For those who love gamebirds, gobblers are some of the most beautiful spring and fall-time harvests. We’re all familiar with turkey breeds in the U.S., but they have a vibrant cousin down south—M. ocellata, the ocellated turkey. This unique bird, found only in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and Central America, has some key (often striking) differences from its American relatives. Bearing a beautiful blue head, bright orange nodules, and feathers not too far off from a peacock’s, this World Slam checkmark is a sight to behold. With our guide, you can get a head start on your next Ocellated Turkey hunt and work towards that elusive World Slam record.

Winchester celebrates the National Wild Turkey Federation’s 50th anniversary with the release of special commemorative ammunition. Choose your gauge and shell length, each featuring unique Original Bottomland camouflage packaging. This 12-gauge, 3", No.5 shot features NWTF, Winchester and Mossy Oak logos, along with a unique design to commemorate this milestone anniversary. An exclusive green hull and nickel-plated head provide an enhanced contrast between shotshell components providing added reliability when reloading. 

In iSportsman’s Master the Call Series, we’ll take a look at different calls of the wild turkey and discuss what the call is good for, when to use it and share with you from the web a good example of what it sounds like and how it to make the call. Today, we'll be explaining what the yelp call is, why it's used, and how to effectively use it to snag your next turkey.

Turkey hunting has many challenges but one that is often overlooked is proper target acquisition. That problem can be resolved by choosing the right turkey gun sights.

Unlike other sporting birds that are shot while flying, turkeys are taken most often as they feed on the forest floor. The favored target is the brain and neck vertebrae as the turkey sticks its head up to investigate their surroundings. However, getting a proper sight picture on a target that bobs and weaves like an arcade whack-a-mole game can be almost impossible.

Springtime; the weather is getting warmer, the birds are out, and for most outdoorsmen, you are back inside daydreaming of next fall. Some may see springtime as the time of year to hang up your hunting boots and practice your range shooting. However, that is not totally necessary. While springtime hunting takes some thinking outside of the buck, we’ve compiled five springtime hunting opportunities for you to pursue this “offseason.”

Earlier this spring, listening to sleet blow against the windows, I absentmindedly doom-scrolled Instagram. But my hit of melancholy was unexpectedly delayed.

I paused on a post showing a wild turkey, a tom in full strut, with a quote by writer Tom Kelly running across the top of the image.

As the words sank in, the familiar, distorted lens of social media cleared:

Turkey hunting is not a game that needs a score or a score keeper and does not require the production of a dead turkey to qualify as a success. Done properly and unscored, it is about as even as anything can be when one of the participants has a loaded shotgun and the other has not.

A turkey gobbling his head off on the roost can excite a hunter like few other sights or sounds. The excitement can be short lived though if the old Tom has already made up his mind to fly down away from you. A fired up a gobbler in the midday is different. He’s likely without hens and looking for love. There’s a good chance he’ll aggressively close the distance to your calls.

As we progress later and later into turkey season, hunters should remember things grow a little more dangerous as undergrowth does likewise. Turkey hunting safety should be at the front of your mind when taking to the late-season woods.

As most turkey hunters know, a successful hunt is dependent largely on stealthy movement and realistic concealment. Designed for run-and-gun turkey hunting, the Nomad Leafy ¼ Zip pullover and Leafy Pants offer the lightweight coverage needed for those early spring hunts. 

It’s funny the things that sometimes remain in our minds. They don’t have to be life altering events or items of historical significance. Each year during our wild turkey hunting season I recall a seemingly insignificant incident that happened years back.

The first time I heard the phrase “I sat down wrong” was decades ago when my wild turkey hunting career was still young. Back then my attitude still brimmed with the brashness of youth. I was mired deeply with that know-it-all arrogance that comes from already having a half dozen kills under my belt.