Pinhoti calls

[St. Augustine Strutter]

What some don't understand is that its much deeper than a bunch of videos and promoting the sport. The truth is that Cove or Dave or whatever the fans call him has actually sold out and traded GA and ALA spots to out of state hunters, "traded" those spots to out of state hunters for his own opportunities in other states. So now places that were somewhat .moderate as far as activity have seen exponential growth in numbers, and its not a coincidence. So if you're a fan and wondering why he's made so many salty, he sold out their spots to hunt in other states. Pins for pins, its a thing, and as the super slammer group gets bigger the pins keep getting shared. And to those that know, they get to watch the fans pay for his travels now.

This is 100% correct and is exactly how he is playing the game.  Quite shameful really, all under the guise of it benefitting the wild turkey.

[Greg Massey]

If he had gotten a percentage of all the trumpets that he sold after that YouTube video came out, he would have been rich and could have quit YouTube ... I think he missed a golden opportunity myself ... I know he could have made a large percentage from myself in buying trumpets .... 

[Zobo]

7 pages

Wrong, 8 

[Bedge7767]

7 pages

Wrong, 8 

It's very sad

[Tom007]

11 pages??

[Sanders153]

I reckon I just live under a rock as I still don't know who this pinhoti guy is.. I don't think I want to look him up either after everything I've been reading lol

[Howie g]

Would it be weird if we had 8 pages of nest predator trapping , or habitat improvements ??
You know , things we can actually do something about . 

[Tom007]

Would it be weird if we had 8 pages of nest predator trapping , or habitat improvements ??
You know , things we can actually do something about .

Amen here

[Chief Razor]

I guess I will jump in the ring and offer my 2¢.....I think the comment about the mapping apps is spot on as probably the most detrimental cause of the current public land cluster. Influencers have been around since the early days of VHS and probably before. Sure its evolved over the years, but what hasn't. Public land hunting isnt the "cool new thing". It was what many who didn't have access to private resorted to. I believe the public land squeeze is honestly a result of less private land access. Leases, and other hurdles have made private access increasingly rare from year to year. I personally refuse to believe that one man on the internet has enough "influence" to singlehandedly damage a a species as resourceful as the wild turkey.

Change is the only constant....that and folks complaining about it!

[RiverBuck]

You touched on some solid points Chief.
I'll add that not everyone is a 3rd or 4th generation hunter. Can you imagine having the passion you have towards hunting and no one in your family hunts?
Like it or not we do need more hunters and I understand the gripes against social media, influencers, and youtube but one thing the internet can't provide is woodsmanship. Woodsmanship is earned.and no one can take that from you so enjoy your time the best you can every minute of your hunting season.

[austinc]

I guess I will jump in the ring and offer my 2¢.....I think the comment about the mapping apps is spot on as probably the most detrimental cause of the current public land cluster. Influencers have been around since the early days of VHS and probably before. Sure its evolved over the years, but what hasn't. Public land hunting isnt the "cool new thing". It was what many who didn't have access to private resorted to. I believe the public land squeeze is honestly a result of less private land access. Leases, and other hurdles have made private access increasingly rare from year to year. I personally refuse to believe that one man on the internet has enough "influence" to singlehandedly damage a a species as resourceful as the wild turkey.

Change is the only constant....that and folks complaining about it!

One guy, no, but say you watch a few youtubers killing turkeys on public in other states, and are pretty confident you're a better hunter, caller, woodsman, or whatever reason you think you're better than them, and say well if they can do it, so can I.  So you and some buddies load up and go. Say 50,000 people watch that video and 1% decide to hunt said state that's 500 new hunters right off the bat.

[arkrem870]

It's not that you think you are better than anyone else..... you just saw guys in x state on public land hearing gobblers and leaving plenty of bread crumbs (landmarks/camp grounds/gas stations/etc) to hone in on location.  It's human nature.....same reason your daddy told you to keep what you heard/saw to yourself when you were a kid. Silence is a turkey hunters best friend for more than one reason.  If 1-5% of users are influenced to travel out of state then competition/conflict will arise. State agencies must then curb the numbers of non resident hunters to combat the rise and protect the resource... resulting in loss of opportunity for all. It's what happened. You can say it's not so but it is. More newbie hunters = more views/likes = more $. Turkeys were sold out and that's a fact and for Pennies on the dollar. 

[Upfold99]

Hi my name is Upfold99. I'm addicted to the pinhoti project.

Seriously this is consuming alot of people.  I appreciate the guy and what he does.  Good for him with the brand. Just adapt and move on.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[joey46]

The word "adapt" on this forum seems to send many into a tizzy.  I enjoy his YouTube's also.  Turkeys For Tomorrow will have their drawing for their guided hunts this Thursday.  One of the choices is a hunt with his group.  It is the one I selected.  Be fun.  Good luck this season.   

[GobbleNut]

Just adapt and move on.

Just to keep this thread rolling along to see just how many pages we can get out of it...   
...here's a question for all.  How have you "adapted" to the current "state of affairs"?

Here's the situation where I hunt out here in the west:  I mostly hunt public land in Merriam's country in the big mountain chains.  There is no question we do not have the same kind of pressure on our public lands that some other places in the country have, but the "problem" that exists here is that, even though there are still good numbers of turkeys, they often exist in a) scattered flocks with lots of empty space between, b) have a tendency to either stay on or close to private holdings that are increasingly becoming owned by people who are feeding and/or protecting them, and c) the ones that are "available" to be hunted are generally visible and/or vocal enough that EVERYBODY knows where they are.

Because of that, even though the hunting pressure would be considered light compared to other places, it is becoming increasingly rare to find birds that are not being consistently hunted by multiple parties.  In addition, those "parties" that are hunting them very often do 'stuff" when hunting them that those birds get boogered up pretty quickly and becomes extremely difficult to kill using traditional hunting and calling methods. 

So here's how I have personally adapted to our situation:
1) I avoid weekend hunting and especially the first weekend and initial few days of the season (if I can keep myself from going then).
2) I have given up hunting certain locations with lots of turkeys because of the concentration of hunters doing the "stuff" mentioned above.
3) I am increasingly concentrating on hunting out-of-the-way places and/or difficult places to get to.
4) I tend to hunt later in the season when the weekenders and casual hunters have generally quit for the year...even though I know I am hunting the "educated" gobblers that are still alive, hoping to find one that has been overlooked and will play the game the way I want. 
5) I have expanded my hunting horizons to include traveling further and looking at other hunting options that I might not have considered prior to the current "state of affairs". 
6) I am "adapting" my attitude such that I am more content with just being "out there" hunting rather than having to fill all of my "tags" to feel satisfied with the hunt...although I still like to put a tag on a gobbler as much as the next guy.   

How 'bout everybody else? How have you "adapted"?...