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Your weakest link

It used to be sticking with a stubborn one far too long rather than leaving to find a player.

Thats now turned into psycho analyzing birds prior to making a move on them. I seem to pre decide things that are may or may not be reality all the time. Like, he's gobbling but sounds like he's got hens. It's total crap, and not sure how it started and why I'm still doing it.
 
So... all these different weakest links... what can you do to make them stronger?

My hearing is a limiting factor... but I've got hearing aides turned all the way up on my left ear (the weak one), and that really helps.

Time away from family... still a limiting factor, but as kids have gotten older we aren't spending all Saturday mornings at the soccer fields. Wife is pretty understanding... she knows she has me the entire year except for half of March and all of April. And she doesn't have to wonder if I'm out gallavanting around during March and April because she knows I'd rather chase turkeys than other women :).
 
Setterman said:
It used to be sticking with a stubborn one far too long rather than leaving to find a player.

Thats now turned into psycho analyzing birds prior to making a move on them. I seem to pre decide things that are may or may not be reality all the time. Like, he's gobbling but sounds like he's got hens. It's total crap, and not sure how it started and why I'm still doing it.
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Jeez, I sort of do that as well. Strike a bird, over analyze the perfect place to set up to call (stay put or advance), wonder in my mind if he has a hen, where is he on the pecking order, etc, etc, etc... too much analysis paralysis at times...

But I've learned to appreciate the cerebral facets, even if they are a big waste of time :)
 
Time family life and making the shotā€¦

Spring is the busiest time of the year for my wife and I at work.. Kids baseball, flag football , taking them to school. Hope I get a couple mornings in TN but it's always borrowed timeā€¦ Usually plan an out of state trip so I can get some real hunting inā€¦
 
5 years ago I would have said nothing. You talk about confidence I had it. I'd always take last spot at hunt club. And I made it work too. I was a machine. I could do no wrong. Let bird numbers drop and get some humble pie. Now I'd say my weakest link is finding one that will gobble on property I can hunt. I went to my lease this morning. In years past I'd hear 10 or more every morning. This morning. 1 bird gobbled 3 times.
 
Having the time to go hunt is one of my problems, the other is heat. Once the temps rise and I start sweating then I'm usually done, its just not enjoyable for me then. I've usually swapped out the shotgun for the fly rod by the time hunting gets good. šŸ˜†
 
Staying on a stubborn Gobbler and not moving on! I don't know how much time I spent on a bird that I called the " ghost" one season. I was an obsessed mad man that year and knew better! I loved every minute of it.
 
My weakest links are high frequency hearing loss in left hear documented by PhD audiologist (closest to the gun barrel for 30 years, loud music in college and driving truck with the window down for years), lack of accessible turkeys today compared to 10-15 years ago, and lack of time due to family commitments and career advancements. Due to limited "free" time and more limited opportunities in the woods (fewer turkeys) where I have access, I am not as risky and aggressive as I once was and I tend to suffer from "paralysis by analysis" at times. I do not want to bump the ONE bird I heard on the limb because oftentimes he is the only "vocal" game in town where I am at that particular day. With that said, my mobility, experience in the turkey woods, woodmanship, love for turkey hunting, drive to be out there and willingness to burn the candle at both ends keeps me going and playing the ultimate game of chess these days. Turkey season prep, scouting, early season listening and turkey season run me ragged like no other time of year. I typically lose 5-10 pounds, lose tons of sleep, put other things off, and eventually sleep like a baby once late May arrives.
 
megalomaniac said:
My hearing is a limiting factor... but I've got hearing aides turned all the way up on my left ear (the weak one), and that really helps.
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I want to hear more (good, bad, ugly, etc) about your hearing aid(s). Five years ago I asked my ENT doctor and his audiologist if I needed hearing aids (was pretty sure I did not for every day life, but sort of wanted them if they would help me in the turkey woods) and he said "not right now, maybe in the future". He also advised there was legislation in Congress that may one day make hearing aids more affordable for the general public, thus he told me to wait and revisit my "high frequency hearing loss" situation at a later date, which I have not done. I can still hear limb gobbling 1,000 yards or so on a pristine morning with no wind (verified with Google Earth), decipher gobbling direction for the most part, but once could hear drumming at 60-80 yards, and now he has to be in gun range (< 40 yards) for me to hear it. Losing the ability to consistently hear him drumming at 80 yards is a big deal to me for how I like to play the game in the hardwoods with terrain features. Being able to hear him and pinpoint his location (walking in leaves, spitting and drumming, dragging wings) as he goes silent with minimal gobbling is a must for continued success in the hardwoods as he struts, periscopes and carefully looks for the hen (me). I would like to hear your thoughts on your hearing aid(s) and any insight you can provide.
 
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Time to hunt. I can hear them echoing every morning when i pee of my porch. They echo for miles in every hollar and i see them strutting in my fields as i drive out in the morning. Unfortunately, between teaching high school, college and online classes and the business, i just dont have time to hunt them the way i would like. Unfortunately im not in a field (and current climate) to be able to be to call out when i want
 
Chief44 said:
My weakest link would no doubt be my hearing. I can hear birds gobble but as someone mentioned above, if they are very far away I have trouble figuring out the direction. I also can't hear turkeys walking in the leaves, so when they get close but still out of sight, I have no idea they are there unless they gobble. That has caused me to bust more birds than anything. I really like hunting by myself, but when someone else is with me and they can hear birds walking or scratching in the leaves, it helps a great deal. My second would be patience. However, the older I get the more patience I seem to have.
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Chief
I hate to agree with you BUT i feel the same way as you . I am totally deaf in one ear ,live with chronic back pain , numerous other physical issues and love to hunt birds alone !! It usually turns into a puttand run ending . I believe the lack of patience thing comes from lack of confidence in our selves because of our limitations . I am 58 and i know that i am no where near the hunter inused to be !!! I still love to get out there and try though . Even a blind squirell finds a nut every now and then .
Good luck this season to all
God bless
 
Gobble4me757 said:
Missing birdsā€¦ I miss 2/3 a yearā€¦still manage to kill at least 3 every year (in Bama and Tennessee) but the misses sting. I don't hunt with decoys so it makes for a lot of off angle situations.
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Have you tried a red dot sight like a Fastfire . I bet it would greatly improve your kill rate . They are none paralax and when you put that dot on em from awkward angles they still die . Give it a gander ,i think you will like it
 
My limitation is being too rigid. I only want to kill one off the roost soon after fly down. When I can't find one that works, I'm usually gone until another day. I'll kill 1-3 birds that way through the season and I'm good with that. It's just too boring to try and kill one like a deer. I sit and wait enough during deer season. I'm fortunate that at 65 I am pretty mobile and can hear pretty well. I've heard gobbles from a mile away in perfect conditions but not like I used to. The e bike makes up for a lot of walking. After I put a red dot on my shotgun and rolled up some TSS, I haven't missed one. This success could all come tumbling down this season so my success is ALL only if the Good Lord is willing.
 
Chickenrig said:
Have you tried a red dot sight like a Fastfire . I bet it would greatly improve your kill rate . They are none paralax and when you put that dot on em from awkward angles they still die . Give it a gander ,i think you will like it
Click to expand...
I haveā€¦I fell and knocked my gun which knocked my red dot offā€¦missed 4 birds in 3 hunts due to not checking it at the beginning of last year (it was 2 fr high at 20 yards.) I realized that I was shooting too tight of a constricted choke as well. Mid season last year switched guns to an ATI over under with a modified choke and full choke for tss. Put a gobble dot sight on it as well. I proceeded to kill all 6 birds I squeezed off on in Bama Tennessee Oklahoma and Nebraska. I probably will go back to the red dot in the future though.
 

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