Old school turkey killers

[northms]

Got served an ad online the other day for a gobbler decoy on remote control wheels. Fully driveable "for field birds" as it said. After I got done shaking my head it got me to thinking about how true old school turkey killers used to kill em with nothing more than flannel shirt for camo and gun/shell combo we would be embarrassed to shoot compared to these days. Still got it done.

Who are some of the old school killers that come to mind from your area? I knew a man growing up decades back that was the best hunter I've ever known and an avid smoker. Took me with him as a kid and told me "we can smoke this morning until the fog wears off and they'll never know the difference." Makes me laugh even now. Chain smoked until about 8am. He was a true woodsman and shot a pump 10 gauge.

[Happy]

None here. I grew up not knowing any serious turkey hunters until I was about 12. That fellow was a dyed-in-the-wool Raye eye disciple. Got to hunt with him one time and we didn't hear a gobbler. After that it was on my own and learning as I went. He did teach me a lot about calling though and bought me my second diagram call. A quaker boy boss hen.

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[guesswho]

I was fortunate enough to be raised by a couple.   I would consider both my Mom and Dad old school.   Took them years to make the change from paper shells to those new fancy plastic shells.   And our neighbor was a hardcore turkey killer.  His name was George Loftin.    I remember several occasions where people would stop and talk to us.  The question was always asked, y'all done any good?   Standard reply was nope, ain't heard or seen nothing all year.  Several times there would be a dead gobbler in the trunk.   I'm glad I was raised in that time period.  If you were lucky you might have a Camo hat or an old military jacket.  I remember the calls were homemade cane calls that we would piece together for the weekend hunt when we got to camp and a ps olt scratch box.   Fun times and priceless memories.

[Yoder409]

I guess.............in this area.......it's me.

Growing up, there were no turkeys here.  The first one that showed up near our place was in, I believe, 1979.  I knew of 2 other guys who hunted turkeys.  One was a buddy's dad.  He's been gone for 15 years.  The other is my wife's uncle.   And me.

Kinda sobering to think I'm one of the "old guys" of the sport hereabouts.

[ShootingABN!]

My Uncle was old school. Took me under his wing. Oh man those were the good old days.

[Remturkey]

My Dad was a great deer hunter bit didn't have much interest in turkey hunting.  I found my turkey hunting mentor in my neighbor Pete. He had hunted turkeys since the first season was opened in my county in 1974.  After he retired when the season rolled around he would hunt everyday.  He taught me so many things that I rely on to this day like do a lot more listening than calling, stay in the woods until quitting time and if you know gobblers are in the area, just keep after them because eventually one will want to play the game.

He used the same gun for over 40 years, a H&R single shot 10 gauge with a homemade paint job and a hair trigger.  That thing weighed a ton and every year he said he was going to start using his 20 gauge pump to lighten things up but he never did.  He had the same vest the entire time I knew him and he carried two calls in it, a slate and a box. With the exception of three seasons, he always tagged his two gobblers every year.

Unfortunately Pete passed away in December while deer hunting. It was unexpected and hit me very hard.  It is going to be very different this Spring not having him around. Usually every two or three days during the season I would stop by in the afternoon and we would sit on his porch in the rocking chairs comparing what we heard or seen and what the plan was for the next day.  His wife gave me his box call he used and it will carried in my vest this spring and used like he taught me...not too much and just loud enough to get their attention.

Thanks for everything you taught me Pete, rest easy old friend

[old3toe]

  The one that stands out the most to me is my uncle. He's always been hardcore on deer and turkey. He's taught me a lot of things about turkey hunting and we both push each other if one of us is having a bad season. He uses the same gun he bought new in the 80's and still uses the same vest I guess since the same decade. Has holes in it and faded camo. He's always losing stuff out of it too.lol Calls, strikers, gloves.haha Don't know how many times I've picked his stuff up walking behind him on hunts together. We both learned on tough public land birds. He's a flat out killer though. He doesn't get into all the fancy gear, calls, and other technology at all. Very old school and hates any kind of change. Uses an old pot call til he loses it out of his holey vest then grabs another old one off his bench in the garage and uses it til it suffers the same fate. Also only carrys a few calls too. He's one of those guys that's always trying to give things to people or help them. Never accepting anything in turn. I've never known him to buy any new camo but maybe once or twice. He finally retired but has worked so much in his life he's just starting to slow down and we don't hunt as much together as we used to. He's been telling me the last few years he can't keep up with me now and doesn't want to slow me down. I've been dreading these days. I try to tell him we'll hunt slow or blind hunt anything just to enjoy each others company and relive all the past hunts together and tell our stories over and over again. He won't have it though for some reason. It really does suck. Funny thing is though he tells people I'm the turkey killer not just a turkey hunter. And jokingly tells them not to tell me where a gobbler is because I'll kill him for sure and do it fair, by outsmarting him. Makes me feel good that he sees me as such a good turkey hunter but makes me feel even better because I know what I do because I learned most of it from him. And that's exactly what I remind him!
   Sometimes you've just got to think like a turkey, nothings impossible when it comes to calling a bird in, and never be afraid to move or try different calls or techniques.

[sendero558]

A 72yr old friend of the family carried me 15yrs ago and called up my first gobbler for the wall. Never got excited never batted an eye. Had patience and persistence he'd developed over 50yrs of turkey hunting and could stay all day and never hear a sound but had a knack for knowing when and where to look for them to come through feeding. Man I miss him

[Brian Fahs]

We had a cabin in perry county pennsylvania when I was a kid. I started hunting turkey in the mid 70s there. There were some locals there named Rohm and Smith who were way ahead to the game at killing turkeys at that time.

They would always kill birds and also traveled to other states to hunt them. Dick smith use do hunt with celebrities and would travel to hunt with them. I remember ris son Chris showing me a box of  beards his dad had killed. I was in awe of that man.. what a turkey hunter he was.

[Yoder409]

We had a cabin in perry county pennsylvania when I was a kid. I started hunting turkey in the mid 70s there. There were some locals there named Rohm and Smith who were way ahead to the game at killing turkeys at that time.

They would always kill birds and also traveled to other states to hunt them. Dick smith use do hunt with celebrities and would travel to hunt with them. I remember ris son Chris showing me a box of  beards his dad had killed. I was in awe of that man.. what a turkey hunter he was.

The Rohms are STILL killing them Perry county birds.   Yep.

[Sixes]

My Dad and one of his buddies would fall under that description. They have been eat up with turkey hunting for decades.

My Dad just turned 75 and having more health issues every year and Robert, his buddy, is around 70 and slowing way down. They both still love to try it, but neither can get around too good, nor hear very well, but they both love the chase.

As a matter of fact, my Dad called and asked me about driving him down to a quail plantation that we get to hunt, so I said I would go and to call Robert and see if he wants to go. He called him and now I'll be driving the old geezers down in a couple of weeks for a week long hunt.

I'm looking forward to the trip with them

[Gooserbat]

My elders would kill them by any means possible.  They would have loved reaping.

[Greg Massey]

Field Stream magazine is what go me started turkey hunting.  Curt Gowdy the American Sportsman was another one that had major impact on my hunting and turkey hunting years. I wanted to be just like Curt Gowdy. Them this sweet young lady stepped into my path and i change directions and got married so hunting stopped for just few days, now 44 years of marriage and still chasing the outdoors.  I"M SURE most of you don't have a clue who Curt Gowdy was anyway, but as someone said us old geezers will remember the days of waiting for the monthly issue of the magazine and watching the American Sportsman on TV...

[sswv]

went spring gobbler hunting for the first time in 1974. carried a red letter 37 Winchester in 16ga. no camo, no decoys but I did have a hand me down Lynch 'Jet Slate'. I was hooked and spent as much time as possible hanging around the older guys absorbing everything they had to say. a big crowd from my area wound go to a well known trout lake and camp the first week of gobbler season. turkey hunt in the morning and trout fish in the afternoon. man-O-man, those were the days.  some of those old fellows would roll in their graves if they saw how it was done today.

[Greg Massey]

went spring gobbler hunting for the first time in 1974. carried a red letter 37 Winchester in 16ga. no camo, no decoys but I did have a hand me down Lynch 'Jet Slate'. I was hooked and spent as much time as possible hanging around the older guys absorbing everything they had to say. a big crowd from my area wound go to a well known trout lake and camp the first week of gobbler season. turkey hunt in the morning and trout fish in the afternoon. man-O-man, those were the days.  some of those old fellows would roll in their graves if they saw how it was done today.

So agree, we would hunt until lunch in Mo. and fish and rest during the afternoon, those stories around the campfire at night were priceless in my opinion. I remember the beer cans having the removable pull tabs on the cans.. LOL...man I'm old...