Turkey Log

[shaman]

Years ago, I got turned onto the idea of a Turkey Log.  Most guys back then were using index cards.  I think at one point, you could buy a pack of pre-printed ones.  I didn't.  It just seemed like such a bleeding waste of time.  Of course I was going to remember every turkey I killed! 

After closing in on 40 years at it, and close to hitting 60, I realized things were beginning to slip away.  Yeah, I remember every turkey, but sometimes the exact details are starting to get jumbled.  I had already started a deer hunting log back in the early 90's. However, that got lost in the divorce.

About 10 years ago, I decided to recreate my deer hunting log. What spurred the idea was finding WUnderground.com had an historical section that showed local conditions by hour for just about anywhere I'd ever hunted. All I needed was the date of each kill, and my memory could provide some basic facts. 

I used the same tricks to synthesize my turkey log.  Kentucky has a Telecheck history, so all I had to do was go into my Telecheck profile and download a record of every turkey I've checked in. That gave me the date of the kill.  I have been fairly good at keeping a record of my turkey kills on my weblog, so I had stats like weight, beard length, etc.  and when I shot the bird.  The results were a pretty good inventory of my turkey hunting.

Some things I found surprising:

    1)  I have only bagged one gobbler in May.  It makes sense. Most years, I'm tagged out, and though I've done a lot of hunting in May, it's usually been as a caller for my sons or my buddies
    2)  I've now taken more birds at Flydown as opposed to the afternoon.  Mid-Morning is still my most productive time, but I now  average one bird pitching down to me off the roost per season.
   3)  I've killed more mature gobblers than jakes. I started eschewing jakes about a decade ago.
    4) My average successful shot is 20.53 yards. That doesn't count the number of times I've missed a bird at 5 yards.  If you count those, I'm at 17 yards for an average shot.
    5) Half of my birds are taken on Saturdays. I've only taken 2 birds on a Friday.  I've only taken 1 bird on a Sunday.
    6) If I miss a bird, the chances of not filling all my  tags that season goes up dramatically.
    7) If I take a bird on The Opener, I usually fill both my tags. The one exception was 2011, where I developed pneumonia on the The Opener and had to go back to town by mid-week.

Here's some more details:
A Turkey Hunter Takes a Fearless Inventory

[LaLongbeard]

Reminds me I need to get a fireproof safe big enough to fit all my hunting notebooks into. I've got every deer and Turkey hunt written down,doesn't  take but a few min to write each hunts details but would take forever to try and rewrite them. The notes can be helpful especially if you hunt the same property you will notice trends that will help your hunting plus it's nice to be able to read the exact details of a hunt that took place 20 or more years ago without having to rely solely on your memory. Same for pictures like everyone else I have a ton of pics on my phone but I get a picture printed out of all the kills to go in a book with all the old pre phone pics.

[shaman]

Better yet, I'd scan the books into PDF form and put them out on the cloud somewhere.  Google, Dropbox-- there's a bunch of places that will give you several GB's for free.  I've currently got all my photos backed up to Amazon-- free service with a Prime Membership.

[GobbleNut]

...I thought you were going to talk about a tree...
When I first started turkey hunting, I would write the story about every bird I killed.  After about ten years of doing that, I stopped.  Now I wish I hadn't.  At this stage of life, it would be wonderful to be able to go back and read about those hunts from thirty or forty years ago.  I still remember the "generalities", but the details have faded. 

[MK M GOBL]

I have kept a turkey log for the last 28 years, I won't say I have exact details of every hunt but I kept up on the year and things I have done, Learn to Hunts, Mentor programs and yes my successes!  Places I have been and people I have met and such. I have a separate file of stories I have written about hunts and things I have done as well. I'll keep it going for as long as I can

MK M GOBL

[falltoms]

I've kept a log all my turkey hunting career. One thing I started about 10 years ago, was keeping track of the time spent on each individual gobbler. If I killed the gobbler I would write down how long it took to work him in gun range, from first contact to the trigger pull. My average is 1 hour and 10 minutes. I keep this number in mind while working a bird. My point is, this helps with patience, and prepares my mind to stick with the bird as long as it takes.

[1iagobblergetter]

My wife wanted me to start a journal years ago on all of my hunts and I never did. I wish I would have listened. I could see where it would be useful...

[Turkeyman]

I used to have a deer and turkey log but quit on them some years ago. What I plan to do now is video hunts...both turkey and bow hunts for deer. I'll edit them on the PC with a decent editing software, add captions and audio. I think these will be much more enjoyable to see as time goes on than read a logbook when my hunting days wane. These will be primarily, if not exclusively, for me to enjoy. I bought a Tactacam 4.0 recently but returned it...not entirely satisfied. I'll buy the Tactacam 5.0 when it comes out this fall...I think it will meet my expectations.

[fallhnt]

Turkey log...

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[wade]

I write stories about my hunts all the time. A few years back a local paper published a story I wrote about a hunt where I helped a kid kill a longbeard. That turned into me doing a weekly column in the paper. Sometimes I look back to make sure I'm not just repeating something I wrote before and end up reliving old hunts. As we get older reliving old hunts gets more important. I'd recommend everybody keep some kind of log.

[kjnengr]

Thanks guys for the motivation to start this up.  I will start my turkey log this year. 

What info do you find important to jot down in your log?

[TauntoHawk]

I wish I would have started this from the start but I will start this year.. I'm only 30 and the hunts are starting to blur together now that I hunt at least 3 states a spring it gets even harder by the end of the season I can't even match beard and spurs up

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[guesswho]

I have a hard time remembering last years hunts.  I wish I had kept a written account from day one.  I can remember a lot of those hunts from 50 plus years ago, but I'm sure I'm probably missing some hunts and some details.  And I'm sure my memory has enchanted some of the details over time.   I probably should have kept two journals, one fiction, and one enhanced version.   

[Jrkimbrough]

This past year I started a photo book and logged a pic or two of each bird I killed and then wrote date, time and a short hunt story on an index card.  Fun to look back and relive those hunts through the pictures and stories.

[Muzzy61]

Great idea. I wish i had keep a journal.
I tournament bass fished for about 25 years and keep a journal of all my fishing during that time. I go back and look at if from time to time and memories come back to me.

Guess it's not to late to start one for turkeys.