Turkey hunting forum for turkey hunting tips

Just a quick post to point out something that just makes me shake my head and say wow. People jump on facebook and internet forums asking is such and such place a good place to turkey hunt or can someone point me in a direction in such and such place where I can get on birds. It amazes me that people ask this question and what amazes me more are the few people who divulge the information. Im not greedy with my hunting but I close guard my secretes of bird locations or areas that hold birds mainly because I put the work , effort , time and money into finding my own areas. Its like people want you to do all the work and then give them the info. When you point this out to them , they are offended. Blows my mind. If you want to know if birds are there , put your boots on the ground and find out yourself. Google locations and get to work. Quit asking for information and find it for yourself. Sorry , just had to rant a little.

Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 08, 2022, 05:36:11 PM
Just a quick post to point out something that just makes me shake my head and say wow. People jump on facebook and internet forums asking is such and such place a good place to turkey hunt or can someone point me in a direction in such and such place where I can get on birds. It amazes me that people ask this question and what amazes me more are the few people who divulge the information. Im not greedy with my hunting but I close guard my secretes of bird locations or areas that hold birds mainly because I put the work , effort , time and money into finding my own areas. Its like people want you to do all the work and then give them the info. When you point this out to them , they are offended. Blows my mind. If you want to know if birds are there , put your boots on the ground and find out yourself. Google locations and get to work. Quit asking for information and find it for yourself. Sorry , just had to rant a little.

X2, I got burned being Mr. nice guy. The only person that knows where I hunt is my wife. I took her to my spots and showed her where I will be parked in case something happens to me. When we visited all my honey-holes and got home, she said"Can I remove the blindfold now". 

:funnyturkey:

The people that give info away on Facebook are complete nincompoops! I usually respond and say "nobody answer this question". For the most part these post get the silence treatment or misinformation. But there's always some self righteous person that condemns everyone for being tight lipped and just post it up for everyone on the internet to see. I don't know the measure of the effects of these post but I feel like it's not good.


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I never ever give my honey holes away to anybody,not fishing,not hunting, ever. If they want to hunt and fish they can get off their backside and put some effort into it. I was taught that as a kid,never tell anybody a thing about your spots.

I tell them sometimes the best place to find a turkey is in the grocery store ... Location isle 4 ... northeast on onx hunting app...  :TooFunny:

 I have some great places to hunt if you want to know where they are all you have to do is (see more)

Brother imo most guys that give away spot information don't really have great information anyhow. Who, if really experienced and if they had even just a tad more brains than Biden, which ain't hard to do, would divulge this? Think about that? No one is that stupid. Trying pretty hard to act like they know something they don't is all there is to it. The poor fools that believe them are in for company anyhow.
Don't sweat it.

All I know is when I starred hunting turkeys in the late 70s , you told no one anything. The old timers taught me this. When I was 13 hunting some public land , I had found a good gobbling bird. I was not experienced and was self taught. I fooled with him on a Saturday and sunday and could not kill him. I qas waiting on my dad at the beginning of an old logging when a guy pulled up. He was from Arkansas and he asked me if I had any luck. I told him no but I had a bird I had been fooling with. I was exited telling him about my encounter. The following Saturday I was where I had worked the bird the previous weekend at daylight waiting on the bird to gobble but he never did. I eased into the creekbottom to a tree I had set up at the previous weekend. I sat down against the tree and looked down. A fresh12 gauge hull with a feather stuck in it told me all I needed to know. I learned a lifelong lesson right then and there.

Quote from: Bowguy on March 08, 2022, 05:56:04 PM
Brother imo most guys that give away spot information don't really have great information anyhow. Who, if really experienced and if they had even just a tad more brains than Biden, which ain't hard to do, would divulge this? Think about that? No one is that stupid. Trying pretty hard to act like they know something they don't is all there is to it. The poor fools that believe them are in for company anyhow.
Don't sweat it.

I agree with what you are saying. Most seasoned turkey hunters will lie to them or just keep quiet. Newer guys havent figured it out yet.

Had a flat brimming, bearded, bedazzled jean, wanna be bust in on a meeting with one of my guys and invite himself to turkey hunt with me a few weeks ago. Strike 1.He then went on to explain he was on a mission to get to to "49". Strike 2. He then explained the only turkey he killed last year was behind a fan. Strike three. He then proceeded to brag about some turkey he killed that was in the record books and started dropping names of popular hunters like he was their best friend. Strike 4. I told him I didn't have time to talk at the moment but to catch me later. A few days later he asked "so are you gonna show me some good spots to hunt this spring?" My response was "Helen wait schedules my turkey hunts so if you are wanting to get a day scheduled you can go to Helen wait."
I have no problem helping the honest, hardworking guy who meets you in the middle and is willing to work, but the majority of 'em anymore i can do without. So thankful this is the only social media I partake in.

If guys want me to call for them we go to their spot. Never facebooked. Glad to help others if they have a spot. I take friends to my spots knowing they won't be back unless I take them.

We get lambasted for being critical of YouTubers.  This is no different.  Welcome to the new age of turkey hunting.  It's a social media dominated culture now. 

Told my fishing buddy same thing.  Just because we catch some fish doesn't mean we share where, just share we had a good trip

Odd to see this post tonight as I had some memories brought up while out to dinner this evening.  Young man came up to me and we caught up, talked about turkey, duck and fishing.  He is a grown man now, but years ago, I had a gobbling bird that I had fooled with and he was still blanked for the season (his dad too and he was a good hunter, just bad luck I reckon). I told his dad everything he needed to know about the bird and where he was roosted and how he left.  They killed him the next morning.  I never told the young'un where his daddy got the info, but the dad thanked me profusely. 

THAT is the only way I give out any info.  I also killed my final bird of the year the next weekend when I took my pick of 4 birds that came in to my calls.  I don't believe in karma, but I do believe the good Lord rewarded me.

Info on Facebook?  Not a chance. 

I tell people every year on about a weekly basis during season where birds are.   But most people who know me know to use a .5 multiplier with my intel. 

I'm just too dang ornery to ask I guess, I'd rather get shut out than have to get that kind of help. I don't mind giving turkeys and sharing intel with other like minded hunters but ill be danged if I'm giving turkeys away to those who put in no effort outside thier keyboards.
It's cool if we hunt "your" turkeys together and rest assured I'll be working hard to return that favor putting some of "my" turkeys in front of you. I also won't set foot on ground you hunt without you, I expect the same courtesy and respect.
Hard headed and stuck in my ways I guess but when I wrap my hand around that Tom's feet I wanna feel good about it.

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Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 08, 2022, 06:03:28 PM
All I know is when I starred hunting turkeys in the late 70s , you told no one anything. The old timers taught me this. When I was 13 hunting some public land , I had found a good gobbling bird. I was not experienced and was self taught. I fooled with him on a Saturday and sunday and could not kill him. I qas waiting on my dad at the beginning of an old logging when a guy pulled up. He was from Arkansas and he asked me if I had any luck. I told him no but I had a bird I had been fooling with. I was exited telling him about my encounter. The following Saturday I was where I had worked the bird the previous weekend at daylight waiting on the bird to gobble but he never did. I eased into the creekbottom to a tree I had set up at the previous weekend. I sat down against the tree and looked down. A fresh12 gauge hull with a feather stuck in it told me all I needed to know. I learned a lifelong lesson right then and there.


Never trust a guy from Arkansas

I'm proud to say I've helped many folks on the whearabouts of a gobblin turkey .
But on social media for everyone and there mamas to see ?   No thanks ...

I'm the guy who picks up all the feathers and obliterates signs of a kill site.  I've been known to obliterate tracks when scouting too.
I hunt private land at home, and I still don't talk much about the spots.  It wouldn't be hard for anyone to find 'em if they took some time to scout.
Hunting public, I'll keep my secrets.

This past season, I spent 2 days in Colorado without hearing a gobble. The spot I hunted was recommended by a friend who had hunted it a few years prior and mentioned the hunting was exceptional. The spot was one of the biggest cluster f**k's I'd ever seen. Horseback riders, hikers, dirt bikers, 4 wheelers, hippies, pot smokers, shed hunters, and yes turkey hunters were there. I left due to how horrible of a experience I had just had, in addition to the fact the spring season was winding down I headed for greener pastures with gobbling turkeys. As I was putting Colorado in the rear view the same friend (who'd referred me to the area) sent me a screenshot of a post in a Facebook group where a guy posted THE EXACT SPOT I was at, not the WMA or NF name. The exact spot, down to the creek that flows by and a distinct landmark. I had a conniption, no wonder there were hunters everywhere and not a gobbling bird in the county when you have folks blasting specific spots all over the internet. Absolutely drives me crazy, I am not against helping friends out. Hell if your feeling nice send a fellow a PM, but for the love of God don't post it all over the internet.

Never believe any thing I say except sit still, don't over call and judge a turkey vest by the butt cushion.

I share info with a few. Those few usually aren't posting asking for information and anybody I meet hunting them same property as me should consider me an outright liar


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When I worked for DNR and ran a check station I had people every day in turkey season and before coming in and asking for tips. I would hand them a map of the public land and say study that. They'd always ask for more info and even if I'd mark some spots. I'd tell them I won't do that because it will just pile people in a few areas. I would tell them scouting was a part of turkey hunting fun, go get after it. I had a few get mad and demand info because "I pay your salary". I'd just say thank you, but now it's time for you to leave. All they had to do was go scout, this public land had birds in every area.

The ONLY person I tell what I heard or almost killed is my brother and he lives 70 miles away and we never hunt together.  Two different styles. of hunting.  tom007 I loved your response.

Guys here's another idea, being we know so many just read along to scout, when someone asks just tell them where your ex wife's new husband or someone like that hunts? Give yourself a chuckle when you drive past his spot and see all this trucks and guys in vests w funky chickens in back headed for him

If preface a location with the disclaimer of "don't tell anyone".... You might as well have told everyone and begged them to be there.

People too lasts to wear a pair of boots out in a lifetime all have diarrhea of confidentials when talking about how hunts never go their way. 


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now that I am retired I just answer any request for spot tips with a standard answer of, "I don't share specific information with people outside my inner circle, I been burnt too many times. I hope you understand, but I can't help you, good luck scouting". Some understand and some get offended, but I leave it at that and walk away. 95% understand

Quote from: Howie g on March 08, 2022, 09:51:28 PM
I'm proud to say I've helped many folks on the whearabouts of a gobblin turkey .
But on social media for everyone and there mamas to see ?   No thanks ...

:z-winnersmiley:

   When asked,I give out false information that sounds like the real thing. Do it with a Straight face. Fooled plenty of Novices AND Veterans.
  Learned that from reading Turkey Hunting Digest by Crusty+ Short Tempered Dwain Blain.
    My Best spots- only 1 other person knows about. All Public too- Mountains,Wetlands,Swamps- all the spots where even Lazy Veterans won't go.
  But,I am most happy in sending someone to a Hot Field where everybody and their Brother are.

We used to hide our truck in a thick azz palmetto bush and cover the back  it with palmetto fronds ..no joke ,. Then we would borrow another buddies truck to go to the check station to get birds checked out ...then I used to resort to using my wife's Toyota tercel to hunt out of ...this was what we did because people knew what truck I was driving ,..

Then I see couch potatoes doing all Thier scouting on Facebook , I'm straight amazed people are foolish enough to throw them handouts ..

If a person is soo lazy that they can't even bother to scout , the sooner they quit turkey hunting , the better it is for the rest of us as a group whole

Yup Shannon, my buddy and I often park one truck and leave it in a non hunting area. The next day we'll leave the other vehicle. Still if they want they can figure it out. Of course most of my hunting is done behind locked gates and my truck is out of site.

Unfortunately the free loading everyone gets a trophy mindset is a societal problem.

Yeah. In my opinion its mostly Liberals that want the info handed to them on a platter.

Personally I don't understand why Trump got some much bull over quid pro quo....maybe we think alike.


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Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 10, 2022, 07:07:25 PM
Yeah. In my opinion its mostly Liberals that want the info handed to them on a platter.

tell us how you really feel!

Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 08, 2022, 06:03:28 PM
All I know is when I starred hunting turkeys in the late 70s , you told no one anything. The old timers taught me this. When I was 13 hunting some public land , I had found a good gobbling bird. I was not experienced and was self taught. I fooled with him on a Saturday and sunday and could not kill him. I qas waiting on my dad at the beginning of an old logging when a guy pulled up. He was from Arkansas and he asked me if I had any luck. I told him no but I had a bird I had been fooling with. I was exited telling him about my encounter. The following Saturday I was where I had worked the bird the previous weekend at daylight waiting on the bird to gobble but he never did. I eased into the creekbottom to a tree I had set up at the previous weekend. I sat down against the tree and looked down. A fresh12 gauge hull with a feather stuck in it told me all I needed to know. I learned a lifelong lesson right then and there.

That made my heart smile

For people that are monetizing public turkeys .....the more hunters = more views = more money. Vicious cycle of monetizing something more precious than gold

Quote from: Spitten and drummen on March 08, 2022, 05:36:11 PM
Just a quick post to point out something that just makes me shake my head and say wow. People jump on facebook and internet forums asking is such and such place a good place to turkey hunt or can someone point me in a direction in such and such place where I can get on birds. It amazes me that people ask this question and what amazes me more are the few people who divulge the information. Im not greedy with my hunting but I close guard my secretes of bird locations or areas that hold birds mainly because I put the work , effort , time and money into finding my own areas. Its like people want you to do all the work and then give them the info. When you point this out to them , they are offended. Blows my mind. If you want to know if birds are there , put your boots on the ground and find out yourself. Google locations and get to work. Quit asking for information and find it for yourself. Sorry , just had to rant a little.

Amen. Hard to trust anyone when it comes to turkey hunting. I tried for years to help others with both turkeys and deer hunting and only got burned and even lost some friends while trying to help others (found out some of the folks I was trying to help really were not my friends). I think the real eye opener for me was when I went to hunt a long time favorite spot of mine one morning and had a couple of guys I had previously taking hunting literally try run me off the ridge and I was there a half an hour ahead of them. 

I was reading the new post and started thinking about all the threads related to common courtesy and good will. I would guess 30% of all post on OGF are related to dealing with hunters not people. Some of the longest discussions are about ethics. Whether it's a technique of hunting or personal interaction. Turkey hunting is a reflection of our society, people will bring their same mind-set from the world into the turkey woods. One of the draws to hunting is to escape life's crap storm, but instead we chain it to our ankles and drag it along with us hunting. This isn't always true and certainly some accomplish it better than others.

Here is the bottom line; our hunting experience and life experience are tied together and not until we do better in life will we do better in our recreational pursuits. Why we insist on acting like rats is because we fail to exercise control over our animal nature. You see a few rats will eat and flourish together until competition from over population sets in. Then they become violent and attach each other, even killing and eating their own.

We were created above this. We were given larger brains and souls to think through our instincts and be above simply acting on emotional natures. Now some here will disagree with me, but I mean no offense towards them. I am a Christian man and try very hard to build my life on Christ centered principles. Jesus himself said the second greatest commandment was, "Love your neighbor as yourself". He said, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Now, I can assure you that many people do not share these philosophies and they will absolutely do the opposite. That is not an excuse to act poorly ourselves. Be better and set an example. Sure it will cost you something and the evil minded will try and run rough shod over you, but eventually those too will fade away when more adopt the principles of simple kindness and love. Set the example and openly engage people to do better (meeting at a gate is not the time to do this) and change just one mind. Like the old saying if everyone reaches one then all will be changed. We don't want to move on from that spot because we are selfish too and don't want to loose "our chance at that turkey". I am also a firm believer in you reap what you sow.

In ending maybe it is time to stop bitching and just be better people. I am first to point the finger right back at myself. So it's not a hunting issue, it's a moral issue.

I can agree with you to a point eggshell. I am all for helping out others and being kind. However I save that for people who share the same sentiments that I do and are willing to put in some effort as well. My days of enabling those that are too lazy to put in any effort are done. And that doesn't just pertain to turkey hunting. The trend of people trying to get every handout that they can for zero effort has become more and more popular and I don't feel that that is good for society in general. Our government seems to feel the opposite of what I do though. I try my best to avoid such people but occasionally I have to tell a few to take a hike. I don't hate them but I hope they learn some lessons down the road and become more self reliant. Getting back to turkey hunting, my thoughts are that if you really care about it then you will be motivated to do your work and have plenty of options. Any pointers and tips are a bonus. If you are willing to put your odds of success in the hands of other then do you really care that much?

Oh I don't think we disagree that much Happy. That's why I said you don't engage them at a gate or in the field. It's a mind set that starts in coffee shops, camps, work, forums and more. When I said you reap what you sow that also means, if you don't work you don't eat. I too detest laziness, but I will help someone who is putting effort in. Mostly what I meant is we don't need to be combative and poor sports. Sometimes we just let them have the spot and move on. I'm not posting any GPS coordinates here or anywhere, just like I am not posting a sign on my house, "Take what you want". Even scripture tells us have nothing to do with the immoral and dishonest people of the world. These lazy social media location poachers are just thieves by another name.

Quote from: Happy on March 12, 2022, 08:31:45 AM
I can agree with you to a point eggshell. I am all for helping out others and being kind. However I save that for people who share the same sentiments that I do and are willing to put in some effort as well. My days of enabling those that are too lazy to put in any effort are done. And that doesn't just pertain to turkey hunting. The trend of people trying to get every handout that they can for zero effort has become more and more popular and I don't feel that that is good for society in general. Our government seems to feel the opposite of what I do though. I try my best to avoid such people but occasionally I have to tell a few to take a hike. I don't hate them but I hope they learn some lessons down the road and become more self reliant. Getting back to turkey hunting, my thoughts are that if you really care about it then you will be motivated to do your work and have plenty of options. Any pointers and tips are a bonus. If you are willing to put your odds of success in the hands of other then do you really care that much?

Well said Happy. I agree 100 percent.