Every spring, as sure as toms are gobbling, turkey hunting gear companies roll out new products. This year is no exception, showcasing many new calls, vests and firearms.
Bass Pro Shops
In a market that has limited options for clothing treated with insect repellent, Redhead is adding a shirt and pants treated with Insect Shield. This permethrin product repels all sorts of insects, including ticks, and it is good for 60 washings. The Tec-Lite pants and Tec-Lite long-sleeved shirt are moisture-wicking and fast drying.
RedHead is also going at bug protection the traditional way with a mesh bug jacket with an integrated face mask and mesh pants. Both have elastic cups to keep the bugs at bay.
The ladies have something to look forward to with the SHE Oasis long-sleeved hoodie and pants. These are equipped with Sciessent® technology to reduce scent.
Herter’s is the latest to add a TSS pellet load for turkey hunters. The buffered load improves patterns and helps pellets pass through tight chokes.
The RedHead Flex Jake and Hen combo decoys are lightweight and collapsible for the hunter on the run. The set comes with a two-piece stake. The jake and hen are also sold separately.
RedHead also introduced two completely different boots this year. The Timberbuck waterproof men’s hunting boot is a camouflage nylon hiking-style boot. The RedHead Bayou III Waterproof Side-Zip Snake Boots are calf-height boots with leather and nylon uppers to provide support. The zippers ease getting the boots on and off.
Cabela’s introduced the EZE Portable Blind XL, which is perfect for turkey hunters working in pairs. Ground blinds add that extra bit of concealment for turkey hunters and this is one of the first that is larger.
Escort Turkey
The Escort PS Turkey is a gas-operated semi-auto shotgun with a cantilever barrel designed for taking toms. At 6.9 pounds for the 12-gauge model, it’s reasonably weighted for a semi-auto. It also comes in 20 gauge and .410, which are lighter.
The gun comes outfitted with adjustable fiber optic front and rear sights. Sights are removable if using optics. It comes complete with three interchangeable choke tubes, including turkey options for the 12 and 20 gauge. All are in Mobil thread. The barrel is chrome lined to reduce oxidation.
HS Strut
The Paul Butski Long Stroker is a long boat paddle type box designed to produce more volume for long-distance location calling as well as up close calling when the birds are located. Butski, a NWTF calling champion, designed this call. He also designed a diaphragm call for HS Strut that debuts this year.
The remainder of the HS Strut new calls are an expansion of its Drury Outdoors line. New are an aluminum pot call, a box call, several mouth calls and locator calls. HS Strut also introduced a neat turkey spur gauge for measuring spurs.
Millennium
The Millennium Field Pro Turkey Seat is a new twist in bringing comfort to sitting in the forest. This folding seat will help to get the hunter up off the ground and it provides back support. It’s like a scaled-down lawn chair.
Nomad
The Nomad Bull Turkey Lounger is several vests in one. The removable aluminum frame supplies back support when there is no tree to lean against. The padded seat cushion is also removable when hunting from a blind and sitting in a chair. The vest has many pockets, including dedicated pockets for calls, water bottles, a Thermacell and decoy stake.
Peregrine Field Gear
Peregrine Field Gear’s turkey hammock is a neat new way to take a turkey out of the bush safely. This blaze orange carrier folds up to nothing to stash it while taking into the hunt.
Primos
The new Trigger Stick Gun Mounted Bipods could be the solution for turkey hunters wanting support to keep their gun in the ready position. I can attest Trigger Stick products are quick and easy to adjust. The new models are made to fit in the stud swivel of a bolt action rifle but should work with most shotguns front swivel. It would be wise to try your gun before purchasing.
Primos’ Gobstopper Strutter Turkey Decoy is one of few new decoy models rolled out this year. It’s designed to be lightweight and easy to pack.
The Custom Turkey Plaque is a great way to display the fan and beard of a trophy gobbler. Hunters can choose graphics and text describing where the bird was taken, its weight, or any other statistics associated with a memorable hunt.
The Rare Breed Aluminum Turkey Pot Call is a new surface for this call line. Made from anodized aluminum, it requires no conditioning and is waterproof. The aluminum surface is louder and higher-pitched to get gobbles from quiet toms. Primos also introduced Premium Select mouth calls and new owl and crow locator calls.
Quaker Boy
The Double Easy Yelper is a new twist on the pin call, with two calls in one. This set-up makes it perfect for producing fighting purrs and also to sound like two hens.
The Full Tilt Slate is a variable depth slate call. Ranging from ½ to ⅞ of an inch in depth, the pitch on the call varies dependent on the part of the call used. The shallower depth creates more subtle, softer calls and the deeper part is louder and raspier.
Quaker Boy’s new mouth calls for 2023 are a blast from the past, with several older models brought back due to demand. Cutter Mag, Jagged Edge, and the Fab 5, which is a five-pack of calls, all were added to the lineup. One interesting twist on the mouth call front is that Quaker Boy is selling custom mouth calls. This lets the customer can pick the frame, tape color and style of call to have a custom call manufactured.
Tethr’d
Tethr’d and The Hunting Nation introduced a new vest at the National Wild Turkey Federation that garnered a lot of attention.
TRUGLO
TRUGLO’s Head Banger chokes are designed using grooves that engage the shot cup and keep the pellets in a tight pattern. The choke tubes are designed to work with a variety of loads, including Winchester’s Long Beard, Federal Third Degree and Hevi-Shot.
Zink
Zink calls added two more options to its call line: the Thunder Ridge Blaster Pot and the Wicked Series Box Call. The Blaster Pot is a polycarbonate-based surface call made to work in all weather conditions. It is available in glass, slate or aluminum surfaces.
The Wicked Series Box Call was designed by Zink working with NWTF Grand National Champion custom call maker Marlin Watkins. A double-sided call, it is designed to make everything from soft calls to loud locating calls.
