Where's the line?

[silvestris]

Heard three this morning, all in different directions and way off.  My thighs were not up to the task.  On the other hand the woods were and are full of a multitude of songbirds.  Good day.

[TrackeySauresRex]

I think for myself, I get caught up it more when I'm trying to get someone else the bird. I'm more laid back for myself and tend to let things happen. And if not so be it. I love the spring woods. I've definitely grown to be more patient and love sharing my journey with new hunters.

[deadbuck]

I have gone through highs and lows like everyone else. This year is turning out to be especially rough, but I have killed 1 bird on 17 hunts. The past 3-4 years have been really good and it is human nature to expect every year to be better but it cant. I like to think of it as an exercise program, with the benefit of occasionally getting to work a turkey. I have lost 5 pounds and fit in my clothes better than a month ago! Keep in mind that in some places turkeys are MUCH easier to kill than others.

[hs strut]

As I find myself 3 days in with several miles under my boots and relatively nothing to show for it I already am beginning to wonder if I'm taking this year way too seriously. All that's on my mind is daydreaming of when and where I'm gonna pull that trigger. I have a bad habit of taking hunting to a nearly unhealthy obsession almost to the point where the continuous failing starts to really get to me and make me question my knowledge and my skill. I get jealous of the guys who I see on my Facebook and Instagram who have gotten one to play the game and have been successful in doing so while I myself have not. I greatly enjoy being outdoors and hunting these stubborn birds but I often wonder if I sometimes take it too far in my quest to become a true turkey killer. Now all this being said in no way have ever taken it to the point where I just hated it, however I can really let it get under my skin at times. I have deer hunted a whole lot more than I've turkey hunted and never really seemed to have this kinda feeling about deer hunting. How many of you have gone through phases like this?

i remember when i started some 13 years ago i was like this. i will say you need to drop the "true turkey killer" mentality just slow down and enjoy the hunt and being outdoors dont let it bother you if someone else is taking birds and your not. you will connect but you need to let it happen.

[Trax]

Good posts all around so far.

For me, if nice Spring sunrises and chirping cardinals were enough, I'd be a birdwatcher instead of a turkey hunter. Fact of the matter is we get up at 4:30 am and tromp into the woods with a $500 shotgun and $7 a piece shells not because we want to watch the sun come up, but because we want to kill turkeys. I find that after I get my first one of the year, yeah, I can relax a little bit and spend some more time looking at wildflowers and admiring nature generally,  but up until that point it's like I'm secretly afraid that all my previous turkeys have been luck, that I dont know what Im doing, and that I'll never get another one. Getting those texts from friends and family with birds they've killed is exciting in that it proves the birds are active, and I am genuinely happy for them, but I won't deny it still stings a little bit.

Maybe the best part of the whole thing is how quickly you can go from zero to hero though. You're sitting there cussing yourself for forgetting the wet wipes one minute, and the next you're huffing and puffing, hauling out a dead bird and frantically checking for cell service so you can text your buddies.

I love it except for when I dont.

[TauntoHawk]

I can get a little stressed deer hunting, trying to kill a respectable buck with a bow in the areas I hunt is tough and I just don't have it figured out yet i guess. Turkey hunting is just about having fun, but I'm a whole lot more successful turkey hunting.

[ALfwlmth]

A true turkey hunter once told me, "All the nice guns, coolest new camo, most expensive calls won't do a single thing to help you kill a turkey, if you don't HAVE turkeys where your hunting".  Seems elementary, but it's the gospel truth.  I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of acres to chase turkeys on.  One tract was my go to several years ago after it was clear cut, burned and replanted.  I have walked and walked and walked this piece and nothing.  Well, the layout has changed and the turkeys have moved off this tract to an adjacent tract.  Let me tell you, I was frustrated on an all new level.  But I was trying to put turkeys there caused I liked hunting there.
So I told myself I was done there for two weeks and moved a few miles down the road and BAM!   Killed one the next morning and have 2 more staring  certain death in the face.
My point, if you've been miles with nothing at all to keep you excited, it's time to move.  I realize that's easier for some people, but everyone can go hunt public somewhere.
The one thing that keeps me going back, day after day is this...
Every single day of the year, at daylight or close to it, a turkey is going to fly down to the ground and walk around all day.  No migrating, no nocturnal, no bedding down.  Does that mean I'll even see him, no.  But there's always a chance if I'm there. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[C.Kimzey95]

Loving all your answers guys. I hope to go into tomorrow morning with a fresher perspective.

[ilbucksndux]

I dont know why but turkey hunting is a very different experience for me,and always has been. When duck hunting I want to kill quick limits and be back at the house, gun deer hunting the same shoot one and have breakfast. There has been several times I have killed a turkey in the first few minutes of the first day and I felt cheated. Here in Illinois the permit system is kinda screwy and I'm forgetful so there are more years than not that I only have one tag. I enjoy turkey "hunting" ,not the bird watching aspect but the experience of it all. Being there and outwitting him cause lets be honest if it were about eating a turkey its easier to go to Piggly Wiggly and get one. I personally think that pulling the trigger on a turkey is kinda anticlimactic,getting him at the end of the barrel is the exciting part.

[C.Kimzey95]

Ilbucksndux, I very much agree with that and really meant something more along those lines. Playing the game with one is the most enjoyable part

[OldSchool]

When I was younger it was all about killing birds. Not that I didn't enjoy the hunt, but that was the bottom line. When I learned to slow down and not look at it like it was life and death, I started to get more out of turkey hunting. I know guys that get so wound up over killing birds that it doesn't even seem like they have any fun. Relax and enjoy your time outdoors and the rest will take care of itself.


Bob

[sixbird]

I've killed my share of the devils and every season, at one point or another, I think, "Man, you must be the worst turkey hunter on the face of the planet!" They won't answer. They walk away. They ignore me like the head cheerleader in high school!
THEN, one day, the sun shines on me. The heavens open and I hear that deep gobble. Everything I say to him he loves. He's smitten! He loves me like my high school sweetheart! BOOM! "Man,you're the best turkey hunter on the face of the planet!"
I guess it's in our nature to want to succeed. We strive in everything we do. We continually hope for success with every attempt. Truth of the matter, without failure, success loses it's shine. It's those failures that make the successes so great, so rewarding...
So relish those "failures" and while you're "failing", look around at that glorious day. The greens and the blue sky and the bird songs...One day you'll be too old to get out there...One day there will be someone else sitting at your spot. Someone younger... Someone stronger...Someone with those same dreams and frustrations that you have now...It's your turn...Don't waste it...

[Farmboy27]

Every time I'm having a bad year or a dry spell I remind myself that I'm doing this for fun. I don't need to hunt, I have plenty of beef in the pasture!  And for the money I spend on all kinds of hunting, if I'm not enjoying myself then I might as well quit and find another hobby!  I always obsessed about hunting to the point that the fun was gone until one day my wife said "why do you do it if it makes you miserable?  Aren't you supposed to be having fun?"  I did some reevaluating and decided that if I couldn't have fun then I wasn't doing it. Make mistake, I still get frustrated at times and feel like kicking myself when I know I messed up. But I also leave all that in the woods and worry about other stuff when I'm not hunting. I have learned that as much as I love it, turkey hunting falls way below family and friends. There are lots of people out there that would love it if getting a turkey was their biggest problem! 

[Marc]

Sometimes I do think it can be unhealthy...  There are times when I go hunting, and it is more of a compulsion than a means of enjoyment.

And, on those years that success has evaded me, I find that it really rattles me.  I probably would have in fact killed a bird, if I just sat back and let myself enjoy the hunt, rather than hunt with the single goal of being successful...
Turkeys and women have something in common...  The more desperate we are to get one, the more difficult it is to lay one down....

Yep, sometimes I have to remind myself that I am out there to have fun, and enjoy the whole experience...

[catman529]

Sounds like you have the right drive, but the wrong attitude. You aren't "continually failing" but rather are continually learning. Hunt smart, but don't overthink it. If you hear a bird start gobbling good in the distance, do whatever to get close to him without walking up on him. Set up and yelp a few times and wait. If he answers back, Yelp some more and shut up. If he doesn't, wait half an hour anyways, might come in silent. There's not much to it, just a matter of finding the right bird and paying attention to the woods and the critters behavior. Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk