Success Rate Once You Get Him Gobbling?

[steveo]

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Only speaking for what I’ve encountered and follows what most will say.
Every bird is different as well as every day, location is a key and knowing when or when not to call not call helps.
But will say if I can get them to answer it’s game on from then on....... even if I don’t pull the trigger it’s still what makes me think about Gobblers and spring 365 days a year.
Remember it’s not always tagging out! But the playing the game .....
Just my 2c.
When the heart’s racing and every sound is magnified shooting the bird is just the icing on the cake!.

[GobbleNut]

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Gobblenut...what I advocate is, on a scale from 1 to 5, a 3 caller with a 5 woodmanship and turkey knowledge will kill far more birds than a 5 caller with a 3 woodmanship and turkey knowledge.

Agree wholeheartedly, Turkeyman.  I do admire great turkey callers and their abilities, but calling in itself is not the end-all for being a successful turkey hunter. 

[GobbleNut]

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But will say if I can get them to answer it’s game on from then on....... even if I don’t pull the trigger it’s still what makes me think about Gobblers and spring 365 days a year.
Remember it’s not always tagging out! But the playing the game .....

Well put, Steveo.  Getting that response and the anticipation of what will happen afterward is the essence of spring gobbler hunting,...whether or not we end up walking out of the woods with a gobbler over our shoulder.  On the other hand, it is really a great feeling when we do end up winning the game!  I think all of us wants (and needs) that feeling once in a while!

[eggshell]

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I agree that great calling is an asset, but woodsmanship is an ace. Heck just watch some of the TV shows and listen to some of the sounds you hear from those dudes, yet they kill birds. I swear I could shove a call up my butt and fart better than some of the sounds I hear on TV shows. Some days my wife would even volunteer to shove the call up my butt, practice or trying out new calls is on permanent ban in my house, this ban was imposed after the millionth call. 

[yelpaholic]

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I have 100% success rate on those that gobble within 20 yards and flop over when the 20 roars ..

[Brwndg]

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Too many variables to answer that question.  Mostly it depends on the ignorance level of the birds that particular year.

Agree 100%
Hunted w/ an old timer that used to tell me,
“Turkey hunting is easy. You just gotta find one that wants to die”

[eggshell]

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We each need to define success.....if I get him to fire up and work I have had some degree of success. I truly consider every day I get to engage birds as a successful day, but my goal is to harvest a gobbler. Here in is the caveat: if we define success solely as killing in fact we are guaranteeing a loosing season. The best record we can have is to kill a limit on the same number of birds (IE two bird limit, set up on two and kill both) and if we do that we are done in the shortest possible time and with the least possible encounters. I have done this many times and those are usually long disappointing seasons for me. I end up setting back and wondering what others are doing and maybe getting to go with another person a few times. It's not the kill as much as the hunt for me anymore. When I was young and full of lust I liked scoring and bragging about my prowess, but as an old man I truly enjoy a good solid relationship and conversation. Don't get me wrong I still like some action, but it's part of the whole relationship. There are stages to a hunter's life, early it's Kill Kill Kill, then it's skill skill skill, then it's  learning, skill, engaging your quarry with/without a kill and finally it's just enjoying the hunt and your relationship with nature. Your goal is always to harvest your quarry, but it matters more how you get there as you mature.

[GobbleNut]

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Spot on, eggshell.  Agree entirely on every point made.

  “Turkey hunting is easy. You just gotta find one that wants to die”
….Also right on the money, Brwndg! 

[Gobbler428]

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                            Great post eggshell, I agree with everything you said as well.

[randy6471]

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  You really nailed it eggshell.

  I’ll add that I personally feel blessed to be able to hunt in a couple different states each year and when at home I get to hunt nearly every day of the season. Not only do I get to spend plenty of time chasing gobblers....it’s often on ground that’s high on gobblers and pretty low on hunters. Add a 2 bird limit and I find myself passing up shots a few times each year for one reason/excuse or another, when the reality is that years ago....I would have “smoked” that bird immediately without hesitation.

  As I’ve gotten older it seems like a couple filled tags, a few passed shots and at least 1 unfilled tag in my pocket on the last day of the season is how I measure success!

[Bamaslayer757]

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I think if you get that second gobble, you are a lot better off than getting an initial shock gobble...and for those who say calling isn’t a big deal, I know of a lot of birds I’ve killed that came from little tricks and nuances ive learned and gotten pretty good at such as gobbling on a diaphragm with jake yelps, whines and purrs when they are in tight, using multiple calls at once to imitate multiple birds etc...yes set up is probably #1 but to say calling isn't that important is a stretch...

[Screaming6x6]

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I'd say 25% would be accurate.

[NCL]

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Eggshell,

Great post you nailed exactly how I feel

[GobbleNut]

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.yes set up is probably #1 but to say calling isn't that important is a stretch...

First off, I agree that everybody should be as proficient as they can in their calling ability.  I also agree that there are times that calling will be the difference between success and failure in any given hunt. 

On the other hand, as one who hunts with several (and sometimes quite a few)  guys that are average callers (and some not even that), year after year I personally witness those guys calling in and killing gobblers with some surprising level of consistency.  These are not decoy-spread or ambush type hunters either.  They are guys that hunt big woods turkeys and go out and find and call public land birds in some reasonably heavily-hunted areas.

Because of the above, I have personally concluded that gobblers in the right frame of mind will often come to what many of us "seasoned and serious" turkey hunters would call "inferior" turkey calling.  As I have stated many times before, turkeys are the ones that decide what calling they are going to go to,...not necessarily us hunters.   

[Turkeyman]

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As somewhat of an addendum to the above, on a scale of 1 to 5, a hunter with the calling ability of "3"  but the "turkey woodsmanship" of "5" will end up with more birds bagged than the other way around.