I have to admit that I'm not new to the game, and I learned to Turkey Hunt quite a few years ago. That said, you may just think its the ramblings of an old fool but I'd make a few observations on the state of the union of Turkey Hunting today...

TV Shows: First, for those who are new to our addiction/sport, what you see on TV is not real. Unless you are very fortunate and lucky, getting your bird in 30 minutes with a call being struck, blown, or box lid struck every 30 seconds and killing him at full strut with 4 buddies with him is not a very likely outcome. As much as I enjoy watching these half hour fantasies, they demonstrate none of the true techniques of turkey hunting and by and large are fantasy.

Skills: The normal approach today seems to be a constant search for every new gizmo and gimmick available to mans creative mind. The worst of these is our focus on long range shooting. In my mind, we have not advanced the state of the art with choke tubes and ammo that will deliver a lethal dose of shot at 60 yards. In fact, I think its a bad idea and encourages bad decisions. The quality of the hunt used to be delivered to the hunter who was cabable of calling and waiting and working a bird into range, no more than 30 yards and taking said target cleanly.

Today young hunters and new hunters see shots taken at long range and consider this the norm. In fact, in many cases turkeys are hunted in timer where you cannot possibly see over 40 yards and a gun/choke/ammo combo that delivers these "impressive" results will shoot a shot pattern from 15 to 40 yards so tight that a wounded or missed bird becomes more likely.

Calling: This is one area that TV is killing the spirit of newcomers....The real world is that the less you call, and the more you simply stay still and quiet after you sit down is far more important than that incessent noise making that we see on TV and in these videos. Someone needs to market a video and TV show that is honest.....for you newcomers....for goodness sakes....go to the bird when you here the gobble....yelp a couple times, and shut up, sit still and keep your eyes open.


I have no idea what brought on this rant...but I do feel better.