Who’s got time for the winter blahs? We don’t, that’s for sure, and neither should you.
Instead of watching the chaos of the nightly news, you should be focusing on the start of the 2022 season… And that means spring turkey!
Wait a minute, whazzat you say? You don’t turkey hunt? What do you do between March and May? Just… Not hunt? Is that even a thing?
OK, it’s time to change your life and get turned on to the thrill of the gobbler. It’s a chess game of decoys, calls and camo. These wily and wary birds wouldn’t smell you if you walked through a sewer pond, but even the slightest bit of motion or human-like shape and they are gone so fast, you’d swear with God as your witness, that turkeys could fly.
So here’s our loadout list for everything you need to make your first foray (or your 40th) into the turkey woods a successful hunt.
Turkey Vest
Yeah, we know. Thanks, Capt. Obvious for recommending the Turkey Vest for a turkey hunt. But if we didn’t, we’d look a little foolish, no?
The Badlands Turkey Vest is your home away from home in the woods. You’ve got storage for all the calls, be they box, slate, pot or mouth, you could ever want. There are pockets for your bird, pockets for your collapsible decoys. Even ones to rally ‘round the family, with a pocket full of shells.
And your bottom will be grateful for the fold-down padded seat. Trust us, a happy bottom can make all the difference between a turkey hunt and a day-long torture session.
These things fly out of the Badlands store like a bunch of spooked Toms, but we also keep both patterns in stock in our Amazon store.
Stealth Hoodie
Spring days are kinda like teenagers. All over the place mood-wise. The mornings can be cool, bordering on cold, but by the afternoon it can be almost balmy. You need a top that can accommodate those swings while also providing near invisibility. The Stealth CoolTouch Hoodie comes in either Approach or Approach FX and features a built-in face wrap.
If you’re hunting from a blind, you may consider the all-black Merino version. This will turn you into the modern-day version of us at age 13 when we went to our first co-ed party. Totally invisible.
Ion X Pants
Much of turkey hunting sounds simple. You just sit up under a nice shade tree and wait. But if you’re sitting there in uncomfortable pants, it’s anything but simple. So we completely revisited the best-selling Ion Pant and made it even better. How can you tell? Hello, it has an X in the name.
The new 4-way stretch fabric adds flexibility and comfort to our legendary water-resistant, reinforced seams and bevy of large, well-placed pockets. Is the Ion X the perfect turkey hunting pant? We don’t really like to deal in superlatives, but this is absolutely the greatest thing to happen to pants since they were invented.
Add in a spiffy Trucker Hat, a set of Flex Gloves and an Early Riser Coffee Cup and you have a complete loadout list for a turkey hunt. We’ll leave the choice of shotgun or bow up to you, but you should be set otherwise.
Now turn that winter frown upside down and start getting your gear together for that first (or 40th) trek into Tom Turkey’s backyard. With this list in hand, the only dressing you have left to worry about is the one you’ll serve as a side dish.
