Hunters: Get Those Turkey Permits in Now Through February 1st

Just a friendly reminder for hunters to put in for your 2025 turkey permits. Plus, I have a few turkey hunting tips for you as a bonus.

Apply for 2025 Michigan Turkey Permit

There is nothing more exciting to me than hearing a Michigan turkey gobble early in the morning on opening day.

👇BELOW: Celebrities Who Remind of Turkeys👇

I say this a lot but I think turkey hunting is one of the best ways to get new hunters of any age into the woods. It is also can be a blast for veteran hunters who have never tried the sport. Thanks to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on their efforts several years ago to replenish turkeys, Michigan is now covered with birds in both the Lower and Upper Peninsulas

In order for the DNR to control the turkey numbers they require hunters to apply for a permit. You have now until February 1st to apply for your turkey permit. The results will be available March 3rd. You can learn the rules about Michigan turkey hunting here or click this link to apply for your permit. If you don't have a DNR account you will need to set one up. It's $5 to apply for your permit but well worth the money to make sure you get a tag.

Read More: One of Michigan's Crappiest Events May Get Televised

Turkey Hunting Tips

I will admit that I am not the best hunter or fisherman in the world but I feel I am very good turkey hunter with many years of experience. I have hunted with no blind, no decoys and just a hen call and bagged plenty of big birds. I have since added a choke tube for my gun, decoys, a pop up blind, and a gobble call and all four have been game changers for hunting success, and not just for me but others hunting with me. I will recommend a few products but I am in no way getting paid by them but I have done this for over 30 years and am offering some short cuts for newbies and folks struggling to bag a bird.

Get our free mobile app

I do have to give credit to my turkey hunting buddy Adam Czarnecki who has turned me onto all of the products I'm going to tell you about except one.

Tip #1 - Turkey Choke Tube for Your Gun

We all know the breast of a turkey is absolutely delicious so we don't want to fill that with a bunch of shotgun bb's. I learned this after the first turkey I shot. I was teaching my self how to hunt and just used some turkey loads I bought in the store but without the choke tube I peppered part of the breast. What the choke tube does is tighten up the pattern so you aim for the head and neck area to keep the bb's out of the breast.

There is a ton of choke tubes out there for you to choose from depending on what gun you have, what shells you use, and what works best for you. I have purchased 3 in a 30 year span because they can wear out or wanted to upgrade. I have always used Winchester turkey loads. They are affordable and work great. Like choke tubes, find the shell that works for your situation.

Winchester makes Long Beard Turkey Loads and have designed a choke tube called the Long Beard Invector Plus Choke Tube which is made specifically for their turkey loads. Like I said earlier there are lots of choke tubes and shells to choose from but if you get anything out of this get a choke tube and use some sort of turkey load in a 4 or 5.

Side note, if you plan on bow hunting for your turkey they make a special broadhead for that which will allow you to aim for the head and neck. I have shot two with regular broadheads but that forced me to aim for the body.

Tip #2 Hen Turkey Call

You need a good hen call and there are a ton of them to choose from. A buddy I used to fish with gave me a Johnny Eugene Stewart box call that was brand new in the packaging probably 40 years ago and I have used for 30 years because it has consistently worked for me. I have had to repair it twice and it still makes them Toms gobble and makes hens mad at the same time.

There are several types of box, slate, and mouth calls to choose from and that is up to you. I recommend getting one that is different than the calls hunters are using in your area or that are at the big box stores. The call above was made in Waco Texas and you couldn't get them around here. It sounds like a new hen is in the area because I don't have another call that sounds like it. You don't need a bunch of different hen calls just find one you can make all the sounds with and you will do fine just don't call too much.

Tip #3 Tom Turkey Call

If I could only take one call into the woods it would be "The Haint" from Down and Dirty Outdoors. This gobble call changed everything for me and my buddy Adam. Big Toms that wouldn't come any closer that 80 yards would break for the Haint. l have had birds run full speed several hundred yards to my decoys and blind because of this call. When I bought mine they were only $26 dollars now they are hard to find and very expensive when you do. I have bought some used ones as gifts for friends and they were not cheap. This call works so good I have called in other hunters who thought they were sneaking up on a Tom.

There are other companies that make gobble calls but don't use the ones that you shake with your hands, its too much movement and they don't come close to the effectiveness of the Haint. Its a tough call to figure out how to use but the video from Down and Dirty Outdoors is still on YouTube.

#4 Turkey Decoys

When I started using decoys it was a group of hollowed out hens. Things drastically changed because now the Toms would come to me. Turkeys can see a long distance so the decoys helped a lot and kept me from moving around and spooking them. Sometimes really big old Toms wouldn't come in close enough to shoot and would try and get my decoys to come to them. Than changed when I added a Tom decoy. Turkey's are territorial and have no problem with confrontations and that goes for male and female birds. After many years of using a set up with a Tom, a few hens, and a jake. My buddy Adam turned me on to the Breeding Pair from Dave Smith Decoys.  I have slammed birds for years with a variety of set ups but this breeding pair is a knock out. You don't have to set them up like in the picture although it works great. I put my young Tom right behind her it really gets both male and female birds agitated. I used them while hunting with my buddy and they looked so real a golden eagle tried to take one of them. I used my pair for the first time last season and a boss hen did not like my hen decoy and she came multiple days to beat up my hen. My two sons got their first birds over these decoys last year and I piled one up as well. All from the same spot and blind.

Think about where you are hunting and put your decoys where the most birds have a chance of seeing them and put your blind not far from them and you will have the time of your life. Don't be surprised if birds come running in just try not to shoot your decoys.

Tip #5 - Turkey Blind

Turkeys have incredible eye sight. With a slight head turn they can see 360 degrees since the have peripheral vision. You have to be a very skilled hunter to sit in the open, work calls, and have your gun ready when a big old Tom comes in without the bird seeing you.

I recommend getting a pop up tent to hunt in. The birds are not bothered by them at all and the amount of freedom you get compared to outside of a blind is so worth the investment. The blind I recommend is the Barronett OX 5. Sure its pricey but a huge blind for you and a couple others to hunt in. Any tent blind will work so do what's best for your budget. I wouldn't leave the windows as open as the ones in the picture because turkeys see movement extremely well. Make sure you can see and get your gun barrel, bow or crossbow out to make your shot.

You don't have to get these items to be successful in the woods. I wanted to share with you what helps be successful turkey hunting no matter where I hunt. Now go apply for turkey permit and get in the woods it is some of the most fun hunting you will ever experience.