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I just cant do it..... Updated

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megalomaniac

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Joined
Oct 28, 2005
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Mississippi
Haven't heard a gobble in south MS over a month, still have 3 toms here I've been checking several times a week, but they just won't play. We turned a couple of our winter plots yesterday to get ready for summer plots and I knew they'd be hitting them in the afternoons before roost.

Set up on one plot at 4p, calling sparingly, and this tom came in with zero interest in me... just feeding on the wheat heads. He is still at 15y, I've clucked and purred to him to try to get his pale head to color up and play, but nothing from him. I'm enjoying watching him scratch and feed, just can't make myself shoot him this way. Just no honor in it.
 

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I understand and can respect that...I shared this picture from my front yard last week with some guys at work and a few of them couldn't understand why I didn't kill this tom? I told them that I love to hunt turkeys....not just kill them....there's a difference.
 

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I respect that. I have a few spots where I feel pretty confident I could kill a Turkey in the evenings before fly up but I just personally don't get anything out of "deer hunting" one. I know a lot of people hunt that way and that's fine if that's what they want to do. Just not my thing.
 
He fed for almost 1.5h in front of me. As sun was setting he headed to roost and flew up less than 100y from the plot. I gave him hell sounding like a hen flying up and desperate for love. He didn't gobble, but hopefully he thinks about her all night long and is wound up and wants to play right in the morning.

Weird year.
 
megalomaniac said:
He fed for almost 1.5h in front of me. As sun was setting he headed to roost and flew up less than 100y from the plot. I gave him hell sounding like a hen flying up and desperate for love. He didn't gobble, but hopefully he thinks about her all night long and is wound up and wants to play right in the morning.

Weird year.
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Meg
Thats the way it's been over here in SE Alabama
This year . Since they pushed the opener back a few weeks these birds are close to being bred out and the boys just dont want to play .
I know it's for the best interest in the flock .
I've had a few gobblers in gun range this year but just don't feel right shooting them when they are not all fired up . It has been a strange year for sure . Hope next year is better for all
Hope you get him fired up 🦃
 
It depends on the day, and it depends on the bird. One of my most memorable hunts was for a particular bird that had a distinct gobble. We nicknamed nim "Long-Gobble." You could almost hear him huffing and puffing to catch his breath after giving his lusty mating call. It lasted twice to three times as long in duration to a typical gobble you'll hear. Called the bird up a cliff, but two arrived in strut at 12 yards. I held fire waiting for one to gobble, but neither did. I let them walk off. It was my first hunt with long-time friend Roger Hook from Arkansas. Longer story, short, the pair of birds broke up and I killed old "Long-Gobble" that afternoon.
 
Not a peep this morn so far, but it's crazy foggy and I bet they are still in the trees. Going to go check the tom I missed at the beginning of the season to see if I can get him to play as this bird just isn't fun.
 
Holy crap, this IS weird! Left the silent tom, moved to check a different bird. Called, he yelped back to me from the limb. Now it's thundering here, and he is yelping back to the thunder, but not gobbling. Should get interesting....
 
Chief44 said:
I respect that. I have a few spots where I feel pretty confident I could kill a Turkey in the evenings before fly up but I just personally don't get anything out of "deer hunting" one. I know a lot of people hunt that way and that's fine if that's what they want to do. Just not my thing.
Click to expand...
Same here. I agree. Not knocking those who do it that way, just not my cup of tea.
 

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