Spring is coming quickly, and for many hunters, that means one thing, spring turkey hunting. To ensure success in the turkey woods, you will need to prepare before turkey season comes. The first thing you’ll need to do is find the turkeys. If you have access to land with a spring turkey population, you’ll want to find where the turkeys are roosting. Roosts can be found by looking for dropping around a large tree, indicating turkeys spending time in the limbs. Many times the roost trees will be close to a creek or near a body of water so that the birds can easily scoot to a supply of drinking water first thing in the morning.

Once you’ve found a roosting area, you’ll want to find the strutting zones. Usually, this will be in more open areas within 200 yards or so of the roost tree. Having found the roost and strutting zones, you’ll want to find their food. What the turkeys forage on during the spring turkey season will depend on where you are, but generally, they will eat a variety of insects and vegetation. If you can hunt in the afternoon in your state, you’ll also want to find some dry, dusty areas that turkeys take their “dust baths” in the afternoon. Look for turkey tracks in the dry dirt to show that turkeys were there recently.

Once you have the turkeys thoroughly scouted and know where they are going throughout the day, you’ll want to make sure your gun is up to snuff for your hunting. Take a few 24”x 24” or larger paper targets and set them up 20, 30, and 40 yards away. Rest your gun on sandbags with the turkey choke of your choice installed and bring a few different types of shells to try out. Shoot one shell per paper per distance and see how they patterned. For turkeys, you’ll want at least 100 pellets in a 10” circle and an even pattern to insure a clean kill. Compare the shells you shot, not only for the number of pellets in a 10” circle and how even they are but also in the tightness of the pattern. If you expect most of your shots to be within 10-30 yards, use a shell with a more open pattern. If you expect most shots to be 40 yards or more, go with a tighter pattern. One of the biggest mistakes spring turkey hunters make, and I’ve made it too, is shooting a choke and load combination with too tight of a pattern and a turkey comes in around 10 steps. With a pattern the size of a golf ball, it’s an easy miss.

I’ve had great results patterning my Apex 12 gauge with Winchester Super X #5 shells for the typical hunting ranges and the Winchester Longbeard XR shells for the longer 40+ yard shots. Most agree that shots on a turkey should be kept under 40 yards, although sometimes the turkey looks closer than it actually is. This makes shells like the Longbeard XR or Hevi 13 great as they overcome the “fudge” factor. My favorite all around load is the Hevi-Shot Magblends in 5, 6, and 7 shot. The Magblends combine 3 different shot sizes and work well at many different ranges. However, the reality of it is that what works for my gun may not work the same through yours. Let these recommendations serve as a starting point and let your gun tell you what works through it. You will probably find other shells that shoot well out of your gun, especially if it is the Apex. All you need to do is get out there and pattern it!