Turkey Hunting Archives - Page 34 of 52 - Carolina Sportsman

May 2, 2026

The length of a gobbler’s spurs are a better indication of his age than body size.

Judge a gobbler’s age in the field

Hunters judge turkeys by a collection of characteristics, including weight, spur length, beard count and beard length. Every hunter wants to harvest an old, trophy gobbler, but, knowing a tom’s age is a tough task in the field — before and even after the kill. […]

Hunters can often get to turkeys that are unpressured by paddling streams or swamps and accessing land unavailable to other hunters.

Paddle up a gobbler

Late-season gobblers can drive a hunter insane. They become wary of the same old calls from the same old spots in the same old fields. […]

Late season birds can be tougher to lure into range because they’ve been called to for weeks, but with hens on the nest, they’re apt to fall for a make-believe girlfriend.

Birds at the bitter end – Late-season turkey hunting requires a change in tactics to tag a North Carolina tom

Spring turkey season arrived for North Carolina hunters a couple of weeks ago, so it’s been long enough for the drive to tag a longbeard to falter when normal tactics didn’t produce. […]

Currents

Proposed changes in turkey regs? Yea!

Pat Robertson reports elsewhere in the magazine about a piece of legislation making its way through the general assembly that would make two big changes in turkey hunting regulations: setting a unified statewide season and reducing the bag limit from five to three birds. […]

Brian Sykes' Orange County gobbler had five beards that measured between 7 and 9 3/4 inches.

Orange County gobbler with five beards will rank No. 10 all-time in North Carolina

Veteran turkey hunter Brian Sykes of the Caldwell community in northeastern Orange County has had little trouble filling his tags in recent season, but a gobbler he took two weeks ago is a first for him: a 5-bearded bird that ranks in the top 10 all-time in North Carolina. […]

Taxidermist Chuck Mulkey of Anderson said the final week of turkey season could be the best for Upstate hunters.

Will final week of turkey season be the charm for Upstate hunters?

Turkey hunters who have yet to tag a longbeard still have time to score during the last week of the season, and taxidermist Chuck Mulkey of Anderson expects the last week — which ends May 1 — to be the best time to tag a gobbler. […]

When gobblers are ganged up early in the season, the bird not doing the aggressive strutting and gobbling is often the dominant bird.

Shoot the lookers

Early in the season, gobblers will often be grouped in pairs or larger groups. Seeing several toms coming into decoys gobbling every step can be one of the most exciting sights of any hunter’s season. […]

Hunters have a unique opportunity to take turkeys during rainy weather because their behavior is more predictable and one of their sharpest senses is dulled.

Bad weather, good hunting

For a species with a brain the size of a walnut, wild turkeys are fairly clever at avoiding the talons or the teeth of predators, but their poor sense of smell allows hunters and other predators to take a few turkeys each year. […]

Hunters have a unique opportunity to take turkeys during rainy weather because their behavior is more predictable and one of their sharpest senses is dulled.

Bad weather, good hunting

For a species with a brain the size of a walnut, wild turkeys are fairly clever at avoiding the talons or the teeth of predators, but their poor sense of smell allows hunters and other predators to take a few turkeys each year. […]

Set up a decoy slightly back in the woods from a field for best results.

Decoy and setup wisdom

Mitchell Johnson feels that when hunting a field, too many hunters set up too close to its edge. […]

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