Because of this, turkey hunting has become big business for outdoors stores, with many setting up elaborate displays of specialized equipment each spring. Tom Sokolowski, general manager of the huge Bass Pro Shops store in Auburn Hills, gets a chuckle out of the intensity with which many hunters approach the turkey game. There's no way they want to hunt turkeys with their old shotgun. Bass Pro has several aisles filled with camouflage clothing, as well as turkey shotguns, decoys, vests to carry gear, specialized ammunition, and dozens of calls. Looking at the latter, tyro turkey hunter George Ayers of Commerce admitted to some bewilderment.
Hunters use locator calls that sound like a crow or owl, or even a silent dog whistle.
When they hear a gobble in response, they know they're in a place where they can set up to call birds in the next morning. The big thing seems to be having the sense to change calls if a bird gets hung up 50 yards away and won't come in that last little bit. But turkey hunting has definitely become an important part of our spring sales. When I started in this business 20 years ago, turkey hunting was so small as to be a non-issue. Now, it's grown tremendously.