To be welcomed by turkeys, you need to wear what they want. Turkeys belong to a class having sharp eyesight. This is the main reason you should think twice before going to have a joyful all day experience of turkey hunting. Apart from outfits, your weapons should also resemble the wilderness in which these over suspicious poultry live.
All you need to think on what to wear turkey hunting is how to conceal yourself from their smart eyes by adopting such outfits, clothing accessories or tools that are made specifically for a shrewd hunting challenge.
Pick The Right Type Of Gear For Turkey Hunting
Yes, you do not need everything but picking up the right type of gear from the checklist given below, which can give you everything that you would want for a successful turkey hunt.
Clothing
Camo Jackets
Camo Cap
Camo Shirt
Camo Facepaint
Waterproof Camo Boots
Camo Turkey Vest
Camo Gloves
Camo Pants
Rain Suit
Tools
Camo Ground Blinds
Turkey Hunting Seats
Turkey Decoys
Calls
Camo Pattern Shotguns
Maps
Camo Shotgun Sling
Ratchet Cutters
Hard And Soft Bow Case
Broadheads (According To State Law)
At Least A Dozen Arrows
Turkey Loads
Turkey Choke Tube
Camping Equipment
Duffel Bag
Camp Pillow
Compression Bag
Camp Stove
Ziploc Bags
Garbage Bags
First Aid Kit
Some Personal Items
Pain Reliever
Towels
Water Bottles
Camera
Toiletries
Extra Batteries
Call Accessories Like Sandpaper, Box Call Holster, Etc.
Super Glue
Insect Repellent
Trail Ribbon
These are some of the essentials of a turkey hunting gear list. Well, some things go with the state law of the game. Hence, not to forget, your most important thing, i.e., license.
Dress Up Yourself For Turkey Hunting From Head To Toe
Head
Covering on the head is necessary. You have to go for camouflage head wears. Starting from head to toe, same type camo will look better and prove to be a great success giver. Various types of headwear are there to choose from. Like, there are camo baseball caps, camo turkey hat caps, and camo cotton head scarf. Your hairs will be covered and will not give an uneven look to the eyes of turkeys.
Face
Now comes your face part. You should hide your face and neck part. For that, you have radically two options. First, one is facing masks, and another one is face paints. Nowadays, most of the turkey hunters search for best turkey hunting face masks. So, you can say they are more popularly used.
I think a turkey hunting face mask is must while you go for hunting as it will not only cover your face in camouflage but also protect you from an external environment like sun exposure, windy weather or cold. Long length face masks are fine enough because they can cover your face and neck at the same time without concealing your eye portion. However, their only drawback is the size variability. So, you have to be very careful while selecting size; otherwise, you would end up with a worst looking loose face mask.
Types Of Camo Face Masks
Here are general categories of face masks:
Open Top: These are usually worn by hunters to cover only face and neck region without covering the hairs. They are best paired with camo cap or camo hat.
Balaclava: This type of masks is made to cover the head, face, and neck simultaneously.
Glass Masks: As the name suggests, they are used with sunglasses mostly to hunt gobblers on rainy days.
Types Of Camo Face Mask Patterns
3D: They are successful in giving a very natural look to hunters with their leafy and cutting pattern. Most common are the ghillie face masks. They are nicely blended with the environment with their matching camouflage patterns.
Mimicry: These masks are simple masks with a good mixture of surrounding camo patterns. Overall camo pattern is the same without any distinction.
Break Up: They distract the outline of a mask and make it allowable to mix well with logs or trees when the hunter moves from one location to another.
On the other hand, camo face paints are still being used. The hunters who do not wish any type of disturbance on their face are most likely to go for camo and lifelike face paints. And, at some point, listening and viewing the birds will become somewhat easy with it. A good camo face paint always consists of at least five colors: green, brown, black, tan as well as gray. Camo face paints should have the quality to stay for last on your face and not wash out with sweat. Well, they are not suitable for rainy weather.
It depends upon your choice of comfort that whether you go for camo face masks or camo face paints. Both are capable of hiding your face.
Shirts/Jackets
A shirt or a jacket covers the significant part of your body and they are of much importance when you need them for camouflage during your hunt. Selecting the right pattern for your camo shirt/jacket is of utmost importance and it gives you precedence over the hunt. A full sleeve camo shirt is good to go for summers when paired up with best turkey hunting vests out there. Camo jackets are considerable during winter because of their thick fabric.
Vests
Turkey hunting vests are outer parts of your clothing and act as a great storage unit to store different stuff related to turkey hunting like calls, hunted birds, water bottles, strikers, GPS, rangefinder, etc. While selecting a turkey hunting vest, make sure it best matches to the hunt surroundings; otherwise, the game will go wrong.
Different dedicated pockets to keep several things is there in a best turkey hunting vest with seat. It is for sure that you will not go for turkey hunting with bare hands. So, a turkey hunting vest with seat is a must-have gear as your best friend in all day long journey of turkey hunting.
Gloves
Camo gloves are hitting the market with their impressive looks and concealment of your hands. Yes, your hands need concealment too. And, that is done by having a camouflage pattern gloves. They are available in fingerless or with fingers. According to my opinion, both types of gloves are flexible and comfortable, but some hunters find fingerless gloves more relaxing.
Pants
You would probably be thinking that I am going to talk about camouflage design pants. Yes, sure. Why not? You should find the right pants out there in the market that perfectly fits you as well as your hunt surroundings. This is how patterned camo outfits become successful where you need to recognize their right pattern and appreciate their importance.
Breathability is one of the factors you need to keep in mind while selecting pants for turkey hunting. Size and comfort are other aspects you should consider as well.
Boots
Your turkey hunting challenge can be a great turn down with wrong boots causing blisters, burns, and aches. Thus, it is highly recommended to invest in a pair of turkey hunting boots considering the various factors. They should have enough grip, traction, and breathability to let your hunting be fun and not a burden. Weather conditions matter a lot for the suitability of turkey hunting boots. Some boots are made specifically for cold weather while others are made for hot summers depending upon the material used.
If you are looking for a pair that fits all the seasons, then make modifications in a pair of socks. For fall turkey hunting tips, I would like to prefer thicker socks. While for spring turkey hunting season, lightweight and thinner socks are good to go. Most importantly, you should pick boots with camouflage exteriors.
It is not necessary that all of the hunting boots have camo exteriors. Some of them come in all black and others with a camouflage design, and some are available in dark or light brown colors. Thus, here pants also play an important role in determining what to choose. For instance, if you want to tuck your pants inside the boots, then a simple color hunting boost will look odd. So, here camo pattern boots are mandatory and required to complete your camouflaged look.
Ghillie Suits
Wildlife photographers, snipers, and hunters use ghillie suits to prevent themselves from their target. A ghillie suit is a special camouflage clothing overall outfit from head to legs which comprises of lifelike twigs, branches and cutwork leafy hanging patterns that blend smoothly in the environment. Choosing the best turkey hunting ghillie suit can be a complicated task if you do not know anything about them. However, they are alternative options if you do not buy a shirt and pants for hunting separately. It is a proper suit that you can consider to buy. Nowadays, upgraded versions of ghillie suits include more lightweight, breathable and fire retardant suits so that you can wear underneath also freely. Traditionally, ghillie suits were made of natural jute threads, but modern ghillie suits are mostly from synthetic material.
You can find them in two style options. First one is a jacket and pants, and another one is a poncho. Both of the types prove beneficial to hunters as they also break the outline and allow easy movements which resemble the blowing of leaves with the wind. The best part of ghillie suits is that you can get closer to the bird which is an added thrill factor in the challenge. After all, you will be an invisible man for them.
You have to learn the art of scouting such as looking for branches, leaves, logs, and twigs around you. Yes, you have to be alert even if you are wearing a ghillie suit. And, also you should not stand confidently and started moving towards birds. Stillness and patience are required for movement and catches those gobblers.
Therefore, it is all about turkey hunting ghillie suits that provides one of the best concealment.
Weapons
Main weapons are the guns and bows that you have to carry on yourself. So, they should also resemble that wilderness that turkey hunting grounds possess. However, it is entirely optional for you to choose camo shotguns or camo bows. But, if you are determined to follow the overall camouflage pattern, it is also not bad to follow camo pattern in your main weapons. In my opinion, they would look even better and give you a professional turkey hunter look.
Turkey hunting seats
Go for best turkey hunting seats out there having a camouflage pattern. You can select among platform seats, lounge seats as well as cushion seats for turkey hunting. They are among the important aspects of what to wear turkey hunting as you would not want to keep your ass uncomfortable that will create great trouble having a successful hunting experience.
So, this is the last outer element that you should consider worth investible. Without a turkey hunting seat, you won’t be able to feel as relaxed as possible with a turkey hunting seat. It is a type of relief of stress in the challenging hunting game.
Thus, the outfits discussed above will surprisingly help in concealing yourself in the blinds and do look like the wilderness itself. This is all done to prevent yourself from the smart vision of these big game birds as they will not approach you ever once they see you as a human and it will become more difficult for you to hurt them
How To Select Suitable Camouflage Patterns?
Having difficulty in choosing camo pattern for turkey season? No worries. Let us discuss some matters so that you can do it easily.
Keep An Eye On Seasonal Changes
Leaves go dry, fade out and change their color. According to the seasonal changes, your camo needs to be perfectly fit with the environment as turkeys would go away by seeing something dissimilar in their eyes. Open fields, marshy areas, hardwoods, mixed-conifer hardwood forests, and pastures are some of the favorite strutting areas for a wild turkey. Generally speaking, there are two turkey hunting seasons, i.e., spring and fall season.
Spring season demands a camo that is mostly brown and gray. There is a snowy season also in which all white camo is preferred. While, in the season when leaves started coming on trees, you would have to give more emphasis on green color in camo patterns.
Well, there is no need to buy new camo apparels every time. Just understand different functions of a specific camo pattern given below.
Choices Among Different Camo Patterns
Mossy Oak Obsession Pattern
It provides a light background comprising of fall or spring colors. Realistic shadows and limbs also provide great concealment. It adds in itself an innovative element and resembles the real nature when you wear it. The pattern is most suitable if you use it all of the spring season or nearly a bow season.
Mossy Oak Shadow Leaf Pattern
It gives a 3D look and mostly found in ghillie suits. This pattern presents shadows and realistic leaf-like structures that would cover the spring woods very clearly without even showing an outline. You need them in the late spring season.
Realtree Edge
Realtree Edge is one of the famous camos that most of the hunters go for. It also consists of elements to hide you as naturally as possible. You can check this pattern in a variety of shades ranging from large branches, realistic limbs to leafy structures. These incredible patterns can dislocate the human form with a solid mixture of crisscross branches, leaves, and realistic limbs and twigs. Their background is so abstract that their whole range fits in all situations of environment.
Conclusion
Given the hunter call of the wild beginners guide on what to wear turkey hunting, you can easily conclude that all you need is camouflage design with suitable surroundings match pattern. For a successful turkey hunting experience, surpassing concealment from head to toe is not only necessary but a mandatory condition in the ever-changing scenario of this bog game sport hunting.