Thoughts on this staement

[fairchaser]

I respect everyone's right to hunt their own way as long as it's legal. I think some of y'all are splitting hairs and straining on gnats. On Wednesday I killed a nice 3 year old bird. I heard him gobble at daybreak and went to him. Rather than sit and call, I wanted to eliminate the competition and started calling to him immediately. Once he responded I moved to him. After fly down, I called and he gobbled. I was a hen coming to him. He flew out to a field and strutted and gobbled, waiting for his hen to show up. I used cover and crawled within range and gave him the 180 lb hen he was hearing. This is a combination of bushwacking and calling and it was a very satisfying kill. No decoys, no blind. Just a turkey call and a shotgun. If that's not turkey hunting, then I don't know what hunting is. I'm with you Catman.

 

[cowhunter71]

Turkey hunting to me is sitting down against a tree and calling to a Gobbler, trying to make him come within 40yrds of my gun, looking for me, the hen, and then killing him clean. This I attempt whether he gobbles or not. No crawling, sneaking, fanning, decoys, tents, bows, sniping, ect.. Anything less is not turkey hunting to me and personally I have no respect, as turkey hunters, for those who do not hunt this way. Nothing more rewarding to me than accomplishing this consistently, especially on those hard pressured Gobblers that don't seem to want to "cooperate" Ambushing is putting yourself in position for a Gobbler to "unknowingly" walk to or buy you. When he comes to me, he is knowingly and actively "searching" for me, a hen turkey. We like to refer to this as hide and seek.

are there not many field birds in your nat'l forest? And as for "cooperating" it's got nothing to do with pressure this year as they have not been cooperating both private and public land. I just want to hear one gobble to my call again or even come in silent. I finally did have one come in silent and of course that's the one I missed at 10 yards. I was about ready to ambush one at that point. And now I got lots of extra turkey meat for next weeks cookout.
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Several planted small fields and gated roads in the NF here. Googan hot spots, which receive unrelenting pressure. I stay away from them, at least not in them. Hens set up around these fields and roads to nest. Every single one of them will have a Gobbler or wad of them set up near by, usually on the ridges, benches, and leads above or below them. Anyone who believes "pressure" is not a factor in whether or not Gobblers "cooperate" has not been turkey hunting very long

 

[catman529]

Turkey hunting to me is sitting down against a tree and calling to a Gobbler, trying to make him come within 40yrds of my gun, looking for me, the hen, and then killing him clean. This I attempt whether he gobbles or not. No crawling, sneaking, fanning, decoys, tents, bows, sniping, ect.. Anything less is not turkey hunting to me and personally I have no respect, as turkey hunters, for those who do not hunt this way. Nothing more rewarding to me than accomplishing this consistently, especially on those hard pressured Gobblers that don't seem to want to "cooperate" Ambushing is putting yourself in position for a Gobbler to "unknowingly" walk to or buy you. When he comes to me, he is knowingly and actively "searching" for me, a hen turkey. We like to refer to this as hide and seek.

are there not many field birds in your nat'l forest? And as for "cooperating" it's got nothing to do with pressure this year as they have not been cooperating both private and public land. I just want to hear one gobble to my call again or even come in silent. I finally did have one come in silent and of course that's the one I missed at 10 yards. I was about ready to ambush one at that point. And now I got lots of extra turkey meat for next weeks cookout.
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Several planted small fields and gated roads in the NF here. Googan hot spots, which receive unrelenting pressure. I stay away from them, at least not in them. Hens set up around these fields and roads to nest. Every single one of them will have a Gobbler or wad of them set up near by, usually on the ridges, benches, and leads above or below them. Anyone who believes "pressure" is not a factor in whether or not Gobblers "cooperate" has not been turkey hunting very long

didnt say pressure doesn't affect em. Said this season has been bad both for pressured and unpressured birds. Watching a strutter with hens and a jake right now as I type. If they come back to my side of the fence and the horses are gone he gets the lead. Day 2 chasing same backyard "tame" bird that isn't tame at all. Not how I'd like to hunt, but it's the only way I can find a bird right now.


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[Os2 Outdoors]

Any form of turkey hunting that involved any thing other then a call, a shotgun, and the cover naturally growing in the woods isn't really turkey hunting. It's something that deer hunters drug into this sport rather then learn how set up, how to call, how to position on a bird, etc. I include decoys, blinds, fans, all of that stuff into the same pile.

Sniping turkeys is one tiny step above fanning imo

Naturally growing in the woods huh? Guess you don't use this new fangled stuff called camouflage. Poke lol

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[cowhunter71]

See that's the difference between you and me as turkey hunters. With me it is never about how many I can kill or whether or not I "tag out". My own personal code and "how" I kill them is what matters most. To each their own though. This weather sucks. Spending way too much time on this dam puter today defending real turkey hunters

 

[catman529]

See that's the difference between you and me as turkey hunters. With me it is never about how many I can kill or whether or not I "tag out". My own personal code and "how" I kill them is what matters most. To each their own though. This weather sucks. Spending way too much time on this dam puter today defending real turkey hunters

weather does suck I'm sitting in mud watching this dang tom right across the fence. I like eating em too and filming so I like to hunt more than just one way.


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[elknturkey]

To me there's a difference in someone who hunts and someone who kills. Killing is not the climax of a hunt to me. It's the challenge. I've passed birds several times with only one tag, even out of state, so I could keep chasing them. Pulling the trigger is rewarding but sad at the same time knowing I want to get to play the game with him again

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[catman529]

Got him

Still uncomfortable from sitting cross legged so long. Worth it


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[TDW05]

I'm traditional lol call them in and kill them... I run and gun 99% of the time but if it's gonna rain or is raining don't put it past me to go somewhere I know turkeys are or will be and wait I see nothing wrong with that. If I put in the time scouting and walking miles and miles why would it be less rewarding to kill him out a blind? Fanning on the other hand why would I even wanna put my self in that situation with all the careless people in the woods now days. Just my look on everything though.

 

[Bgoodman30]

See that's the difference between you and me as turkey hunters. With me it is never about how many I can kill or whether or not I "tag out". My own personal code and "how" I kill them is what matters most. To each their own though. This weather sucks. Spending way too much time on this dam puter today defending real turkey hunters

Exactly to each their own, but to say you have "no respect" for someone who doesn't hunt just like you... Come on man..

I like calling them in, I like bushwacking, I like fanning, I like decoys, and I have several fancy custom calls. I like an incoming hot Tom, I like when my Jake decoy gets thrashed, I like the excitement of fanning, I like to run and gun, I like to sit all day. I love turkey hunting! Who gives chit how someone else hunts !And I have killed them with all of the above..



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[megalomaniac]

***Disclaimer**** I didn't say this, but agree. The man that did has many years of turkey hunting experience.

"With a call, or without a call, killing a turkey is 100% ambush. If you can't get hid and stay still, it ain't happening...unless you are fanning."

I know this sort of thing comes up all the time and some on here claim they WILL NOT ambush a turkey, but I think he has a point, so I thought I'd see what ya'll think.

The birds are being less than cooperative this year and thus there are less pictures to look at. :lol:

personally, I disagree completely

I've been there, done that on ambushing turkeys. Sure, it takes a bit of skill and patience, but during my first 4 or 5 years hunting back in the 90's, I found that I could pretty much ambush any turkey I wanted to kill if I wanted to invest the time. I couldn't say the same thing for calling birds in. Some would come running, but many took quite a bit of time to convince to come in. Just as many wouldn't come at all.

After about 10 years or so, I just found that I didn't enjoy ambushing them as much as calling them in. Depending on the situation, I'll still use those ambushing skills to sneak to a strategic position (ie, a henned up gobbler- I'll always try to sneak within 75 yards before trying to call him or the hens in; instead of calling to him from 200 yds plus which will always be fruitless) before I start calling.... but in my mind, it takes much more skill to bring a bird to me than it does for me to go to him and kill him.

I'm not bashing those that want to sit in a blind and kill them when they walk by, those that want to sneak up and kill them unaware, etc, because I've been there in the past.... but I'm well beyond that now. There are lines that should never be crossed that I've had multiple opportunities to kill birds- ie, birds hung up in woven wire fences, shots from vehicles, birds on the limb, etc. At some point in time, the hunt becomes much more important than the kill itself for sure.

 

[TheLBLman]

At some point in time, the hunt becomes much more important than the kill itself for sure.

That's how I see it, too.
But some mainly focus on limiting out, by any means possible, as fast as possible.
Opinions vary.

 

[catman529]

At some point in time, the hunt becomes much more important than the kill itself for sure.

That's how I see it, too.
But some mainly focus on limiting out, by any means possible, as fast as possible.
Opinions vary.

I always want to tag out but not as fast as possible. 2013 I tagged out in the first week, in 4 hunts. Didn't mean to but that's how it worked out. Won't ever do it again. Had over a month of season left and I couldn't kill another one. This year I filmed others kill birds and passed birds here on the farm before I even killed #2. I will say the more I hunt without any luck the more I will get down to the point with the birds.


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[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

To each their own,but myself I like to bring them home to eat,but nothing beats calling them up,IMO.I must add I will not turn down a ambush if that's what it takes on that specific day

 

[Setterman]

I guess for me it boils down to how long I've been after them. In the early years I would kill one dang near any way I could. Including a nuclear weapon if I had one in my vest. But over time it became more about the hunt and how I got the bird in front of me rather then just toting one out. If a bird doesn't play the game the way I want he's safe and if I eat a tag because of that then that's okay. Killing is the easy part, the challenge is getting that bird in range the way I want.

 

[ZachMarkus]

Killing is the easy part, the challenge is getting that bird in range the way I want.

Killing hasn't been the easy part for me this season, I've missed 3 within 30 yards[emoji2]. I put a scope back on my gun and killed one the first time out with it so I have my confidence back now.


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[String Music]

I guess for me it boils down to how long I've been after them. In the early years I would kill one dang near any way I could. Including a nuclear weapon if I had one in my vest. But over time it became more about the hunt and how I got the bird in front of me rather then just toting one out. If a bird doesn't play the game the way I want he's safe and if I eat a tag because of that then that's okay. Killing is the easy part, the challenge is getting that bird in range the way I want.

I was about to type the same thing. I'm a self-taught turkey hunter. I didn't have any traditional hunters teach me the ropes so I learned by reading magazines and watching videos. Most of which pushed decoys and other modern techniques. I've killed a ton of birds using decoys and also ambushing them as that's what I thought turkey hunting consisted of.

However, seventeen years later, I too have gravitated towards the traditional style of hunting rather than the kill-them-at-all-costs style. I thinks there are similar parallels to deer hunting in that for years I enjoyed killing any buck with a decent rack. Now I only target mature bucks.

I think another factor in traditional hunting taking a backseat is that turkey hunting is a secondary sport for most hunters. Deer hunting is number one. Turkey hunting is a "perk" to deer leases and thus the purity of the sport is greatly reduced. Killing is often the main justifier for the time and expenses that go into leases and land management. Most traditional hunters didn't struggle with finding quality land to hunt and certainly didn't sink a lot of money into any one piece of land.




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[megalomaniac]

And yet, the most UNsatisfying kill to me is a bird that never answers back, never struts, and comes sneaking in from the side. I'd almost rather sneak up on one and ambush him. Fortunately, most birds I encountered this year were 2 y/o's that were too big for their britches

 

[muddyboots]

I guess my views are different than most. To me killing a gobbling strutting gobbler coming to my call is the easiest way to kill a turkey. I don't ambush hunt. I can't stand to just sit there and wait. Don't know why. I can sit for hours waiting on a mature buck but just can't for a turkey. Some of my best memories and hardest hunts are the ones I have stalked. If I spot a gobbler and can sneak up on him and his hens I have fooled the best. We call it putting the Indian on him. Several years back I spotted one about 500 yards away with nothing between me and him but a few briars and one dozed pile. I used the terrain and belly crawled to where the pile was between me and him and then low walked the rest of the way. It took 3 hours and i was absolutely spent. One of the best turkey hunting memories I have. Like I said this is all my opinion. The only way I don't like turkey hunting is sit and wait.

 

[cowhunter71]

See that's the difference between you and me as turkey hunters. With me it is never about how many I can kill or whether or not I "tag out". My own personal code and "how" I kill them is what matters most. To each their own though. This weather sucks. Spending way too much time on this dam puter today defending real turkey hunters

Exactly to each their own, but to say you have "no respect" for someone who doesn't hunt just like you... Come on man..

I like calling them in, I like bushwacking, I like fanning, I like decoys, and I have several fancy custom calls. I like an incoming hot Tom, I like when my Jake decoy gets thrashed, I like the excitement of fanning, I like to run and gun, I like to sit all day. I love turkey hunting! Who gives chit how someone else hunts !And I have killed them with all of the above..



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I, like you, could really care less how you or those like you turkey hunt. Still doesn't change the fact that I will never have respect for you or them, as turkey hunters that is, because of the methods used. Just how me and my circle of friends role, that's all.