I am rereading The Old Pro Turkey Hunter and in one section he makes reference to a man that turkey hunted 20 years and never killed a turkey. We always talk about taking the pressure off by having a bird during the season, but how many seasons do you think you could go without a kill and still continue to get up morning after morning. Me, I hope I never lose the call to the spring woods regardless of the outcome. The overall drama itself unfolding is so much more of the complete season than a kill ever will be.
I think I would still go. All my senses go on high alert when I am in the woods
Will continue to go as long as I physically can no matter if I am successful or not
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If they outlawed hunting, I would still go to the woods to hear them gobble.
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I went a long time before ever killing a turkey so I am pretty sure I would keep right on trying.
As long as I can hear a gobble , I will always go GOD willing.
turkey hunted for 7 years before I killed a super jake, no one to teach me, got started in Delaware, on public land the state assigned, never even found a track the first 2 years, missed a bird in Maryland. Think it was 6 years before I even heard a gobble in the woods. Live in MD for 14 years, only 1 tom and the jake from here, travel back to New Jersey every season and have to pay non resident fees to kill them. Grew up in jersey, back when they didn't even have enough birds to have hunts.
I don't know the answer, but I do know the answer isn't 20 years.
Quote from: guesswho on March 20, 2019, 04:08:51 PM
I don't know the answer, but I do know the answer isn't 20 years.
This
When I first started chasing birds in the spring of '86 it was 8 years before I killed my first bird. Not sure I would make it 20 years but just working birds keeps ya coming back
I don't know the answer either but that fella either didn't have any turkeys to hunt or he sho nuff sucked at it.
That's one of my favorite turkey books of all time.
Quote from: dublelung on March 20, 2019, 04:34:29 PM
I don't know the answer either but that fella either didn't have any turkeys to hunt or he sho nuff sucked at it.
That's one of my favorite turkey books of all time.
I think his point in the book may have been fewer turkeys to hunt. As my friend says...."density of population has made many an expert.." ;D
If I know the turkeys are there I will keep on keepin' on. Yes it stinks to go and go and not hear any...but if they are in the area I will keep trying!
I went every morning for 2 weeks last year with out a gun. Had killed my birds,would say I wasn't going anymore but when I woke up I couldn't help it.
May have posted this story before, it sums up my approach to turkey hunting. Several years ago my son and I went hunting on a Sunday morning before church. He was just tagging along as he got to go with me on opening day and had filled his tag for the week. We got on a group of birds, sounded like 2 or 3 Jakes and one gobbler. I had those birds worked up hot and was expecting them to crest the ridge any second. One bird created before the others and my son said don't shoot Dad it's a Jake. I already knew that but I was glad he was being observant. It spooked that bird and cooled the rest off pretty good. I kept working them and got them to come around and barely crest the ridge about 30 yards. I couldn't keep track of the gobbler and wouldn't shoot. They finally walked off and I messed with them a little while longer until it was time to leave so we could make it to church. When we got up to leave my son asked if I was mad he had spooked them. I just laughed, I said son we got the best part of that gobbler.
Bottom line, if they will respond and gobble, that's all I'm really there for. You can't put that feeling in the bed of a pickup.
I went 4-5 years before killing my first. I called in several for others before I got access to decent land to hunt. I get frustrated if I don't fill my tags. I'd probably go to state park land and hunt with a camera if I didn't have a good place to hunt.
Jim
I started turkey hunting in 1987 and probably didn't take a bird until 4-5 years later, then only getting a gobbler about every third year thereafter for the next 10+ years. There was no turkey season in my county so I'd get up at 2 a.m., make the 1 1/2 hour drive to the Shawnee National Forest in Pope County, and then walk in 30 minutes to my spot. While I always heard gobblers, they seldom would come in and by noon I'd leave to make the drive back only to do it again the next few days until frustration and fatigue made the bed too cozy and I slept in. Since the five different Illinois seasons are only 5-9 days long, sleeping in a few days can eliminate the season. Finally, my home county opened up just about the time I read an article by Ray Eye on taking advantage of the peck order after which I began to usually fill my three tags annually in Illinois. Like Ray says, the peck order is always in force whether the breeding season is in or not.
If I go 2 days I start gettin pissy
I would still go. Being in the woods and hearing the birds is what keeps me going. I call for others that I take hunting before and after I get my bird. There have been a couple years I didn't get a bird also.
Don't know how long I'd go but it would not be 20 years.
If someone looked into their crystal ball and said "you are not going to shoot a gobler over the next 20 years"...... I'd still be out there listening and watching.
I'm gonna on year 8 I believe. Self taught on tough public land. Had opportunities that I screwed at the last sec. Missed a couple birds and spooked a few. I believe Imma kill this weekend. Heading to no pressure private ground.
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I started young and self-taught. We had a decent turkey population back then.
I think by about year 3 or 4 or 5, if I were still birdless, I'd have been thinking about taking up golf or fishing or knitting or SOMETHING else. Turkey hunting can be frustrating as heck at times. But they ain't THAT hard to figure out and kill.
It's bad enough waiting for Fall turkey season every year.
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Turkey hunting is not all about killing a turkey but it sure helps keep up the moral. Not sure I would even call it turkey hunting after 20 years of no success. :funnyturkey:
I went for the first time in the early 80's and didn't finally shoot a bird until 2000-- almost 20 years.
1) When I started, there weren't all that many birds in Ohio. I didn't see a gobbler for 5 years.
2) I had to drive 3 hours to get there, I could only hunt Saturday until Noon
3) I was a busy computer guy and starting to raise a family. I only got to hunt 1 or two days a season
4) The farm where I hunted for the first decade had turkeys, but they generally roosted off the property. I had to call them onto the property before I could shoot them.
5) The second decade was struggle just to find a place to hunt.
I saw turkey hunting as a sort of religious retreat. I went to humble myself. It was something I knew I wasn't going to do well.
Here it is almost 40 years later, and I still feel like a beginner.
Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 20, 2019, 04:06:09 PM
As long as I can hear a gobble , I will always go GOD willing.
It's not about the harvest, but the hunt. I used to scout for a month before the season. Call in every Tom in the area before opening day just to have fun. Made those Toms a bit wiser and a bit harder to harvest in general. Just the way I liked it.
We eat so much Eastern turkey it wouldn't matter if I never harvested another wild one. Well maybe a little. Lol
If i could know the future, and i knew i wouldn't kill another turkey for 20 years, i would still get up every morning i could and go to the woods with the same enthusiasm as always. Turkey hunting to me is so much more than killing a turkey. I can buy turkey feathers online and turkey meat at the grocery store. So if i was told i could have the entire experience of a good turkey hunt, with the exception of the trigger pull, i would gladly agree, even if it was for the next 20 years.
Don't take any of this the wrong way. Given the chance, i'm still going to kill every single full fanned gobbler that i have a tag for, if i've earned him.
Quote from: Harty on March 20, 2019, 08:45:22 PM
If someone looked into their crystal ball and said "you are not going to shoot a gobler over the next 20 years"...... I'd still be out there listening and watching.
Yep. Every chance I got.
I went for 18 years without killing one. To put that statement in context the first 8 years was only public land, I do not shoot Jake's, missed one, and made about every mistake there is to make and have stories about gobblers that would fill this page. The guy that I sometimes hunt with killed four during that same time period, hunting about half as much as me, including one last year with an 11 inch beard on a place I told him how to set up on. I guess I am not a lucky turkey hunter....LOL. As has been stated the gobble keeps me getting up every day and going out. As has been stated it is the hunt and not the kill. I probably could have bought enough turkey meat with just the money I spent on calls to last several years. So would I go 20 years, yes.
So this will be my 29th year turkey hunting, my first year I called a tom in for my buddy and I didn't get one, we were green and didn't have any actual experience with turkey hunting, my second year I did not draw a tag, but called a jake in for my dad, my 3rd year I killed a jake! Year number 4, I missed... but called another jake in for my dad and then year 5 happened, neither Dad or I had drawn a tag, our state lottery system and tags were pretty lean back then. Through a friend at work I learned about a turkey hunt on a military base I could apply for if I did not receive a tag. Dad and I did this and we both received tags! We were set for a 3 day hunt Wed-Fri (couldn't hunt weekends on base) and we both killed our first gobblers!! And have been ever since.
Guess to say I have been lucky with turkey hunting, 28 years and birds every year, anymore most of my hunting is getting others out and their bird, whether a Learn to Hunt, Youth Hunt, Newbie or Friends, and filming I am usually the backup plan, don't get me wrong I like to pull the trigger and I do get some solo hunts in but not often, but I enjoy "My" hunts this way and that's why I do them.
If you told me 20 years and not another bird for me, ok a little tough to swallow but if I am still out turkey hunting and helping others I'm all good!
MK M GOBL
I hunted for 4 years, be for I got a gobbler.It took me several years to get good at turkey hunting.I was self taught, but an old guy used to give me advise, then I got real good at it.These days, I take a bow, because I usually tag out with my 20 guage, and I want the season to last
I have a few places, where a gobbler is guaranteed, pretty much,as long as the weather is right
Look for those clear days, when the wind is down, and warm.Also, when they are in a thick hole, don't go in there, wait out in the field, because they will be out there eventually. They like to get out in that grain, and strut.Anyway, don't take a long shot with a gun, or a bow.Dont wound birds!! When you get good, you will be able to bring them into that 10- 15 yard range, or closer.You have to know the ground. Once you hunt a place a few times, you will know where to be, when daylight arrives.
I just like being out in the woods and in nature. If I am finding birds and hearing them I will keep going out there. I enjoy all the preparation and planning that goes into a hunt of any animal. Whether a week of hard work or 20 years...it's just going to feel that much better to know it all paid off.
The failure would keep me going. I don't think I could just give up. If you do, that was part of your problem. Hunting is mostly failure a lot of times. You have to have the ability to see where things went wrong and put in the time to fix it.
It would really depend on if I'm actually seeing any birds which most folks responding are taking for granted during their response. My answer would depend on that. If I'm going out there and maybe hearing a few gobble, but I'm not even SEEING :drool: so much as a hen, then I'm done after year 3. If I'm on a place where I'm having close calls, having them respond and I feel like I'm actually in the game, then I'm gonna keep going every year at least twice. But unfortunately my time is extremely limited, so if I'm not actually bringing home any turkey bacon, I'm not going to commit much time to hunting turkeys that aren't around. I'll spend more time planting apple trees or scouting for deer before it gets too hot and summer ruins everything again.
I honestly don't know. In the beginning I went from age 7 until age 15 before I killed one.
Well not sure I'm on a roll of 33-35 years of killing every spring, even with having a total knee done on April 30th last year I managed to kill two long beards. I could not imagine going a spring without killing a gobbler.
I'm not sure about 20 years, but I could go quite a long time. I would rather have several seasons of close calls and good hunts with lots of gobbling but not killing a bird, than overall poor seasons where I killed birds with very little gobbling and no other close calls and didn't get to see and interact with many birds. That is one of the things that makes turkey hunting so great, some of the most enjoyable and memorable hunts that I've ever had I walked out without a bird over my shoulder.
As lomg as I heard gobbling, forever.