jcsfootball

what is it exactly? do you call a bird and then when you hear it chase after it? or do you just continually walk through woods until you see one?

Wingbone

Run and gun, is moving through turkey country, maybe using a locater call or calling from a setup, staying for a length of time you think is adequate to have any local birds respond andmove to you, maybe an hour or so, then movingto a new setup. During the middle of the day or on days when they are not talking, it's a way togive yourself as many opportunities as possible to be near a bird.

Turkey Fife

Running and No Gunning is no fun. One year I dida lot of Running no Gunning and heard Very FEW Birds. I was one Sad Puppy!

TF

SwampCollie

Novice turkey hunters love to run and gun. They act as if they were Vikings landing in France. Aside from a few isolated inncidents with stupid jakes or inexperienced 2 year old birds, it does little more than educate birds and make them leery of coming to calls when there is no bird there.

It does work in certain situations. On TV you see it all the time... but when was the last time you saw a hunter on TV bump a bird?

Rory/MO

you stick with what you think, but id delete that novice part, my dads killed over 50 turkeys in 25 years ALL running and gunning, he could get anyone a tom in 2 mornings guarenteed, if they could keep up with him. hes also killed a ton of birds over 2

SwampCollie

I'll write whatever I want thanks. If you were educated enough to read properly, in no way shape or form did I insinuate that all turkey hunters who run and gun are "novice".

The simple fact is that a lot of neophyte turkey hunters emulate what they see on TV, which is almost exclusively run and gun style hunting. It has its place just like anything else does.

How many have you killed running and gunning? Probably not a third as many as you have bumped.

Rory/MO

ok bud, you do what you think is working for you, and ill do what works for me, adn if you know what your doing running and gunning, you wont bump any more than you do sitting. i sit all deer season, i try to make something happen turkey hunting

ultimag

Ido whatever the situation dictates. It pays to be versitle. Run and Gun is allot more fun than sitting ina blind for hours however.

mauser06

when i run n gun, im 99% of the time on gameland trails hitting vantage points with the crow call trying to find me a hot one. if i had to truely walk through the forest, i wouldnt run n gun. too noisy etc...i can sneak around the grassy gameland trails real easy...cant recall ever seeing one i spooked..though, id imagine it happens...i dont use a turkey call to locate birds just for the reason swampcollie said...all your going to do is educate birds that dont gobble but come in and dont find a hen...eventually they get smart. i see it ALOT on game lands and birds that are visible to roads...guys jump out of the truck to test out their turkey calls or to make em gobble..ive found if they hammer the crow call, they are likely going to come in on a string if they arent henned up. i have found alot of times it will be 2yo birds i bring in....the older birds seem to hold the hens a REAL long time in my area..but i aint picky...if it aint a jake, he aint safe...but alot of the 2yo birds where i hunt seen more hunters than alot of turkeys that die of old age...ive had 2yo birds pull mind blowing stunts that you would think an ole limb hanger would do...they just get pressured SUPER hard...guys start walking around with their box calls starting about march...

on the flip side, ive found that patience will roll my educated birds..usually quicker, and saves me a heck of alot of leg work...depending on the terrain, but i usually cover a decint bit of ground before giving a few blows on the crow call...then keep on hiking..the rolling hills are perfect for running and gunning IMO..i can run the ridges and hilltops and locate birds in the bottoms or up ahead of me on the ridge without busting them..

just depends on my mood, and what my personal expirience tells me i should do to find a bird that wants to play the game...

SwampCollie

What!??!!??

So you are saying that you will spoke more turkey's sitting still than walking and calling in a turkey rich area? You are dreaming dude.

Fact of the matter is that half the birds hunters bump, they will never know they bumped at all.

I had to learn this the hard way, just like most hunters do and will. There are always times that you will have to move, and let that situation dictate. What I find amazing is hunters who only run and gun and swear its the only way to kill birds. Ain't so. If a gobbler responds to your calls, then there is in my experience about a 50/50 chance that at some point in the day that bird will come by to try and find that hen. I learned that by going back to where I had hunted in the morning after "running and gunning" my way to another spot. I would come back by about 11 am and find fresh tracks and drag marks where I had hunted. When I learned to sit my self where I knew the turkeys had been frequenting... I started killing turkeys on a regular basis. Using this methodology I have taken 31 birds in the last 8 springs in 9 different states and called in another 19 that have been taken by other hunters. It is easy to kill turkeys on a piece of property you know very well, but being able to go into a new spot, or a spot you have traveled across country to hunt and succeed twice in four days is based on being patient and confident. Not by bumbling through the woods calling every five minutes until finding a dumb two year old bird that would come in to a fart in a beer can.