Will Primos, president of Primos Wild Game Calls, is a firm believer in knowing the territory. "For the turkey hunter with average or below-average calling abilities, I think knowing the terrain is 70 to 80 percent of playing the game successfully," he said. "If you can't (call well), then knowing the terrain is the most important thing."

LEARN TO CALL WELL
Frankly, most turkey hunters aren't good at calling birds. There's a reason for that: We don't practice enough. Most turkey hunters have practiced their calls enough to sound more or less like a turkey, but that's it. The average turkey hunter doesn't run any of his calls from the last day of spring turkey season until about a week or so before the next season opens. After a few seasons, it doesn't take much practice to retain a minimal level of calling skill. A few 5-minute sessions of running a slate or a box on the back porch, a few mornings of diaphragm practice while driving to work, and most hunters can quickly get back to their own personal level of mediocrity. And that's where the average hunter stops. He's called in turkeys at that skill level. Why practice any more?

Because of what Will Primos said, that's why. For one, very few hunters do all of their hunting on familiar ground. If having better calling skills will give you a better chance to kill a bird in a strange place, why not try to improve?

All it takes is practice -- a lot of practice. It might not take long for an experienced hunter to get back up to his natural calling level, but climbing up to the next level requires some work well before the season opens. Competition callers like Steve Stoltz and Ricky Joe Bishop practice every day of the year, often several hours per day. That's an unrealistic schedule for non-competition callers, but the fact remains that most of us could make ourselves more effective turkey hunters if we did more pre-season practice with our calling instruments.

USE THE WATER APPROACH
Much of the good public turkey hunting in Arkansas is adjacent to lakes and large rivers. Lake Ouachita, in the middle of the Ouachita National Forest, is a prime example, as is the lower White River running through the White River National Wildlife Refuge. Using a boat to hunt these areas can give the hunter a triple advantage.

First, a hunter using an outboard-equipped boat can cover a lot more territory than can a hunter on foot. This isn't an advantage in actual hunting, obviously, because in order to hunt, it's necessary to get out of the boat and onto dry land. But a boat allows a hunter to cover a lot more territory in those precious minutes between first light and fly-down time, when turkeys are most vocal and you're trying to find one to hunt.

Second, sound carries better over water, which amplifies the first advantage. A larger audible range translates into more land scouted.

Finally, most adult turkeys are not accustomed to being approached by hunters from water. While the landward side presents the danger of encountering hunters who have used wheeled vehicles to make their initial approach, a border of water offers turkeys the perception of safety. Sometimes throwing a turkey a change-up is the best way to strike him out.