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During the early part of the season, the colors in and around the river-bottoms we’ll be hunting will primarily be tans, grays, and browns, so patterns like First Lite Fusion and/or Cypher, Kryptek Highlander, ASAT, Predator Brown Deception and Fall Brown, and Realtree AP, etc. work well. Leafy suits in those patterns are great as well. Later in April we’ll start to pick up a good “green component” to the landscape, so camo patterns like Kuiu Verde can be good, or patterns that are primarily brown/gray that also have components of green in it work well. Remember, turkeys see color just like we do, and are VERY good at detecting shapes and movement. Good camo goes a LONG way in helping you not be detected. And don’t forget about your head and hands; camo gloves, hats, and face masks/head nets are a must!
With that said, keep in mind we will also be hunting out of ground blinds, so bring a quiet black jacket you can put over your camo while sitting in the blind, and if possible, a black hat and gloves as well! It is INCREDIBLE how much movement you can get away with inside a blind when you are all "blacked-out"!
Do we need to worry about seeing any ticks?
Not at all – you’ll see plenty of them! LOL!!! Ticks, mosquitoes, no-see-ums/chiggers/whatever-you-call-ems will all be out there to varying degrees depending on the year and weather we’re having. The past few years haven’t been too bad, but DO bring tick repellent (HIGHLY recommended), bug spray, your ThermaCELL, or whatever you want to keep six- and eight-legged critters off of you. If you can, it is HIGHLY recommended that you spray your entire hunting outfit (from socks to headgear) with Sawyers Premium Insect Repellent for Clothes and Gear. ...we are not associated with Sawyer's in any way, it just works INCREDIBLY well at keeping all creepy crawlies off of you during your hunt - even after your clothes have been washed numerous times! It's worth it; while we haven't heard of any confirmed cases of the "Alpha-Gal" allergy being contracted by anyone in our area, we now DO have the Lone Star tick in our area!
STARTING IN 2021, ALL BOWHUNTS WITH RHR WILL NOW BE RESTRICTED TO HEAD SHOTS ONLY!
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience, but bird populations across the region just can't support additional wounding loss. We've always had the policy of "if you draw blood, that's your bird" for the duration of your hunt, regardless of the recovery of that bird (every effort is ALWAYS made to recover a wounded bird – even across multiple days). However... although people sign our Hunting Agreement that outlines that policy prior to their hunt, when a bird IS wounded (fairly common, unfortunately), that policy suddenly becomes an uncomfortable, unfortunate discussion, and policy up for debate, that some hunters suddenly become upset over. Sorry – but the bird population across the entire region is a lot lower than what it was historically, and we just don't have the birds to support wounding loss and then hunting additional birds. ...and the uncomfortable discussions just aren't worth having any more. To that end:
If you'd like to keep your normal arrow set-up, and use regular fixed or mechanical broadheads, I'd recommend shooting the largest cutting diameter FIXED BLADE broadhead your set-up can shoot accurately and consistently. The original RamCat three-blade head is an excellent example of a good fixed-blade head for turkey head shots. After that, I recommend shooting the largest cutting diameter hybrid or mechanical broadhead you can find and shoot well.
Shot distances for RHR Turkey hunts range from 10 yards to 40-plus, with most being in the 10 to 30 yard range. Tuned properly, head-chopper style broadheads are EXTREMELY accurate at those ranges! ...and they're a heck of a lot of fun to shoot/hunt with; you get the insurance, and visceral satisfaction, of dropping them in their tracks 95-plus-percent of the time.