Warning! This post will make you think, calculate and may cause minor shock.
Well, how much gear do you have? I'm talking lifetime purchases of gear, not trips and such. No one wants to add all that up!
For a sport where you carry everything you need to do it on your back on somewhere in a pack, I have accumulated a lot of turkey specific hunting gear.
Probably 15 box calls, 20-odd pot calls, dozens of strikers, trumpets, wingbones, vests, dedicated turkey shotguns, decoys, chairs, camo, camping gear for trips...oooh boy! :z-dizzy: Not to mention my modest stash of TSS ammo. :lol: No wonder my vest is so heavy!!! :character0029:
Many of my calls were gifts, some I purchased.
After typing all that up I'm gonna guess I've spent, and been gifted, somewhere around $7500 in turkey hunting gear since 2001 when I started with two calls, my duck guns and a box Winchester XX shells.
I have no doubt someone on here has that amount in turkey guns alone. :toothy9:
What's your estimate. AND NO ONE, I MEAN NO ONE, IS ALLOWED TO SHOW THIS THREAD TO THEIR WIFE!!!
I would say I could buy a pretty nice house with what I've spent on gear and stuff. Just counting calls, I probably spend 2 to 5k a year. Not counting vests. Those are my two big money item. I've got about 600$ in my shotgun. If I'm counting vests since 2013 when I turned 18 and really went wild I'd say I've owned over 2k in vests easily, I have owned nearly all of them at some point. Calls since 2014 I'm sitting at over 40k and that's custom calls, not mouth calls.
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I've probably spent a couple more dollars than Happy and Crow on Turkey Hunting Gear.. :OGturkeyhead:
Lol .... at 67 years old ....heaven only knows
Ive only turkey hunted for about 20 years all total. I have 4 dedicated guns with optic
More blinds than my truck can hold... 1 gun safe full of calls of every description and lots of other paraphernalia. And i waterfowl hunt in 3 states.
I dont even want to think about it.
I have a headache
Nah. Not today devil. Don't even want to add all that up :toothy9:
More than I would care for my wife to know and I don't regret any of it. I hunt turkeys, ducks, deer, quail, pheasants, doves, coyotes. If you call and say let's go hunting, I'm in. I also have 2 kids that hunt. Now, you have to have at least 3 guns for every outing. We also have all the necessary archery equipment. Then, you have blinds, trail cams, 4 wheeler, boat, cases, waders, vests, seats and the list goes on. Turkey calls have been quite an addiction. I have amassed 83 box calls, 72 trumpets, 40 pot calls, dozens of strikers and a handful of scratch boxes and push pins. I hate to think of the license and trip fees over the years.
My name is Notsoyoungturk and I am a hunting addict. I currently have no plans to attend Hunters Anonymous and I fully intend to share my addiction with other like minded individuals.
Does it really matter? I've got totes full of turkey calls. Plenty of ammo, hunting clothes and everything else you can think of all for a hobby that I really enjoy. In my opinion the fun I have had is priceless.
I don't think 7500 would cover most longer time guys but there are lots worse we could do with our time and money. Thank God He made turkeys
I don't even want to know..and not nearly as much as some of you guys
Quote from: callmakerman on July 05, 2025, 07:36:04 PMDoes it really matter? I've got totes full of turkey calls. Plenty of ammo, hunting clothes and everything else you can think of all for a hobby that I really enjoy. In my opinion the fun I have had is priceless.
I don't regret it, I consider mine money well spent.
Notsoyoungturk, I wouldn't want to add what I've spent on deer and waterfowl hunting...and what I have spent taking grandkids hunting. ;D Again, money well spent IMO.
Quote from: Greg Massey on July 05, 2025, 05:59:45 PMI've probably spent a couple more dollars than Happy and Crow on Turkey Hunting Gear.. :OGturkeyhead:
We pride ourselves on getting the job done by using our wits and good looks, and we're cheap, but not easy.
Hunting is my only hobby but I hunt a lot of different birds and animals with different weapons.
Almost any time I head out to hunt the gear I'm wearing and using is worth more than the truck I'm driving. And I have a nice truck...... you do the math.
Well I was reading about a fella yesterday who has over 400 Neil Cost calls so that made me feel a little better about my call spending.
Now, when you say "turkey hunting gear".......
Is this stuff that I actually have USED in the turkey woods ?? Or does this include accumulated calls and art work, etc that'll never see the woods ??
I plead the 5th on me, but I know a great friend on here (anonymous) that could sell his trumpet collection and buy a Caribbean Island!! Lol :funnyturkey:
I don't even want to add up what I spent in the last year let alone a lifetime. My wife might demand an equal amount for her fun money and we'd be broke.
Having been at it for over sixty years now, just in all of the costs associated with turkey hunting alone...or turkey-related "stuff"...I suspect my investment is approaching six figures by now. Add in all the other hunting I do/have done and I am sure it is well into the six-figure range.
Quote from: Tail Feathers on July 05, 2025, 05:47:45 PMFor a sport where you carry everything you need to do it on your back on somewhere in a pack...
This comment made me think about the dollar value of what I actually have "on me" when I am turkey hunting, including everything from clothing to hunting gear and related accessories. I suspect I am on the low-end of that particular scale in that, adding it up, I come up with a figure of roughly $1,200 of which about half is in the binoculars alone. If I forego carrying them, I can get down to about $650...including clothing/footwear, gun, shells, calls, and sundry items in the daypack I use in lieu of a vest.
Based on what I see some folks on here have indicated they spend on those things...and throw in vests, decoys, blinds, chairs, high-dollar call assortments, etc...I suspect I would be considered to be a pauper in the turkey-hunting world.
Nevertheless, over the decades of hunting, no matter how frugal one might be, the total...if one dares to calculate...is likely going to end up best being described as "frightful", especially if one has the courage to quote that figure to one's significant other. I, for one, most certainly go out of my way to avoid any such discussions... ;D
Gobblenut, I won't tell my wife a number. She may decide to play catch up in the spending dept! :o