The last Aristocracy

[LaLongbeard]

Tom Kelly wrote a story in one of his books about the last of the aristocracy, about those that are able to hunt every day of the turkey season. One of my favorite Tom Kelly stories it tells of how he had a change of job duties, when he was working in forestry ,which allowed him for the first time to be able to hunt every day during the Spring. I was blessed with a career change myself several years ago that allowed me to take off the whole deer or turkey season. Of course I chose the turkey season. Like Tom Kelly wrote in the story being a daily turkey hunter changes the game. Weather, people pressure, birds not cooperating all theses things can be compensated for with unlimited time available. So not to rub salt in the wounds of the guys that have to work and try to hunt at the same time, who else is a daily Spring Turkey Hunter ....the last Aristocracy?

[guesswho]

I could be but don't.  In fact I hunt less now that before I retired.

[HookedonHooks]

I made it a goal last year to hunt everyday during the MO/KS seasons unless I tagged out. I didn't fill my last Kansas tag so I had a LONG season to hunt. Including one day of travel back from a Nebraska hunt, I think I missed maybe 7-8 days total in the month and half KS season. I think I made up for it with a half week early season Alabama hunt though.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to hunt that much last year, and it definitely gave me a new found respect for the guys that do it annually. I know I won't get to go quite as hard this year, but I will be still trying to hunt upwards of 75% of the days even if it just means getting out for an hour and a half.

[buzzardroost]

I was able to do it one Spring. My work hours were 2pm to 10pm and I worked on public land that was huntable. Good times, but the job was temporary, and the pay wasn't great so I had to move on.


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[Gooserbat]

I basically hunt every day I want.  I find myself hunting probably 50% of the season because I tend to miss bad weather.

[Gobble!]

The last 5 years I've been able to hunt at least 5 days a week. Expect that number to be 6 to 7 days most weeks this season. Knowing you have 40 days to get your limit while still hunting with 6 different people is nice.

[CALLM2U]

I've never been able to due to my career choice.  However, I might get close this year.  We're adopting a little girl from China and I should be starting my 6 weeks of leave about the time the season starts.  I still won't hunt every day because I want to spend time with the new, little one but it may be the highest day count for me that I've ever been able to accomplish. 

[RutnNStrutn]

My life change occurred a year and a half ago when I retired. I would hunt everyday, but I kinda like being married, I need my hunting clothes washed every now and again, I have to pay the bills, and I live in Florida (for now) so the lawn mowing season begins at the same time. So I hunt a lot, but not every day.

[blake_08]

In my corner of oklahoma, we only have a 15-20 day season at the end of Oklahoma's statewide season and i hunt every day of home season. On work days, my job allows me to schedule half days of vacation and it's flexible, so I take the mornings off and come in at noon or 1 pm and work until quitting time. On the weekends i hunt as long as i want to or need to. I usually take off the 2 weeks before home season starts and go to other parts of oklahoma to hunt, so i get pretty close to hunting the whole statewide season. Probably miss 3-5 days.

[aaron]

I'm 37.  I've been a career firefighter since age 23.  I work a 24/48 schedule and save up a boatload of vacation for spring turkeys.  I've hunted 20+ days of Ohio's 30 day season since age 23.  It don't suck. Haha.  It is a different ballgame.  The amount you learn in one season is probably equal to 4-5 seasons for the average joe.  Being out there making mistakes that many days a year you're bound to pick something up here and rhere

[Kylongspur88]

No. I block off vacation days about a year in advance in order to hunt and even then that's no guarantee.

[3bailey3]

sorry no, I only take 4 weeks of our 6 week season

[Yoder409]

I'm not one of 'em.

Theoretically............ I COULD.  But if I took the whole season off as vacation........like another fellow said........ I kinda like being married.

As far as deer season goes....... I can't get ONE DAY of that off.  Absolutely no time off to be had at that time of year where I work, and NO sense of humor about bending the rules for a guy.

Now, if I ever get to retire...................

[GobbleNut]

As an old, retired "coot", I could theoretically hunt every day of a season somewhere.  I don't, and wouldn't, do that because I would be short-changing other relationships and responsibilities to do so. In addition, although I believe I love to turkey hunt as much as the next guy, apparently the bar where something that I love doing suddenly becomes "work" must be lower for me than for some other hunters.

Now, if I had turkeys to hunt close-by rather than having to make a two-hour drive to get to a place to hunt them, I might have a different attitude about it, but under my existing circumstances, hunting roughly 25 days in "spurts" each spring is enough for me.

[ddturkeyhunter]

As an old, retired "coot", I could theoretically hunt every day of a season somewhere.  I don't, and wouldn't, do that because I would be short-changing other relationships and responsibilities to do so. In addition, although I believe I love to turkey hunt as much as the next guy, apparently the bar where something that I love doing suddenly becomes "work" must be lower for me than for some other hunters.

Now, if I had turkeys to hunt close-by rather than having to make a two-hour drive to get to a place to hunt them, I might have a different attitude about it, but under my existing circumstances, hunting roughly 25 days in "spurts" each spring is enough for me.

I to some day may think of turkey hunting like work, maybe, doubt it. But then I am only 63 and haven't got to the retired "coot" stages of life yet. But then there is that marrage thing, I think I have a very supportive wife now, but then she has not been fully tested yet. She has nothing wrong with hunting (or I would not have married her) but doesn' wish to kill anything her self. My past wife of 28 years made it turkey hunting with me her last year of life, cancer took after 7 years of the crap. Thats why I now own a Double Bow blind, them last years she was no longer able to sit long. So she just laided down in the blind until I called one into shooting distance for her. Memories of a life time. I always did feel that turkey hunting is something I can do forever, might have to pay someone to push my wheelchair out there. But I plan on being somewhere in the woods unless I to also start thinking its becoming to much work.