It's none too early to break out the turkey calls and start practicing for the hunting season. While there is lots to turkey hunting besides just calling, it doesn't hurts to be a competent caller. Having confidence in your calling ability is an important tactical advantage when the chips are down. It's preferable to practice outside. Besides not getting on the family's nerves, most turkey calls sound different out in the open. Many, particularly the friction calls, sound different at a distance. Set up a tape recorder 20 or 30 feet away and tape your calling. The same goes for the diaphragm. Since it's inside your mouth, you don't hear it exactly the same way it sounds some distance away. For basic calling instructions, most major call makers offer tapes and videos. Many turkey hunting videos also offer plenty of calling tips and techniques. I know because I make some of them. Try to pick up a new tip from each video you watch and put it into practice.

The proper use of deer scents can help your hunting success, but scent strategy can backfire. Using the wrong scent, or the right scent the wrong way, can spook a deer or at least put it on alert. Cover scents are meant to cover human odor, but they should also match the natural odors in the area. An unnatural scent is going to smell "wrong" to a deer, which will probably make the deer start looking around. The same goes for the "food-lure" scents. At best, an apple scent isn't going to mean much to a deer that's never smelled an apple. The "sex scents" can be the most effective; however, they can actually hurt your chances, too. Timing is critical. Check with local experts to see exactly when your rut occurs. Remember, when you use sex scents, deer, particularly bucks, will come looking for the source, so you don't want the sex scent on or near you. However, by placing mock scrapes, drags and sex scents out around your stand, you can attract bucks in. The sex scents may also stop the buck for a clean shot.

Try to match the habits of the deer when calling. Grunting can be effective anywhere, anytime. Many Pros always carry a grunt tube with them into the deer woods. Many times the grunt is the only call they will use. When he or she can see a deer, they can see how to "play" the tube. The key is not to over call. Usually soft, subtle grunts do the job. They watch as the deer moves toward me. If he stops, they give him a low grunt, just loud enough to be heard. Many have called deer from 300 to 400 yards away in open country. "Blind calling," where you can't see the deer, is very different. start with low, very sporadic grunts so as not to spook nearby deer. Increase volume and regularity as time passes. Also use the grunt call in conjunction with other calls and techniques, such as horn rattling, when appropriate. However, since deer grunt all year long, grunting never goes out of season.

A wild gobbler is a big, tough bird and big guns and loads are best. The 12-gauge 3-inch magnum with modern loads of two ounces of #4, #5 or #6 shot is probably the most popular combination. The "Big Guns" of turkey hunting take 3 1/2-inch shells. The 10-gauge magnum and the 12-gauge 3 1/2-inch magnum both pack 2 1/4 ounces of shot. These provide a lot of wallop on both ends of the gun. There's nothing wrong with being "over-gunned" for big boss gobblers but these big guns are heavy and the recoil is severe. How about lighter loads and smaller gauges? Standard "short" magnum 12-gauge shells with 1 1/2 to 1 5/8 ounces of shot give you about 90% of the range and will deal with about 98% of the gobblers that the big guns do. For smaller and younger shooters, a tight-choked 20-gauge with well-patterned 3-inch magnum loads will cleanly take 30-yard gobblers with head and neck shots.

Many hunters like to do their pre-deer season scouting in the late winter and early spring, however turkey season is up first and pre-season scouting and early success go hand in hand. First, find the turkeys in general. Most hens and many adult gobblers are still in flocks until just before the season. Their group scratchings in the leaves are hard to miss. However, smaller scratchings two to three feet in diameter away from the main flock's feeding area is a sign that the gobblers are starting to break. Turkeys like to walk in the clear. Look for tracks on logging roads and sand bars. Gobbler tracks are usually about four inches long and gobbler droppings are tight and well-formed, often with a J-hook. Thus by keeping an eye on the logging roads, you will know how much travel they get and what's doing the traveling. Early bird scouting is the best bet for an early bird.