Just about fed up with this aggravating sport. Tired of overcrowded public land, tired of expensive land lease, tired of over priced licenses shells and over advertised crap that don't work. Tired of low turkey populations and no gobbleing. Safe bet I give it a week next year and if it ain't better im done. Also a safe bet if I quit hunting this aggravating bird I'll never buy a license again. Rant over, sorry.
Sorry to hear that. Sounds like frustration boiling over that hopefully a little time will help. Every once in a while we all get a bit of the same but when it all works and you're standing over that bird that you just bagged it seems worth it. Here's hoping that you have one of those perfect hunts and the fire rekindles for you.
I been hoping that too jac63 but it's been this way and getting worse for several years. The place I hunted my whole life got clear cut and ruined so I'm having to beg and hunt public land mostly now. Where I live in TN nobody let's anybody hunt so don't bother asking for permission. The lease I paid alot of money for has nothing on it either and I hate hunting wma's cause they're sooooo crowded. I love this with all my soul but it's getting not worth the money or lack of sleep anymore when you know what to expect when you get to the woods.
I hope it gets better for you. Like you I hunt a lot of public ground. Yeah it sucks sometimes. Just this morning I busted butt up an incline most wouldn't touch, worked a bird for a half hour and then missed at 25 yards. Frustrated yes, gonna quit, never. I hope you can find the joy again and the fire gets lit. Public ground ain't for wimps. Good luck.
You should try being a turkey hunter in Florida , sad thing is many parts of the country are getting about as bad or worse
Mainstream hunting media , over promoting the activity ....is a major contributor to the decline in the situation , no sooner the widespread circulation of "bill Jordans real tree " tv show then the bs started
Right, wish I had there places to hunt.
I know your pain. The lease I've hunted since I was old enough to hunt, doesn't have but 1 sometimes 2 birds on it, this year. Its usually covered with them. Public land where I'm at sucks as well. I've called in one bird this year and missed it. Stick in there, don't give up. The bad times make the good much better.
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Yep for the average guy like us , hunting is getting tougher year to year. With that said , this sport ain't for the faint of heart. If we had access to half the places these celebrities have then we could rack up birds left and right too.
If it is as bad as you say save that money you pay for a lease and go on a couple hunts every spring. I'm dealing with landowner grandkids riding four wheelers on my best spot, now I listen to them gobble on adjoining property I don't have permission for every morning, aggravated yes but it sure beats sitting at home doing chores.
Quote from: AndyH on April 24, 2016, 10:21:46 AM
If it is as bad as you say save that money you pay for a lease and go on a couple hunts every spring.
^^ This ^^
Public land in my area is getting worse for all the above mentioned reasons. Finding a private spot is very hard to do as you mentioned and joining a club lease doesn't ensure a good huntable population of birds. I take the money I would spend locally and hit the road. I save every dime I can to make it happen. I'll pick up roadside beer cans if I have to. I will hunt and I will kill turkeys. Couldnt stop if I had to...
Lets talk next March and we'll see how ya feel then
Turkey hunting is rewarding when it all comes together. Had my toughest year yet but managed to kill 2 and call up a 3rd that was killed by my uncle. Don't ever give up, all the trials and hard times will make the reward so sweet when you do finally connect on one.
Wish that all the "public" land would become PUBLIC land. No more permits, no more draws, no more special seasons. Let it open when it opens for the entire state. If it is the revenue they are worried about, start a area usage fee or stamp. This would free up more area for people to spread out. The problem isn't over crowding, it is over restriction.
I hear it all the time, "if I don't get drawn for ____ permit, I'm gunna fight the crowds at ____."
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Don't hunt where others hunt. Use a boat n get on an island or far side of reservoir, hike a mountain if you're capable. Roost birds n be first one near them in am. Stay with it bud n find a way through the problems. I do understand the frustrations though cause deer season is that way round here. Turkey isn't as bad normally
Hang in there!!!- Things will get better for you.
OP, just reading your words tells me you love hunting turkeys, but more than that you hate to loose or come up empty. I feel your pain bro!
This year is teaching me, if anything to be humble. I hunt public woods mostly and nothing has been going in my favor this year. Seems like I'm just picking the wrong days to hunt. Or i just get to the spot a little too late only to hear another hunter working a bird i wanted to set up on. And so on ....
Hang in there and you'll be rewarded. That why I'm still pushing!
This too, shall pass.
Quote from: dejake on April 24, 2016, 04:53:05 PM
This too, shall pass.
yep , just like a kidney stone
I'll do you a favor. I'll take all your turkey hunting stuff off your hands for free my OG brother :funnyturkey: hang in there and when it happens,you will appreciate it that much more.
B-Well
Johnny
Quote from: Old Gobbler on April 24, 2016, 08:30:33 AM
You should try being a turkey hunter in Florida , sad thing is many parts of the country are getting about as bad or worse
Mainstream hunting media , over promoting the activity ....is a major contributor to the decline in the situation , no sooner the widespread circulation of "bill Jordans real tree " tv show then the bs started
Amen to that brother!! :icon_thumright:
Don't forget that thanks to the NWTF pushing their Grand Slam, everyone and their brother
HAS TO come to central and south FLA to get their Osceola. Outfitters pay the landowners big bucks for rights to their lands. Florida is developing like crazy, so there is less land to hunt every year. Landowners know the value of their land, and their Osceolas. That all equates to average Joes, like me, not being able to afford a good place to hunt turkeys in FLA.
Step in the FWC, to put the final nail in the average turkey hunter's coffin. There are hundreds of thousands of acres, if not a million + acres of land to hunt on that are home to squadrons of turkeys that live on pristine land.
BUT, FWC doesn't allow hunting on them. Hikers, bikers, campers and wealthy equestrians get to recreate
for free on these lands, but hunters, who pay for their privilege to recreate, are banned from setting foot on these gorgeous, game loaded lands. Instead, FWC allows turkey hunting on only a small percentage of their lands. They further screw it up with the ridiculous quota system that allows you to draw a hunt only every 2 or 3 years. That bad situation is compounded by their "buddy system" which doubles the number of hunters in the woods that would normally be allowed. Granted they have to share the bag limit, but that is twice the hunters and twice the pressure on the same number of hunting spots on the same number of birds.
I got drawn for my favorite quota hunt WMA this season, but got 3 days of bad weather and Walking Wally's. I got zero gobblers. Then I had a Special Opportunity hunt on my favorite WMA. The turkey count was low due to 2 bad hatches (that's life), but there were also poachers hitting the area hard. The biologist called FWC law enforcement 3 times during the hunt. Even though a FWC LEO
lives on the WMA in state provided housing, he wouldn't address the situation.
So am I frustrated with turkey hunting in my own state? Darn tootin' I am!!! >:( >:( >:( But I'm not giving up. I got a lease in SC, and travel most years to feed my addiction. You can't ever give up. Gotta chase those turks wherever and whenever you can. :fud: :turkey:
That whole story is a ton of messed up dude. I do feel for you there. That whole situation isn't right.
Kenny Morgan and I discussed the future of turkey hunting and the effects of the commercialization of the sport. Unfortunately, the future is now and it isn't pretty. I just enjoy what I can, but I have curtailed my hunting significantly because I don't like the taste of what I am usually offered.
Like anything.....it's what you make it. Take the good with the bad and enjoy both
I hunt on Eglin AFB, NW FL. Quite a few birds and plenty of people. Burn about a tank of gas every 3 days hunting mornings and tracking evenings so I can be on the bird's come morning. Soon as the bird starts gobbling you hear 2 or 3 trucks fire up headed your way. Better kill him quick. Got my 2 luckily. Hang in there.
Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 24, 2016, 06:37:19 PM
Quote from: Old Gobbler on April 24, 2016, 08:30:33 AM
Then I had a Special Opportunity hunt on my favorite WMA. The turkey count was low due to 2 bad hatches (that's life), but there were also poachers hitting the area hard. The biologist called FWC law enforcement 3 times during the hunt. Even though a FWC LEO lives on the WMA in state provided housing, he wouldn't address the situation.
So am I frustrated with turkey hunting in my own state? Darn tootin' I am!!! >:( >:( >:( But I'm not giving up. I got a lease in SC, and travel most years to feed my addiction. You can't ever give up. Gotta chase those turks wherever and whenever you can. :fud: :turkey:
Sounds like it's time for you to open your personal turkey season early to get 'em before the poachers. ;-)
Here in Illinois we have a screwed up system that seems to work pretty good. Out season rind the First full week of April to the first week in May. That is broke up into 5 "seasons" When you get tags you get them for one of the 5 seasons and thats that. I get frustrated because we have to apply for tags in December(when I'm chasing duck sand trapping) and turkeys are far from my mind. The good thing about it is that you are not in the woods with everybody in the state that is hunting. It sucks that sometimes you cant hunt when you want but I feel it is less crowded. Commercialization of hunting all species is hurting us poor folks. Started out with deer here,then waterfowl and now seeing it with turkeys. I cant imagine how it must be down in FLA where you guys have all the problems you do.
Have y'all stepped back and realized about what you are complaining about?? Each and every one of you contribute to the same problem you are complaining about other people creating. You hunt turkeys and are complaining that other people hunt turkeys. I'm sorry, but who gave you the entitlement to decide who gets to hunt turkeys? You should embrace this, not fight it. Every one of those hunters in the woods is there with you to ensure a future in turkey hunting. Without them and you it would be much easier for anti hunters to push their agenda. Next time you see someone in the parking lot of your favorite WMA or come across someone in the woods- keep in mind they are there for the same reason... A love for the outdoors and chasing turkeys. I'd bet if you'd open a conversation with them you may find you have a lot in common. I've been fortunate to introduce turkey hunting to lots of friends and family over the years and I'm enjoying getting my kids involved. We need more fellow hunters, not fewer.
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My problem is not necessarily with the hunters it's all the stuck-up landowners and if you knew my situation you'd understand. All these said people's relatives could hunt my grandfather's land at free will when they hunted now if I ask them naw I can't hunt. I don't have anywhere cause my family's said land has been clear cut and I have to beg or pay alot more money to hunt. I'm sick of it, what's going to kill hunting is nowhere to hunt. Not anti's or anything else.
Just be patient, that piece of property that was clear cut will produce again. All the lush growth will attract turkeys for food and nesting cover. I'm sure there are lots of logging roads now that gobblers would love to strut on. I would take a lemon and make lemonade with it, make that piece of family land work for you if you can get in there and plant a small food plot or plots. Keep your chin up and keep knocking on those doors, try asking to hunt something other than turkeys like small game and show the landowner your a decent person and they may change their mind. The glass is always half full my friend!
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Quote from: Planner on April 25, 2016, 12:54:18 PM
I've been fortunate to introduce turkey hunting to lots of friends and family over the years and I'm enjoying getting my kids involved. We need more fellow hunters, not fewer.
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That is why God made squirrels and rabbits, to introduce people to. Introduction is exponential.
I know how u feel. I hunt public land in louisiana and I know crowded and pressured birds. A few years ago I was on a 2 year dry spell then tagged out the next year. This year looked to be dry again. All of my normal spots were vacant of birds. Tried new areas. I hunted several areas this year that I've never hunted before. Trying to learn lay of land and roost spots. On the last hunt of the season this past Saturday it finally came together 4 hours after the birds flew down. Once all the hunters left the woods once he quit gobbling it was just us and the bird. He gobbled again at 8:45 and at 1030 he was flopping. Came in like a ghost. But it made it all worth it now I gave new locations to hunt and more of a variety of plan Ds and Cs. I certainly know the frustration. Did I mention during my 2 year drought I finally had one come in and missed!!
OP I hear ya. Killed on opening day last two years, and totaled 4 birds last year on my road trip. This year nothing but a miss on my road trip. It's frustrating, but I carry on. If it was easy everyone would do it. Hope you keep on hunting this majestic bird for the reason you started in the first place, and I hope you come into some good luck soon!
I am having a great season but then again I have learned that when I get to feeling grumpy I need to shut my eyes, take a deep breath, take in the smells, the sounds and sights that Mother Nature offers. When I do this it always gets better.
Try to just find one beautiful thing be it a wild flower, a birds singing or the blue sky bordered by the bright new spring leaves and then boom he will gobble and yes another hunter may beat you to him or a coyote or Bobcat might booger up your hunt but at least your out there. I find I always hunt better when I take the pressure off myself and just enjoy being out there. Or maybe you will get to put your boot on his stubborn red noggin!
I can tell you this and that is when I am frustrated I will almost always screw up the hunt.
Never give up! That land will regrow, it will take a long time, but it will come back. Good thing is you can clean the property, and keep it from becoming a overgrown mess! I also hunt on public land, and have been for 5 years, and I have yet to kill one bird, come close this year but the gobbler was just out of range, and I felt like I lost my best friend, but it was all worth it, and I'd do it again tomorrow given the chance. Bad day hunting is better than any day at work! One good thing about public land it keep you hoping, and you can mess with other hunters sometimes, given the right circumstances, if someone's working a bird I'll back out and find another bird, but sometimes if the hunting is slow, I'll give them a few yelps back, and then back out and gobble at them, boy that gets them fired up. I don't do that to often ,but sometimes just for kicks. I've learned you have to get there early on public land, like 4am early! Most turkey hunters are great guys, but there are a few that can be difficult, and those guy are usually greedy, they are best to be left alone. Turkey hunting is becoming a popular sport, but most of the new guy coming in will get burned out, and go back to playing golf or fishing, just hang in there and enjoy what God give us all to enjoy!
When your in the bottom of the barrel look up its the only way to go!Been their a couple years ago I lost one of my two leases,2 weeks before season and the other one they started clear cutting in mid March ! So I started looking hard and now I have better place to hunt than I ever did.But Quit is not an option a lot of people talk about taging out quick no way I just like to go !