Why?

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Uncle Lou
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Re: Why?

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Mon May 17, 2021 9:50 am

muddy wrote:Turkey hunting is generally unpredictable. "Weird stuff" always happens and that's what makes the best memories. That and they taste phenomenal.

20210514_223936.jpg


I like interacting with nature, especially when I have a hook, a bullet, a spear, or an arrow that I get to use. Muddy are those saltimbocas (sp?)? Now I want to shoot another turkey.


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Re: Why?

Unread postby Wihunter95 » Mon May 17, 2021 10:39 am

I love the challenge, the gobbling, the spring woods coming alive, just getting into action. I'm very aggressive and run and gun alot, 9/10 times the birds humble me but when it works out it's a great feeling. Ive been hunting them the last few days and have been close every day, even missed one after calling him in on a string off the roost. Its a love/hate relationship that keeps bringing me back.
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Re: Why?

Unread postby muddy » Mon May 17, 2021 1:30 pm

Uncle Lou wrote:
muddy wrote:Turkey hunting is generally unpredictable. "Weird stuff" always happens and that's what makes the best memories. That and they taste phenomenal.

20210514_223936.jpg


I like interacting with nature, especially when I have a hook, a bullet, a spear, or an arrow that I get to use. Muddy are those saltimbocas (sp?)? Now I want to shoot another turkey.


Those skewes are my "turkey bombs"
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Re: Why?

Unread postby thwack16 » Tue May 18, 2021 3:02 am

I've wanted to answer this question since it was posed, but everything I want to say just ends up being a convoluted mess. This probably will too.

My why? I've successfully pulled the trigger on some 30-40 gobbling turkeys. My heart still feels as if it's going to beat slam out of my chest as the gobbler is approaching. The gobbling, the strutting, the spitting and drumming, the intensity of knowing that any flicker of movement and he'll beeline out of there...the only replication to the adrenaline rush that I've found is stepping in the batters box in a big scenario and drawing my bow on a mature buck. One I don't get to do anymore, and one I don't get to do enough.

I enjoy the sunrises, the early morning miles heading into a listening spot, the deer scouting when the action gets slow, the absent minded day at work after a quick morning hunt where all I can think about is why the bird didn't act like I thought he should, the constant texts and phone calls from friends (some of which I only hear from during spring) and family about birds , etc. I guess I just enjoy it all.

People down here seem to always ask do you like hunting turkeys or deer more? Weird question and weird answer(s) for me. I think turkeys for about 60 days a year, I think deer for 365. If I could only hunt one for the rest of my life, deer. But if God said I had one day left to live;, make it April 1, 40 degrees and a calm wind with no clouds.
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Re: Why?

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Fri May 21, 2021 12:58 pm

thwack16 wrote:I've wanted to answer this question since it was posed, but everything I want to say just ends up being a convoluted mess. This probably will too.

My why? I've successfully pulled the trigger on some 30-40 gobbling turkeys. My heart still feels as if it's going to beat slam out of my chest as the gobbler is approaching. The gobbling, the strutting, the spitting and drumming, the intensity of knowing that any flicker of movement and he'll beeline out of there...the only replication to the adrenaline rush that I've found is stepping in the batters box in a big scenario and drawing my bow on a mature buck. One I don't get to do anymore, and one I don't get to do enough.

I enjoy the sunrises, the early morning miles heading into a listening spot, the deer scouting when the action gets slow, the absent minded day at work after a quick morning hunt where all I can think about is why the bird didn't act like I thought he should, the constant texts and phone calls from friends (some of which I only hear from during spring) and family about birds , etc. I guess I just enjoy it all.

People down here seem to always ask do you like hunting turkeys or deer more? Weird question and weird answer(s) for me. I think turkeys for about 60 days a year, I think deer for 365. If I could only hunt one for the rest of my life, deer. But if God said I had one day left to live;, make it April 1, 40 degrees and a calm wind with no clouds.


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Re: Why?

Unread postby KRONIIK » Sat May 22, 2021 2:56 pm

thwack16 wrote:I've wanted to answer this question since it was posed, but everything I want to say just ends up being a convoluted mess. This probably will too.

My why? I've successfully pulled the trigger on some 30-40 gobbling turkeys. My heart still feels as if it's going to beat slam out of my chest as the gobbler is approaching. The gobbling, the strutting, the spitting and drumming, the intensity of knowing that any flicker of movement and he'll beeline out of there...the only replication to the adrenaline rush that I've found is stepping in the batters box in a big scenario and drawing my bow on a mature buck. One I don't get to do anymore, and one I don't get to do enough.

I enjoy the sunrises, the early morning miles heading into a listening spot, the deer scouting when the action gets slow, the absent minded day at work after a quick morning hunt where all I can think about is why the bird didn't act like I thought he should, the constant texts and phone calls from friends (some of which I only hear from during spring) and family about birds , etc. I guess I just enjoy it all.

People down here seem to always ask do you like hunting turkeys or deer more? Weird question and weird answer(s) for me. I think turkeys for about 60 days a year, I think deer for 365. If I could only hunt one for the rest of my life, deer. But if God said I had one day left to live;, make it April 1, 40 degrees and a calm wind with no clouds.


Great post!
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Re: Why?

Unread postby john1984 » Sat May 22, 2021 3:20 pm

I spent 50$ so far this year on turkey licenses. Doubt I'll even go, but maybe
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Re: Why?

Unread postby simpzenith » Sun May 23, 2021 10:27 am

dan wrote:What does turkey hunting mean to you? and why do you do it? For me, I don't have near the passion in it as I do deer or bear hunting... It started out with a lot of passion. And when my kids were young and turkey hunting was a family affair it was really something I looked forward to. But hunting turkeys alone is not the same as chasing whitetaiös alone... I see some people who really seem to love turkey hunting, some who can take it or leave it, and some like myself who enjoy it at a moderate level. Where you at? I actually prefer run and gun style, even though it usually means less success


I enjoy the challenge of a one-on-one chess match that a wary, public land gobbler can sometimes offer. I love the late evenings trying to roost gobblers, the early wake ups in order to have enough time to navigate through hundreds of yards of hilly timber in complete darkness, just to get close to a roosted gobbler. I love witnessing each morning awaken as the first rays of the warm, spring sun envelope the area, the melodies as the songbirds searching for mates, the emergence of lush vegetation as the world renews itself from a long, harsh winter. I love the miles of walking/hiking in hopes of striking a mid-morning gobbler all while discovering areas undisturbed or unseen by most other humans. Well, I really don't love the "miles of hiking" but I do love the sense of accomplishment it gives after successfully killing that gobbler that drug me all over the countryside. :D I welcome the frustrations of a henned-up gobbler and the time and effort spent coming up with a strategy to kill him. Most importantly, I love all the vocalizations that I try to duplicate when turkey hunting. I could go on and on but you get the point.

I believe the main reasons many folks don't get passionate about turkey hunting is that they really don't know how to hunt turkeys and/or they've never really experienced turkey hunting it in it's raw form. Instead, the only method they use is by "deer hunting" turkeys; sitting in one spot for hours on end, hoping something eventually comes by and sees the decoys. Sure, you can kill a few turkeys hunting that way but you'll never learn very much about wild turkey behavior and tendencies and you definitely won't become a better turkey hunter.
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Re: Why?

Unread postby SEMObowhunter » Sat May 29, 2021 11:09 am

I hunt turkeys to relax. I don’t scout, I just go listen a few times before season. I have hunted the same neck of National Forest (if you see my forum name you can guess which one) for 23 seasons and the gobblers are generally in the same locations every year. When I go, I intend to kill them, but unlike deer I’m hunting something that tells me where he is at and after a day or two of his hocus pocus I can usually be eating turkey breast. I love to go and love to hear them gobble but if they ain’t gobbling I’m disinterested. It’s just more relaxation and being in the woods that makes me love it so much. But nothing compared to a deer.
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Re: Why?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Mon May 31, 2021 1:34 am

Well, I have a tag for this weekend in WI and havent even gone yet, maybe today?

I did go golfing yesterday and saw 4 turkeys though. Seems too nice to be out hunting to be honest its more fishing, grilling, biking, baseball, and hanging out with the family season. Im already away from them enough in the Fall chasing deer not sure it would be best to be away all spring too, especially as much as my boy likes to fish!
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Re: Why?

Unread postby WyattBaker » Sat Aug 21, 2021 4:00 pm

I hunt turkeys because I like the chess match of calling them into me. I love chasing a turkey off the roost and calling back and forth with him for hours. I like the competition part of it. Mankind has been competing since the beginning of time and it’s a desire in everyone whether they think it is or isn’t. The competition makes me appreciate everything about the hunt. It makes me appreciate the animal, the land, the weather, and my own physical and mental abilities. Most of the time I am beaten in turkey hunting by one of those factors.

I also like to eat wild turkey, more than any other wild game, but that’s not my focus of the hunt. I’m not hunting for food only; that’s just a wonderful bonus.

My approach is to hang a few hundred yards away from a roosted turkey and try to get him to work towards me once he hits the ground. When I first started hunting, it was all about being successful and bagging a bird. I would try to get as close as I could off the roost, and the majority of the time, I would push the issue and get too close.
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Re: Why?

Unread postby Brad » Thu Sep 02, 2021 1:35 pm

This is my first time ever going to the turkey hunting part of this forum... in fact I never even thought about it before now. So, my story is that I am fairly new to turkey hunting. 2021 was my third season ever hunting turkeys and I am now 47 years old. My dad had always been somewhat passionate about turkey hunting, and my brother hunted as well, but I didn't get into it until quite late in life. My first season was one day long... a buddy invited me to his private land, which was completely unpressured, and I hunted out of a blind. I had some turkeys come in to an area very close and I was able to move around in the blind undetected and take a shot at probably no more than 15 yards. It was a really nice big old gobbler with very long spurs and a great beard. I was able to take my dad with me on that hunt, and he's getting up there in the years, has macular degeneration and can't even see the turkey much less take a shot at one. He was able to do some calling for me and it was pretty cool we got to have that time together. So, after it was all said and done, we both knew that was too easy to even be called turkey hunting. So the next season I hunted quite a bit on pressured public land. I had several times of talking back and forth with gobblers, but never was able to seal the deal. 2021 I hunted quite a bit again and had two awesome encounters where I had eyes on fired gobblers but they were never close enough to take a reasonable shot. Then, during the last week of our 3 week season I was able to fill my tag with a nice jake. Now... I'm hooked.
I consider myself more of a deer hunter, but I am pretty excited about 2022 spring turkey season. I would say one of the biggest things that get me excited about turkey hunting is that interaction between you and the turkey, and that time when the sun is rising and you locate birds to get as close to as possible without spooking them. The fact that our turkey season is only 3 weeks makes it kind of a sprint compared to our 5 months we can bow hunt for deer here in MO. The limited time also to me adds to the excitement. I don't think it would be nearly as exciting to be able to hunt turkeys for multiple months. For me it's 5 weeks out of the year including two weeks of "scouting" by just trying to locate areas with birds. If I had to choose one or the other I'd likely stick to deer hunting, but man that 3 weeks of spring is awesome... I have grown to really love turkey hunting. I do find myself scouting for deer on those days when no birds are talking, which has probably hurt my chances of tagging a bird at times. But for me deer hunting is a 5 month season, a 2 month post season, 5-6 weeks of turkey season, then a 4 month deer pre-season...
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Re: Why?

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Wed Dec 08, 2021 9:15 am

My Turkey hunting consists of pushing a buggy through the grocery store around thanksgiving. Never has been any Turkey in my area. I looked into a Turkey hunt once. They wanted $1200 for a 3 day hunt . I elected to shoot a butterball with a coupon instead.

Turkey hunting is probably a lot like how I feel about hog hunting. If you have them around the house it’s fun and provides additional hunting season. If I didn’t I wouldn’t pay good money to shoot one.
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