• Help Support TNDeer:

Deep Down, Why Do You Turkey Hunt?

2in1shot

2in1shot

Well-Known Member
TNDeer Supporter
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
1,223
Reaction score
326
Location
SE TN
So Catmans side tracked harvest numbers thread got me thinking.... What makes each of us want to hunt turkeys. A lot of what started the controversy on the other page has to do with the age gap and use of media before, during, and after the hunt. A lot of the younger guys enjoy putting there life and hunting on the web, while some of the older crew does not want even a picture of their face on the www. Media has changed, for some, why we enjoy hunting. And of course as we age, our reasons for hunting change with our experiences and maturity.

I hunt turkeys because I enjoy the challenge (both from the long beard as well as myself). I enjoy seeing and hearing the spring woods wake up. I enjoy the interactive nature of the spring turkey hunting chess game. I enjoy the rush of having a bird gobble and close the distance. I enjoy honing the skills to mimic an old hen. I enjoy the physicality of several miles walked per day. And lastly I enjoy hunting turkeys by my strict set of rules: no decoys or cameras. Just me, my calls, my gun, and a mature bird that wants to gobble/play the game. For me, it's a very personal affair and for that reason often I enjoy hunting alone.

Maybe I'm one of the odd birds in this group. How about you guys.
 
Cause it's illegal to kill deer in the spring. I do prefer eating them over deer but the hunt does little for me. Seeing those cry over how people hunt them is a huge turn off as well. Wouldn't bother me at all if I never seen another.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wish I had never gone turkey hunting. I miss some of the best fishing of the year. But I am addicted to hearing them gobble and watching them strut. Getting the shot off is fun, but anti climatic. I only enjoy hunting them when they are gobbling. I will not spend all day in the woods trying to kill one if they aren't.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
For me it's the whole idea of calling them to me. Having them gobble back at me and work their way to my position is where it's at. I'm also very much into trying to figure out what they're going to do and where they're going.
 
Being in the woods as they transition from winter to spring over the course of 6 weeks is something to behold. Watching barren forest floors come alive with wildflowers, trees bud out and leaf out is a cool thing to witness transpire each year.

Interacting with a bird, being able to sit down and have conversations with a bird and convince him you're worth coming to visit.

Then strategy and chess match. Figuring out where he is, how to close the distance, best set up for him to commit, and then watching it all unfold or fall apart.

The moment when you realize he's coming and your shot is imminent.

Having a bird just out of sight shake the ground with a gobble or hearing the strutting non vocal sounds just out of sight.

There's nothing hunting wise that can give me the emotional roller coaster of chasing turkeys. One day you feel on top of the world only for the next day to feel like a complete failure. Haha

Pulling the trigger is the least exciting part. If I could I'd touch every bird I kill, roll them over pat them on the a$$ and watch them leave. I'd love for them to be able to play the game again another day a little wiser.
 
Setterman":3pgne5y4 said:
Being in the woods as they transition from winter to spring over the course of 6 weeks is something to behold. Watching barren forest floors come alive with wildflowers, trees bud out and leaf out is a cool thing to witness transpire each year.

Interacting with a bird, being able to sit down and have conversations with a bird and convince him you're worth coming to visit.

Then strategy and chess match. Figuring out where he is, how to close the distance, best set up for him to commit, and then watching it all unfold or fall apart.

The moment when you realize he's coming and your shot is imminent.

Having a bird just out of sight shake the ground with a gobble or hearing the strutting non vocal sounds just out of sight.

There's nothing hunting wise that can give me the emotional roller coaster of chasing turkeys. One day you feel on top of the world only for the next day to feel like a complete failure. Haha

Pulling the trigger is the least exciting part. If I could I'd touch every bird I kill, roll them over pat them on the a$$ and watch them leave. I'd love for them to be able to play the game again another day a little wiser.
Click to expand...
Couldn't have said it any better if I tried!! Spot on brother!
 
2in1shot":1okevfxt said:
I hunt turkeys because I enjoy the challenge (both from the long beard as well as myself). I enjoy seeing and hearing the spring woods wake up. I enjoy the interactive nature of the spring turkey hunting chess game. I enjoy the rush of having a bird gobble and close the distance. I enjoy honing the skills to mimic an old hen. I enjoy the physicality of several miles walked per day. And lastly I enjoy hunting turkeys by my strict set of rules: no decoys or cameras. Just me, my calls, my gun, and a mature bird that wants to gobble/play the game. For me, it's a very personal affair and for that reason often I enjoy hunting alone.
Click to expand...

^ This pretty much sums it up for me too.

2in1shot":1okevfxt said:
Maybe I'm one of the odd birds in this group.
Click to expand...
No...you're not.
 
Setterman":2g7jj363 said:
Being in the woods as they transition from winter to spring over the course of 6 weeks is something to behold. Watching barren forest floors come alive with wildflowers, trees bud out and leaf out is a cool thing to witness transpire each year.

Interacting with a bird, being able to sit down and have conversations with a bird and convince him you're worth coming to visit.

Then strategy and chess match. Figuring out where he is, how to close the distance, best set up for him to commit, and then watching it all unfold or fall apart.

The moment when you realize he's coming and your shot is imminent.

Having a bird just out of sight shake the ground with a gobble or hearing the strutting non vocal sounds just out of sight.

There's nothing hunting wise that can give me the emotional roller coaster of chasing turkeys. One day you feel on top of the world only for the next day to feel like a complete failure. Haha

Pulling the trigger is the least exciting part. If I could I'd touch every bird I kill, roll them over pat them on the a$$ and watch them leave. I'd love for them to be able to play the game again another day a little wiser.
Click to expand...


Man couldn't have said it better myself.
 
REN":2zhsd0qv said:
Setterman":2zhsd0qv said:
Being in the woods as they transition from winter to spring over the course of 6 weeks is something to behold. Watching barren forest floors come alive with wildflowers, trees bud out and leaf out is a cool thing to witness transpire each year.

Interacting with a bird, being able to sit down and have conversations with a bird and convince him you're worth coming to visit.

Then strategy and chess match. Figuring out where he is, how to close the distance, best set up for him to commit, and then watching it all unfold or fall apart.

The moment when you realize he's coming and your shot is imminent.

Having a bird just out of sight shake the ground with a gobble or hearing the strutting non vocal sounds just out of sight.

There's nothing hunting wise that can give me the emotional roller coaster of chasing turkeys. One day you feel on top of the world only for the next day to feel like a complete failure. Haha

Pulling the trigger is the least exciting part. If I could I'd touch every bird I kill, roll them over pat them on the a$$ and watch them leave. I'd love for them to be able to play the game again another day a little wiser.
Click to expand...


Man couldn't have said it better myself.
Click to expand...

Yep...save me a bunch of typing, Setterman.
 
This is where I would insert the Dos Equis meme that reads "I don't always agree with Setterman but when I do..."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Setterman":y11ef24y said:
Being in the woods as they transition from winter to spring over the course of 6 weeks is something to behold. Watching barren forest floors come alive with wildflowers, trees bud out and leaf out is a cool thing to witness transpire each year.

Interacting with a bird, being able to sit down and have conversations with a bird and convince him you're worth coming to visit.

Then strategy and chess match. Figuring out where he is, how to close the distance, best set up for him to commit, and then watching it all unfold or fall apart.

The moment when you realize he's coming and your shot is imminent.

Having a bird just out of sight shake the ground with a gobble or hearing the strutting non vocal sounds just out of sight.

There's nothing hunting wise that can give me the emotional roller coaster of chasing turkeys. One day you feel on top of the world only for the next day to feel like a complete failure. Haha

Pulling the trigger is the least exciting part. If I could I'd touch every bird I kill, roll them over pat them on the a$$ and watch them leave. I'd love for them to be able to play the game again another day a little wiser.
Click to expand...

I don't think you could kill a turkey if it sat at the end of your barrel. Have you ever even seen one? Heard a spit and drum? You're so full of yourself thinking you can kill turkeys. You have no idea how hard it is to get them to come to your call...you probably belly crawl and bushwhack them don't you? I think you're a racist bigot and hate turkeys and hunting them too. You? Kill turkeys? Psssht, in your dreams buddy.

:o :rotf:

Just kidding Setterman! Well said on your part.
 
I'm a hunter and turkey is the only other big game anywhere near here aside from deer. The layoff between the close of deer season and the opening day of turkey season is plenty enough time to recoup from hunting deer and for cabin fever to begin edging into the picture. The spring weather is here and green up is beginning. Aside from Fall, the beginning of Spring is my favorite time to be in the woods. And then there are the turkeys. Roaming the hills and woods listening for those close by booming gobbles or those far away and barely distinguishable gobbles, trying to home in on their locations, and then making a move to get set up on them and it's game on. What sets turkey hunting aside from deer hunting or any other hunting for that matter is that it's so interactive. Somewhat unlike deer hunting in which most activity is nocturnal and missed and mostly immobile, turkey hunting is done totally during the daylight hours. You see, hear, and are a part of everything going on in their world and you have to react to what, when, and where. They move and you countermove. They react and you counter react. So goes the battle of wits. Every day is a new and different day and a new and different battle... and you may experience many battles before ever winning the war. It's the offering of those battles that draws me to the woods.
 
I agree with what Setterman said. Additionally for me it's a chess match with a master who's playing with his life on the line. Their need to procreate outweighs their survival. It's akin to salmon swimming back to their place of birth to spawn and die. His normal caution is set aside in order to breed. It's this distraction alone that allows us to imitate a lonesome hen. The fact that we don't really know how to talk turkey only sound like one shows just how distracted they are. Just as if an attractive female says something to you from across the room, it wouldn't matter if you heard or understood what she said, you are only interested that she said something to you. You want to hear more and to do so brings you closer. She could easily raise a shotgun and blow your head off. A gobbling turkey is such a unique sound and indicates one thing, readiness to breed or in some cases shock or surprise. The turkey knows that he's also calling predators. This makes him especially vulnerable. Knowing with all these things in the hunters favor, he still can't easily dupe a gobbler, makes the victory even sweeter. I love the chase.
 
"And lastly I enjoy hunting turkeys by my strict set of rules: no decoys or cameras. Just me, my calls, my gun, and a mature bird that wants to gobble/play the game."

I personally am new to turkey hunting. My only rule at this point in time is to do it legally. If that means for me to use a decoy, as long as its legal, i will use a decoy. I think you have an awesome set of rules, but what i don't get is others downing me or you because they do not agree with what works for us....
 
In response to gasman. My strict set of rules only apply to me and I do not judge or condemn anyone for chasing turkeys in any legal manner. In fact, I was catman minus the camera and YouTube 15-20 years ago. Hunting consumed my life. I would use any legal means necessary to help turn the game in my favor. I used decoys, hunted using ambush tactics, blinds, all of it. I can remember one long belly crawl of 4-500 yards. I have only settled into my set of rules in the last 5 years. It took 20 years of turkey hunting prior to this season to refine my rules of the game. For me it took getting over the thrill of the tigger pull to really enjoy the sport and that came only after I had killed several turkeys. I now take my oldest child with me some. Do we use blinds? Sometimes. Do we use decoys. Sometimes. But when I hunt alone, the rules change or I don't have interest in killing that bird unless my rules apply.
 
megalomaniac":21097mes said:
Because I've never experienced anything in life that gives such a rush every single time you do it.
Click to expand...
When the swamp gobbler fired off at noon 100 yds away a few hours ago, I thought I was having chest palpitations but in a good way. It NEVER gets old, even after 33 seasons and and this being around the 20th day this season I've been afield. I could literally do it every day of the year without it getting old.

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
 

Latest posts

Back
Top