Losing my desire
 

Set my alarm last nite, all gung-ho to get up this morning and hunt for an hour or so before work. In fact, I planned on hunting almost every morning before work, and really hit it hard the last 2 weeks of PA season. Alarm went off, I threw it on the floor, and then asked myself "WHY should I go hunting this morning.??" It became apparant to me that getting up at 6am to go work was a lot more appealing than getting up at 4 and spending another morning chasing around a bird. I haven't pulled the trigger on a bird since May of 2002. That's a long time to me. When I first started in 1995, I had a blast; taking 4 birds in 5 years, then calling off for a couple years for a new job. Started in 2002 again, and bam, took one the first 15 minutes in the woods. I loved it. Back then, it all worked. Set up on them at the roost, they fly down, come to the call, bang. It didn't work every time, but enough to fill a tag and keep me going. Nowadays, it's been nothing but an exercise in futility. It doesn't work none of time. Frustration, anger, humiliation and disgust have all taken a toll on me. I have absolutely no confidence when it comes to this sport anymore. No matter what tactic I apply, no matter how I call, if I call at all, no matter where I set up, they just don't come my way. No matter how many scouting days I spend watching them roost here or there and fly down to whereever, the day I set up, just happens to be the day they change their patterns. I'm not even learning anything anymore; how can I learn something when they do something different everyday - no matter which piece of woods I'm in? Preparation, patience, planning, perseverence..........none have paid off. I used to smile when I heard that first gobble of the morning while sitting under a tree........now I think "yea right." I know this is a test; whether given by Mother Nature, God, or some other force that I cannot comprehend...........and I know that I'm failing miserably. I used to love this sport. But with 24 unsuccessful mornings in 3 seasons, the love is gone. I just want it to be fun again. That's all. I don't have to pull the trigger. I just want one to walk by. The white flag is in my hand, whether I wave it or not, only the time I spend in the next 2 weeks will tell. If I can get out of bed......

Sorry for the rant. But I don't have anyone to talk to at work or home about turkeys; and I just wanted to put my thoughts in writing here so someday, if I do stay with it and succeed again, I can find this post and remind myself of how low one can get when success avoids them........then I'll delete it.

RE: Losing my desire
 

You ain't alone man. You ain't alone.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Sorry guys, but even though I share your luck, I don't share your grief! I cherish each and every moment that I'm able to spend in God's green playground! I've only heard a few gobbles in the 6 or 7 times I've been out, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time afield. Been checking out the songbirds, scouting up the deer sign, and catching up on some VERY relaxing sleep! Nothing like a nap induced by the songs of wild things! I don't know.....maybe since I've killed some really nice gobblers over the years I just don't get so frustrated so easily anymore. In all actuality, this is just one of those years where the hens are nesting late and it will get much better later in the week and next week. Times are changing here in PA. The birds are getting called into "MUTEDOM" by the pre-season scouting and getting harassed by the 'yotes more and more every year. We have to change our hunting style to deal with the "new" PA birds! Good luck, and good hunting!

RE: Losing my desire
 

That's why they call it hunting and not killing. I have spent 4 years getting up early and chasing birds to no avail. I felt exactly the way you did. I never even have killed a turkey. Finally on April 30, I got up as normal, but could only hunt an hour before I had to go. Wasn't expecting anything. Before I knew it, my unt was over in 10 minutes. First bird ever. 10" beard, 1" spurs. There are 2 things about hunting that I know for sure. 1. You never know when that big one is going to walk out. 2. You can't kill em at the house.:D

RE: Losing my desire
 

Mikey

It's not you. Gunwalkr summed it up when he says "mutedom." In Greene County, there is more hunting pressure than ever. There are less turkeys than ever (especially compared to the pre-fall hunting-ban years). There is more predation than ever. That all combines to make a breed of turkey that is nearly unhuntable. They are so call-shy that they refuse to respond in any way. Gobbling on the ground alerts nearby predators and hunters to their location, so a wise bird is now quiet on the ground.

These factors have combined to make for some of the hardest turkey hunting I've ever encountered. I lucked out in a "right place, right time" scenario when I killed mine. I guided a guy Saturday and he killed what had to be the only talkative bird in the county.

My advice is to get 50-60 yards from one on the roost now that there's adequate foliage. Put out a decoy or two if you can. Make a couple clucks and purrs once he hits the ground and try to draw him that last few yards to get him in range. If they go the other way, try to swing around them and get back in front of the flock without getting busted and wait 'em out. Just do some really soft clucks and purrs to pull the matriarchial hen over your way. They're so henned up right now, you have to hunt the hens' movement patterns to get at the toms.

Quik

RE: Losing my desire
 

try dedicating more time to it,
If i went to hunt for just 1 hr before i had to go to work,
i probably would feel the same,
getting up at 4am doesnt get any easier,
but i do love being out there when i do get out,
Try using a day off to be be out,
or make a weekend hunt.
going out for an hr is not the same to me as being out for the day/weekend/week.
heck would take me an hr just to get to my blind.

RE: Losing my desire
 

I have had outside circumstances influence my hunting motivation at times. For example, family situations, work, exhaustion, poor hunting spot etc.. There are other reasons of course but, sometimes ones motivation can be affected negatively and your drive is dampened to the point of not going out. I don't feel like any of these are out of the ordinary and everyone experiences them at one time or another.

However, if one is not having fun, or experiencing a certain amount of pleasure and enjoyment in whatever endeavor they are voluntarily pursuing, than I feel it won't be long before they "hang up their guns". That seems perfectly reasonable to me. Should that day come for me I will do the same.

Everyone has a favorite species and a favorite technique to hunt that animal. I love bowhunting elk and deer. I have spent large amounts of money, time, and expended an insane amount of energy in their pursuit. I love to hunt turkeys also but when they stop responding to the calls I get almost as much satisfaction mowing my lawn as I do hunting them. That is why I only pursue them directly in the spring and not the fall.

As far as experiencing "24 unsuccessful mornings in 3 seasons"...I have eclipsed 24 mornings IN A ROW without harvesting what I was looking for on more than one occasion in a single season. If a person is motivated they figure they are just getting warmed up in that time frame. They look at it like they are 24 days closer to success! But that is only if you are having fun doing it. If not, it is just another unpleasant grueling excercise in life. Each person has to decide that for themselves.

For what it is worth I will say this. If you have access to an area where there are birds gobbling, you are way ahead of the game. Just because you may not see a tom close to you doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't there. You may have had a close encounter and not even been aware of it. I feel like if one is hunting in thick cover it can happen more often than a person would care to believe. They come sneaking in silent and can leave the same way. Success or failure hinges on the smallest of margines at times and we may not even be aware of when it is taking place. If you take the attitude that IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN than more often than not you won't get caught off guard.

Good luck in whatever you decide....You always have people who are willing to listen to anything that pertains to hunting here...

RE: Losing my desire
 

Try something you may not have tried yet.
Move slowly through your hunting areas...keep your eyes open.
What have you got to lose....you sound like your fed up up with hunting gobblers "the traditional way".

Best of luck to you....you are just paying your dues...there's probably a great gobbler out there with your name on it....by all means, keep hunting!

RE: Losing my desire
 

Antler Eater: you said a mouthfull about success and failure hinging on the smallest of margins. This is the frustrating thing for me. Like setting up at a corner of a field thinking "that bird flew down here 3 mornings in a row" and then the 4th morning you set up, he drops down in the opposite corner 800 yards away.........leaving me to think "hell that's where I was at yesterday!" You almost want to quit on the spot. This past saturday I had 2 large mature birds bumping each other out of the way to get to my decoys, but instead of coming all the way in, they both stop at 100 yards out in the field, fold up, and walk 180 degrees away from me, past their real girlfriends, and march 400 yards back to the other side of the field to eat. Never to be heard from again all morning. And there is nobody hunting there but me! They just don't want to breed!

Quik: You spoke of gobbling on the ground. The area I'm hunting contains a field that is about 1000 yards long and 700 yards wide. A lot of turkey playground. At least once a morning, there is a bird someplace in that field( a different place every time) going absolutly nuts, gobbling by himself, till 7 or 8 am. I set up on him, undetected, make sure he's still gobbling on his own, then I do some soft calls. Nothing. I do hard calling....nothing. I'm baffled.

Teresec........if I take any more time off, I won't have a job!

RE: Losing my desire
 

That is a big field. Have you tried a blind? You can get an Ameristep for $50-$60. May get you a little closer. I know what you mean about them changing patterns. A couple of years ago I hunted a new place for a week. Every day I would hear gobbling (I mean gobbling their heads off gobbling) on the left side of the property and I am on the right side. Five straight days. OK, on day six I set up on the left side and hear them gobbling on the right. Go figure.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Every day I would hear gobbling (I mean gobbling their heads off gobbling) on the left side of the property and I am on the right side. Five straight days. OK, on day six I set up on the left side and hear them gobbling on the right. Go figure.
--------
That sounds exactly like my last hunting trip.
woke up to wild gobbling, was like wow,
went out and nothing,
next day they were gobbling at the other end of my property,
went there and they went back to the other end,
dang birds playing mind games with me,

RE: Losing my desire
 

I may be reading into your plight more than I should but I see way more frustration than lack of desire. While it is true that unrequited frustration can lead one to eventually run up the white flag, at least you are still in there swinging.

The one thing about hunting is that things can change on a dime!! For the good or bad.

I didn't consider our season here to be a particularly good one. Yes I did "tag out" but the gobblers were not responding the way they have in years past, at least not where I hunted. It got so bad that when you called they would move the other direction and I still am unsure as to why, they were not pressured here. For three days in a row I had a tom close to me as I was walking out. He gobbled at me, I knew his general location. When I set up and called back he would answer and each time it was obvious he was moving away. The next time I could go I decided I wouldn't call and just put a decoy out in a small open area. Late in the morning I heard a gobble and it was coming towards me. I waited. Sure enough up struts this tom. He was close enough to kill easily distance wise, but he stood behind a blow down as he eyed the decoy and there was no good shot. He eventually left without me being able to take advantage of my ruse. It was a moral victory of sorts for me so instead of being discouraged by my bad luck, I was encouraged by the fact that I had one in range.

A couple of days later in this same spot I clucked on the call and got an answer. A short while later it was evident this guy was coming to the call. The exact opposite of what I experienced the prior four days.

When he got right on top of me he gobbled. It was one of those types that reverberates off of the trees and vibrates the inside of your chest! Even so because of the thick stuff I could not see him. I had my gun up, head down, safety off, it was go time baby!! Three minutes later in the same position, I'm thinking that my gun is getting heavy and the silence is deafening! I thought he might have left. What I didn't know at the time but figured out later, was that he was over there strutting because he could see the decoy just fine. I nearly blew that hunt big time by doubting my set up. I had just picked my call and stiker up when I saw his head stick out at a 45 degree angle from behind a tree twenty five yards away. He never saw me raise my gun until it was to late.

I have had the same experience with elk. I had a few days in a row last fall where they would run if you cow called. The final two days I could hunt it was like someone turned on a switch, everything changed. They not only answered they came to the call.

These critters don't read the magazine articles. They don't know how they are suppose to respond to what we are doing. We are the only ones who fall into that trap.

There are lots of good suggestions here. As long as you can get out of bed in the morning and go to an area that holds birds, and you keep trying with a reasonable amount of guile and stealth, eventually success will come your way....Good luck.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Mikey S.,

Every post here is a good one and I don't think you're ready to throw in the towel. Geting up at 4 a.m. will wear on you, I know, I get up around 3 a.m. and my hunting land is only 10 minutes from my home.

I think you need more than an hour to hunt, but you have to take what you can get. Here's something I do every year and I usually get my two birds in the first two weeks of the season, (we can take three here but I only kill two). The reason I get up so early is to get my gallon of coffee intake before leaving the house, but more importantly, to get in the woods an hour before daylight. What I do is get in the woods, sometimes just on the edge of the woods, the hour before daylight and listen. Unless I'm lucky enough to be near a bird when it gets' light, I mark him, I may try moving closer and work him, but most of the time I'll leave try working another bird, if there is another gobbling. I make it a point to be in the area I heard that bird an hour before daylight the next morning and set up, normally, for me at least, he will roost pretty close the next day, this has proven very successful for me.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I won't hear that bird the next day and I'll take off for one at daylight that could be a half mile away. Actually, what I'm doing is applying some deer hunting experience to turkey hunting.

The main thing is, don't quit, but take a day or two off. Just go listen sometimes and don't hunt, listen and leave. You'll be surprised how rested you'll be if you lay off a day or two.

Good Luck,
dog1

RE: Losing my desire
 

All good advice and thoughts fellas. This spring my wife, friend and I all wound up getting skunked (for the first time ever) at my "honey hole" (in South Dakota)!! I went out about 12 different days, busted my wife's car, got my truck stuck so badly I needed a 4-wheel tractor to pull it out, in general had a miserably wonderful time!!!

Days without gobbling, birds that go the other way, "henned up" birds, toms strutting and/or gobbling "out-of-bounds"--- I've seen it all. And when I get beat and bummed and worn out and ask myself why I do it, the answer is not for the kill, but for the chance to get away from "the real world", from work and from all the stresses of life. Nothing more, plain and simple.

As a matter of fact, my best hunting day this year (in Kansas)--the textbook hunt--roosted the night before, set up, flydown and strut over, shot by 6:00 a.m.--was, in many ways, unsettling and unsatisfying. Just killing a bird. Over way too quickly, now what are you going to do with the rest of your day?? Ho-hum.

But what I remember best so far was a pre-season scouting trip where I had a tom 15 feet away, spitting and drumming, in the sunlight, in all his glory, for about 20 minutes, me leaning against a tree and watching through half-closed eyes, not daring to move or blink. I didn't have to kill that tom to find fun and excitement. Or maybe it was the hen that stood by my decoy for almost an hour--no gobbler came that day, not even for my "live" decoy. Still, watching her feed and preen and walk around the area of the decoy was neat. (I was in my Doghouse blind.) So I can say I was skunked, but then again, I had some really neat "adventures" to make the spring, 2005 in South Dakota memorable.

Find the pleasure in the moment. Relax and enjoy!!
So look for enjoyment in small things. Don't put all the pleasure in the kill. Find the beauty of the season, the day, the woods.

(And if you really want to kill a roosted gobbler, get out in the woods earlier, in the dark dark, so that you can be comfortably set up at least an hour before legal shooting time. Then shut up until you hear tree yelping if there's hens, or the tom gobbling if not. Never hurry the hunt.)

RE: Losing my desire
 

im with u....i have a post like this too......im ready to quit myself.....but them birds just drive me mad........i sleep 2-4hrs tops.......hunt...then school if i go or have it....work at noon till 5....then some days i work my SECOND job......this is all after getting up at 430am.......i just cant take it......somethings wrong this year i think.......they are sick or maybe they all turned homosexual......i dont know.......but they are killin me this year.....they will go nuts on the roost.....hit the ground and never say a peep......killllllling me!......but......too late to quit......i got to many hours into these birds.......im hangin in there a little longer........even if it kills me! good luck......stick with it......never know when they will cooperate..........tomarow after the morning hunt im just going to sit on the highest point i can find with binos and GLASS every field i can see......every time i leave they are in the field........and i got all day to hunt tomarow.....ill climb the silo......glass.....find them.....and pull a sneak setup on them........cant say its illegal......im setting up....and calling......they pull dirty tricks i just might do the same.......im not even just out there for a kill......i just want the excitement i get from chasin turkeys when they cooperate SOMEWHAT

RE: Losing my desire
 

It's 10:35, got my alarm set for 3:45. Borrowed a "bubba" jake decoy ( was always afraid to use one in my old spots) Gonna plop his butt out in that field with a couple sweeties and see what happens. Any bird that lands in that field is gonna see them. Hopefully one of those toms gets a little agitated and comes looking to strut his stuff. It's the only thing I haven't tried yet.........

See ya guys tomorrow. Thanks for all the replies also!

Mikey

RE: Losing my desire
 

BUT... BUT .... ??? ....what WOULD you call a good one?
HUH??? .......... your 1st response to this thread was better.......IMO.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Sounds like you just need a break from things for a while. Sleep in for a day or two then go out around 9 or 10 am and see what happens, sometimes a change in your schedule will do the trick.

I know when I get frustrated like that sometimes I just have to step back and look outside the box and think why I really love to hunt. I filled my tag this season but got skunked the last 3 years, I was very frustrated and ready to stop hunting birds where I live, but things came around.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Rem1100, after rereading that part of my post I can see why you might feel the way you do. As far as killing a turkey, yes it was as good a year or better than the last five. But making a kill doesn't necessarily equate a good season. FOR Me, my satisfaction comes from the interaction with the turkeys.

What I was trying to communicate (and failing miserably at) was how the turkeys were reacting to the calls. In my area you can normally count on a tremendous response in terms of vocal replies and excited toms coming to your setup. This year was markedly different than recent years. I don't know if it had to do with the unseasonably warm weather we had for a period of time before the season opened or what. What ever it was or is, it was very evident from early season on. Once down from the roost they were very tight lipped and for the most part unresponsive by comparison to years gone by. So, by those standards, I didn't feel is was as "good".

RE: Losing my desire
 

I can relate to antler eater. I'd rather have a season full of gobbling and mornings where I feel like I have a chance to have something come in and not end up with a bird over a season of sitting there in silence and lucking into one that came in and I shot it.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Got my a@@ whooped this morning by a tom. Set up in a finger of trees jutting into the field. Threw out 2 hen dekes and the bubba I borrowed. Did one set of soft tree yelps after he gobbled a few times on the roost and that was it. He and 2 hens flew down and stayed in the woods, which they've never done yet this year. I battled with the hens for awhile, threw in a couple short gobbles with my Quaker boy jake shaker, and the hens started to drag him to the dekes. About 125 yards out, he got disinterested, and turned for the field behind him, leaving his hens. Packed up my toys about 7:00, (told my boss I'd be in on time) and headed for the truck. Halfway back to the truck, about 500 yards from my set up spot, the jerk starts to gobble his head off. I said screw it, and went after him. Messed with him till about 9:15, and had to quit. Changed positions on him 4 or 5 times, just ran out of time. At one point I know he was 50-60 yards, just couldn't get a look at him. Didn't have time to circle him and try to cut him off. But I know where I'll be next time.

RE: Losing my desire
 

Sounds like your getting closer:D