Kyle Hicks -- Expert Turkey Hunter Shares Tips

EDITOR'S NOTE: The next three days we'll talk to Kyle Hicks of Baker, Louisiana, an expert turkey hunter, to help you get revved-up for turkey-hunting season -- due to begin: in Florida the first part of March; around the South in mid-March; and in other states the first of April; and lasting through May and sometimes June in certain parts of the U.S.

Question: Kyle, what's one of the biggest secrets to taking turkeys?
Answer: I guess the biggest secret is to be where they want to be going. If a turkey has it on his mind to go from point A to point C, you need to be at point B in between the two because if you're not, you're going to have a hard time getting him off that line of travel.

Question: So you don't want to be where he wants to finally end up, you want to try to be in between where he is and where he's going, right?
Answer: Yes, I find that makes the hunt more exciting for me. I really love to get on a turkey when he's gobbling and actually work the turkey rather than getting to an ambush site where you know he's going to be there every day at a certain time. I think ambushing a turkey takes the fun out of hunting him.

Question: So you like to make tom turkey come to you?
Answer: Yes, I like to try to at least. I find that I don't have as much success as some people, but I have more than others with bagging gobblers.

Question: What's your favorite call?
Answer: My favorite call is the Black Magic H.S. Strut aluminum call. I like the sound this call it gives you in the woods, and I like the ease of use this it friction call has.

Question: What's a mistake that most turkey hunters make?
Answer: Moving too soon. Everyone has heard over the past 10 years so much about cutting and running. Hunters use that term so loosely that no one ever explains to people the right time to cut and the best time to run. A lot of hunters don't understand the difference between a turkey's just gobbling at you and when you get him sexually and he starts really gobbling at you. You can hear an old turkey gobbling on the limb in the morning when you're tree calling to him, and he may be gobbling away from you. However, when that tom turns and gobbles at you, it's a big difference; he'll blow your hat off. I think when you're out there hunting and you have a turkey that seems to be hanging-up but still gobbling -- I always give him a chance. As soon as he turns and starts gobbling away from you, that's a good time to pick up and change your tactics and get in a different location.

Tomorrow: Kyle Hicks Talks about the Toughest Turkey He's Ever Taken