Biggest Mistakes I see or hear of

[Spurhunter]

Biggest thing I see is when a bird gobbles they have to run right to him or start calling right away. It's like guys go into panic mode when one gobbles. He isn't running to the next county lol. I try to think of the best place to get to and to think of the different scenarios that could happen before I do anything. I try to take every advantage he has on me away

This was the hardest habit I ever tried to break. For me I think it stems from never having a great place to hunt, so if you had one gobble you knew it might be the only one for the day or maybe the week. Now I am trying to break my 20 year old son of it. When a bird gobbles he wants to take off like a deer and try to get close immediately. You have to remember he's got nowhere to be and is comfortable where he is if he's gobbling. Like most things in life, making rash decisions based on emotion leads to failure in turkey hunting. He's not going anywhere. Take your time and have a sound game plan in mind.

 

[elknturkey]

Biggest thing I see is when a bird gobbles they have to run right to him or start calling right away. It's like guys go into panic mode when one gobbles. He isn't running to the next county lol. I try to think of the best place to get to and to think of the different scenarios that could happen before I do anything. I try to take every advantage he has on me away

This was the hardest habit I ever tried to break. For me I think it stems from never having a great place to hunt, so if you had one gobble you knew it might be the only one for the day or maybe the week. Now I am trying to break my 20 year old son of it. When a bird gobbles he wants to take off like a deer and try to get close immediately. You have to remember he's got nowhere to be and is comfortable where he is if he's gobbling. Like most things in life, making rash decisions based on emotion leads to failure in turkey hunting. He's not going anywhere. Take your time and have a sound game plan in mind.

You said it better than me. I use to be like that to an extent but for the opposite reason. Public has been where I've always hunted but when I started turkey hunting there were lots of birds and very few turkey hunters. Hearing 6-8 from 1 spot was normal and hearing 12+ wasn't out of the ordinary. So if I screwed up on one off to the next I would go. I started slowing down when the number of birds started to decline cause I knew if I messed that up my day was pretty much done.I think I went 16 days in Tennessee last year without hearing a bird. Virginia wasn't much better but found a few.

 

[woodsman04]

My number one rule, don't call to a gobbler while on the limb. unless he's roosted out over water and has to fly back to dry ground. the more you call while he's on a limb, the more he gobbles. more gobblin, better chance of hens or hunters coming to him. Plus, as it gets lighter, he can see much better, if the hen doesn't walk up to him he knows somethings not right. If I'm close enough to see him, and can see which way he is facing, this is even better. If hes facing my direction, why call. Let him hit the ground, then call. I know its going against what all the articles you read say, but trust me. I'd say at least 80 percent will drop out the other way if they have much calling while still roosted.

I agree with this 500%. When I was still learning, when I called to them in the tree they usually stayed up there for a long time. Only flying out almost an hour after I finally gave up calling. I pretty much never call to them in the tree.


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[woodsman04]

Lots of good tips, and many I break every year because of impatience.

I will say though that, having been watching the Pinhoti Project to get primed for the season, ole Dave breaks a lot of the above mentioned. But, his proof is in his success, which shows that what works for one may not be the best way for someone else. I like his aggressive style, and find myself hunting that way when opportunity arises.

If I could hunt every hour of the season for 75 days I'd be that way too. Great caller and great turkey hunter but the amount he gets to hunt out does all of us in this conversation probably by 200%.


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[woodsman04]

Great tips, here's a few others.

1. Not being quiet while moving around. By quiet I mean choosing steps to avoid noise. This isn't to avoid spooking birds so much but being able to hear a bird gobble and not covering up his call with leaf crunching.

2. Looking with your eyes when a bird is approaching out of sight. By this consciously scanning by only shifting your eyes left and right and not allowing your head to turn at all. It's inevitable if you turn left the bird will pop out to the right.

3. Shut up and put your calls in your vest. I rarely and I mean rarely wander around looking to strike a bird by calling. I do a lot of sitting silent waiting for a bird to free gobble. Wandering and calling spooks tons of silent birds and is unnatural, hens don't walk around constantly calling. If a bird is workable they inevitably will gobble on their own. You may have to sit quiet for a while but trust me he will gobble at some point.

4. This goes to number 3, and is the deadliest thing I do imo. If a bird free gobbles, move some distance towards them but not too close, stop and wait for the next gobble which will come, when he does slide ever closer. Rinse and repeat using his gobbles to get as close as you can before making the first peep. This tactic is lethal as the first time he hears you you are in his pocket. If you do this 90% of these birds die.

5. Leave your locators at home, no matter how good you think you sound you don't. If it's a conducive gobbling day there's plenty of triggers to make a bird gobble naturally,

6. What ever happens your mindset should be to back out rather than spook a bird, spooking birds is the number one goal of not to do on my hunts. I'd rather play it safe and not spook birds on a Monday so I can come back Tuesday with intel and try again.

7. Don't take ahh ****** it shots. We've all done it and it's always a bad idea. If it isn't a sure kill keep your safety on, there's always another day.

8. Walk, don't be a lazy ***** and ride your atv all over. It's spring, the weather is nice and your fat ***** needs to exercise. Haha

All of these are great tips. Got number 4 is spot on. Sit down at a nice spot and let one begin gobbling. When he does easily move in and do not make a peep until your set up correctly on him.
Besides a virgin 2 year old off the roost on opening morning (happens rarely for me), these are the easiest birds to kill. And a lot of times it's a good 3-4 year old gobbler. Later in the morning, later in the season is when I have hunts like this more often. If I hear one begin to gobble on his own about 11:00 o clock in the morning on a hardwood ridge on about April the 17th I know it's on. Lot of times it's a ole gobbler that has finally lost his hen or hens for the day, and they are truly lovesick.


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[woodsman04]

Lots of good tips, and many I break every year because of impatience.

I will say though that, having been watching the Pinhoti Project to get primed for the season, ole Dave breaks a lot of the above mentioned. But, his proof is in his success, which shows that what works for one may not be the best way for someone else. I like his aggressive style, and find myself hunting that way when opportunity arises.

FOR ME, the more experience I gained in the past 30 years of hunting them the more aggressive I have become. Ive killed enough to not really care if it ends in success as much as I want to really push the limit to see how close I can get and how close I can get him. I think that is pretty common for most guys the longer they hunt. the first 10 years or so I always was scared to get 10 yards closer or make a move when i knew I should have in fear I would blow it.

I'm not saying to hunt passive so to speak. I'm saying to hunt smartly aggressive? If that's possible?
I don't hesitate to move on a bird at all if I am fairly certain I will not spook him. Other factors contribute to this. Usually in my situations spooking the bird is my least favorite thing to do.

I feel like I only loose the game we play if i spook him. If he gets with hens or something else I still call it a draw at that point, or say he won that round.


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[woodsman04]

Good stuff everyone. This is good turkey talk and what I really enjoy pre season.


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[REN]

Lots of good tips, and many I break every year because of impatience.

I will say though that, having been watching the Pinhoti Project to get primed for the season, ole Dave breaks a lot of the above mentioned. But, his proof is in his success, which shows that what works for one may not be the best way for someone else. I like his aggressive style, and find myself hunting that way when opportunity arises.

FOR ME, the more experience I gained in the past 30 years of hunting them the more aggressive I have become. Ive killed enough to not really care if it ends in success as much as I want to really push the limit to see how close I can get and how close I can get him. I think that is pretty common for most guys the longer they hunt. the first 10 years or so I always was scared to get 10 yards closer or make a move when i knew I should have in fear I would blow it.

I'm not saying to hunt passive so to speak. I'm saying to hunt smartly aggressive? If that's possible?
I don't hesitate to move on a bird at all if I am fairly certain I will not spook him. Other factors contribute to this. Usually in my situations spooking the bird is my least favorite thing to do.

I feel like I only loose the game we play if i spook him. If he gets with hens or something else I still call it a draw at that point, or say he won that round.


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My main point is a lot of times the bird is JUST out of range or JUST over the hill or JUST happen to get with a hen between us. I've just gotten to the point where having seen that more then not I'll gamble that extra 10yds or gamble to cut around him if I think there is a decent chance I can do so without being seen. If I get busted then so be it, just another day I get to come back and hunt him.


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[Roost 1]

Great tips, here's a few others.

1. Not being quiet while moving around. By quiet I mean choosing steps to avoid noise. This isn't to avoid spooking birds so much but being able to hear a bird gobble and not covering up his call with leaf crunching.

2. Looking with your eyes when a bird is approaching out of sight. By this consciously scanning by only shifting your eyes left and right and not allowing your head to turn at all. It's inevitable if you turn left the bird will pop out to the right.

3. Shut up and put your calls in your vest. I rarely and I mean rarely wander around looking to strike a bird by calling. I do a lot of sitting silent waiting for a bird to free gobble. Wandering and calling spooks tons of silent birds and is unnatural, hens don't walk around constantly calling. If a bird is workable they inevitably will gobble on their own. You may have to sit quiet for a while but trust me he will gobble at some point.

4. This goes to number 3, and is the deadliest thing I do imo. If a bird free gobbles, move some distance towards them but not too close, stop and wait for the next gobble which will come, when he does slide ever closer. Rinse and repeat using his gobbles to get as close as you can before making the first peep. This tactic is lethal as the first time he hears you you are in his pocket. If you do this 90% of these birds die.

5. Leave your locators at home, no matter how good you think you sound you don't. If it's a conducive gobbling day there's plenty of triggers to make a bird gobble naturally,

6. What ever happens your mindset should be to back out rather than spook a bird, spooking birds is the number one goal of not to do on my hunts. I'd rather play it safe and not spook birds on a Monday so I can come back Tuesday with intel and try again.

7. Don't take ahh ****** it shots. We've all done it and it's always a bad idea. If it isn't a sure kill keep your safety on, there's always another day.

8. Walk, don't be a lazy ***** and ride your atv all over. It's spring, the weather is nice and your fat ***** needs to exercise. Haha

4 5 6 are exactly what I would say...
Lots of guys I hunt with can't understand my philosophy of "if I can't kill him, I'm definitely not gonna scare him."
Most guys think they are gonna kill him or scare him to death.... not me.

 

[muddyboots]

I'm with Ren. Im more aggressive now than ever. Sometimes I'm like how did i pull that off. I think people sitting in one spot too long and when they move they move like they are downtown. Also when the truck door shuts begin hunting.

 

[PalsPal]

If I could hunt every hour of the season for 75 days I'd be that way too. Great caller and great turkey hunter but the amount he gets to hunt out does all of us in this conversation probably by 200%.

I guess you didn't watch much of the series. SEVERAL days early on he could only hunt 2-3 hours before having to go to work. He even had to leave some gobbling turkeys, and it was killing him. I face that same scenario every spring.

And, so far I haven't seen any video past mid-morning.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

One of the biggest mistakes I see is hunters not practicing with their guns. And, as more and more hunters switch to HTL shells, that cost a small fortune, less and less are even patterning them but they are taking longer and longer shots at turkeys. There's far more to turkey hunting than what a hunter does in the woods.

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[woodsman04]

If I could hunt every hour of the season for 75 days I'd be that way too. Great caller and great turkey hunter but the amount he gets to hunt out does all of us in this conversation probably by 200%.

I guess you didn't watch much of the series. SEVERAL days early on he could only hunt 2-3 hours before having to go to work. He even had to leave some gobbling turkeys, and it was killing him. I face that same scenario every spring.

And, so far I haven't seen any video past mid-morning.

Guess I didn't. The ones I did watch he was either hunting all day, driving to go hunting, or leaving hunting to get on an airplane to go hunt somewhere else. I admit I did not watch every one. But if I was him and could hunt every day like him, I could be more aggressive perhaps.

I do like how he was hunting mostly public land (maybe all).


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[ruger7mag]

If I could hunt every hour of the season for 75 days I'd be that way too. Great caller and great turkey hunter but the amount he gets to hunt out does all of us in this conversation probably by 200%.

I guess you didn't watch much of the series. SEVERAL days early on he could only hunt 2-3 hours before having to go to work. He even had to leave some gobbling turkeys, and it was killing him. I face that same scenario every spring.

And, so far I haven't seen any video past mid-morning.

Guess I didn't. The ones I did watch he was either hunting all day, driving to go hunting, or leaving hunting to get on an airplane to go hunt somewhere else. I admit I did not watch every one. But if I was him and could hunt every day like him, I could be more aggressive perhaps.

I do like how he was hunting mostly public land (maybe all).


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Find a job that allows you to start later in the morning, and allows you to flex hours occasionally.
Use all of your vacation days during turkey season.
Don't have kids.
Do all of that and just about anyone could hunt as many days as him. Most people working swing shift can hunt as much as him, I know I can. Most people just don't have the drive that he has when it comes to turkey hunting....

 

[woodsman04]

If I could hunt every hour of the season for 75 days I'd be that way too. Great caller and great turkey hunter but the amount he gets to hunt out does all of us in this conversation probably by 200%.

I guess you didn't watch much of the series. SEVERAL days early on he could only hunt 2-3 hours before having to go to work. He even had to leave some gobbling turkeys, and it was killing him. I face that same scenario every spring.

And, so far I haven't seen any video past mid-morning.

Guess I didn't. The ones I did watch he was either hunting all day, driving to go hunting, or leaving hunting to get on an airplane to go hunt somewhere else. I admit I did not watch every one. But if I was him and could hunt every day like him, I could be more aggressive perhaps.

I do like how he was hunting mostly public land (maybe all).


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Find a job that allows you to start later in the morning, and allows you to flex hours occasionally.
Use all of your vacation days during turkey season.
Don't have kids.
Do all of that and just about anyone could hunt as many days as him. Most people working swing shift can hunt as much as him, I know I can. Most people just don't have the drive that he has when it comes to turkey hunting....

Not trying to argue, but my drive definitely is as much as his and probably exceeds his drive. Just because he's on tv, you tube and won the grand nationals doesn't mean he's better hunter than any of us on here. Matter of fact, I don't know the guy at all, but if he ever does have a family he's going to be either in for a rude awakening or one of the most selfish guys in sports.


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[Setterman]

I know Dave pretty well and have for a long time, great dude and a good turkey hunter. He benefits from lots of time and crazy good land to hunt, but it doesn't minimize his skill or passion.

I'd put my drive up against anyone. Every day the weather is decent I'm out. I'm blessed to make the time to be out as much as I'd like during the season. If myself or others I know spent time to record our days like he or others lots of hunters would find enjoyment.

Personally, I like catmans stuff, it's so amazingly pure and just magnificent the way he does his hunts on film. Can't wait to see what he brings us this year.

 

[ruger7mag]

It is possible that you do have more drive than him. I don't know you or him personally though so I have no idea. I'm just basing my opinion of Dave off of the multiple hours of him I've watched on his videos. I've seen enough to know that I don't want him anywhere near the birds I hunt haha.

 

[woodsman04]

It is possible that you do have more drive than him. I don't know you or him personally though so I have no idea. I'm just basing my opinion of Dave off of the multiple hours of him I've watched on his videos. I've seen enough to know that I don't want him anywhere near the birds I hunt haha.

Yea. Maybe state agencies should make him illegal instead of decoys haha


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[th88]

Awww, someone a little jealous of Owens!

 

[ruger7mag]

It is possible that you do have more drive than him. I don't know you or him personally though so I have no idea. I'm just basing my opinion of Dave off of the multiple hours of him I've watched on his videos. I've seen enough to know that I don't want him anywhere near the birds I hunt haha.

Yea. Maybe state agencies should make him illegal instead of decoys haha


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Lol he's a killer, but he's not on the same level as a full strut decoy on opening weekend