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	Make sure you know your shotgun May 15 at 7:00 am If you don’t know your gun and its limits, you are asking for trouble. Pattern your gun to see where the densest part of the pattern hits. Every spring, numerous turkeys are completely missed or hit poorly because a hunter assumed that his gun would hit where he aimed. You need to hit the turkey in it’s head or neck for a clean kill; body shots rarely work.

	Make sure your setup won’t doom you May 15 at 7:00 am Choosing a poor setup is a common problem. Often, we doom a hunt because of the spot where we make a setup. Sometimes a hunter doesn’t have a choice, but when a choice is available, be sure to make a good one.

	Be careful with decoy placements May 15 at 7:00 am Improper placement of decoys can ruin a hunt. Never position your decoys directly between yourself and the direction you expect the tom to come from — for two reasons. First, as a tom approaches with his attention riveted on the decoy, any slight movement on that line-of-sight is easily detected and will cause the tom to leave immediately. Second, for safety’s sake. If another hunter sees your decoy and hears your calling, you stand a good chance of getting shot.

	Last-minute toms May 01 at 7:00 am The easy gobblers are already in freezers across North Carolina. As the end of the 2013 spring season nears, it's the tough birds that are left in the woods, the old toms that have survived several seasons by understanding that there's somebody out there trying to fill them full of copper-plated No. 4s.

	Forum leads to ‘gobbler of a lifetime’ for moderator April 23 at 10:13 am Editor’s note: The hunt detailed below happened because moderators Diane00 and Gobblintom (aka Joey Murphy) have developed a friendship with user Donion (aka Don Wilson) through the NorthCarolinaSportsman.com forum.

	Bearded hen taken in Columbus County may be NC's biggest ever April 19 at 7:10 pm A long-awaited opportunity finally ended in success for a Columbus County hunter on April 16 when he killed a trophy bearded hen that’s unofficially the best ever killed in North Carolina. Revis Long of Lake Waccamaw had watched his one-of-a-kind trophy for many months before he finally took her down on the third day of North Carolina’s spring turkey season with his 12-gauge Franchi shotgun. Long’s trophy gal sported a 9.25-inch beard, weighed 9.59 pounds, and had an overall score of 28.09 by using the National Wild Turkey Federation’s score calculator. The NWTF maintains a records database for gobblers and bearded hens, and while the overwhelming majority of their records are male gobblers, 229 bearded hens are listed. Officially, the largest bearded hen ever recorded in North Carolina was taken in Rutherford County on April 21, 1998, that weighed 9.43 pounds, had an 8.75-inch beard and a total score of 27.18. Under the supervision of wildlife officer Keith Rogers of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Long scored the bird and submitted necessary documentation to the NWTF for processing.

	Avoid being seen, bugged while hunting April 15 at 7:00 am Equipment needed when hunting wild turkeys remains the same, with only a few exceptions, in northeastern North Carolina. Full camouflage is required, including face masks and gloves, to avoid the keen eyesight of turkeys.

	How much to call, which sounds to use April 15 at 7:00 am Guide Clark Purvis, who called 16 gobblers to hunters during the 2012 spring season, said he prefers a Don Carter double-reed mouth call, but the frequency and loudness of calls depends upon what a hunter hears before he makes the first sound.

	Tight chokes, 12 gauges and No. 5 shot effective April 15 at 7:00 am Although wild turkeys have been killed with many gauges of shotguns and pellet sizes, guide Clark Purvis said hunters can maximize their chances with a firearm specifically set up for gobblers.

	Nothing like the real thing April 15 at 7:00 am Over the past 20 years, turkey fever has set in across North Carolina, and every decoy manufacturer has amped up its styles and attention to detail. Decoys have evolved from the old, drab-looking hens with little peculiarity to realistic gobbler decoys with natural iridescence.

	Pair gobbler calls with gobbler decoys April 15 at 7:00 am Decoys can help hunters tremendously when trying to bag that early or late-season bird. Gobbling tom decoys are an excellent choice to use for bringing in a mature gobbler, and hunters must change their calling tactics to mimic what kind of show they are trying to display.

	Put them in the best place possible April 15 at 7:00 am Where to set up around decoys can also make or break your turkey hunt.