become the mess deer hunting is today? My vote is doubtful for these reasons:
1)Hard to high fence turkeys
2)To hard to age on the hoof(or foot if you will).We all know real deer hunters only shoot aged mature deer.
3)Not as cool to ride around with your tailgate down with a gobbler in the back
Thoughts or opinions........
Lord I sure hope it doesn't.
I hope not (and doubt it) or Ill be starting a forum called Old Rainbow Trout
Quote from: Rokhal07 on January 22, 2014, 08:53:51 PM
I hope not (and doubt it) or Ill be starting a forum called Old Rainbow Trout
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: I will change my handle to Redtrout.
Quote from: redarrow on January 22, 2014, 09:04:05 PM
Quote from: Rokhal07 on January 22, 2014, 08:53:51 PM
I hope not (and doubt it) or Ill be starting a forum called Old Rainbow Trout
:TooFunny: :TooFunny: :TooFunny: I will change my handle to Redtrout.
We'll have a spot for you Redtrout!
I sure hope not
Can I become Tailfin? :toothy9:
I hope not. I see the number of turkey hunters staying steady or declining in the coming years.
More people and less hunters in the future is my prediction.
Quote from: Tail Feathers on January 22, 2014, 09:27:10 PM
Can I become Tailfin? :toothy9:
I hope not. I see the number of turkey hunters staying steady or declining in the coming years.
More people and less hunters in the future is my prediction.
I agree, less hunters going forward.
I call dibs on "PAspinnerbait."
Quote from: Old Gobbler on January 22, 2014, 09:05:49 PM
Turkey hunting is essentially a difficult sport with a steep learning curve , a few folks may get lucky from time to time ' but the clever guys are the ones who do most of the killing , most of the time - Lovett Williams liked to say , turkey hunters are a " cut above" the normal hunter
TV hunting shows have the potential of portraying the sport of turkey hunting as more easy than reality , and bringing more people into the sport- crowding and hunting pressure are going to have a negative affect of populations in the future - more people , less turkeys
I think you nailed it. I am by no means a professional but it never fails. Every season a couple of my buddies start calling me mid-season to come help them kill a bird(s). They are the guys that enjoy it but don't share the same addiction. They typically don't have much skill as a woodsman either.
I also agree about the turkey shows or the lucky sob's that kill a bird on their first hunt. Just fuels the fire and clogs up the woods w/ fools running around hammering on some box call at every gobbling jake.
I understand we all start somewhere but I hope the fraternity of die hard turkey hunters always stays a little smaller than deer and duck.
I hope not! I think you are right, pretty sure to age a gobbler at 30 yards, unless it's a jake, which is as close to the "mess" deer hunting is because of trophy mentality. I like how Col. Kelly says they used to call them young gobblers and no one thought any different.
Sure hope not.
owltrout, ah come on guys ???
Hope not but wouldn't be surprised. TV has a way ruining every other hunting sport, waterfowl hunting has been completely blown out here in indiana. I can't stomach any of the crap on TV no more!
Quote from: jakesdad on January 22, 2014, 08:41:39 PM
3)Not as cool to ride around with your tailgate down with a gobbler in the back
Thoughts or opinions........
Who does this ? Mine rides in the backseat or sometimes I put him in passenger side of truck and buckle him in.
I sure hope it doesnt get that bad!! However i think its very much heading that way!! Every year i talk to more and more people that only shoot mature gobblers. Atleast 3-4 years old. i talked to a guy this past spring on public ground. He asked if i had any luck? I said i killed a nice 2 year old a few days ago. He grinned real big and said cool that's prolly te same two year old i have to run off every time I'm hunting this spot!! I said you run him off?!! He said yes him and two of his buddies tear my spread up and knock over everything!! Said it ticks him off!! I asked why don't you ever shoot any of them? He said they're to young and he only shoots big ole mature birds.As in 11-12 Inch beards and no less than 1 1/4 spurs!!!ha ha i said well that's alright but i bet you don't kill very many birds do ya? Sure he said only the bigunns!! Hmmm well I'm not apologizing for shooting a two year old hard gobbling. bird with 1 1/8 inch spurs!
Ha ha he seemed pretty full of you know what. But i have heard this more and more. Also I've yet to see someone run off a group of three longbeards intentionally for messin up his decoys.ha ha
I hope not. I hunt deer and turkeys and will take turkey hunting anyday over deer hunting. Read my signature line and it tells it like it is. Big bucks are killed every year by novice's who know nothing about the sport. It's pure luck. You don't kill a mature gobbler by luck especially if you hunt the old-fashioned way, without a blind or decoys.
I hope not. but I don't think so. there several turkey hunters but very few legit hard core turkey hunters. its the same with deer but there are a whole lot more. t.v. shows don't do much for turkey hunting you cannot get the feel or the excitement like with deer. and they make it seem so easy set up a decoy over call and you'll kill a turkey. people get way more discouraged turkey hunting rather then deer hunting.
I hope and pray not!!! As alot have said...being a "Turkey Hunter" takes true skill! It doesn't happen over night and you really have to be dedicated! I love to watch the quick decline of hunters I see out in town early in the AM after two weeks into the season. We have to remember anyone can kill a turkey....but it takes a dedicated and skilled person to HUNT a turkey! I have come along way myself with alot of help and trial and error...but I still have alot to learn and I'm looking forward to it!
God Bless
Like everyone else has said it's not gonna happen unless all the idiots in the woods get a whole lot smarter, and God knows that's not gonna happen.
I do notice around here how people give up way early when they dont kill a bird.But I have noticed a trend among those kind;its never because of a lack of their "skill",its always the birds fault! Spring is too early,too late,they're henned up,or my personal favorite.....all the gobblers are call shy.
I belong to the Ray Eye school of thought on that one.Birds never become "call shy",only people shy.If they were actually call shy,they would die out in a hurry from a lack of reproduction because they'd always be running away from each other.
I think the number of hunters will stay steady or slightly decrease.Seems the number of beginners stays the same,its just different people.I believe there is a big turnover rate in the lower ranks every year because its not as easy as the "pros" make it look on the idiot box.
For those who only shoot "mature" gobblers,i'm glad you can see that 1/8" difference in spurs on a bird at 20-30 yds in the grass/leaves/crop stubble or whatever.Your eyes are a WHOLE lot better than mine.Thats ok,save all those 2 yr olds for me I aint proud!
Lord , I hope not. 90 % of turkey hunters are very likeable people. Deer hunters , well ........ !
Some people will try to take it to the QDM (QTM)mentality.
A man that will tell you he only shoots three year old or older turkeys is either lying, clueless or both. Probably both!
I don't think it will. (Not all) but most young people are to lazy to get out of bed at 3:30 or 4:00 to go turkey hunting. I think there will be less hunters in time to come. Myself I don't care how long the beard or spurs are on a gobbler. Any gobbler I call in and kill is a nice one to me. People should just hunt and enjoy what God sends there way, big or small, and if you have a child that likes to go hunting with you, YOU are blessed and lucky. I think kids going hunting is declining.
:OGturkeyhead: :OGturkeyhead:
"I think kids going hunting is declining."
Not at my house!!!! :z-guntootsmiley:Got one who started last year and another one who cant wait to go along. Hoping they become hopeless turkey addicts just like their dad!
Won't happen in my neck of the woods. We legally shoot what we want. Don't need no stinkin celebrity approval :toothy12:
I fear it's going to get as bad! Everyone watches the hunting shows and they portray it as being so easy and next thing you know the woods are full of hunters and we're left with some educated birds to deal with. I am all for promoting the sport and encouraging new hunters to take up the sport, but there is a right way and a wrong way.
I doubt it. The ticks and skeeters will see to that.
I don't think so, because when was the last time you saw a video where they talked about the weight or the spurs. Naw, they just look at the beards throw it over their shoulder and walk out. It's easy enough to kill a 2 year-old and to be honest they have really helped my self esteem a few times in the past. To the general hunting public who buy into the video craze a gobbler is a gobbler and they have no idea what a limbhanger is.
Man, I hope not either.
It seems the easiest way to tell the old gobblers from the two year olds. They are the ones that snub their nose at your best calls.
Quote from: old3toe on January 22, 2014, 10:31:58 PM
I sure hope it doesnt get that bad!! However i think its very much heading that way!! Every year i talk to more and more people that only shoot mature gobblers. Atleast 3-4 years old. i talked to a guy this past spring on public ground. He asked if i had any luck? I said i killed a nice 2 year old a few days ago. He grinned real big and said cool that's prolly te same two year old i have to run off every time I'm hunting this spot!! I said you run him off?!! He said yes him and two of his buddies tear my spread up and knock over everything!! Said it ticks him off!! I asked why don't you ever shoot any of them? He said they're to young and he only shoots big ole mature birds.As in 11-12 Inch beards and no less than 1 1/4 spurs!!!ha ha i said well that's alright but i bet you don't kill very many birds do ya? Sure he said only the bigunns!! Hmmm well I'm not apologizing for shooting a two year old hard gobbling. bird with 1 1/8 inch spurs!
Ha ha he seemed pretty full of you know what. But i have heard this more and more. Also I've yet to see someone run off a group of three longbeards intentionally for messin up his decoys.ha ha
that really is sad..i am glad it isn't like that up here dealing with other hunters,not that i would care,i hunt and kill what makes me happy......i get a kick out of those guys...Like they're gods gift to hunting or something...H'n'B'
I'm afraid I would have called him a liar.
Quote from: old3toe on January 22, 2014, 10:31:58 PM
Hmmm well I'm not apologizing for shooting a two year old hard gobbling. bird with 1 1/8 inch spurs!
Now I'm no biologist but me thinks that's quite a set of spurs for a two years old bird.
That's what I was thinking. 1 1/8 here, I start thinking at least 3.
I can guarantee that if he has a full fan I'm going to give him as face full of #6s! One of my most memorable hunts and hard earned birds two years ago in Kansas was a late season public land 2 year old with 5/8 inch spurs! He had a full fan, 9 inch beard and two other shot sizes healed up in his neck/breast from earlier in the season!
Quote from: jblackburn on January 23, 2014, 04:52:09 PM
I can guarantee that if he has a full fan I'm going to give him as face full of #6s! One of my most memorable hunts and hard earned birds two years ago in Kansas was a late season public land 2 year old with 5/8 inch spurs! He had a full fan, 9 inch beard and two other shot sizes healed up in his neck/breast from earlier in the season!
Exactly how i feel. I love when I kill a nice mature long spurred gobbler, but it makes me laugh and shake my head when people brag about passing up two year olds.
I am seeing an increase in turkey hunter #s and the trophy mentality, but think it might be leveling out. With below average hatches, decreased population, later seasons here, I think many get weeded out. You can bet opening week is crowded though. I just agree with them when they say, "we have no turkeys around here" or "season is too late" or "they are gobbling in March, they will be gobbled out by season". It's every year. I just tell them it's a waste of time and crappie are biting anyway.
I've heard guys talk about "passing" on 2 year olds. They instantly lose all credibility with me. I heard a guy claim he determined one a 3+ year old because it had a large tail fan while strutting.
One reason I often seem negative towards decoys is in part to outdoor video marketing them as "must have". Misuse of them can limit newer hunters' ability to improve calling, reading turkey sign, adapting to a gobbler's reaction, etc.......just throw out a spread and snap your safety off. They have a place, but can become a crutch. I would give anyone advice to learn how to consistently kill turkeys without decoys, then utilize them when needed. Sorry, not trying to bash decoys.
I really don't understand the guys (and there are several of them) that don't turkey hunt here at home one single time, but travel out of state to one of the turkey hunting destination states so they can post pictures on FaceBook. It boils down to being too difficult a challenge. They want to play the part, but it's just cosmetic. And that's what you see with many of these shows. I think that's why the die hard group remains so small. It's about the challenge and not just about posing for pictures.
Well I been hunting for several years and had so good years kill 3 birds and some years to Lucky kill a Jake ....its about the hunt and the challenge not the beard or spurs..sure it would be nice to kill a good long beard everytime ....I dont think turkey hunting will end up like deer because of the challenge. Around here by the second weekend most have given up and the rest of us have the good hunting to ourselves
Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
Antler porn and high dollar leases have killed deer hunting.
I don't see turkey hunting heading the same way. Success rates are lower than deer hunting thus newbies get frustrated and give it up quicker, seasons are shorter, and most importantly the emphasis placed on beards and spurs is not the same as that placed on antlers.
Anyone who only kills birds with 11 inch beards and 1 1/8 spurs is gonna save a a lot of money on shells, because they are very very very seldom going to pull that trigger..
Quote from: guesswho on January 23, 2014, 03:52:45 PM
That's what I was thinking. 1 1/8 here, I start thinking at least 3.
x3,3 year old here.
Some good responses here. I'm right in the camp of enjoying the hunt. Part of the fun is when you get a bird going to retrieve him and seeing what you got. The most important or the measurement of my hunt is the set up and how the bird performs on his way in.
I use decoys sometimes. I'm famous for putting down a set-up only to head off after a bird and leave the decoys to be picked up later. I have had some success with a DSD set up of a submissive Hen.Feeding Hen & Jake. Not sure why but that set up has helped me a couple times finish off a tough bird.
The dedication that it takes to be a turkey hunter thins the herd out quick.
When you do it right, it isn't easy. And as Tom Kelly says "It ain't supposed to be easy"!
That is what keeps me going is the challenge. When we start doing things to make is where it is easy, like deer coming to timed feeders, is when we will mess it up like deer hunting.
I hope turkey hunting never gets polluted with all that like deer hunting has. It will always remain pure in my heart. Hearing a two year old gobbling and drumming will always get my heart pumping, when it stops doing that, I will quit. All these so called trophy hunters (not hunters, but killers) seem to lose their way and reason of turkey hunting which is being in the spring woods and listening to that gobbler on the limb and playing the ol chess match with him, hoping you made the right decision. Being in the outdoors and getting to hear their haunting gobble is satisfying to me, even if he does only have on inch spurs.