Let's Talk Success!

[GobbleNut]

From what I have seen (when I am let out of the old folks home) there are good turkey hunters, bad turkey hunters,...and all levels in between.  There are also good places to turkey hunt, bad places to turkey hunt,...and all levels in between.

Put a good turkey hunter in a bad place to hunt turkeys and he may not kill a turkey.  Put a bad turkey hunter in a really good turkey hunting place and he may kill a turkey.  Does that make the bad turkey hunter a better turkey hunter than the good turkey hunter? 
....Sometimes I just amaze myself (and the other old folks) at the depth of my wisdom....   

[1iagobblergetter]

I don't see showing pictures and telling the details of successful hunts as bragging.  In fact I enjoy seeing the pictures and reading the stories.  The turn off for me is when people mention every few posts that they have killed X number of birds blah blah blah is when I lose interest.

I can understand that..I was just wondering where the bragging comments were coming from...and if we werent suppose to talk about actually harvesting .My feelings are everytime I hunt is a success because I'm out doing what I love and think about all year long. Some years my son and I fill our tags and some years we dont...The ones we don't i think are the ones that have kept turkey hunting at the top of my favorite things to do..it's challenging and somewhat humbling at times. Just when I think I have it all figured out they kick my rear and let me know I dont. I like the  hunts where I'm humbled and then Boom everything comes together...

[guesswho]

....Sometimes I just amaze myself (and the other old folks) at the depth of my wisdom....   

I think it's spelled wizdumb.

[dirtnap]

Success is a weird thing. I know for a fact that there are fellows on this site that have experienced far more sucess than I. I know some are reluctant to post pictures because they don't want to come off as bragging and that's a shame. I personally am not envious of anyone's success and prefere to keep my score with the turkeys. I know another  fellow that went the other way with it. He was getting quite the reputation locally and was known as a flat out turkey slayer. Then the dnr began busting him multiple times. Baiting, trespassing, exceeding his bag limit and hunting after hours were a few of the charges. He had to kill turkeys and he didn't care what he had to do to accomplish that goal. I knew him well as a young man and looked up to him in a way. I learned a valuable lesson. I don't have anyone i put on a pedestal anymore.There are men who are quite good at this game and can give better advise than I and have killed more turkeys than I ever will, straight up and legal. I have to be the best hunter I can be and only gauge myself over my past history in an effort to improve. I will not let my desire to kill one override regulations or my belief in fair chase. Loosing track of how many I have killed is probably the best thing to happen to me. I could probably sit down with a pen and get close to an actual number but I won't do it. I would rather focus on hunting the next one. So in closing I would say to all the new hunters. Take it for what it is worth when you see a  fellow with a load of turkey beards or spurs. It's a fellow who has killed a lot of turkeys. They may have been hunted legally or they may not have. That's for them to worry about. Hunt to the best of your ability, hunt safe and do your best to practice fair chase. Enjoy every day of it and when the day comes that you are successful enjoy it. This ain't supposed to be a peeing contest but about hunting one of the greatest game birds out there.

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Good post. 

[catman529]

I would have to add up all my birds cause those fall hunts when the limit used to be 6 stacked up a few birds. So I'm not sure exactly how many I've killed. Need to add it up and write it down I guess.


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[gergg]

The pile I have killed is a lot smaller than the pile that have whooped me.

[beakbuster10]

I look at every chance I get to be in God's creation as success. Especially the turkey woods in the spring.
Killing a gobbler is good, calling a gobbler that get killed is great, and calling a gobbler that get someone hooked on the sport is the best in my opinion.


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[Hooksfan]

A lot of great comments that I agree with totally on this thread.
I'm sure there are lots of folks on here who have been asked to do turkey seminars, and there are some for sure turkey gurus as well.
To sum my thoughts up, I am skeptical of most folks telling me how great of a hunter they are. The ones I have respect for are the ones that OTHER people talk about being legit.
I will gladly spend time with someone who was a poor turkey hunter with the right attitude over someone else who wanted everything to be a competition.

[Bowguy]

To me a successful season is getting whatever youth or beginner hunter I have on birds. I get nuts trying to make it happen. Personally I don't sweat killing my own birds as just one more or less is kinda who cares. I can remember every second of a "students" bird. Often I only have a day w a kid so jake or Longbeard is the same to them n so to me.  The smiles equal more (success) than the biggest bird I could ever kill

[SteelerFan]

Success is a weird thing. I know for a fact that there are fellows on this site that have experienced far more sucess than I. I know some are reluctant to post pictures because they don't want to come off as bragging and that's a shame. I personally am not envious of anyone's success and prefere to keep my score with the turkeys. I know another  fellow that went the other way with it. He was getting quite the reputation locally and was known as a flat out turkey slayer. Then the dnr began busting him multiple times. Baiting, trespassing, exceeding his bag limit and hunting after hours were a few of the charges. He had to kill turkeys and he didn't care what he had to do to accomplish that goal. I knew him well as a young man and looked up to him in a way. I learned a valuable lesson. I don't have anyone i put on a pedestal anymore.There are men who are quite good at this game and can give better advise than I and have killed more turkeys than I ever will, straight up and legal. I have to be the best hunter I can be and only gauge myself over my past history in an effort to improve. I will not let my desire to kill one override regulations or my belief in fair chase. Loosing track of how many I have killed is probably the best thing to happen to me. I could probably sit down with a pen and get close to an actual number but I won't do it. I would rather focus on hunting the next one. So in closing I would say to all the new hunters. Take it for what it is worth when you see a  fellow with a load of turkey beards or spurs. It's a fellow who has killed a lot of turkeys. They may have been hunted legally or they may not have. That's for them to worry about. Hunt to the best of your ability, hunt safe and do your best to practice fair chase. Enjoy every day of it and when the day comes that you are successful enjoy it. This ain't supposed to be a peeing contest but about hunting one of the greatest game birds out there.

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[C.Kimzey95]

As a " new " turkey hunter compared to the majority of y'all I find this post interesting. As with everything I think there are different stages one goes through while progressing through something like this. As a turkey hunter the definition of success varies as one goes through those phases. It seems to be similar to a bell curve. As you progress it takes more to be considered success ( I.e. killing your limit). Then it plateaus and begins to go down hill (while your actual enjoyment goes up) you just enjoy more of the little things about it and introducing it to other people. The season that really got me addicted to turkey hunting I didn't ever kill a bird. Everything flat out whooped my butt that year but I learned a lot and it made me appreciate my success a lot more. Sorry if this has already been stated but that's just my two cents on it. I don't know about y'all but I'm getting might anxious to just be able to get out there and hunt soon!


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[catman529]

As a " new " turkey hunter compared to the majority of y'all I find this post interesting. As with everything I think there are different stages one goes through while progressing through something like this. As a turkey hunter the definition of success varies as one goes through those phases. It seems to be similar to a bell curve. As you progress it takes more to be considered success ( I.e. killing your limit). Then it plateaus and begins to go down hill (while your actual enjoyment goes up) you just enjoy more of the little things about it and introducing it to other people. The season that really got me addicted to turkey hunting I didn't ever kill a bird. Everything flat out whooped my butt that year but I learned a lot and it made me appreciate my success a lot more. Sorry if this has already been stated but that's just my two cents on it. I don't know about y'all but I'm getting might anxious to just be able to get out there and hunt soon!


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some of my best hunts were the toughest or even resulted in the birds beating me. Now I am always out to kill one, but it doesn't always take killing one to make a good day in the woods. Almost everyday in the woods is a good one.


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