Your weakest link

Ladys man said:

Other than the fact I still consider myself very new to Turkey, 2 real seasons and havnt had an opportunity to kill one yet. The woods I hunt dnt hold a lot of turkeys and the ones that are there mostly gobble on the property lines so my inexperience can't call them to me. Judging how far the gobble really is. Knowing what call is what.
Also back in school so that takes up a lot of time, both kids have sports.

Just about everything is my weak point at the moment lol

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You are one of the first people to mention calling ability as a weak link...

That means one of two things. We all narcissistically think we are better callers ourselves than we really are....

OR it means how you sound when you blow a call isn't as important as all the other aspects of turkey hunting. I tend to think the latter. I've heard some god-awful real hens out hunting

My job

megalomaniac said:

You are one of the first people to mention calling ability as a weak link...

That means one of two things. We all narcissistically think we are better callers ourselves than we really are....

OR it means how you sound when you blow a call isn't as important as all the other aspects of turkey hunting. I tend to think the latter. I've heard some god-awful real hens out hunting

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I dnt think I sound terrible lol but it's more on the lines of knowing what call to use in the given scenario. This call translates to this to a gobbler kind of thing.

My job and using vacation days for other hobbies limits my time hunting during the week. Physically after breaking my leg turkey hunting in 2015, I have had neck and back issues hindering my ability from time to time getting around.

As far as just hunting itself, I think my biggest weakness is patience and waiting on a bird once he goes silent. I have gotten better at it and know what I need to do, however, my style wants a gobbling bird to the gun or at least spitting and drumming. I am not saying that I don't wait for one and have killed plenty coming in silent but probably don't sit as long as I should sometimes especially when I start hearing another bird gobbling in the distance.

1) Patience...I can't tell you how many times I've stood up after 30-45 mins to hear the putting sound or see a large black object moving near me and then disappearing. Really bad about run & gun.

2) Basic hunting skills. I use to be big on calling loud and often. Staying 150 yards of more from gobbling bird in AM and moving right toward the bird. Last 5 birds I've killed in pas 2 years, i've been within 75 yards of their roost by using terrain to hide and calling with soft yelping, purring and scratching leaves.

megalomaniac said:

OR it means how you sound when you blow a call isn't as important as all the other aspects of turkey hunting. I tend to think the latter. I've heard some god-awful real hens out hunting

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For sure. When it comes to killing turkeys (not to be confused with making them gobble repeatedly), proper setup and being where he wants to go is far more important than a bunch of pretty calling. Worst "hunter/caller" I can remember came up a hollar at LBL and walked right by me. Terrible sounding squawking hen completely shocked me when she appeared. I could not believe a real hen sounded that bad, seriously. She headed straight for the gobbler I was trying to kill. Needless to say, she got with him and his harem of hens and I was the least of their worries remainder of the day. I've witnessed other hens whose calling left a lot to be desired.

I think about the past too much. Not the recent past when we had tons of birds or even my past turkey hunting. More like Tom Turpin, Archibald Rutledge etc and how they hunted before camo companies,tss shot, red dot scopes, turkey tv shows , decoys, reaping and all the other b.s. that passes for hunting these days.

Joe2Kool said:

My inability to effectively use a slate call. I have difficulty with them, especially the purring.

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Conditioning the striker is just as important. Especially for purrs.
Stick that green scotchbrite in the cup of your palm, press it into the "cup" with the striker tip, and make up to 10 turns in each direction, taking care to keep the striker's shaft level. Try running the call again.

If it's still slipping and squeaking (not giving you the ability to make a clean sequence of yelps or cuts) condition the striker again. It'll make the pot extremely easy to run compared to before.

Another issue for me, is since i leave in the middle of an undisturbed game paradise- i condition myself to no longer see deer or turkeys as prey animals. They are very tame and more like walking farm decorations than something i bloodthirsty for. Does take the wind of my sails a bit. Although other farms i hunt (and dont reside at) its not that way.

redblood said:

Another issue for me, is since i leave in the middle of an undisturbed game paradise- i condition myself to no longer see deer or turkeys as prey animals. They are very tame and more like walking farm decorations than something i bloodthirsty for. Does take the wind of my sails a bit. Although other farms i hunt (and dont reside at) its not that way.

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Agreed... its hard for me to shoot backyard pets as well. And once you start shooting them, they are less likely to hang out in your yard and you lose the enjoyment of watching them year round. And I think you learn more about game behavior from watching them thereby making you a better hunter if you don't kill them in your backyard

younggun308 said:

Conditioning the striker is just as important. Especially for purrs.
Stick that green scotchbrite in the cup of your palm, press it into the "cup" with the striker tip, and make up to 10 turns in each direction, taking care to keep the striker's shaft level. Try running the call again.

If it's still slipping and squeaking (not giving you the ability to make a clean sequence of yelps or cuts) condition the striker again. It'll make the pot extremely easy to run compared to before.

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Thanks. I've scrubbed on the pot and striker, but sounds like I need to scrub on it some more. Thanks again.