Spending money for one bird a year.

[Bill Cooksey]

It isn't that I don't want to hunt, or are too lazy to find a place to hunt, I have my 16 month old daughter at home with me every day I am off. I cannot "drag" her around in the woods to hunt. I will not lose time with her at a babysitter's just so I can go hunt. I did/do not "complain" to my father-in-law about his one bird limit. Plain and simple, at the moment it is just not in the cards to up and hunt whenever I have a day off of work. I have two weekends off every month. I killed my bird during the first weekend off. I can no longer hunt my father-in-law's property during my second weekend off in April. My wife planned a trip to the beach for my next weekend off, and I doubt that I can get away from a weekend with my family.

I understand. I was merely suggesting you use the decoy money for gas to look for more places to hunt. A few hours searching landowner maps and a few hours a week driving around with your daughter while knocking on a few doors could net some new spots and also provide some quality time with your little girl.

[Marc]

Being that my daughter stays home with me on my days off, finding a day to go hunt public land is not that easy to do. I am limited to the weekends off to go hunt my father-in-law's. With a one bird limit, it was over on the second day.

How old is your daughter?

Mine went with me to scout at about a year and a half...  She is now 4, and loves to go scout...

If you do not want to scout public land, put on a nice pair of jeans and a polo shirt, and go knock on some doors...  Having a cute little girl with you in the car, will not hurt your odds of getting permission.

Having kids can mean having less time to hunt, but I am not afraid to go in the afternoon, or on my days off after dropping the kids off at daycare.  Been a tough season for me this year, but last season, I killed two birds after noon...

[bszweda]

I think only you can only answer is it worth it for one bird a year. I think decoys are more of a luxrury item. I have limited time to hunt and I am thrilled to get one bird a year. I consider a good day of hunting just seeing a gobbler.happy hunting and good luck!

[Snoodsniper]

Up until a few years ago all we could kill here in PA was one bird. Didn't stop me from being out there as much as possible. Go help a buddy get one or something. Just quit bellyaching.

[TRG3]

I was surprised to find a set of three nearly-new foam decoys (two hens and a jake) plus stakes on a table at a yard sale. There was no price on them and when I asked the lady conducting the sale, she said that they were her brother's and how about $5 for the three. It was one of the few times that I didn't say, "How about $4.00?" but instead proceeded to get out my wallet and headed for the truck before that wide grin gave away my bargain. You just never know when or where you'll find a bargain related to hunting. Concerning more places to hunt...ask some local farmers how much crop damage they've suffered from turkeys (pulling corn/soybean seedlings out of the ground to eat the still-attached seed) and chances are you will find one who has, or at least thinks he has, which is your opening to offer to help him out by reducing the gobbler population. Three of the locations I have to hunt are because of this reason. Another farmer is a quail hunter and feels the turkey's appetite to eat anything available is contributing to quail nest destruction and eagerly invited me to shoot a few gobblers. These are just a couple of reasons I've picked up some additional turkey hunting spots. 

[deerbasshunter3]

It isn't that I can't, or won't, go look for a place to hunt, the problem is that I only have six days per season to hunt on the private land that is available to me. Three of those days are gone, and the other three are now taken up by family vacation.

So, my question was, if I am possibly going to be put in a situation every year where if I kill a bird on my first or second day of hunting, is it worth it to spend money on decoys, stuff, etc... if my season could possibly be over that quickly every year? If I had free days, I would be out on public land. I just do not have the days available like most people on this forum. For some reason, people do not understand that and seem to want to get on my case for it. I am not complaining, whining, crying, or anything of that nature, I am just trying to get advice from people who share the same experiences.

Now, for those of you who may be interested to know, I happen to have this coming Thursday off of work, and my daughter will be at childcare. I am going to go Monday or Tuesday afternoon and scout out a couple of places. I am planning to get out there Thursday morning, even if I just sit in the woods and call to the trees (No birds located).

So, with all of that being said, I hope that everybody is satisfied.

Happy hunting!!!       

[Ihuntoldschool]

It is not about having time to turkey hunt it is about TAKING time to turkey hunt.    None of us magically get handed time or places to turkey hunt. We take some initiative and get out there because it is important to us.  Many of us hunt mostly or all public land.  There are no excuses.  Comes down to priorities, either turkey hunting is or is not a priority.

[Phire Phite]

Spending the money is up to you depending on if you think it's worth it with the situations you've been in.  I agree finding the time sometimes is tough.  I would be on my wife about setting something up during hunting season though.  That's either not knowing or not caring. 

[ncturkey]

I feel your pain about the wife planning beach trips during turkey season. Just remember that it will not always going to be that easy to fill your tag early every year. But if it was me I would not use the fan from my first bird for a Strutter decoy. I do not have to spend a bunch a money for good decoys. No matter if I am limited to one bird a year or not I would not let that dictate what I want to buy. I personal do not use decoys a lot. All I have are a Jakes and hens foam decoys. They work just fine. Good luck.

[dutch@fx4]

you got to remember if you can find some public or private  land close to home a ton of turkeys are killed between 5pm and 7pm ,so you can get home from work and slip out for a hour or two and kill birds ,I have had to do this for years . now I can hunt everyday if I choose and I still like to slip out for a hour or two in the evenings for a quik hunt ,you donot have to take a whole day off work to kill birds ,,Dutch

[owlhoot]

It isn't that I can't, or won't, go look for a place to hunt, the problem is that I only have six days per season to hunt on the private land that is available to me. Three of those days are gone, and the other three are now taken up by family vacation.

So, my question was, if I am possibly going to be put in a situation every year where if I kill a bird on my first or second day of hunting, is it worth it to spend money on decoys, stuff, etc... if my season could possibly be over that quickly every year? If I had free days, I would be out on public land. I just do not have the days available like most people on this forum. For some reason, people do not understand that and seem to want to get on my case for it. I am not complaining, whining, crying, or anything of that nature, I am just trying to get advice from people who share the same experiences.

Now, for those of you who may be interested to know, I happen to have this coming Thursday off of work, and my daughter will be at childcare. I am going to go Monday or Tuesday afternoon and scout out a couple of places. I am planning to get out there Thursday morning, even if I just sit in the woods and call to the trees (No birds located).

So, with all of that being said, I hope that everybody is satisfied.

Happy hunting!!!      

still worth having the stuff for a couple days. You might even have to hunt 5-6 days to get one, i know a few of us have

[ilbucksndux]

To answer your question. No the decoy is not worth the money. You obviously have limited time to hunt,so having more tools is not that high on the list. Decoys are NOT needed to kill a bird. I'm not a decoy hater like some,its just not needed. Do I use decoys ? Yes there is a time and place where its needed.

[GobbleNut]

You really don't need to buy a bunch of expensive gear to be a successful turkey hunter,....and in fact, many of us forego using that stuff because it actually degrades the quality of our hunting experience to do so.  Of course, the decision as to how you want to hunt is entirely up to you.

I know you are new to spring gobbler hunting,...and perhaps the addiction has not captured you as it has many others here.  Sometimes that process takes a while, if it happens at all.  Whether it ends up happening depends a lot, I think, on how you are introduced to hunting these majestic birds. 

If you end up being captivated with this sport with the passion many of us have, you will seek compromises in your personal life that will allow you to pursue it.  Your wife will come to learn that this is important to you,...and will adjust to allow you to spend more time at it.  She will learn that there are many other weekends to spend at the beach that do not conflict with the limited time you have each spring to do this thing that you have become passionate about,...and she will also learn to understand that it does not mean you care less for her, your daughter, and your family. 

If you truly catch the addiction, instead of saying "I can't go because of my wife and daughter", you will be saying "I am going to take my wife and daughter and go".  They might not quite understand the reason why,...but they will, in time, understand that it is an important part of your life.

[mikejd]

Most of us spend about 500$ bucks a lb for turkey. If thats what this was about we would all be buying purdue. More to it then that.

[Greg Massey]

Amen...get out and look around after the first two weeks of season a lot of people don't even go anymore. On cost its no different than trying to catch a 10 in.. base with a 40,000 dollar boat... if you have the money get whatever decoy you want....lol