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#41

General Forum / Re: If you could hunt 1 day wi...

Last post by bbcoach - Today at 12:56:01 PM

Since I have never hunted with anyone on this forum I guess the field is wide open. Several names from this board come to mind. Since I am mostly self taught which mean I know little to nothing it would be one of the more experienced personages such as Eggshell Gobblenut or Yoder so that I could absorb some of that endless knowledge.

These 3 would be at the top of my list and I would add Greg Massey as well.  All of these gentlemen are a wealth of knowledge, share that knowledge, are Super helpful and have a Kind and Caring Spirit about themselves.  Thanks Gentlemen!

#42

General Forum / Re: Word Association Game

Last post by Lcmacd 58 - Today at 12:55:21 PM

Complete

#43

General Forum / Re: If you could hunt 1 day wi...

Last post by Davyalabama - Today at 12:47:46 PM

I don't know any personally, so not sure.

#44

General Forum / Re: Word Association Game

Last post by Davyalabama - Today at 12:46:17 PM

end

#45

General Forum / Re: If you could hunt 1 day wi...

Last post by NCL - Today at 12:45:07 PM

Since I have never hunted with anyone on this forum I guess the field is wide open. Several names from this board come to mind. Since I am mostly self taught which mean I know little to nothing it would be one of the more experienced personages such as Eggshell Gobblenut or Yoder so that I could absorb some of that endless knowledge.

#46

Turkey Hunting Tips ,Strategies & Methods / Re: What Does Killing A Turkey...

Last post by mountainhunter1 - Today at 12:44:42 PM

I think that Eggshell and Happy said it well enough for me as well. It used to be all about killing - but the good Lord has done surgery on me as well. These days, it is just being able to play the game with a turkey. If they are gobbling and doing their thing, I have already won regardless of actually pulling the trigger or not. Just to engage them is meaning enough most days now.

I find great satisfaction is calling a bird for someone else to harvest. These days, often far more meaning than if I shot the bird myself. But I have also found great meaning in more recent years by letting a number of birds walk off the ridge as I put the safety back on and watched them leave. A couple that really stand out - I called the biggest bird I have ever seen in the wild into range three years ago (after a nearly 4 hour chess match) and just could not pull the trigger and let him go. On another hunt, I called a big bird after a long morning duel to 4-5 feet of my gun and also did not kill him. I say this to say one thing, I have learned to find greater meaning at times in the ones that I did not kill or that maybe just outfoxed me and got away without my help. Some of those mean more to me than the many that I did bring back to the truck. 

#47

2026 OLD GOBBLER TURKEY HUNTING TEAM CONTEST / Re: Herding up the GOATS

Last post by Happy - Today at 12:38:45 PM

You boys don't want this smoke.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

I don't know, I think I can see is a little water vapor...  Where's all your backup?... hiding?

Busy working. Typing this while in a meeting as a matter of fact. I am pretty sure he can hold his own though.

#48

Turkey Hunting Tips ,Strategies & Methods / Re: What Does Killing A Turkey...

Last post by Mossyguy - Today at 12:37:25 PM

It's truly a double edged sword for me. It means that I don't get to play the game with that particular bird anymore..but yet more often than not I still pull the trigger. That probably makes no sense at all...

#49

Turkey Hunting Tips ,Strategies & Methods / Re: Turkey Hunting Books - Vid...

Last post by Deere92 - Today at 12:33:44 PM

Books- Illumination in the Flatwoods- Joe Hutto
       The Old Pro Turkey Hunter- Gene Nunnery
       Turkey Hunting: A One Man Game- Kenny Morgan

#50

Turkey Hunting Tips ,Strategies & Methods / Re: What Does Killing A Turkey...

Last post by mountainhunter1 - Today at 12:29:16 PM

What a question! I thought about this for a while before I started this post, because what killing a Gobbler means to me now is so vastly different then it did in the beginning and middle. Killing turkeys has been a journey that journals me as a man, husband, father, friend, sportsman and lover of God's great gifts. Pursuit of a stupid bird has took me across this great country to see things I would most likely not seen if not for a bird. It has brought me great joy, pride, love, near death, anguish, heart ache, jubilation, satisfaction, acceptance, stature and face to face with God. Is killing a bird hard to do, Not at all, because the killing is simple. Aim true and put approximately two pounds of pressure on a trigger and in an instant a noble creature lies flopping his last breath away. In those following moments I have experienced the thrill of victory and agony of defeat ( credit wide world of Sports ). When I was a young man it meant a quest to conquer a great foe and earn a validation for both me and among my peers. It was a character building quest of a lifetime. Sadly it soon just made me a character. My life was defined on my reputation as a turkey killer and pride grew within me like a cancer. Come spring you didn't want to live with me until I could gloat over my trophy. I had forgotten how to hunt and sold my soul to killing. Oh I was good at killing, in my own mind if not others, but plenty where feeding my cancer. The worst thing someone could say to me me was, "why haven't you killed your bird yet, what's wrong". sadly my family paid for my pride as a killer of dumb arse birds. For many years I missed my first daughters birthdays traveling to kill turkeys. My warped mind said, just buy a nice gift and bring home to her, but what she rally longed for was daddy to have a piece of her birthday cake with her, but a bird was between me and her. I killed them by the dozens, but they all turned to sh!t in the end. As I matured and slowed up in life I started to realize so much of what drove me was really worthless. I had joys, successes and tragedies. One fateful day a very dear turkey hunting buddy breathed his last breath in my arms as I tried desperately to breath life back into him with CPR. Life meant nothing if all it done was left this great emptiness in my soul. For years I thought killing a stupid bird could help fill it, but in reality only one thing can fill that hole in a man's soul, God. I opened my heart to Jesus and he filled it. what does this have to do with killing a gobbler, everything. I now saw it as a cancer and as the idol in my life. As I grew in faith I grew in my hunting. I saw a wonderful creation and the hunt became as valuable as the kill. I could now miss a day hunting if my family needed me more, but they always made sure I could go. Funny how those who paid a price for my absence loved me enough to still open theirs lives so I could hunt. Why because in spite of the idiot that showed up every spring they loved me. Now I still go hard to get to that moment I put two pounds of pressure on a trigger, but After I do, I say a prayer over my friend that gave me so much and I smooth out his feathers and I listen to the eulogy that the woods is singing on his behalf. I admire the wildflowers and I relish looking out over a valley below and hearing that ole bird announcing his presence to a world that is missing something without a thundering gobble. I quietly take my game home now and utilize him as table fare. I will share a picture with close friends and a story, but if your not very close you will never know I killed another bird. What does killing a gobbler me to me after 54 years in this game, very little, but the hunt means a lifetime of the worst of me to the best of me and I would not want to live a life without these noble beast, well sometimes I call them demons. I hunt until I'm tired and the fun is waning and I go home. when I am engaged and dueling an old gobbler  i just wanna hear him gobble and we'll sing each other a song. If he steps inside my circle I will still take his life, but in that same moment I am a bit sad that the show is over. 

Thank you for sharing your journey. I respect those fine thoughts Eggshell!