How many turkeys is too many

[Kylongspur88]

1 or 2 if I'm lucky.

[Tail Feathers]

"I killed too many turkeys this year!" 
If can't wrap my head around such a statement.   

[Mossberg90MN]

There is a point where something goes from being a passion to being an actual addiction that needs intervention.

I'm a gobbling spring turkey addict through and through. There's a lot worse things to be addicted to than turkey hunting though. Intervention comes in various forms, the season itself intervenes from the monotony of the months between, where we spend quality family time, wet a line, seek rutting bucks, or chase waterfowl flock feeds. The nine and a half months of in between are filled with "everything else", and those two and a half months of spring is "turkey time". That turkey time breaks the monotony of everything else, it's my escape from the real world and problems. Everything else is put to the wayside. Feeling like you drag yourself through nine and a half months just for those two and half months is certainly an issue, but needing those nine and a half months after running yourself thin for those two and a half is all very necessary. Those nine and a half months intervene from that grind, that mental exhaustion you put yourself and your family through, and allow yourself to dial it back in that time. Like any addiction, it will affect your family and your ability to support them, but if you have the right family, they will support your addiction that is a much healthier one than most others. At least that's where I'm at with it, my wife's a real Saint. She's due early February with our second, and I still plan to be hitting the road mid March, and she fully supports that, for now at least.

I feel the same way 100%


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[eggshell]

Can turkey hunting become an addiction that is detrimental to a normal family life, Yes and no. It's a matter of how you define addiction.

I define it like this.
Addictions are mental diseases that are driven by the mind's inability to rationally use our thought processes to limit our choices regarding a defined activity. In other words we fail to moderate our consumption of any given thing. It's driven by perceived pleasure and the associated hormones. True addictions feed off this imbalance to the point the physical body is enslaved and being destroyed.

Then there are obsessions, this is where I categorize turkey hunting. It's still a detrimental mental process, but does not involve physical processes. I find that this obsession is more a disease of the younger and less seasoned turkey hunter. It's a desire that is fulfilled over time and usually moderated by our mental maturity.

I went through this phase and I will admit I let it take a toll on my family life. One of my  daughter's birthdays fell in out-of-state turkey season and I missed most of her childhood birthdays. She still tells people as an adult, "dad was never here for my birthdays". I deeply regret this now, in my old age. I spent time, money and emotional attachment that belonged to my family and can never be recovered. I write this as a warning to all you younger hunters, please realize turkey hunting does not rank above your family, period. There are still plenty of opportunities to do both, including travel.

With that said, it is a part of who we  are and what drives us. For someone, a spouse for instance, to try and deny us that part of our core happiness and personal identity is equally as wrong. If they didn't want to share a spouse with the outdoors, they never should have married a hunter. Love means putting someone else ahead of your own desires, but it does not license abusive behavior or neglect. An understanding spouse is a gem of highest value, on both sides.

Let me tell you a story:
There was a time when my life was falling completely apart. My mother was dying of terminal illness, my wife had health issue and I was bouncing between two hospitals and trying to be a father to two kids. Then my work fell apart and I had major issues that threatened my holding that job. There was no escape anywhere, all of life was a burden. Even when I slept I did not rest. I finally broke and fell into clinical depression. I just wanted to die!

Well, I found myself in a place I had to take medical leave from work and get help. I was off for around 6 weeks. During this time fall turkey season came in and I had every day to hunt. So every morning I put on my camo and headed to the woods. I would stay there all day and hunt until I was too tired and then would lay down and sleep. Come sunset I'd go home and retreat too my bedroom.

We were only allowed one tag and I didn't want to fill it fast. So I decided I would only shoot a mature gobbler. I found lots of turkeys, but no gobblers. Soon, I found I did not want it to end and I decided I would not shoot any turkey until the last day or two. I passed up 57 turkeys and never killed one. It still remains the only fall season I never filled a tag. It was not the kill I was after it was the hunt. It had become my release, my healing balm. I sat and watched wildlife and I talked to Jesus, this is still why faith is so important to me, because I know he walked those hills with me.

The end of season came and my mental state had rejuvenated to the point I was at peace and on my way to complete healing. On the last day, it dawned on me what I had put my wife through. Everyday she watched here husband, who at times had expressed suicidal thoughts, walk out a door with a gun and be gone all day with no word or communication. She did not know if I was laying dead somewhere or even coming home. It must have been torturous to her. So I walked in and sat her down and apologized for  the torment I had put her through. She broke down and started crying. I hugged her and promised to never let hunting do that to her again. She looked up with tears streaming and said the last thing  I expected. She said, "it's ok I understand now. Everyday I watched and worried, but everyday a new piece of my old husband came home, I watched you heal in these last few weeks. I now know that it's a part of you and it's the part that makes you whole and who you are. It is your balance in life. I will never ask you to not do it again", and she hasn't.

So yes, it is a part of our identity, but not a license to ignore the other things we have obligated our time and life too.

[Spurs Up]

Eggshell, that's the most powerful and compelling message I've ever read on this forum. Thanks for sharing your story!

[Tom007]

Eggshell, that's the most powerful and compelling message I've ever read on this forum. Thanks for sharing your story!

Wow, thanks for sharing your story. I am happy that you are in your right place now. Turkey Hunting definitely can become possessive in one's life. I am blessed to have a wife that grew up with a father that loved to hunt. I have the "Turkey Addiction", but I understand it and control it. I have been lucky enough to strike a perfect balance between my sporting and social life. My wife realizes my passion for Turkeys even though she does not participate. Now that I am retired, I hunt on average about 25-30 days each spring. I have no problem hunting from daybreak till noon on any given day. But I always know that I have a responsibility to make sure that I engage and take my wife out on any given day to enjoy our social life together. Sometimes it's tough when I put a long morning in Turkey hunting, but I make sure this does not get in between my family obligations. I have to say that I am blessed to have this relationship, it works perfectly for both of us. As Eggshell say's in his story, family is most important in everyone's life. Finding a "perfect balance" between our shared passion for turkey hunting and our family is everyone's goal, I truly hope we all achieve this. Be safe.....

[RND1983]

Very powerful story. Thank you for sharing

[sbbow]

I think a 2 bird limit is to plenty.


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[saltysenior]

My thoughts......I know it's not the same , but you can do 95% of the things necessary for a turkey hunt AS MANY TIMES as you like.......just don't carry a gun..

[Zobo]

Eggshell,  that's a great, honest self assessment and a very valuable lesson, awesome.