Successful/ or Non Successful hunt

[1iagobblergetter]

Just curious with all the trinkets and gadgets what really makes a turkey hunt successful for most? Is it having to kill one at all costs. If you kill one you kill one?etc...Seems like so many people are interested and going to Tss it's hard to believe everyone wants a turkey that dead at 40ish yards.
Not bashing anyone. Sometimes I use decoys sometimes I don't. If it's raining or I'm with my kid I'll use a blind. Most generally I prefer not to though. I also use H-13 #7s. At 40ish yards or less it hammers them.
If I feel like I'm becoming to successful I've switched over to a bow and after awhile of being humbled with misses and no success it's back to shotgun again.
I guess I'm in the I like to kill one once in awhile,but don't have to category. Mainly like to kill one enough to make me feel like I know what im doing,but not to much where It wouldn't be a challenge which keeps me thinking all year about it and wanting to go all the time.
I can also understand where fellow hunters get a different sense of accomplishment with blind or without,Bow verse gun, Decoy verse no decoy,etc..
I remember when I was a kid and had one good coonhound,leash made from a rope and snap,cheap boots,and cheap flashlight. I never knew I was missing much. Hunted all season and a little in the off season just to keep my dog in shape. Had a whole lot of fun on the weekends with friends going along.
When I got older and back into hounds again I had 4 or 5 of them. Traveled all over to competition hunts,all the latest equipment, ran dogs 5 days a week at least and after awhile it became work and then I lost interest.
I guess that's why I mix up the way I turkey hunt keeps it fun and challenging.
Anyone else mix up the way they hunt?? Or just hunt the same way all the time??

[Gobspur]

If I'm in the woods turkey hunting, its successful.  Actually anymore, if I'm in the woods, its successful.  Happy new year to everyone!

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

[Gobble!]

Success to me is watching one die. I can have a good time without one dieing but that's not success in my book. I'll use any tactic I see ethical to kill one.

[Sir-diealot]

I think Fred Bear said it best.

[dejake]

What makes it for me is patterning and seeing a bird before the season, then killing that bird.  I spend way more time scouting than I do hunting.

[dirt road ninja]

Some of my most memorable hunts ended with no bird. Ultimately my goal is to kill one every time.

[eggshell]

I like your Arnold quote Sir-diealot. I write a devotional for a small group of friends and my most recent dealt with life's struggles.

Turkey hunting is a lot like that quote, it is the hunts you struggle on that you learn from. A big part of being successful is learning what does not work.

For me I consider the goal killing a gobbler, but am often a little down when I filled that last tag. The most fulfilling seasons are the ones with the most struggles and mistakes. I like hunting smart old birds, but enjoy the dumb two year old as well. Many years I have filled my two tags the first two days of season and actually felt disappointed. I like to hunt more than kill, but killing is still the measure of success. I grew up that way because we were poor and hunted as much for food as fun and failure meant there may not be meat on the table. The hunt was not as fun if all you had for the table was potatoes and green beans.

[Happy]

Simply put I an always trying to kill a turkey when hunting them. However I will not kill one unless I feel I have beaten him and earned it. It's good for a person to loose and struggle. It also makes the success sweeter.

[NCL]

As I have gotten older I began to realize that the kill was the end and began to enjoy the hunt. The experience to me is what it is all about, the stories of the mistakes, the beauty of just being outdoors. Last Spring while sitting on a hilltop I watched an incredible sunrise that I still think about. To each the hunt or kill is different but for me it is being out there.

[Gobbler428]

For me, the last paragraph in Gene Nunnerys' The Old Pro Turkey Hunter pretty well sums it up:

"Later in life as you meditate and enjoy the memories of your hunting years, up will come one of these old gobblers who bested you and finally at that point in time you will be the victor. Man that's real turkey hunting"

[GobbleNut]

This is a great question,...and quite honestly, it took me a while to try to formulate my thoughts and answer as to the definition of "success" for me.  In my contemplation, at first, it was just a jumble of thoughts about all the aspects of turkey hunting that are important,...basically, hunting a place that has turkeys and in which I can apply the turkey hunting methods that I like to use in hunting them.

Considering the idea of whether killing a gobbler is, or is not, important, I eventually came to the conclusion that, if all of the important "stuff" for me in the hunt are there, then I will most likely end up by killing one.  On the other hand, I have hunted places where I eventually killed a gobbler,...but had to resort to tactics that really did not suit me or my turkey hunting "style". 

Were those hunts a "success"?  Yes and no.  I was happy to leave with a bird, but not all that happy with the overall experience because it was not my exact idea of what a turkey hunt is all about. 

Another question to ask here is whether each of us would trade a "crummy" hunt that we ended up killing a gobbler for a really great hunt that we somehow did not manage to kill one?  That's a tough one for me to honestly answer.  At the end of it all, I really like having a bird in hand.

[fallhnt]

I bow hunt turkeys on public ground in 3 states nowadays. I use a Ghost blind, Double Bull blind and decoys. Don't care to take time away from my family to not be successful. To change things up I gun hunt at home and in Fall. Only killed a 3rd of my birds with gun.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[ol bob]

If I hear one gobble its a success, I've reached the point in life where just getting in the woods and back safe is what its all about. If I never kill another I would be alright with that.

[nyhunter]

if I wake up above the grass and I'm able to hunt that day it's a success,

[guesswho]

I'm to the point, and have been for a long time, where I don't care if I ever kill another one.  That's not saying I don't enjoy it because I enjoy it now as much as I did 50 plus years ago.   I'd much rather have fun with someone trying to kill one, than kill one where smiles and laughter wasn't a big part of it.