THE MYTH OF THE BEST SPRING TURKEY HUNTER

[Hooksfan]

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Afternoon HooksFan--- I tried plenty of times to gain private land access including writing letters and dropping hints to a new found turkey hunting friend. It is all good though- I love public land and all the challenges presented there.  It could be the area in which I live-- don't know- I only live 52 miles from NYC and there is plenty of anti-hunting sentiment in my area.

Well i can't say I can offer any helpful hints there. Doubt my Southern accent would go very far near NYC  :wave:My situation is decidedly different.  I live in Southwest Missouri, but I'm originally from South Louisiana.  Missouri and Kansas folks generally respond well to offers of fresh Louisiana seafood and boudin.

[High plains drifter]

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That's hilarious- I've gotten good, in the last 10 years, but it took a lot of work, and trial and error. Like all hunting, it takes time to get good at it.

[perrytrails]

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PuBlic or pRiVate maKes no diFferNce to mE.  I kiLl birds wheNevEr and whEreevEr I gO.  I aM thE BesT huNteR ouT thEre.  TurKeyS bE waRned.  If yOu meEt mE, yoU wilL dIe.

Love it!!

[quavers59]

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This post is still going strong-surprised. There was a time when I thought I would never take a single gobbler! The very last week of May in my 5th Spring Turkey Season is when I finally scored.  I might hold the record here for the longest time hunting before finally bagging a Spring tom.

[g8rvet]

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LOL  You shore got me beat.  A buddy of mine invited me to go with him and loaned me some shells.  I went.  Within 5 minutes of flydown I had a nice Tom.  He told me, with what I did not realize was the best advice he ever gave me, "It ain't always like this".  Took me another year to kill one on my own, but I was hooked. 

[quavers59]

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I tried also for several years to help get one of my Brother in laws a turkey. Failed in the Spring---but his dog Cody flushed up a flock during a pheasant hunt. He got a good lead on the jenny and down she came. He does not hunt anymore- due to health issues and that was his only wild turkey he ever took. My other Brother in law took upwards of 60 or so turkeys- but he also can no longer hunt due to health issues. I would set him up on quite a few toms that he ended up taking the day after I knew where a certain tom would be.

[Happy]

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Took me 11 years to kill my first one. All I learned those 11 years was that it's really hard to kill a turkey that isn't there. I got to go once as a teen with the fellow that helped me learn to call and we didn't hear a gobble. That was the extent of my help on the learning curve. I don't know much but what I have learned has been beaten into my head repeatedly.

[quavers59]

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Same thing here Happy! I had no mentor and no private land access--still don't. And up here in New York-- there were not very many veteran turkey hunters--at least where I live in Orange County which is 52 miles from NYC. Now when I started out in 1990- I did run into a turkey hunter that had alot of knowledge-- he would not answer any questions. I started late at age 30- but there just were no wild turkeys around where I lived when I started to hunt in 1974. I already started my Spring scouting last Sat with a 2 hour hike in NJ.  My love of hiking probably helped alot.

[Bolandstrutters]

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I think there comes a day in every serious turkey hunters life where they "figure it out".  Now that doesn't mean anythings a given.  If a few gobblers don't leave you scratching your head every year, then you're not hunting much.  I believe every good turkey hunter can think back to a time where a switch flipped and they started killing birds consistently.  They started making fewer mistakes.  They were more consistently one step ahead of a weary gobbler instead of two steps behind.  Now if I was putting together an all star turkey hunting team, I'd definitely want Dave Owen's and Shane Simpson on my side.  Those guys to me are in the top one percent of turkey hunters.  Those are the guys who kill birds that are considered unkillable to a lot of seasoned turkey hunters. 

[eggshell]

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Man I been bored lately, so glad you revived this thread so I can borrow Gobblenuts big stick and stir the S#$t some

In all honesty I think that day when you figure it out is actually when you gain enough confidence in your skill that you become more aggressive in your tactics and calling, your not as afraid of screwing up. when I think of my early days I always kept it close to the vest, my philosophy was if I don't do anything I'm less likely to do the wrong thing. Then that day came when you say, "all hell with it I'm calling more or I'm going to try a move" and you learn you can do a lot more than you thought. Fear is the road to failure.

[g8rvet]

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Great points.  My nephew was hearing birds and not closing the deal.  When talking to him, he was terrified of bumping birds. I told him if you never bump a bird, you are letting a lot of gobblers walk.  Don't be scared, do what you need to do.  That was about 10 birds ago and he says me telling him to lose his hear of messing up was his biggest reason for success.