TURKEY-TAKING QUIZ

The No. 1 Turkey Call

EDITOR'S NOTE: TThe game of turkey hunting is played in the turkey's backyard and on his terms. The strategies required to bag a tom turkey often may make war games look simple. The hunters who have amassed the most techniques, encountered the most turkeys and know what to do when the turkey doesn't do what he is supposed to do, will come home with bronze barons for dinner more often than other hunters.

12. In recent years, what did most turkey hunters believe was the No. 1 call to get a turkey to come in quickly?
a) cackling
b) purring
c) cutting
d) soft yelping
Answer: c) cutting -- Most hunters believe that the exciting clucks given in rapid succession known as cutting seem to arouse a gobbler quicker and cause him to come in to their blinds faster than any other type of calling. This is not to say that cutting is always the best call to use to draw a turkey in faster, but many experienced hunters have found that cutting is usually the most deadly call they utilize.

13. If you bag a turkey and you want to have him mounted, field dress the bird immediately.
a) true
b) false
Answer: b) false -- If you plan to have the gobbler mounted, get the whole bird refrigerated or frozen and to your taxidermist as soon as possible.

14. What's the easiest caller for beginning turkey hunters to use to call a turkey to within gun range?
a) the slate call
b) the diaphragm call
c) the box call
d) the push-button call
Answer: d) the push button call -- All that is required to call a turkey with a push-button call is for the hunter to push a small wooden button back and forth. These box-type calls will give off an effective yelp and cluck and will make most any other sound that the wild turkey gives. It requires little or no skill in calling to work effectively.

15. Two-man turkey hunting is the most effective way to bag a gobbler.
a) true
b) false
Answer: b) false -- Team hunting often will allow sportsmen to take turkeys that they would be unable to bag using any other method. Two hunters on a tom often will produce twice as much thinking, twice as much calling and twice as many tactics to take one smart old bird.

16. To have an efficient shotgun for turkey hunting, you must have a barrel at least 30-inches long.
a) true
b) false
Answer: b) false -- Today's turkey hunter is opting for a shorter barrel more than ever before. The shorter barrel, if patterned with the right shells, can hold a tight pattern and requires less movement to aim than a longer barrel. The shorter-barrel shotgun also is easier to carry, especially when having to go through thick cover to get close to a turkey.

TOMORROW: WHAT TO DO WHEN THE TURKEY COMES YOUR WAY