Motivation Drives Action – US Slams: the good, the bad, and the ugly?

[silvestris]

Motivation Drives Action – US Slams: the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Am I being...judgmental?

If we are honest with ourselves, every time we meet a new person we are judgmental.  And occasionally we change our judgment one way or the other. A slam is just something to brag about. A turkey hunt is just a contest between the man and the turkey wherever it occurs.  How the man feels about the contest should depend on whether the contest was conducted under the rules of fair chase or not.

[falltoms]

Motivation Drives Action – US Slams: the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Am I being...judgmental?

If we are honest with ourselves, every time we meet a new person we are judgmental.  And occasionally we change our judgment one way or the other. A slam is just something to brag about. A turkey hunt is just a contest between the man and the turkey wherever it occurs.  How the man feels about the contest should depend on whether the contest was conducted under the rules of fair chase or not.
[/quote .        Well said

[mspaci]

perfectly happy killing birds w/in an hr of my house. can be in 5 states if I wanted, but hunt just 2. Most birds killed with in 20 minutes of house. Mike

[Crghss]

I want to get my slam. It is just something I want to do. And not a single person I know will care. The few hunting friends that I have are big games hunters. They don't say it but they think I'm crazy to fly somewhere to hunt turkeys, let alone the cost. So it's pretty hard to brag or boast about something when  no one really cares. I don't care what strangers think.

If it's the first hour of the first day in a new state or hunting area and a nice turkey presents its self, I'm taking the shot. To many times weather, other hunters, bad luck have have ruined a turkey hunt. Nothings says I have to rush somewhere else. I'm sure there is fly fishing, hiking, site seeing I can do to enjoy and explore the area.

Traveling to new places and meeting people is what I enjoy. I love turkey hunting. The slam seems like the perfect thing to bring it all together.

[Kyle_Ott]

I can speak to the slam as someone who has a considerable number of states under my belt and someone who will make a considerable effort to finish it next spring.

I started travelling to hunt turkeys purely out of the desire to challenge myself through hunting turkeys in foreign environments around 2003.  For many years, man of the places I travelled captivated me and I repeatedly went back there due to the landscapes, turkeys, and people.  But the difficulty of having to adapt, overcome and problem solve in real time diminished as my familiarity with those places increased.  I travelled casually for many years. 

Then I watched my brother start the slam in 2015 and check off a dozen or so states through 100% DIY public/knock on door private access.  I knew the extensive research, the planning and sheer degree of difficulty one accepts when you're giving yourself 2 days to kill a turkey in a foreign place irrespective to weather, breeding phases, etc and I craved that challenge.  He absolutely inspired me and so my slam began in 2017....

I have oriented most of my life around turkey hunting (hunting in general, honestly).  I was hunting after class in middle school, hunting before and after class in high school and my college schedule was arranged to allow me to turkey hunt 3 mornings per week before class.  Turkey hunting and the pursuit to become a better turkey hunter has competed for the number one priority in my life for the last 23 years (I'm 36).

If you pursue the slam through public hunting and knock for private access, you have chosen to pursue the most difficult task a turkey hunter can accept.  While I recognize the validity of the tough questions asked in the OP's post, what I can say for certain is that achieving something so exceptional should require sacrifice.  It should be incredibly difficult.  No one who achieves an extraordinary thing loved the journey 100% of the time but they remained committed to their goal despite the adversity.  And that's why I chose to pursue the slam: it was difficult, I wanted to test myself and I wanted to achieve something great.

By accepting the challenge, I have seen beautiful landscapes, formed relationships with then strangers/now close friends that would never have emerged if I hadn't been in those random/obscure places and I tested my own abilities to problem solve with many constraints and factors working against me.  I have known nothing that compares to the US Slam in terms of difficulty and nothing that rivals the high the comes from success on the road.

Some on the outside may disapprove.  Some on the outside may be extremely skeptical.  Most on the outside looking in will never understand but I absolutely acknowledge that there are quite a few guys now doing it for shameless self promotion and they have the hashtags to prove it in their social media posts.  Personally, I could careless about the court of public opinion on the US Slam.  I don't hashtag and I don't say where I'm at when I take my non-descript pictures.

My slam is mine and I will be completely satisfied with it when it's over.  That being said, only those who have dedicated themselves to the task and made the necessary sacrifices to achieve it get to know what success tastes like when you're under the unique constraints presented by the slam.  But let me tell you there's nothing like it and I'd keep doing it if social media and the internet vanished tomorrow.

I do believe we have a sustainability issue rapidly emerging on public lands with the number of people who are travelling.  They say only 1% of turkey hunters are able to limit out in their home states but the 1% are the guys who are hitting the road and they are absolutely leaving a wake of feathered kill sites across the country as they move into new states.  The problem, in my opinion, is the fact that no state currently categorizes tags for public vs private allocation (unless it's a draw tag).  I think the solution to the problem of overharvest on public lands is simply limiting non-residents to 1 public land tag or one private land tag or just having a 1 bird limit for non-residents that can be utilized on public or private.  This prevents a hunter or a group of hunters from finding pockets of birds and killing them out in the pursuit of their limits.  It would allow for more gobblers to make it through the season and more to be alive when the next hunters shows up. 

Right now, there are a lot of states relying on good hatches.  By the time the season is over, most of the gobblers have already been killed and this year's jakes become next years targets.  But what happens when those states have a string of terrible hatches with virtually no carryover from the year before?

I don't have the answers to all the questions presented by the OP but I believe state wildlife agencies are too slow to act and the problem is rapidly accelerating.  I hope I'm wrong but the number of nonresident plates on public lands seems to exponentially increase with each new season.... changes will come.  Hopefully they come sooner than later and maybe, some outspoken super slam guys can contribute constructively to these conversations.

[BBR12]

I agree with a lot that has been said there. Kyle hit some great points.  The super slammers are typically killing one bird and moving on. It's the traveling killers that move into a state and whack their limit and some of them plus 1 or 2 that are way more detrimental to the population than super slammers. That being said I had already typed up my response to the OP before I read Kyles post. So here it is.

I didn't answer some of the questions, but I got to putting thoughts on paper about why and how I got started pursuing the super slam.

I have on several occasions asked myself why I am after this goal and is it worth it.

To cover my background some, I didn't know anyone on a personal level that traveled to hunt other than my grandfather who would go to TX to hunt with a friend occasionally when I was very young. I was supposed to go my senior year of high school and his friend lost his lease so that was the end of that.  I finally did realize once I was in my twenties with a decent job and vacation that I could really go to another state to hunt. It started with a hunt every other year or so and built into going to TX on a family trip each year with my grandparents and my cousin who had permission to the property.  That went on for about 7 years until my grandparents quite going.

In 2011 after starting my new job a longtime friend and I who work together decide to go after a single season grand slam. We started planning and in 2013 we made the trip to FL for our Osceola and then got our Eastern at home in MS. In late April we headed west with plans to hunt in KS with some acquaintances and then one week later were to hunt with a friend in WY who had moved there from MS. On the long drive out, we started talking about what we would do if we tagged out in KS. It was agreed upon that if we both killed in KS or any other state we would  just keep going  to new states which we did and ended up also hunting in NE and SD before our commitment to be in WY. This is really when the fire to travel and see the country and try to outwit a bird on his ground which I had never set foot on before began. It still started slowly and the super slam was not really the goal with only hunting one or two new states in 14, 15 and 16. In 2017 having successfully hunted in 12 states the goal of the super slam set in and I began to pursue it with more purpose and planning.

Is it fast paced sometimes? Yes. Is it a struggle sometimes? Yes. Do I have to postpone or miss things? Yes. Have I met some great people along the way? Yes. Are there a lot of folks out there just for the pictures and recognition? Yes. Is it a goal that everyone should go after? No. Do I get into too much of a rush sometimes and not enjoy it like I should? Yes. That being said I try to take lots of pictures for myself and enjoy it and not be in so much of a rush.

I try to plan around as much as possible, but I'm also tied to my work schedule when I can take days off. I very seldom hunt for myself when I'm at home. I try to take or go with family and friends and focus on them.

I have pulled into a state with a 1 bird limit and killed my bird in 30 minutes, and I was done there. I'm not after that but if it happens it happens. I learned a long time ago you don't pass up opportunities if you want to eat a bird and not a tag. Most of the time myself and my friend travel together so we are there for each of us to get a bird and that usually prolongs the stay. Sometimes if the hunting is good, we will stay in a state an extra day or two if the bag limits allow.

Simply as stated before I love to see new places and hunt there. There is just something about pulling into a place I have never been, finding, figuring out, and killing a bird in a fairly short period of time. That usually means when I'm on the road I'm there to hunt. I didn't drive xxx miles to sit around the campfire all night or whatever else, I can do that at home, I drove there to hunt. Everyone is different though and that's why you see some folks that just want to go have the experience and if they kill a bird that's a bonus. It's just boils down to what you enjoy.

[Dtrkyman]

I have no idea the success rates of the traveling hunter, for me it is rare I do not kill a bird, so some of us traveling idiots do quite well!

It is the same as any locals, some put in the effort and have the knowledge to get it done and many do not, not any different.

[deerhunt1988]

Firstly, I'll give my background. Wildlife professional from Mississippi. Went on my first out of state hunt to Texas in 2006 for a high school graduation present. 2007 rolls around, dad and I want a Merriam's so we head to the Black Hills. 2008 all we lack is an Osceola for a slam, so head to Florida! Heard about how good MO was, so we end our season there. Each subsequent year, we headed back to repeat states and often tried to throw a new state in the mix. Very thankful to have a father who loved to travel and chase turkeys as much as I did. And a mother who supported our addiction! Finally get a 'big boy' job in late 2013. The next spring (2014), I made it a goal to hunt a new state or two every year. A few years later, I'd gotten birds in a bunch of states...It'd started to really add up!

I always looked forward to Dave Owen's post on forums with his end of season recap. Always hunting turkeys in new places and sharing amazing experiences. Then I read about this book called "Turkey Men". In February 2017 at the NWTF Convention, Thomas Pero, author of Turkey Men, had a booth set up. I'd already planned on purchasing the book, which contained Super Slam "profiles"/experiences from hunters who'd completed their Slam. When I visited the booth, Jeff Budz (super slammer/like 100 grand slams or something crazy) was also there. For 30 minutes the three of us chatted about turkey hunting, the Super Slam, my plans for new states that spring, etc. I finished reading the book pretty quickly and decided I'd become a slammer as the feat was obtainable and I set a goal of accomplishing it by the time I was 40. Pero actually helped me out and put me in contact with another slammer who gave me some great info for my upcoming trip that spring!

And here I am today a few springs out from finishing, well before my goal age.

Moving on to the questions:

KILL ONE, MOVE ON:I'm not always the "kill one and move on" type. Before I got serious about the slam, I'd normally stay in the goal state(s) and keep hunting. This year I hunted a new state, loved it, and stayed a couple more days. I still cut my trip short to save on vacation days. There are A LOT of places I look forward to returning too because I did fill a tag there really early on.

ONE STATE A YEAR: There is nothing wrong with knocking off one state a year. That is pretty much how I started out. In fact, I'd argue that person is doing way less damage than some of the 'fast-trackers'. The one-stater isn't going to be on as hard of a timeline. They will be able to relax and enjoy their trip more. The one-stater may not have the vacation time, funds, or gasp THEY MAY EVEN HAVE A FAMILY! This person likely isn't going to spam their journey all over social media and cause unwanted attention to a locale. They just like to travel and turkey hunt!


RELATIONSHIPS:Building relationships is never a problem. I nearly always return from a trip with a local's number in my phone. They may or may not be a turkey hunter. Often times it leads to invites to private land if I ever return to their area. Meeting the locals is one of the great things about traveling!

Back when traveling turkey hunter wasn't mainstream, it was like a cult. MANY relationships with other traveling turkey hunters were built on these very forums. I still remain in contact to this day with traveling turkey hunters I met on forums nearly a decade ago. One thing we all have in common, we don't share our hunts on forums/social media like we used to! We know the damage that can be AND IS BEING DONE as the social media age has taken over.

GIVING MORE THAN TAKING: In most instances, especially if you only kill 1 bird, you very likely give as much as you take. And this is because of the way state game and fish agencies are funded. Say a turkey tag costs $100. The state receives additional funding to match that $100 from the Pittman-Robertson Act. The PR match money is 3:1. So you give $100 to the state, the state is eligible to get an additional $300 from the Feds. So $400 already for one turkey. Then throw in the money you pumped in to the local economy through fuel, lodging, food, etc. That one turkey can easy end up generating $600 in revenue. I dang sure hate putting a price tag on a turkey, but there is the math.

And it is just going to get harder to kill a bird out of state on public land as hunting pressure continues to increase. So a lot of hunters will be contributing hundreds without taking a thing!

THE "FAD": The Super Slam was A LOT more fun before it became a fad. Now every 20-year old out there with a few bucks in his pocket is a "Super Slammer!" with an instagram account listing his state tally and hashtagging #chasing49. It really takes away the novelty of the whole deal and a lot of us who are really deep in absolutely cannot wait to finish! All the glamorization of it in recent years has made my speed my own journey up. You want to know how someone is a US Slammer? They will tell you! Just four years ago 95% of turkey hunters didn't even know what a Super Slam was. Crazy how times have changed.

I hunted late-season CT this year. Couldn't find a gobbling turkey on public land so ended up knocking on a farmer's door. She called us out pretty quick "Must be turkey hunters!" (camo gave it away) and asked where we from. Told her and she mentioned we were probably the 15th vehicle to stop and ask this spring for turkey permission. And all had been non-residents!!!! She said a few years ago, she never had a non-resident stop by. Amazingly, she had even had another vehicle from Mississippi stop and ask this spring..As well as Arkansas, a Carolina....She goes on to say "Ya'll must be trying to kill one in every state like the others."  WHAT THE HECK? A farmer in Connecticut now knows about the Super Slam?!

Then the CT game warden... Super nice guy.. Mentions how before 2020, they never had non-residents running around the public woods in CT and now they are everywhere. He also references the super slam. Within a matter of hours, we basically hear the same thing about non-residents and the Super Slam from a wildlife professional and farmer in CT. Blew my mind!
 
THE BAD: There's also plenty of bad that has came with the popularity of the US Slam. Certain "destination spots" are getting absolutely HAMMERED now days thanks to social media. These spots are now seeing pressure unlike anything that they have ever seen before.

I hunted Rhode Island this year, a state with few turkey and very limited public lands. Ran into 1 YouTuber there. Get back home, see where that 1 YouTuber handed a turkey off to ANOTHER YouTuber. So baam, 2 YouTubers filming on Rhode Island public lands. Yes, I know Rhode Island isn't a destination state. But thanks to YouTube, it will be in people's minds now. That person could be a local in a neighboring state, or actually a Rhode Island resident who didn't realize their was public land opportunity. It doesn't take many additional hunters to really have an impact on areas with very little public land and limited birds.

There is money to be made from the Super Slam journey. And if there is one thing I absolutely cannot stand, it is the commercialization of turkey hunting. Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, merchandise, etc. Someone always has $$ in their eyes. Truth is, very few will ever even end up in the green. But they want their 5 seconds of social media fame. On the other end of the spectrum, a few are now making a living hunting turkey across the U.S. and their following proves the influence they now have. Although not directly related to the Super Slam, it helps fuel it. And I REALLY have an issue with making money at the expense of our public land resources.

You brought up one good point about modern times and technology. "Killing a turkey is easier than its ever been." All the chest pumping and boasting now days about killing a turkey amazes me. Social media, chasing the slam, etc. has  shown us just how easy it can be to kill a turkey for an experienced hunter. I cringe when I see posts or even get texts from people on the road whining/complaining when they ain't killed one in 2 days. Like really? You are upset that you haven't killed a turkey in 2 days? Even though it's easier than its ever been, it ain't always supposed to be easy. If you kill a turkey everywhere you go in 2 days or less, its just showing it isn't as much of an accomplishment as folks make it out to be. And I honestly believe it takes away from the turkey's "worth", you are just showing they are a disposable animal that can be really easy to kill. When I see someone make posts or send me texts like the above, I secretly wish them a horrible dry spell.


TOUGH ON ANOTHER LEVEL:You are 100% right about "tough on another level" when most of the gobbling birds are dead by mid-season. This is also a relatively new phenomena caused by social media. There were a pile of states in the late 2000s, first half of 2010s that you could always go to late in the season and have great hunts. Plenty of gobbling birds left, a few hunters. But thanks to the spotlight these areas have now received, you have to go earlier and earlier to even have a decent chance at success. On this very forum there were a bunch of posts this spring about some of these spots and people complaining about lack of birds, the hunting pressure etc. Truth is, the birds WERE there in most cases. The hunters just got there too late and most were dead or pushed on private by the time they arrived. For this reason, I always try to hit opening week or the second week of a state's season.

ETHICS: They've also been on the downslope in recent years but definitely can't place the blame on the Slam there. I contribute the lack of ethics due to the hunter's drive for success and "Likes". There are also so many new turkey hunters out there, some just really don't understand what it means to be an ethical turkey hunter. These can legitimately claim ignorance. And then some public lands are becoming so crowded with this 'pub land craze', folks are going to that gobbling bird be danged if someone else is on it because "PUBLIC LAND, BRO!"

There is another subset of hunters I've witnessed throw ethics out the window in recent years.. Locals! While traveling, i've had as many locals ruin my hunts as anyone. In areas where they always used to show me respect. And a few have even told me why they do it. They are tired of the non-resident pressure! I somewhat sympathize with them. They grow up hunting these woods their entire life, then suddenly are inundated by non-residents and can hardly find a place to park. Dang right I'd be pissed too if I was in their shoes!



THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES. With this new traveling hunter/public land trend and a decline in turkey numbers, you will see more states start limiting opportunity on public lands, and in some instances non-residents could be restricted more. South Carolina was the first state. They reduced the non-resident bag limit. Alabama took a big step and eliminated a ton of opportunity on their public lands for spring 2022. Bama's reductions will definitely hit non-residents hard. Georgia has a proposal that would also be a big whammy for public land hunters.

And it is going to be a chain reaction. As non-resident hunters lose opportunity in one state, they will be pushed to another. Well, once this new state gets overwhelmed, guess what? That state will start looking for ways to appease their residents' complaining about non-resident pressure. Next thing you know, another state has reduced non-resident opportunity or even public land opportunity for ALL!




CONCLUSION:Didn't mean for this to be so long but there are plenty of points that needed addressing. I've did a lot of contemplating this spring about whether to even continue on with my slam as its really lost its allure. I just love to hunt turkeys in new places, meet new people, experience local cultures.....


The main culprit and damaging factor can really be tied back to social media in general rather the Super Slam itself. Without modern social media, very few people would even know about the Slam.

[Fdept56]

deerhunt1988, I believe this is the single greatest comment I have read on this forum. I was screaming "YES" throughout the whole post. Being one of the younger guys you are talking about, I'm seeing the whole social media garbage in some of my own friends and have the same feelings as you about not traveling as much anymore because it has became the cool thing to do. I can't stand it and hope we see a change in the near future. With a young child and one on the way, I keep hoping this whole thing fades away by the time they're old enough for me to start spending more time away and not feeling guilty.

[silvestris]

Great post, Nathan.  What it really comes down to is the words of the fine gentleman who got me started "Keep your mouth shut, there aren't enough turkeys for everyone."  Well, it is too late for that now.  Hope everything is well with you.

[Loyalist84]

I don't have much interest in Slams except as an excuse to travel to hunt in new parts of this continent that I would never see otherwise. In the same vein that I would like to fish salmon in the River Nith or beyond the Arctic Circle in Norway, hunting a Rio Grande turkey might as well be going to Mars to hunt. I'd love to see how different they are and watch how they interact with their landscape in ways that are foreign to the birds I know, but at the same time I will be much more contented when I finally get across the country to help my old friends (and new hunters) try to take their first turkeys while I get a chance at a Merriams in British Columbia. That's the only reason I'm making a point of trying for a Canadian Slam. Anything else involving different turkey subspecies isn't very high on my agenda, compared to other sporting ventures. Deerhunt got all the rest of it right in a very eloquent way, though.

[Paulmyr]

I have no idea the success rates of the traveling hunter, for me it is rare I do not kill a bird, so some of us traveling idiots do quite well!

It is the same as any locals, some put in the effort and have the knowledge to get it done and many do not, not any different.

Obviously you are not hunting public ground in the South Eastern States then. Must be one of them Midwest or Western "pet" killers

You kill me with how great you think you are. This Mn boy came down to Georgia this spring and brought back 3 of your prize unkillable to anybody but you public land birds.

[Howie g]

Somehow this has turned into a " who's the best killer " thread ?
Good reading Deerhunt88 , wise beyond your years for sure . Some interesting post on this subject.
I haven't the time to chase slams , I'm lucky to slip in a out of state hunt every other year or so .
Having young kids and a family business keeps me around home , but killing a gobbler and seeing all the new country in all the states would be cool I reckon . Good luck to those chasing it .

[eggshell]

Zero, absolutely zero desire to obtain a US slam. My buddy talked me into doing a grand slam in 2010-2012. We done it and it was fun but not as fun as most of my other traveling hunts. We basically done hit and run hunts and used outfitters for our rios and Osceolas. I have traveled a fair amount and started traveling in the 70s. In the 70s you could sit in a local coffee shop and shoot the bull and some farmer would say, "those stupid turkeys are all over my place, come kill em". Now I think that would be an absolute rarity. I made some life long friends and saw a lot of new places and experiences. Killing the turkey is probably only 50% of the joy of going new places. I have a lot more photos of the landscape and places I hunted than the turkeys I've killed. In my old age I still like to see new places, but I mostly just return to one other state each year. My traveling buddy and I acquired a new farm in anther state through my new tenant this year. We went down and scouted it and met the landowner. We hunted there 3 days and made 4 trips. we never came close to killing a turkey, but we had a great time sitting on his proch and telling tall tales. The last time we were there he told us we were the nicest guys he had ever let hunt and next year he'd show us more land to hunt. Of course we made sure we fed him and his wife well. I took them a supply of my Maple Syrup and enough Walleye fillets for a feast and anything else we could share, but most importantly respect and friendship. All this is just as important as killing a gobbler to me.

If pursuing a slam inspires you, then go for it, but at my stage in the game....I'm just fine setting on a porch and visiting for a while.

A side note: we have hunted areas for 30 years with no intrusion from travelers. The last two years we have gotten pushed out of two places and in each case it was millennial travelers. In one case they actually set up camp right in the turkey woods. Also, they don't come in ones or twos, there are usually 3-5 in every camp. I am in the, "this is becoming a problem" group. We talked to one camp of 4 guys and they admitted they had been inspired by the youtubers. They were nice kids and they truly had never been told what was right or wrong. One even said something about some guy getting pissed because he set up on the same bird as the other hunter and spooked it. We had a long talk about giving others their space as a courtesy and he seemed to understand. He even said, I just thought it was public ,land so I could do whatever I wanted. 

[Paulmyr]

I have no idea the success rates of the traveling hunter, for me it is rare I do not kill a bird, so some of us traveling idiots do quite well!

It is the same as any locals, some put in the effort and have the knowledge to get it done and many do not, not any different.

Obviously you are not hunting public ground in the South Eastern States then. Must be one of them Midwest or Western "pet" killers

You kill me with how great you think you are. This Mn boy came down to Georgia this spring and brought back 3 of your prize unkillable to anybody but you public land birds.

Never mention one time, in any post I have ever made, about how good I think I may be. Only emphasis that there is a MAJOR difference in hunting unpressured Gobblers vs. hard pressured Gobblers. I read all these posts about the traveling circus cruising into a state and quickly killin a Gobbler, or even a limit in just a few days. Horsesh#t.   I run into quite a few while hunting NF and WMA land across the SouthEast. Very few, and I mean very few that I meet, even kill one Gobbler. Most that do, are hunting states other than here in the South. Sound like you may have been one of the lucky few in Georgia. Do it consistantly each year in states like Al, Miss, or Fl and then you can brag to me

So all the other post written here on OG about  coming in to public after all the "googans" have educated the birds by warrent423 and killing birds must have been posted by somebody who hacked your account.
You spend most of your time here patting yourself on the back and insulting others. At least be honest with yourself.