Preface- I'm for the most part a self-taught turkey hunter, most of my hunting has been solo, from the field edge in a pop up blind (my home area in WI is dominated by ag fields with very small blocks of woods). Although I have been very successful in the past, turkey hunting, to me, was losing it's appeal. I tried to spice it up last year by moving to the 20 gauge but still wasn't feeling all that challenged.
I've lurked here for a the past two years and have been following the THP guys during that time as well. This year I made a commitment to myself to ditch all my private fields, pop up blinds, and decoys and focus on the public woods. It's been the most rewarding fun I've had hunting in a long time! Scouted my butt off prior to the season, exploring some familiar and a lot of new public lands, put miles and miles on my boots (and lost a good 20 lbs doing it), studied the archives on this site, pretty much immersed myself in the "traditional ways" of hunting turkeys.
The up close encounters in the woods, outside of a blind, when that bird is hunting you... much more of a rush, much more satisfying of an experience, successful or not. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this but I even got the shakes (never got them before) when I finally connected on a bird I was after for 3 days running and had a history with from pre-season scouting.
So I feel like I owe a sincere thank you to the OG family, even though my wife would probably have different words for all you. I still have a couple tags left for 4th and 5th week, but quiet honestly I am content if I don't pull the trigger again this year.
Congrats...I'm glad it's all coming together for you
Big congrats, and good job!
Good job. Thats what the sport of turkey hunting is about. Its the gratification for your personal accomplishments not what anyone elses expectations of you are.
Congrats, and good job for being willing to stretch your boundaries. This is a great site to exchange ideas and learn from others.
Welcome to the real side of turkey hunting. No comparison imo to hunting Gobblers in the woods vs sitting on a field edge watching decoys.
Congrats, glad to see the effort pay off
Nicley done! Glad you were willing to try it the"old fashioned way".
Congrats, glad to hear that you have a renewed passion for the game!
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Congrats! Nothing quite like ground rattling from a hardwoods gobbler.
Congrats and good luck for the rest of the season
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