What Does Killing A Turkey Mean To You?

[eggshell]

younggobbler, it's part of the journey. There's stages to a hunters life and sportsmen mature through them. I appreciate everyone's comments. Reflect and preponderance is a good thing

[GobbleNut]

For me, I'm still in my young days as a hunter, it's still a lot about the killing part. To sum it up, Killing a turkey to me, it's the congratulation or the accomplishment of saying, I did everything right, it worked, I made no mistake, the bird I studied worked up how it should, I placed my set-up right, I read the situation right, everything worked right and it worked! Comes with a breath taking amazement and a great feeling of pride... That feeling I know you all know...
 

I think all of us go through "stages" during those early years of learning how to turkey hunt where the pride in the accomplishment of killing a gobbler is at the forefront. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. After a period of time...and the accumulation of successes...I think that pride turns more into a sense of satisfaction in knowing that you have developed the skills to be successful on a somewhat regular basis.

For me, at least, that pride eventually turned more into a reverence for the bird itself, as well as to the entire "process" of hunting them. Anymore, it isn't about killing gobblers as much as it is about just being "out there" where they live, hearing them, and applying those developed skills to see what happens. 

I emphasize "hearing them" because, out of the entire process, that is one of the things about spring gobbler hunting that is most important to me. If there aren't gobbling turkeys out there, I really just don't care much about hunting them. ...But that's just me... 

[High brow drifter]

I've been hunting them for 32 years I think, and I like to use archery now more than the shotgun, so I really like to just shoot gobblers full out gobblers, and it means a lot when I get one I've gotten 20 something now in 32 years of hunting. I've gotten three that were over 25 lb.

[High brow drifter]

I think that Eggshell and Happy said it well enough for me as well. It used to be all about killing - but the good Lord has done surgery on me as well. These days, it is just being able to play the game with a turkey. If they are gobbling and doing their thing, I have already won regardless of actually pulling the trigger or not. Just to engage them is meaning enough most days now.

I find great satisfaction is calling a bird for someone else to harvest. These days, often far more meaning than if I shot the bird myself. But I have also found great meaning in more recent years by letting a number of birds walk off the ridge as I put the safety back on and watched them leave. A couple that really stand out - I called the biggest bird I have ever seen in the wild into range three years ago (after a nearly 4 hour chess match) and just could not pull the trigger and let him go. On another hunt, I called a big bird after a long morning duel to 4-5 feet of my gun and also did not kill him. I say this to say one thing, I have learned to find greater meaning at times in the ones that I did not kill or that maybe just outfoxed me and got away without my help. Some of those mean more to me than the many that I did bring back to the truck.

I can understand that, but I still have not done that.

[eggshell]

I might have to kill a few more before I start letting birds walk that I intentionally set up on and called in to shoot. I think I'll make that a goal for my 70 th season. This is 55, so in 15 years and I'll be 86 or dead by then