The other day, my 5 year old and myself were out doing some coon calling and I could tell that she wasn't having a good time, she has been with me turkey, deer, squirrel hunting etc, she's killed squirrels and a nice buck herself, and what was once excitement from her is now asking to go home in a hour after arriving to where we're gonna hunt. We sat on a ridge on the walk out and had a fairly deep conversation and I explained to her that it's ok if she doesn't like to hunt. She said she does like to hunt sometimes but she basically goes to spend time with me. I work a lot and we don't get a lot of free time together. And she said she's more comfortable and "cozy" spending time at our house. I told her I understand that, but for me I'm most comfortable outdoors, that it feels more like home than any house ever has. She said she understands and we went on to eat at a restaurant of her choice and spend her type of time together. But it had me thinking, I've turkey hunted for 22 years this year, I started at 6 years old. Our statewide season here in KY opened in 96 and I started in 01. Nobody knew how to hunt turkey and if you got one then you were gonna be in the paper. I got my first one in 2006 and since then I've called in and killed or helped others kill over 110 birds by my records. I don't turkey hunt for the mystique as much as I did as a kid, and I've certainly gotten myself to the point of knowing that if I sit to a bird there is high chances it's riding home with me, but I have the same excitement as I did the first time I ever made one gobble. I've thought about it for a few days as to why I turkey hunt, I don't need the meat, I've proven to myself that I can routinely call in and kill the mysterious gobbler, so why do I do it?. Because it's home. For a few weeks a year I get to put on my camo and vest that feels like your favorite pajamas, I get to go to my favorite places I've ever been on earth, and I get to use my calls that I've put in so many thousands of hours with over the years and talk the language I've studied my whole life to learn. And when it comes to it, that's why I turkey hunt now. It's being in my favorite places, with my favorite things and feeling that peace like I'm finally where I was supposed to be.
So, why do you turkey hunt?
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Simply put for me, spring is my favorite season, the weather changes, winter leaves, flowers bloom. Everything comes back to life. Then, "The Gobble". My adrenaline starts pumping when I hear that Gobble. The anticipation of an adversarial duel that takes place in the beautiful spring woods gets me out of bed in the middle of the night for 2 months every year. This pursuit has become an obsession, not a dangerous one, but a healthy one. I look forward to the several mile hikes up the mountains and through the ridges and ravines hoping to strike up such a duel. I hunt all types of game, but there is nothing that rivals hunting these guys. It's like an intense chess game between two fine players where the best move wins. Lord knows we both have our share of victories, as well as defeats. This sums it up for me I guess....great post.
I could type paragraphs............chapters........about why. But the bottom line is simple.........
I can't NOT.
Keep hunts with your daughter short. The attention span at 5 isn't very long. Keep those hunts light, fun and short.
As for why I turkey hunt, that could be a long post. The gobble, the sunrises, the chase, the thrill of a gobbler closing in, the spring woods, the travels I've had the the people I've met...and did I mention the gobble?!?! ;D
It's all about getting to play the game whether your successful or not. It's all about the chase and hearing that gobbler fire off on the roost. After his feet hit the ground then it's all about you trying to lure him in your direction with your calling. Regardless if he has hens with him or not and using what you have learned in hunting and calling these gobblers. I agree with Tom it's an adrenaline rush ... The Excitement, and the rush of adrenaline is just hard to describe until you call up your first gobbler and have him flopping on the ground. If you don't kill him today, hopefully you will get another chance in the future. Practice, patience and learning to hunt these gobblers so one day you will have the experience of a lifetime in killing a gobbler. After that your hooked for life in hunting these birds. That's why I turkey hunt. I will also add because of turkey hunting I've gotten to meet a huge following of call builders and friends on this forum and beyond over the years. So in my opinion, it's all been a great experience and priceless in why I turkey hunt.
All great answers, I like seeing what motivates different people and the varying answers. I definitely like the gobble too. And I couldn't imagine not getting to play the game. My absolute favorite part of turkey hunting is the calls and calling. How, no matter how much you practice, you'll never beat a real hen. Yet I constantly practice on multiple callers to get better but most importantly because it's fun!.
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Turkey hunting is an interactive sport. It allows you to match your wits with your quarry. You scout, setup, call and hopefully harvest a bird using YOUR knowledge of, calling prowess and luck (right place at the right time) of a longbeard looking for Love. When everything falls into place and that bird comes in to 20 yards or less, spitting and drumming and with earth shaking gobbles, Nothing and I mean NOTHING, gets your heart and adrenaline pumping more. Whether you pull the trigger or not, it is a VERY exciting time being in the Spring woods.
Love the Spring woods. Love hearing the first gobble of the year. Love working gobblers and them working me. It's like a natural thing. Like breathing air. I am sometimes astonished when I ask someone if they turkey hunt and the say NO or say they only hunt deer. I still remember the first one I killed like it was yesterday and even the first trip out with my Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Joe and I didn't even carry a gun. Several seasons ago and still remember that ride to the woods in my Uncle Joe's 1976 black Chevy 4x4. It was fairly new at the time too. Remember hearing that first gobble EVER! Good times. Good times....
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I was born into it, raised up in it, and hope to go out doing it. Both my parents were phenomenal turkey hunters, so it's just life for me.
I do as a service to mankind, they are tools of the devil that cause men to lose their religion and should die...ok, in all seriousness, I wold just say ditto to all the previous responses. The spring, the strategy, the interaction and it's spring
To me, turkey hunting is what it's about to be alive. Sitting in the woods at dark, listening to the woods come alive in the spring. Waiting to hear that first gobble. Patiently waiting to make that first tree yelp and listening to him or them respond.
It's about talking to the gobbler and dancing with him. It gets your blood boiling. It's not about the kill it's about the experience.
And as a fall hunter as well, it's still about the interaction. The busting up the flock and calling them back in. Listening to all the turkeys talk trying to regroup. I've all but given up on any other type of hunting. Yea, I'll deer hunt but that's just to pass time and go for some peace and quit. But turkey hunting...man, that's where it's at. Coming alive. And happy to be alive to listen to this wonderful animal talk and the anticipation of the dance.
Even on a quiet day when nothing is gobbling. It's the anticipation that the next time I call, a gobble might erupt. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. We are so blessed the good Lord created such a bird!
It's hard to keep this short and sweet. For me, it's always been an infatuation with these birds from birth. No one in my family hunted them. They were a target of opportunity. Being able to go out with just a turkey call and a shotgun and somewhat consistently call up and kill a gobbler is the epitome of hunting skill in my mind. I love the chess match. Reading the situation and reacting accordingly. That and the gobble. I will never get over the gobble.
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Doesn't matter to me spring or fall it has always been the interaction of calling these birds in. Was born into it and was taken on turkey hunts at a very young age. Has always seemed like a way of life to me. The ultimate chess match with nature. Just waiting for the next time I can put a quarter in the machine and play again.
Quote from: Greg Massey on January 06, 2023, 01:19:46 PM
It's all about getting to play the game whether your successful or not. It's all about the chase and hearing that gobbler fire off on the roost. After his feet hit the ground then it's all about you trying to lure him in your direction with your calling. Regardless if he has hens with him or not and using what you have learned in hunting and calling these gobblers. I agree with Tom it's an adrenaline rush ... The Excitement, and the rush of adrenaline is just hard to describe until you call up your first gobbler and have him flopping on the ground. If you don't kill him today, hopefully you will get another chance in the future. Practice, patience and learning to hunt these gobblers so one day you will have the experience of a lifetime in killing a gobbler. After that your hooked for life in hunting these birds. That's why I turkey hunt. I will also add because of turkey hunting I've gotten to meet a huge following of call builders and friends on this forum and beyond over the years. So in my opinion, it's all been a great experience and priceless in why I turkey hunt.
Your right here Greg. Turkey hunting brought this forum family together, for that I am sure we are all grateful.....
I'm going to over simplify things but I've been asked this before...
It's pure, there isn't much left in hunting that still feels as pure 1 v 1 in nature as tangling with a lone gobbler on a hardwoods ridge.
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To begin with it was to make it from one deer season to the next. Now with all the long long friends I have made, memories I have created, and love for the pure 1v1 chess match, it is just kind of who I am now.
Why wouldn't turkey you hunt?
Because once a Dad took a seven year old boy turkey hunting and at daybreak he blew the old notes "who cooks for you? Who cook for us too?" And somewhere in the distance a tom gobbled and then another, and then and there the boy became a turkey hunter.
After doing it for decades, it's still exciting. It's like a drug with no side effects. The anticipation makes me feel young. The ritual of it all gives some form of purpose to my life that just always feels right. It constantly teaches me important lessons. And I'm consistently in awe of the grace and beauty of God's natural world.
I have only hunted turkeys three years and I am sixty-eight. Last spring on a pristine morning I wandered near some private with a high fence screened with fabric. I was calling into a valley across a road from this property when a tom answered from behind the fence. I spend an hour trying to convince him to fly over the fence to me while he tried to convince me to fly over the fence to him. At some point that bird and I fell madly in love. I am sure I did everything wrong but that was just about as much fun as I have ever had in the woods. The beautiful day, the calling, the answer, the anticipation, create an irresistible elixir.
It's about the game, plain and simple. It's about convincing that turkey that I'm the real deal and fooling him to come into the call within the magic 40 yards. Whether I kill him or not doesn't matter. I've missed birds before. It hurts a little but I remember the calls and the set up that brought him in and that's what matters most to me.
As others have said, it would take a book to cover the reasons...but I'll give it a try as briefly as possible ("briefly" being a relative term in this case).
...To say it is about "The Gobble" is the simple explanation, but the more complex explanation for me is that it was about the entire journey from being a clueless novice almost sixty years ago now to being the not-so-clueless, but still learning, turkey hunter I feel I am today.
Initially, I started spring gobbler hunting because it became available and was one of only a few outdoor hunting activities to take part in during the spring. I thought at the time that it would be a casual activity for me that I might occasionally participate in. I was fortunate that I lived in a place where there was a good turkey population and a ton of public land to hunt them on, so the conditions were the perfect storm,...except for the fact that the spring season was very short, not to mention I was initially very young and with limited opportunities to go afield.
At the time (1960's), there were a handful of outdoor writers that extolled the virtues and thrills of hunting gobblers in the spring,...and the more I read about their successes,...and compared those to my initial failures,...I became determined to figure things out for myself. That was compounded by the fact that there was literally nobody in this part of the country that knew anything about spring hunting. Except for those articles in the outdoor publications, I was completely on my own.
In those first few springs, with each new article that came out, my interest in achieving just simple goals such as hearing a gobbler, and then positioning myself to call, and have him answer those calls began to fall into place, one by one. Those writers made it sound pretty simple, but after a few springs of hunting our short season for only a weekend, or possibly two, I was still making simple mistakes,...which translated into continued failure and frustration.
Somewhere along the line in those first few seasons after hitting the woods at sunrise, I figured the first real clue out. I was not getting into the woods early enough. By the time I got out there, most of the gobbling that was going to be heard,...as well as my ability to get in position on a gobbling bird while he was still in the tree,...was long over. In addition, I learned from those writers that it was possible to make gobblers tell you where they are by using the proper noise-making instrument at the right time. If there has been one single thing that changed the game for me, it was realizing the importance of those two elements.
Once I got to that point, things began to fall into place. I was regularly finding and interacting with gobblers, but the problem now was learning to "speak the language" to the point where I knew what I refer to as the "4 W's"...What to say, When to say it, Where to say it from, and Why to say it. However, although there is some consistency in applying those 4 W's, they are variable enough with each individual gobbler that, even to this day roughly sixty years later, there is always some uncertainty regarding success or failure. I fail often enough that when I succeed, it holds the same thrill I experienced when that very first gobbler came to my calling and pirouetted into view in the middle of New Mexico's Gila Wilderness many decades ago.
All these years later, my fascination with spring gobbler hunting still holds. It not only is about these grand birds themselves and the confluence of their natural breeding behaviors and tendencies with the elements of hunting them that just "fit" what I look for as a hunter, but just as importantly to me, it is about that long journey I made decades ago and all the history that has been made along the way.
I have hunted many species of game, large and small,...and still do. To this day, none of them holds near the fascination I have with spring gobbler hunting.
Quote from: deathfoot on January 06, 2023, 05:47:57 PM
To me, turkey hunting is what it's about to be alive. Sitting in the woods at dark, listening to the woods come alive in the spring. Waiting to hear that first gobble. Patiently waiting to make that first tree yelp and listening to him or them respond.
It's about talking to the gobbler and dancing with him. It gets your blood boiling. It's not about the kill it's about the experience.
And as a fall hunter as well, it's still about the interaction. The busting up the flock and calling them back in. Listening to all the turkeys talk trying to regroup. I've all but given up on any other type of hunting. Yea, I'll deer hunt but that's just to pass time and go for some peace and quit. But turkey hunting...man, that's where it's at. Coming alive. And happy to be alive to listen to this wonderful animal talk and the anticipation of the dance.
Even on a quiet day when nothing is gobbling. It's the anticipation that the next time I call, a gobble might erupt. It gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. We are so blessed the good Lord created such a bird!
I agree 100%. Last season was my first year trying to fall hunt, It was a great time in it's own regard!.
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Quote from: deathfoot on January 06, 2023, 05:47:57 PM
We are so blessed the good Lord created such a bird!
So true, what a gift!
Because I can't bowhunt deer in the spring!
I have only truly felt at home 3 places, on my peddle bike (GT Timberline) which I can no longer do, in the water swimming or in the woods. I think I liked the biking so much because I did it a lot in the woods and I also swam in creeks that run through the woods a lot so there really is a common denominator there.
I have heard many say the in the past but not here it is the adrenaline rush of shooting a turkey, while I agree with the adrenaline rush part it is not the shooting one that gives it to me, it is the getting them there to where I want them and the thrill that comes with it. Last year I took my camera hunting with me and I can tell you I got the same shakes and thrill from photographing them as I do from getting them there to shoot with a gun.
I was able to watch "The Dance" up close for the first time last year and it was thrilling to witness. I had them in closer to me than I have consistently this past Spring as well which was great because it allowed me to hear more vocalizations than just the gobble and that was a wonderful learning experience for me as I learned just how low they really talk.
I like seeing young people that are just starting off and the thrill in their eyes.
I love to get to the woods early and hear and see God's creature come to life.
I enjoy trying to learn more about the places I hunt and what grows there. It was neat learning about a flower that only blooms at night, wound up going a little early so I could see it at night, very pretty.
I think the best shape I am in is right after turkey season every year from all the walking.
I have started to try to learn more about the birds and other woodland creatures where I hunt, they are so fascinating.
I hunt for all the above reasons and more.
When I had my last car accident and could really not hunt for around 17 years I was not constantly dreaming of taking a big buck, I was constantly dreaming of taking my first turkey. I love this creature, is is such an incredible survivor. I enjoy learning all I can about them, I love reading about their biology even.
I hunt turkey because it is when I feel the closest to God and the most alive, I hunt turkey because I have to.
Quote from: Sir-diealot on January 07, 2023, 01:21:13 PM
I hunt turkey because it is when I feel the closest to God and the most alive, I hunt turkey because I have to.
Sir-diealot, you make a good point, it becomes part of who we are. I believe I have shared this before, but it is part of why I turkey hunt. Around 2000-2002 my life pretty much fell apart and there was no peace or refuge for me anywhere. My mom was dieing of terminal illness, my wife was critically ill and work was falling apart. I had an employee who was mentally ill and had declared war on me and I never knew what was going to happen next. There was only one place to retreat to and I rarely found time to get there. I finally cracked and suffered a breakdown and clinical depression. I was mandated to take 30 days off from work and get help. It so happened it was also fall turkey season. So I would get up every morning grab my gun and go to the woods and come home when it got dark. I never even considered what kind of emotional stress I was putting on my wife and daughters through. Just think of watching a man you know is clinically depressed grab a gun and walk out the door without a word every day! That was one of the most profound seasons I ever experienced. I actually called in and passed on shooting 57 turkeys. To this day it is the only fall tag I never filled in Ohio. I knew if I killed a bird I was done and I couldn't be done. I hunted and I sat and prayed to Jesus and some days just layed down and slept in the wild flowers. All God's creation attended to me and I began to heal. To shoot a bird would only deny me my healing. Finally on the last day it dawned on me I needed to apologize to my wife. I went in early and sat down beside her and offered my apology for not being more considerate. She started crying and hugged me and said, "it's all right, I now understand what it means to you to be in the outdoors. Everyday another piece of my husband came home, I was watching you heal". She has never questioned my outdoor ventures since and encourages me to get out when I need to unwind. That is why I turkey hunt, it literally keeps me sane.
killed a turkey before I killed a deer (and that was a long time ago) and the memory of both still rings fresh but, there is just something about the spring woods coming alive and going to battle with that gobbler. It just does something to my heart. I have killed some monster bucks with gun and bow but there wasn't a battle involved like in spring gobbler hunting. I love hunting both but the springtime just has a special magic to it.
Quote from: eggshell on January 07, 2023, 02:15:06 PM
Quote from: Sir-diealot on January 07, 2023, 01:21:13 PM
I hunt turkey because it is when I feel the closest to God and the most alive, I hunt turkey because I have to.
Sir-diealot, you make a good point, it becomes part of who we are. I believe I have shared this before, but it is part of why I turkey hunt. Around 2000-2002 my life pretty much fell apart and there was no peace or refuge for me anywhere. My mom was dieing of terminal illness, my wife was critically ill and work was falling apart. I had an employee who was mentally ill and had declared war on me and I never knew what was going to happen next. There was only one place to retreat to and I rarely found time to get there. I finally cracked and suffered a breakdown and clinical depression. I was mandated to take 30 days off from work and get help. It so happened it was also fall turkey season. So I would get up every morning grab my gun and go to the woods and come home when it got dark. I never even considered what kind of emotional stress I was putting on my wife and daughters through. Just think of watching a man you know is clinically depressed grab a gun and walk out the door without a word every day! That was one of the most profound seasons I ever experienced. I actually called in and passed on shooting 57 turkeys. To this day it is the only fall tag I never filled in Ohio. I knew if I killed a bird I was done and I couldn't be done. I hunted and I sat and prayed to Jesus and some days just layed down and slept in the wild flowers. All God's creation attended to me and I began to heal. To shoot a bird would only deny me my healing. Finally on the last day it dawned on me I needed to apologize to my wife. I went in early and sat down beside her and offered my apology for not being more considerate. She started crying and hugged me and said, "it's all right, I now understand what it means to you to be in the outdoors. Everyday another piece of my husband came home, I was watching you heal". She has never questioned my outdoor ventures since and encourages me to get out when I need to unwind. That is why I turkey hunt, it literally keeps me sane.
My sister died on Dec. 20th and the day after she died I went out to shoot some pictures which is something she and I both love/d and getting into nature and shooting some pictures was a great help to me.
Because Spring or Fall, the good Lord has made me extremely deadly at it ;) Wild Turkey has been part of my family's diet for generations.
My story is just like so many already written here.
Just like many of you I hunt turkeys because I have too.
At the beginning it was the mystic of it, the grandeur of the kill. So few "Turkey" hunters in the area and an abundance of turkey. Only season in to hunt and just some stocked trout for a teenager to beat up. Why not...
Over the years it evolved to a lot of different things that MAKE me hunt. Still today it is the mystic, the coming to life of the new season, the first sounds of a morning, the interactions with the turkey himself. Being able to discover and enjoy new environments, new people too. Some of them are not so enjoyable!!!
Today, I really only hunt turkeys with any drive. I am not a deer hunter, I do participate, but that is all it amounts too. I once and a while will shoot a deer for some awesome meat. I like to squirrel hunt and rabbit hunt some, but none are as important to me. Turkey hunting is where it is at for me.
Today I am lucking, the only real thing that stops me is the worse four letter word I know, "WORK". Weather does play into my hunting as I am getting soft and just don't like the pouring rain or 40+ mile an hour winds so much. I am fortunate enough I can just pick another day to hunt.
I have been scouting for a SODAK, WYO, Montana combined trip now for 2 or 3 years, hopefully this spring I will make it happen.
For all the people out there that is against travel hunting: You know what's better than Spring Turkey opening day? Multiple opening days! Every day in a new state in like opening day to me.
Good luck to all this spring and hopefully to you that have not fallen ill to this hunt yet, you do not get bitten to hard that you are truly infected with this disease.
I need it like an addict would need a drug. That gobble awakens a feeling deep in my soul that is inexplainable to anyone who doesn't get it. I honestly can't put it into words that would do it justice. I can't not turkey hunt....
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I turkey hunt because it's a chess game of sorts. He gobbles and lets me know where he's at. I respond to let him know where I am at, and the game begins. He moves, I counter as we are both thinking, plotting, calculating our next move knowing each move you or he makes has varying levels of impact on the final outcome.
We each have a plan in our head on how we want this to play out. I'm sure we both are continually analyzing our situation knowing full well some moves can often catch you by surprise.
Sometimes he wins, sometimes I win. Then there are times I'm sure we are both left scratching our heads wondering what the heck just happened!
I turkey hunt because I love the game!
I do it because, I'm addicted to the gobble.
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It's where I go to relax. No worries, no stress. To sit in the darkness with a deafness quite. To see the sky come alive through the tree tops. To hear the woods wake up with the sounds of the birds. To hear that amazing gobble in the distance. To know that one man made all this possible. Thank you lord for the blessings.
Spring turkey hunting is a great excuse to be in the spring woods and all it entails, especially at dawn & dusk (the best times of day IMO).
But one thing I love the most is the calling and communicating with turkeys. The interaction is just so much more than with any other species I can think of.
Hope springs eternal with turkey hunting. There's alway's the next call, the next ridge, the next spot. Just wait til tomorrow mourning, til I get my new box, til the hens get bred up! There's always something to look forward too.
The outdoors is like my church. It puts me at ease. Turkey hunting is the pinnacle so to speak. It makes my heart happy!!!!
Because I'm ate up!
Because I have to!
I've never even thought about why I turkey hunt, bowhunt, fish, etc. It's just what I do and all I want to do. Always been that way.
To put it differently, guys like watching racing, enjoy skiing, hockey, etc why? No thoughts gotta go into it just what we do. The only positive is no one is nagging you out there. That being said it's great you listened to your daughter. Gotta give her time she likes and it's awesome she's willing to sacrifice for you as well. You're blessed brother
I love the intensity of it. If the hairs on the back of your neck don't stand up when a gobbler is approaching, you need to go take up golf or something. It doesn't matter if it's freezing cold with no leaves on the trees or blazing hot with barely a breeze in the woods, I want to be there if there's a possibility of interaction with a grown gobbler. I love it, I'm obsessed by it, and I've got to have it. I don't need to kill a gobbler to have a great day turkey hunting either. Being there soothes my soul.
Jim
To simply put it...because I have to.
Nothing gets me as excited as a gobbler approaching from the time I see him until I kill him or he beats me -period . That interaction is what it's about for me - trying to outsmart and outpatient a gobbler!!!
I didn't choose turkey hunting, turkey hunting chose me.
It's a lot easier getting a dead bird a mile or more out of the woods than a dead deer.
I just want to live inside that sound.
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