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Vests???

Iglow

Iglow

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I was reading a turkey hunting book published in 1972 and it had no mention of vests at all, I also have the trifecta of the turkey gospels ; The wild turkey and it's hunting by E.A. McIlhenny , Tales of wild turkey hunting by Simon Everitt and Hunting the wild turkey by Tom Turpin none of which say anything about vests. From the pics in those books it seems they put a call or two plus a few shells in their pocket, grabbed their gun and away they went. So when did the turkey vest thing come about? Is it just another marketing success item that was pushed as a must have? Is it really needed or is it just something else to spend money on to lug around a bunch of unneed junk in the woods?
 
About anyway to carrier what you need will work. I have a vest I bought years ago and don't always wear it. In to days world I wouldn't pay the high price they have on them.
 
Like everything in life, people's experiences are different. I can recall the first vest someone in our family bought. Everyone laughed at him for being suckered. Then he made my uncle, who "didn't need one" empty his pockets.

So he started pulling things from his old Army pants and coat pockets. He was quite embarrassed to find he was carrying more items that the new vest wearer was carrying.
 
I have one of the minimalist Ol'Tom vests and honestly use everything I pack from bug spray to my handmade turkey tote when I'm able to close the deal. I don't carry anything I don't use so can get away without a big vest that holds everything but the kitchen sink. Some folks I know carry nothing more than a fannypack. Over the years I've definitely whittled down what I carry to just the basics.
 
I have used a vest for 20 years and carried more junk than I ever needed. I have slimmed down on what I carry, but still use a vest. I have toyed with switching to a small back pack or satchel. The nice part of the vest is I am automatically carrying my back and seat cushion on me.
 
I used to have a pad and that was it with a diaphragm, couple shells, and my gun…now I use a knight and hale run and gun 200 and it's phenomenal. Allows me to hold my box, my phone, my slate, couple shells, and gotta have toilet paper 😂
 
I've had several vests over the years but usually get too hot for them. A simple "fanny pack" would probably be sufficient but I'm currently using a Knight & Hale Run-n-Gun 2.0. It doesn't have the solid back on it that always makes me sweat and the seat is pretty good. I carry 1 or 2 slate calls, a couple of strikers, 2-3 mouth calls, phone, binos (wear them), face mask, gloves, couple of extra shells (never know when you might run across a coyote), breakfast bar of some kind, and water.
 
Ditto above... RnG200... weighs nothing, holds butt pad high enough where it isn't dragging as you go through the woods. Not hot; I carry 1 mouth call, 1 new mouth call as a backup in case I tear a reed or lose my 1st one. One pot call, 2 strikers. 1 bottle of water in the box call pocket, 2 packs of peanuts and a granola bar in the zippered pouch. Paid $29 for that vest on clearance at Walmart.

Before the vest, I just put my stuff in the side leg pockets of my BDU pants. Lost 4 or 5 strikers over the years doing that. I also got tired of the pot call flopping around in the side pocket of the pants.

There are still days where I head out with nothing except a single mouth call and no vest, but I find myself needing to bring water and snacks more often now since I'm often venturing off a couple miles into large blocks of public and may be away from the truck for most of the day. There are other days where I wish I had brought a bunch of gizmos (pruning shears, rangefinder, etc), but those days are few and far between, and not worth carrying them on every single hunt I do, so I can live without them.
 
There were no Turkey vest that I had heard of when I started Turkey hunting but we still managed to kill some birds. Is it a necessity now, no it's not ,but it is a good piece of gear if you choose to use it which I now do. There was also no cell phones, internet or great sites like this where we could discuss such things.
 
I shed the vest 2 years ago. A Glenda Green minimalist bag and a fat boy light cushion. It's just enough for a bottle of water , a therma-cell , and some calls.
 

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Gravey said:
I've had several vests over the years but usually get too hot for them.
Click to expand...

This is me. I use a waist belt with pouches. I do carry a modified seat and cushion for my back.

I will also say that by the end of the year I cull some stuff that I thought I needed at the beginning of the season.
 
Just another modern convenience.. I still love my Ol Tom with very small square pockets and huge magnetic cushion got it on sale many years ago at wing supply for $40. I tried one of those huge ones with the built in fold out backrest and sold that clunker promptly... Being able to sit on cushion comfortably without readjusting and fidgeting is the biggest thing for me..
 
I like a vest because when I pick it up it has everything I need to go turkey hunting. Don't have to go hunting for things or forget something. I don't like those big bulky vest that has 500 pockets and a bag in the back big enough to carry the kitchen sink.
 
While I like a vest, for the pockets and having my butt pad with me at all times my back doesn't like them. I get to hot and sweaty in one. I know there's all kinds of various vests, some smaller, more open etc., I'm not sure there's one I just can't live without. I started carrying a chest rig built for binos last fall. Im going to give it a go this spring and see how I like it. I figure between it, the cargo pockets on my hunting pants and my hillbillyfab man purse, I'll have what I need.
 

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When I started spring turkey hunting many years ago I used a vest and I brought all kinds of calls with me: pot calls, box calls, mouth calls. I had heard that some birds might ignore a certain type of call but respond to others.

But as I hunted them I personally didn't find that to be true. So eventually I stopped all that and just brought one mouth call. And once I forgot that and called one in by mouth only instead. I sounded awful, but the cadence was right and it did the trick.

So now I just stick a mouth call in my shirt pocket and a small bottle of bug spray in my pants pocket with a knife and maybe a piece of rope. I like those turkey chairs that sit low on the ground so I take one of those.
 

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