whats harder to hunt?
 

i was thinking to my self what animal is harder to hunt and kill.
Deer are very very smart, great eyes, and the weather needs to be right..
With turkeys you need to have the right call, be in the right spot, and there alot harder to shoot because there smaller...What do you guys think?

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

In Texas it has to be turkeys because you can't fence them in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok I'm done I just couldn't let that one go>>>>>>

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

yeah right!

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

i would have to say equally hard because it depends on the day

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I will have to go w/ turkeys on this one. I think they are more of a challenge than deer. I did not say bucks b/c they are kinda tricky too.;)

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

i went with turkeys because when there not sticking there heads up in the rain and drowing, then there not coming to my calls either

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

i think turkeys, they just seem to escape me!

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

i'm definately going to have to go with turkeys on this one. they have great eyes and ears. they would be almost impossible to hunt if they could smell in my opinion. that's the only thing deer have on turkeys.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Turkeys... Their eyesight is like 9000 times better than any other game animal. They can spot you hunkered down against a tree from a 1/4 mile away! Turkeys can see your eyelashes move when you blink! I hate turkeys!!! [:'(]

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I'd say turkeys also. I haven't had any luck in harvesting them yet.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Depends on what part of the country you are in, the deer densities, the turkey densities etc.....I voted equally as hard....too many variables to chose one over the other.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Bowhunting deer and shotgun hunting turkey are equally as difficult.

Rifle hunting deer (150+ yard shots) is easier than shotgun hunting turkey.


Just my 2cents

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Both are hard in Michigan but turkeys seemed much harder than deer this year. I shot two bucks this year but I got busted every time I tried to draw on a turkey.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Equally hard...if your talking mature bucks (or older does)vs. toms!

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I had to go with deer on this one. Maybe partially because I don't feel near the excitement or the satisfaction on shooting a turkey than I do a deer. I spend countless hours scouting and getting ready for bow hunting deer...turkey, just a couple days and learning how to call is easy. Maybe it's the land I hunt(mostly state land), but I find turkeys generally fairly easy to kill.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

good points

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

a mature whitetail buck makes every other animal on this planet look stupid.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

There's a reason why nowadays, majority of the turkey hunters around here get big toms. Can't say the same thing about deer. So the answer to the question is very easy and lop-sided to me.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

They both require your attention to details, just different ways!! Equally puzzling, even to the most experienced archers!!

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

turkeys without a doubt.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I say turkeys, at least where I live. Deer really are not that smart and really don't see that well. They hear and smell great though. The biggest thing with deer is they are very alert and on edge.

Turkeys are actually fairly smart I think and like said can see incredibly well. You really need good cammo for turkey and be able to sit still. Not to mention they are sort of hard to kill. They are tough as heck! I kill at least one deer every year but have yet to get a turkey. I came close a few times though.

The pay off is much better with deer though. You get quite a bit of meat with a deer and the prestige seems to be greater. Turkey hunting is simply for the challenge and sport of it. For what it costs to turkey hunt you could buy two or three at the market. I would also agree it depends on where you live. Some states have quite a few turkeys and pretty liberal laws to hunt them.

If you want a challenge I have heard that Prong Horn and large cats are pretty hard to kill. Prong Horns have all the senses of a deer plus they can see VERY well to boot. And cats are natural born hunters themselves, so chances are they are better at it then most humans.

My opinions anyway.

Paul

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I say a deer. ( big buck ) I usually kill a nice tom about 15 minutes after first light on opening day.I seriously see nothing hard about hunting turkeys at all, atleast not around here. If you are talking about poping a doe you can usually do that about 15 mins. after first light on opening day too. Oh well I guess they both are easy.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

this is an easy choice for anyone who has hunted eastern wild turkeys. deer don't even come close as far as intelligence. i can whack a deer any day of the week cause one always strolls underneath my stand, but tocall that big old tom and his boss hen is quite a chore

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

if your only hunting public land like I do, they are both extremely hard

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I don't know ANY turkey hunters that don't bag a tom each spring, but I know TONS of bowhunters that don't bag a buck...

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Actually a deer is only able to see roughly 12 feet clearly, its not their site you have to worry about, its that long nose and the big floppy ears. As for turkeys, they are the hardest to kill. They have excellent eyesite and can see a twig move 30 yards away. Since they cant smell worth the crap scent control isnt needed for turkeys, but they do hear very well. Now killing a turkey with a bow is extremely hard, I got my first turkey with a bow last fall, I have been turkey hunting for 16 years. Its easier to kill a deer with a bow than it is a turkey.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I assume, since this is a bowhunting forum, that you mean fair chase bowhunting (yes, bwanajim, there is such a thing, evenin Texas )for each species. In that case, it's no contest. Turkey.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I think I'd have to go with turkey's on this one .I've never had as many turkey's get real close to me while hunting asI have with deer hunting .
It's a close call either way .
I'm pretty sure this post will be a close one .

nubo

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Turks

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

id say deer because you can call them in much easier even though they have very keen eyesight.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Turkey

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Oh my Gawd!!! I can't believe this!!!!![&o] Unbelievable! Turkeys harder to hunt than deer????? Holy cow! No way in sam hell that is so! Turkeys have a brain the size of an acorn and I'm usually tagged out within the first couple hours of the opener. The time, patience, work, skill and dumb luck it's required for me to shoot some pretty nice bucks over the years is enormous compared to the 15 minuts of prep time I spend getting dressed to go turkey hunting. I'm speechless...kind of.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Same here wolfen thatswhat I was thinking.I haven seen nothing hard about hunting turkeys at all.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Maybe our Eastern breed of turkey is really stupid or something but heck, I go out west and kill rio's and it's the same story. Maybe it's just dumb turkeys in Kansas period.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I think it depends on where you live, how long the seasons are, what the numbers are and the amount of pressure. It is much more difficult to kill turkeys than deer where I live. Heck it's hard just finding them sometimes.

I don't think brain size really matters, there are some extremely smart birds. And cows have large brains but are about the most stupid animal I have delt with.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Quite possible about the locations one hunts but I think that turkeys are just more spooky than deer. Deer can become curious when something is not quite right but turkeys split and that's that. I've pretty much nailed down the strutting areas for the turks in my area and year after year after year you can pretty much bank on them coming to these areas like clockwork.

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

I feel the same way. Maybe I'd feel differently if I only tried for birds over 25 lbs. with 12" beards and 1 1/4"+ spurs![:-]

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

hey wolfen, i disagree compltlety, where i live turkeys are extremely extremly hard to kill!!!, there very lazy and barley come to calls unless im right on top of them, ive never gotten a bird in5 years, in fact ive only had them come to me once! my first year of deer hunting i got 2 bucks and a doe. Its all about where you live( or hunt i should say)

RE: whats harder to hunt?
 

Guys, and gals,

I am surprised to hear that some of yall think that deer are harder to hunt that turkeys. I supose it is just the different styles of hunting within the different regions. Around here, deer are shot at 100 yrds+. Turks at 30 yrds or less. Makes a big difference. There is no such thing as a tree stands here on the west coast(where I am anyways), so deer are easy to hunt: spot at 100yrds+ and take 'em down with the rifle.

Like I said earlier: Deer with bow and turks= same difficulty, deer with rifle and turks with shotgun= turks way harder.