Just curious. Not a contest as it likely reflects more than anything else the quality of the areas you have to hunt. But... What do you consider to be either your or a satisfactory success rate measured in terms of the average number days it takes to put your boot or hands on a gobbler during the spring. I'm talking about over the long haul, several seasons, not just some memorable lucky streak or the like. Discount any days you go and don't hear one.
Seems like the figures I've read from most states report about as many or more turkey hunters as gobblers killed each year so I'm guessing the average number of days it takes is at least several.
I'll start. I go as much as work and weather allow. I probably hear a turkey that I can hunt about one-half of those days and average taking one home every 3-4 days. Again, that's when I hear one where I'm permitted to hunt. And, that's private land. When on public land double or triple those numbers. I'd starve if I could only eat what I killed on public land.
What about you?
I had an unbelievable (lucky) season and tagged my first bird in about 20 minutes of opening day. I went out the next day and heard lots of gobbling and came close to filling that tag. The next time out was May 9th and I filled that tag in about 3 hours. So a total of 3 hunts and about five hours in the woods resulted in two birds tagged. This was private land in NY.
Most other years I had to work harder for my birds but always manage to fill a tag. I live 250 miles away from where I can hunt so I can't be too picky and have to hunt in any weather if I want to make the best use of my hunting time. I would say an average of 3 days (1/2 hr before sunrise to noon) on the private land I hunt to fill a tag.
I typically hear them or make them gobble every hunt. I would say 3 days average for a longbeard. I could probably kill a Jake every hunt.
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I hunt public land & hunted 12-15 days this season & some may have only been a few hours on a weekday morning before work. I killed one gobbler. I know I have gone at least two seasons with no kills several times but was lucky enough to get two in one season a couple times. So you can see I don't kill many birds. The best I can estimate is I average killing 1.5 birds a year & one bird about every 18 hunting trips.
Enough to keep me hopeful every time I go hunting that today could be the day and not enough to make me think I have mastered the game.
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Let's step it up. With decoys vs without decoys
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Quote from: fallhnt on May 26, 2017, 10:53:41 PM
Let's step it up. With decoys vs without decoys
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:help: Ohhhh crap here we go... :popcorn:
I hunted around 21 or 22 days this Spring, and bagged 5 birds, and, I'm guessing over the years that is pretty close to average. However, I do recall one year where I hunted something like 20 days before I killed my first bird. ;D
On average 3-4 days per bird.
My success varies greatly dependent on the timing. I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't shoot one on the Ohio opener. I can Scout more than most and usually have a solid plan together.....and numerous backup plans. That being said, my success rates slowly go down the deeper into the season I go. I kill the vast majority of my birds in the first week of season
I looked back on the calendar and I went 14 times and took 3 birds off public land. Shoulda woulda 2 other opportunities in close that didn't work out. Very good year, I always seam to mess up a hunt early in the season......gets me more time in the woods. :fud:
Quote from: Happy on May 26, 2017, 10:32:26 PM
Enough to keep me hopeful every time I go hunting that today could be the day and not enough to make me think I have mastered the game.
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Happy summed it up for me.
Quote from: Happy on May 26, 2017, 10:32:26 PM
Enough to keep me hopeful every time I go hunting that today could be the day and not enough to make me think I have mastered the game.
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agree, this year was average of 3 - 4 days...tag 3 birds this year...and saw a bunch of Jakes and hens, so the hatch is looking a lot better for 2018....
39 days afield this spring(that includes all days, inclement weather and days where they don't gobble included).
I've seen 23 get killed and 2 misses.
My personal goal each season is to have a kill/hunt ratio that's over 40%.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on May 27, 2017, 02:59:51 PM
39 days afield this spring(that includes all days, inclement weather and days where they don't gobble included).
I've seen 23 get killed and 2 misses.
My personal goal each season is to have a kill/hunt ratio that's over 40%.
Awesome, as usual from you it seems!
It seems like it all depends on the weather. Sunny, blue bird days often result in kills that morning. Rainy, windy, 40-50 degree weather days are better spent doing something else rather than turkey hunting, at least in my experience. Perhaps if I used a blind, I could just wait them out while reading a good book. If someone has a successful strategy for the latter mentioned cold and rainy type of weather, I'd like to hear of it.
I don't know. I'd say average is 2 or 3 days. BUT...it's rarely ever 2 or 3 days. It's either 1 day or 5-6 days. Rarely anything in between.
To me the part of season and the pressure where you hunt matters more than anything. Like Aaron above I can't remember the last time I failed to kill a gobbler or at least get a quality shot on Ohio's opening day. I do hunt private land and I am usually the only one on over 1,000 acres. So I am not a good reference. Actually,my tags are usually filled in hours not days, because of where I hunt. Now I do travel out of state every year and I usually will kill or have a high percentage opportunity within two full days out, and that is public ground. I think I could consistently kill gobblers within a 2-3 day window on early season hunts, later season hunts would probably push that out to 4-5 days.
As eggshell mentioned, there are a lot of factors that one has to consider. The quality of the land, the pressure on that land, the frequency that you're able to hunt, the weather, and your capabilities as a turkey hunter.
My turkeys are killed on private and public land all over the country. I expect to kill, guide a bird or have a good encounter everyday that I hunt in Virginia and several other states where I have private access that receives managed hunting pressure from very smart and talented hunters. That expectation is based on scouting, my capabilities as a hunter and the quality of that land.
When traveling to hunt public or hard hunted private land around the country, you don't have the benefit of hunting scouted birds and consequently I expect to kill 1 bird per 2.5-3 days of hunting. That's an average, though. Sometimes it takes a lot longer. It took me 6 days of hunting and almost 60 miles of walking to kill a turkey in New Mexico this year but there were days in other states before and after New Mexico where I killed turkeys in other states for consecutive days.
I wouldn't say my late season odds really deteriorated this year although as a generalization they tend to. Gobbling is more sparse, birds are more dispersed, a lot of birds have been killed and the survivors have been harassed unmercifully. It's more difficult but the birds are still out there and still very killable through different calling strategies or bushwacking (I won't reap and I won't fan).
I think you asked a great question, OP. Any turkey hunter who isn't looking at himself and his performance in the timber very critically is a turkey hunter who isn't out there looking to improve himself or identify his weaknesses/strengths. There's nothing wrong w that, either. Some guys are perfectly happy to hear birds gobble and to experience the beauty of spring.
However, I would encourage you to track these things and look at each successful hunt and, more importantly, each unsuccessful hunt critically in order to refine your approach to future opportunities and scenarios.
100% on the birds that I am lucky enough to call in and kill.
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It depends how serious I am about targeting a bird. I have been heard saying, give me 3 days and I will let you stroke his beard.
Odd year for me, so by your measure, one in 3. I heard birds gobble on only 3 days and killed one. Was the worst gobbling season ever for me, but most of that was weather related on the days I could hunt.
On the two private places I hunt (small tracts), on one of them if I hear him gobble on the farm and it is a Tom, I would say my odds approach 75% of taking him home, maybe more. I have hunted that place a lot and know by where they are roosted where that are likely to go. Did not hear a bird there this year. On the other, if they fly down on my side, probably about 50-50.
On the public ground I hunt, I have no idea the odds, but they are not as good, not by a long shot. Depends on where they are. Have had them gobble in a bottom and worked in to them only to have them shot going out the other side. Had one bird last year that stayed in a swamp so thick with deadfalls, I could not move much on him. He never came home with me. I usually hunt there from 0 - 14 days a year depending on what is happening on the private locations.
I would have to agree with most of the guys here and say 3 to 4 days, weather and time of season dependent. I did manage to punch my 3 tags this season on toms over 11 mornings afield. I have been chasing them since 1986 and am constantly learning and trying to become a better turkey hunter. It never gets old! :blob10:
Diggy
I used to always tell my daughter that it takes, on average, 5 hunts for every harvested bird but that has went down over the years. A couple of years ago I killed my three birds the first three hunts out. This year I went the first 7 days and struck out but then connected on the next three. I think 3 or 4 hunts on average is close to being right for me. I hunt with or without decoys depending on the situation.
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Quote from: Gooserbat on May 27, 2017, 09:40:17 AM
On average 3-4 days per bird.
Me too
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killed 6 in 10 days with 2 misses while hunting alone. no dekes or blind, some public some not. my success taking others is lower but not a lot lower depending on the hunter. took one buddy 2 for 2 but hes a good hunter as well.
I've never really thought about it. I very seldom hunt 2 days in a row, let alone 3 or more. There's a good chance that any bird I hunt on Saturday will be dead by the next Saturday when I have a chance again. The majority of my birds have been killed the first time I hunt them. 2 years ago I did hunt the same bird until the 3rd Saturday until I got him. But in that time I only hunted him 3 days. Years back I had a streak of 6 years that I was done by 7am the first morning. Turkeys were everywhere then and it was easy to feel like a master turkey hunter! Lol. The population obviously has a great effect on success rate for anyone.
I hear birds every time out when hunting near my current location. Unfortunately, they're often times on land that I've got zero access to and makes it quite difficult to kill them. Having said that, on the days that I was able to locate birds on property I'm able to hunt, the success rate is fairly high. First day I got to hunt here I scored on a nice tom and then had a bird that's given me the slip for a couple years (assuming it's the same bit anyway) continued to do so. I made a trip to another farm later in the season not expecting the birds to be there. Generally you've got to call them across several hundred yards of field and at least 3 fences. Anyone that says they can do it consistently is lying. Needless to say, I got lucky and there was a bird on the farm that got a free ride over my shoulder back to the truck. So basically, when the birds are in the right places, my success rate is around 65% or so. Not a great number in the eyes of many but considering the crap season from last year, I'll take it.
Average 2 - 3 birds a year past ten years. Many kills out of state on good gound with plenty of turkeys. On private land only hunt older birds and usually get the boss. This year didn't get him. Came in behind me twice. Lots of fun tho and I hunt about 30 + days a year.
My year started off disappointing as I took a week off just to hunt Ohio, and the birds were just not there like other years. My mistake for not checking it out before hand and going with previous years success there. So then I was back to working nights and hunting just when I could manage to, and took 2 nice PA birds on 4 total hunts here. Managed a few more out of State hunts in Ohio, in a different area and not where I wasted my weeks vacation and got another nice one.
So I averaged 2 longbeards in PA on 4 hunts, and 1 longbeard in Ohio on 10 hunts, so I'd say the overall average is 6-7 days and that's all Public land birds without the use of decoys or a blind.
success rate is very heavily tied to quality of ground.. My Shot opportunity rate on PA public is bellow 25% where my NY private ground is closer to 75% over the last 10 years. I am the same hunter but less birds more pressure changes the game. On private I know if I leave a bird alone he will likely be alive and still roosted in the same spot if I want to come back to him in a week, public that almost never works out.
I am also out about half my days afield calling for other people and not hunting for myself that tends to drop the success rate a little on those days as well. Overall I try not to leave things to chance either, I rarely hit the woods at day break hoping to hear one to chase. I am usually going in on birds I roosted or know will be there based on scouting knowledge within a high probability and expect to be withing 100yds of a gobbling bird most every morning out.
Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on May 27, 2017, 12:32:40 AM
Quote from: fallhnt on May 26, 2017, 10:53:41 PM
Let's step it up. With decoys vs without decoys
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:help: Ohhhh crap here we go... :popcorn:
Oh no he didn't :TooFunny: :TooFunny:
I think my success on public is severely limited by the one hour drive to where I hunt and working until dark. I have time to scout my private spots due to location, but really don't need to roost them there, although I sometimes do in order to pick one or the other. I work every other Saturday and although I am off on Wednesdays, I work on Tuesdays and can't make the woods in time to roost one.
I know that scouting for ducks makes the success rate sky rocket as well and when I am off on a trip an afternoon scout is critical. And we kill birds then. Maybe I should quit my job?
As I look over all the post I have thought a lot about this. I think there is no other criteria as important for success than the abundance of birds where you hunt. I have hunted all variations in my 45 years of turkey hunting and I would choose to hunt land with more birds, even if it had more pressure, in most cases. Of course there are limiting factors in this, but over all more birds equal more success.
Over my entire turkey hunting career I'd say it's 3-4 days. I used to hunt mostly public and it would have been, perhaps, 5-6 days. Now I hunt mostly private and it's more like 1-3 days. A regret I have is not having kept a good hunting journal/diary. This datum, and much more, would have been included.
I will say this. The day I base my enjoyment of turkey hunting purely on success then I will quit. I know this thread isn't meant in that manner and i am not preaching. But in all honesty I will hunt every day I get with enthusiasm and to the best of my ability. I always want to get better but I refuse to make the turkeys I kill just another number. Chalked up and forgotten. That's not why I hunt and that's exactly why I don't try and keep track of how many I have killed. I like to sit back on a familiar ridge and remember birds from the past. Turkey hunting is a passion but I couldn't care less how I stack up as a "killer". I hunt for me and my enjoyment.
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Quote from: Happy on May 30, 2017, 09:35:45 PM
I will say this. The day I base my enjoyment of turkey hunting purely on success then I will quit. I know this thread isn't meant in that manner and i am not preaching. But in all honesty I will hunt every day I get with enthusiasm and to the best of my ability. I always want to get better but I refuse to make the turkeys I kill just another number. Chalked up and forgotten. That's not why I hunt and that's exactly why I don't try and keep track of how many I have killed. I like to sit back on a familiar ridge and remember birds from the past. Turkey hunting is a passion but I couldn't care less how I stack up as a "killer". I hunt for me and my enjoyment.
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X2 Happy
If I based my enjoyment on success I would have quit years ago.
To answer the original question, I would "guesstimate" that, since 1965, my personal success rate has averaged around 50% on either killing a gobbler or having the opportunity to kill one. As others have stated, that statistic is not one that is of any importance to me.
There are places I can hunt that I feel confident I could kill a gobbler just about every day. I know the terrain. I know where the birds roost and where they are going to go. The fact is that I rarely hunt those places. When I hunt, I want to challenge myself by applying my skills and tactics on birds in situations where I don't know exactly what they are going to do.
The one factor that I base my "hunt success" on is my ability to find a gobbler to have an "encounter" with every day, especially on ground that I am not familiar with. More specifically, if I use my methods of finding gobblers to hunt, locate one on the roost, get a good set-up on him, and then have a conversation,...then I am satisfied to some degree whether I kill him or not. My goal is to do that every day of the season, wherever I am hunting. Now, if I kill gobblers with some regularity doing that, then all the better.
On the other hand, I consider a hunt a failure if I cannot find a bird to hunt using my techniques,...on property where I know there are birds to be hunted. Also, if I hunt a bird and make silly errors in the encounter about things like setting up, calling, moving, etc. that result in a bird getting away, then I have a certain level of "disappointment" with myself.
However, if I do my part and the gobbler still eludes me for whatever reason, I know it is just part of the game,...and I move on to the next encounter.