Essential Gobbler Gear

April 22, 2011

Turkey gear that helps level the spring playing field.

By Patrick Meitin

Camo & Boots
Spring's when nature dons a fresh coat of green. Turkeys see color, so suit up accordingly with some new camo and boots.

Patterns such as Realtree's APG (www.realtree.com) or Mossy Oak's Obsession (www.mossyoak.com) blend well in vibrant landscapes.

Outfits such as Bass Pro's RedHead Stalker Lite II Shirt and Pants ($30-$35 each; www.basspro.com) or Cabela's Silent Weave Bowhunter's Shirt and 6-Pocket Pants ($45-$50 each; www.cabelas.com) fill the bill during warmer weather, and in these winning patterns.

New for 2011, Magnus Broadheads offers its Eclipse line of apparel ($15-$60; www.magnusbroadheads.com). Featuring the exclusive Magnus Ground Swat Tactical camouflage, new Eclipse apparel also is reversible to black -- ideal for hunting in blinds with cloaking black interiors. A number of garments, including long-sleeve camp shirt, 6-pocket pants, long-sleeve T and full facemask are available.

Irish Setter's new ExoFlex SwampGhost Uninsulated ($139; www.irishsetterboots.com) are possibly the most comfortable knee boots around, with aggressive tread for muddy conditions and versatile Realtree AP skin.

Calls (Locator, Friction and Diaphragm)
Loud locator calls are designed to elicit pin-pointing shock gobbles and help you pull onto the fast track to success. Friction calls produces more realistic tones. Diaphragm calls are simple, compact and offer the distinct advantage of leaving hands free when the moment of truth arrives.

When it come to friction calls, also consider time-honored glass calls for more realism yet. Down-N-Dirty Outdoors' handsome Signature Series Cherry Crystal ($60; www.downndirtyoutdoors.com) is a modern incarnation made to produce tone-perfect, soft or attention-grabbing calls from its rugged glass surface.

Popular compact diaphragm models come from Knight & Hale ($8 Prosecutor), Primos ($13 Will Primos Signature) and Down 'N' Dirty Outdoors ($12 Killin' Krew Jeff Noel), to name but a few.

Pop-Up Blinds
Killing turkeys with a bow was once considered a parlor trick -- until pop-up blinds. Hub-style ground blinds allow fast, simple setup, uncompromising concealment and plenty of room to wield a bow.

PRIMOS CRUSHER

Primos' Crusher Blind ($400; www.primos.com) with "crushed," non-glare fabric, water-resistant inner membrane and black interior.

BARRONETT BLINDS SNAKE EYES VENOM 250

Barronett Blinds' Snake Eyes Venom 250 ($250; www.barronettblinds.com) with easy-concealment brush holders and adjustable six-panel window design -- make perfect bowhunting companions.

Comfortable Seats
Shooting from enclosed blinds can be tricky without a quality blind chair. Prerequisites include packability and adaptability.

S4GEAR FREESTYLE 720

One of the best is S4Gear's Freestyle720 ($140; www.S4Gear.com), which features compact storage, silent 360-degree rotation, height adjustability nad plenty of stability.

AMERISTEP BONE COLLECTOR BLIND CHAIR

Ameristep's Bone Collector Blind Chair ($30; www.ameristep.com) is more affordable, a "scissoring" folding design weighing 4 pounds.

Decoys
Turkey decoys give bowhunters an edge by providing gobblers visual confirmation and something to focus on other than you.

CARRY LITE HD TURKEY DECOYS

Carry Lite's new HD Turkey Decoys ($40-$60; www.carrylite.com) offer unsurpassed photo-realism to punk the most hunter-savvy longbeard. In other cases, decoys are used to spark jealousy, bringing Old Sickle Spurs on the run.

MONTANA DECOY MR. T

Montana Decoy's Mr. T ($35; www.montanadecoy.com) strutting gobbler is perfect medicine; spring-action, cloth design highly compact and easily deployed.

Broadheads
Turkey broadheads should do one thing above all else -- punch huge holes through tough birds. Day in and day out, aggressive mechanical broadheads are the expert's choice. Three of the best include...

Rage's 100-grain 3-Blade ($45 3/pk; www.ragebroadheads.com), New Archery Products' 100-grain Spitfire Edge ($40 3/pk; www.newarchery.com), and Rocket Broadheads' 125-grain Turkey Tom-O-Hawk ($30 3/pk; www.rocketbroadheads.com), cutting gapping 1 1„2-, 1 3„4- and 2 3„4-inch holes, respectively.

Mathews Launches 2025 Bow and Accessory Lineup

Gear

Mathews Launches 2025 Bow and Accessory Lineup

It's launch day 2025 for Mathews and Editor-In-Chief Christian Berg gives you a first look at the brand new LIFT X. The new flagship model builds on last year's top-selling LIFT platform. Available in two versions — the LIFT X 29.5 and LIFT X 33 — both incorporate a trio of new features. They include Limb Shift Technology, ARC7 Limb Technology and BOND grips, and Berg touches on each of them in this video.

Bowhunting

Think Differently When Hanging Treestands

Bowhunting

Think Differently When Hanging Treestands

How often do we consider the wind when hanging our treestands? Almost always! That's a good strategy, except for the fact that we're not hunting the wind — we're hunting deer. With the benefit of Ozonics, it gives us the opportunity to think about where we need to be in order to best hunt our target bucks, even if that means we're not in the perfect place for a particular wind.

Bowhunting

Hunting the Right Way

Bowhunting

Hunting the Right Way

The right stand, on the right day, with the right wind — that's when success tends to occur. But what if you only have a few select days to hunt because of work, family activities, life events, etc. and the wind is all wrong? That's where Ozonics can come into play. Bowhunters can do more than good if they hunt certain stand sets in the wrong wind. An Ozonics unit, however, is just what the doctor ordered to continue hunting the “right way” — even at the wrong time!

Bowhunting

How to Hunt Small Acreage All Season

Bowhunting

How to Hunt Small Acreage All Season

When it comes to hunting small properties, our success can be boiled down to how much pressure we put on it. And most of the pressure, Cole Tanner explains, is the scent that we produce — and leave behind — in the field. While we're constantly trying to pattern deer, these odors actually allow the deer to pattern us. On smaller properties, our margin of error is razor-thin, so we need to adjust our strategy accordingly.

Gear

Do Animals Smell Ozone?

Gear

Do Animals Smell Ozone?

Ozonics' Cole Tanner tackles one of the most frequently asked questions the company receives. His in-depth answer is that while animals can indeed smell ozone, there's a very limited opportunity to do so. In our experience, even if deer do recognize that something is a bit different, they simple won't see it as a threat. Our entire staff has trusted Ozonics on our hunts for many years, and we can't begin to tell you how many swirling wind situations their units have guided us through.

Bowhunting

Baseball & Bowhunting with Ben McDonald

Bowhunting

Baseball & Bowhunting with Ben McDonald

Sr. Digital Editor Drew Pellman talks bowhunting — and a little bit of baseball — with Ben McDonald, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 Major League Baseball draft by the Baltimore Orioles. McDonald, who is a diehard bowhunter, currently serves as a color commentator for the Orioles on MASN. Inside the hunting community, he has a longstanding relationship with Realtree and has enjoyed many hunts with Bill Jordan and family for many years.

Gear

30 Years of TenPoint Crossbows!

Gear

30 Years of TenPoint Crossbows!

TenPoint Crossbows reached a significant milestone recently — 30 years in business! With over one million crossbows shipped since 1994, TenPoint has always been at the forefront of crossbow innovation, and the company shows no signs of altering that path anytime soon.

Gear

APX — The Newest Pattern From Realtree

Gear

APX — The Newest Pattern From Realtree

Jim McGinn, VP of Marketing at Realtree, shows off the latest camouflage pattern from this industry giant. The new APX pattern is an all-purpose pattern that will help you blend into your surroundings whether you're in a treestand hunting whitetails, or bellycrawling your way into range of a mule deer out West. It took years to develop APX, a pattern that met the strict standards of Realtree Founder, Bill Jordan, and it will meet your standards as well.

Gear

Buck Commander Releases New Buk Ops Technology

Gear

Buck Commander Releases New Buk Ops Technology

Ryan Busbice from Buck Commander introduces a brand-new technology they call Buk Ops. This is an optical viewing device that does not use infra-red or thermal technology. It maximizes available light to give the user an enhanced view of their surroundings. It's not a targeting device either, but a tool for scanning fields in low light, or even walking into your stand or blind without a flashlight. This is one-of-a-kind technology that holds many uses for all types of hunters.

Gear

Easton's Sonic 6.0 a Versatile Arrow Shaft

Gear

Easton's Sonic 6.0 a Versatile Arrow Shaft

Bowhunter TV Host, Curt Wells, talks to Easton Marketing Director, Gary Cornum, about the Sonic 6.0, a highly versatile arrow shaft that gives the bowhunter multiple options. Wells explains how he's able to convert his Sonic 6.0 arrows to different weights based on the species of big game he's hunting.

Gear

Easton Introduces the Match Grade Pro Series Arrow

Gear

Easton Introduces the Match Grade Pro Series Arrow

Gary Cornum, Marketing Director at Easton, explains to Bowhunter TV Host, Curt Wells, the virtues of Easton's newly released Match Grade Pro Series Arrows. From front to back, Easton has built their latest technologies into these arrows, which are only available from Easton dealers. Everything from high-end inserts and vanes combine with a five-point straightness standard to make the Pro Series arrows the best a bowhunter can buy. It's no longer necessary to build-your-own to achieve the highest quality arrow you demand.

Gear

Primos Double Bull Delivers New Raised Hunting Ground Blind

Gear

Primos Double Bull Delivers New Raised Hunting Ground Blind

On the surface, it would seem almost impossible to keep improving the Double Bull ground blinds manufactured by Primos. But as Raised Hunting founder and television show host David Holder explained to OSG's Lynn Burkhead, this year's new Raised Hunting Double Bull blind raises the standard of ground blind excellence even higher, whether you're chasing elk, mule deer or pronghorn antelope out west in Montana or big record book whitetails living in the Midwestern whitetail paradise of Iowa.