck, you can probably even buy .22 pellets here in Idaho at your wife’s hairdresser shop! (But if you get into hunting small game with airguns, I’d suggest buying the Umarex .25 cal. Gauntlet).

Well, we are officially out of room. Tune in next week for more on airguns.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

When I started hunting turkeys as a kid, there wasn’t really much gear. I had an old Scotsman wood box call and used the same shotgun that I used for dove, quail and duck hunting. For shells we used 2-shot. That was pretty much the extent of our gear. Now? There is a boatload of gear available. But which items do you really need to help make you successful? I’ll list out some of the items that I think will help.

In the old days, your range was 40 yards max. It’s a whole different breed of cat to call a gobbler into 40 yards than it is to get one in to 75 to 100 yards. So the further you can extend your shots, the more chances you’ll have. So use ammo that can reach out to maximum distances. I’ve tested most of the major brands and HEVI-Shot ammo can stretch your shooting ranges. I think I favor their Blend shells. Of course, the 3 ½-inch mags are best but they kick like the proverbial mule. So I use 3-inch mags. Next you need a highly functional choke to get maximum performance out of your loads. I like Tru-Lock chokes.

To shoot longer distances, you’ll either need a good sight or scope.

CAMO

Turkeys have almost x-ray vision so be particularly careful to camo to the max. Use whatever pattern matches your locale the best. I don’t use the same pattern from head to toe but mix it up. For sure wear a face mask and gloves. Another thing that I’d throw in my pack would be an Ameristep Throwdown Blind. These are super lightweight portable little blinds that you can easily carry with you. This way as you’re moving around locating a bird you can have some concealment with you.

HUNTING VEST

I have a Scent Blocker Thunder Chicken Vest. Here’s why I recommend wearing a turkey vest. That way you can leave all of your calls in it so you don’t forget any. Also, they have a pad so you’re more comfortable while calling. If you’re not comfortable, then you’re going to be fidgeting around and get busted. They also have a pouch to hold your decoys.

DECOYS

I hunt in the mountains so light-weight decoys are of the essence, which means I use Montana Decoys. I’d say if possible, to have two to three decoys to increase your odds. Make sure that one is a Jake. Of course, if you know where they’re roosting set up off the roost before daylight in the direction that they’ll come off to.

CALLS

You’ll for sure want a locator call. A lot of people like a crow or owl call. I like my coyote howler. Hit it and it will shock them into gobbling. I like old wood box calls. If you’re new a Pushbox is easy to operate. You’ll also want to always carry a couple of reeds. They’re hands free so you can keep calling when they get in close while you’re holding your gun in the shooting position. Also have a Gobbling shake call.

You want to be comfortable so you can hit it hard all day so wear some good hiking boots and hiking socks.

Another big deal is shooting sticks. You don’t want to be set up calling and have to raise your shotgun to take a shot and spook your bird. Have your shotgun laying on your bi-pod and pointed in the direction that you think the gobbler will come in from.

It’s a whole lot easier to call in a bird if you can intercept them and get between where they are and where they’re going instead of making them totally change directions. It is more convenient for them.

When calling it is more productive to have two of you. That way if one comes sneaking in and circles you at 80 to 100 yards, he unsuspectingly runs over the top of your buddy that is concealed away from you. This is true when calling elk, crows and a lot game that we call.

And lastly hopefully you get your bird. But then what? You can bake it like normal or you may consider making turkey jerky out of it. I made jerky out of one a few years ago using one of the Hi-Mountain jerky blends and it was great. Use a knives of Alaska Cub Bear caping knife to bone it out.

Good luck!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

For the next two columns I was about to write a couple of turkey articles but since I went varmint hunting recently, I had to do one last varmint hunting article for the winter. On this hunt, a buddy and I were checking out a new ranch. The rancher had invited us down so it was more of an exploratory visit/scouting trip than a hunt this time.

But isn’t that how a lot of our hunting/fishing trips are when we visit a new spot for the first time? Which is why we scout before hunting season. On a side note, you need to scout even if you’ve hunted an area for years. What if the past summer there had been a forest fire? Or what if they logged that area? Things can change even if you have hunted the same area for decades.

As a whole, we’re on the tail end of varmint hunting. It’s best to start varmint hunting in October/November on into the first of February. Also, you’re competing with the ranchers who are thinning out coyotes in their calving areas. Hungry coyotes converge on calving areas, which is not good.

Here’s another unique twist. I was talking to a rancher a good while back and he said that the year before ravens had killed 20 of his calves. Right after birth, the ravens would swarm a helpless newborn calf and peck their eyes out. For the life of me I can’t understand why there are rules/regulations/restrictions on hunting crows and ravens. They terrorize wildlife. And if sage grouse populations are so fragile why is the No. 1 enemy not being dealt with?

Anyway, moving on, coyotes should be paired up by now. If a coyote responds to your calling, you most likely to have two or more coming in. Last time I told you that someone in your party needs to carry a shotgun. It’s probably still a good idea to carry one but more than likely this time of year coyotes are going to be call shy and more wary. All the young dumb ones have been shot or educated. So you most likely will have longer rifle shots. So you’ll want a flat shooting rifle that can reach way out there. So be ready for some longer shots.

Speaking of long-range shooting, if you’re making long shots, you’ll need a rest. And not a quarter-inch limb on a sagebrush! Right now I’m testing two tripods. The Vortex Summit and the Vortex High Country. So I’d recommend packing along a tripod.

Since they’re mating or just getting done, I’d start out with a howl to locate them. More than likely if there’s one around, he’ll answer. Especially early in the morning. Now, whether he comes in or not is another question. He may set down out a good ways and yip at you.

And of course, they’re coyotes, so they’re going to be hunting at night on into the morning. So you should be able to find them out feeding. A lot of times a good place is if there is a hay field (or any grassy field) and sage brush around it. They like to hunt mice in these fields at night.

And again, I’d for sure use decoys this time of year. If they’re not coming in because they’re gun shy then decoys may ease their nerves.

And lastly, after a storm they should be out hunting. Like right now as I type this article it is snowing.

Good luck.

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

I’ve been in South Dakota the last two weeks. I got out just in time before the Arctic Blast hit. It is -14 there this morning. I’m sure if you live in South Dakota, spring is the furthest thing from your mind. But flying back into Boise on Friday night I was greeted by warm weather. Saturday, I woke up and came to the realization that I had narrowly escaped the second Ice Age and spring may only be two to three months off here at home!

Which brought up the next thought: Turkey season is right around the corner. If you’ve never turkey hunted in Idaho you have to check it out. While we don’t have the big numbers like they do down south, The National Wild Turkey Federation and Idaho Fish and Game have done a great job getting them established here. And hunting them in the mountains has a different flair than hunting them in a cornfield in Nebraska.

There is a lot to cover. Hopefully I can write about a few different angles over the next few months in preparation for the upcoming turkey season. For today though, let’s cover a big one: Do I need a scope on my shotgun?

As a kid, I used my old double barrel 20 gauge for everything. Dove, quail, crows, ducks, geese and turkey hunting and used 2 shot for the last three species.

Things have changed. No longer will one shotgun cover everything. Manufacturers would have you believe that you need a different shotgun for every hunt (and according to Katy I am a willing victim).

You may say, hold on, Tom — all I have to do is buy extra barrels and chokes and that’s the same as having multiple shotguns. And you’re partially correct. Except, that when using a shotgun on turkeys or varmints, you’ll want a scope or good sights since the patterns with the modern shells are so tight.

In the old days, 30 and maybeeee 40 yards was your maximum range. Now with some of the modern shells 60 yards is not out of the question. So due to the tight patterns and how far that you will be shooting you have to have a scope or sight. And no, a couple of BBs on your ventilated rib do not qualify as a sight for these loads.

I’m about to test a Savage Renegauge and a Mossberg 930 and I’m mounting a Vortex SPARC Solar Red Dot Scope on both of them. In fact, I am mounting it on the Mossberg today and the Renegauge as soon as it arrives.

The Vortex SPARC Solar Red Dot uses solar power but if adequate sun shine isn’t available it uses a CR2032 battery when necessary. The SPARC gives you 10 daytime illumination settings and two night vision compatible settings. That will cover everything that I will encounter.

You may still not be convinced that you need a red dot scope or a good sight. Let’s talk more on this. With super tight turkey chokes and HEVI-Shot turkey loads that I use if I’m not using a sight/scope, then I’ll either miss my bird or worse yet, wound him. I’m pulling this number out of my tail but the sweet spot of your pattern may not be more than 18-inches wide!

So it is imperative to be able to aim your shotgun, about like a rifle. And this isn’t dove hunting. You’ll want to aim at a specific body part. Of course the best shot is a headshot but if you aim at the head, half of the BBs fly harmlessly over his head. So you’ll want to aim about 8 inches below his head, at his neck. That way the main pattern will be zeroed in on the heart up to the head which equals a dead bird.

So as we wrap up on the gun aspect of turkey hunting there are four things I’d advise you to consider.

1. Buy a good semi auto like the Savage Renegauge or the Mossberg 930.

2. Mount on a Vortex Red Dot Solar Scope.

3. Hunt with a good Turkey Choke (they give super tight patterns).

4. Use good turkey loads. I’ve tested I think nearly all of the turkey loads offered and HEVI-Shot smokes everyone else.

Upcoming articles will cover sighting in your turkey gun and turkey gear. But I am going varmint hunting tomorrow and am going to test out my new Foxpro call and if Katy’s ankle gets better surely we have to go snowshoeing Saturday. Oh, and I have a lot of new Pautzke fish scents to test ice fishing. So, who knows what little Tommie will be writing about next week!

P.S. Don’t forget to buy your sweetie some flowers for Valentine’s Day or I may have one less reader!

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.