Worst turkey hunter
 

I am getting so discouraged. I am getting birds to respond and get close and then nothing. Never close enough to shoot. I cant tell you how many days since season started that i have been in the woods try to kill a turkey. Damn it is starting to get frustrating.

Well today it is raining like hell, so i figure well i will try to sit on a edge of a road and see waht happens. The whole forest was silent. So i am sitting there partially coverd in a blind and other part of me getting rained on. So i sit there and sit there calling about every 30 min. 3 hours go by one shows up way down the raod....and you got it, I couldn't call the bird in to save my life. Then to top it off about 3o minuets later i was starting to get restless and move one of my now lifeless legs and it sounds like a B-29 is flying over my head.... The damn bird was so close i could feel the turbulance off of its wings. Scared me so bad i almost crapped myself and about dropped my shotgun. Well after my near heart attack i packed it in.

I dont know if you all go through this your first year hunting turkeys but damn it is geting discouraging. I dont know if many of you had someone show you the ropes but i dont have that opprotunity. I am haveing to be self taught and i am not sure what i am doing wrong.

I read all of your posts and you all make it sound so easy.
Also, after about 9 am the birds shut all the way up. I have tried hunting them all in the after noon and nothin ever responds back.

Dont know how much more of this abuse i can take from these crafty birds. Hell my girlfriend is starting to wonder if i am even hunting...I keep comin home with a story and not a damn bird.

Thanks for letting me vent....

.308

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Trust me, we've all been there. Turkeys are a funny, wary bird that will give even the most seasoned hunter fits. It doesn't sound like you're doing much wrong. Just unlucky.
It happens to all of us.

I don't know if dekes are legal where you hunt, but it sounds like a deke may help bring the birds in close enough to close the deal. Especially on that road set up you were talking about.

Also, if you can hunt until dark, you may want to try to figure out where the birds want to roost and get there before they do, and bust them in the evening before they fly up.
Even if you can't connect on them in the evening, it would give you a good idea where to start in the morning.

Hang in there!! When you bust one, and you will, let us know!! We'd love yo hear about it.

Good luck,

Slice

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Hey! If he was THAT close, you must have done SOMEthing right! Hang in there and learn rom everything that happens. You'll get one eventually. That's the stuff that makes turkey hunting fun! As for your girlfriend, take a camera... or better yet... take HER!

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

>308 Swar,

Hang in there bud, We have all been there. I had a buddy to show me the ropes, and it still took us two two years before I got my first Gobbler. He would get his but we couldn't get mine. I can't remember being more frustrated with anything in my whole life. Now that I got a few gobblers under my belt I still have days like that. But let me tell you, when you do get him, and you will, it will be the most rewarding feeling you'll ever have. Hang in there! Its all worth it.
Thats way my sig is what it is, I have been there.

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

308,

You're in a fraternity now, you'll never be able to get out, might even cost you a girlfriend or two over the years.

The first time I saw a mouth call was in 1972 I believe. Me and a buddy stoped by a sporting goods store the night before opening turkey season to pick up a few things on the way to our camp and coming turkey hunt. We each bought a mouth call and the next morning we set up about 100 yds apart (we used to hunt together this way and it worked) and with never practicing with the mouth calls we started calling. Well I can tell you, we sounded like two different Blue Jays being strangled by someone. We thought that if others could call with those things we could to and wouldn't use our box calls. Didn't see a turkey for two days! We still have some good laughs about that deal.

I still use mouth calls and other types, I buy those Wal-Mart specials and my buddy buys custom made calls. I kill just as many gobblers as him and let him know it. As a matter of fact, he just pulled a good one on me. He sent me a picture of a turkey his son in law got that weighed 28 lbs and 10 ounces, and it was hanging from the scale. I had a feeling something was up but congratulated them anyway. That was yesterday, today he sent me a new photo with the real weight, 20.10 lbs.

What I'm saying is that, turkey hunting is addictive, hang in there because it only gets' better and you'll have memories to last a life time. Most of all, enjoy it, and do occasionally take your girlfriend/wife, even if they don't hunt, that way they'll see what you're really doing and might not leave you, however, they may think you're a little crazy.

dog1

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Ive been turkey hunting for the past 20 years and some years are just like the one you're describing. Dont give up. I have averaged 2 turkeys a year for the past 10 years but this year is giving me fits.
After you read about my current season you shouldnt feel too bad.
1. Opening morning, turkeys relocated during the night and I spooked them off of the roost going in to my setup that morning.
2. Called in a nice gobbler to 35 yards and MISSED.
3. Spooked a couple of deer and they ran right towards the gobbler I was calling. Gobbler went the other way.
4. Had a gobbler coming in when a wild hog decided to come in and start knawing on a tree in front of my blind. Gobbler went the other way.
5. Had one bird come in silent, behind me. He was probally 20 feet behind me and I didnt know it. I shifted a little to get more comfortable and he took off.
You'll get a bird eventually. Just go out and enjoy the nice weather and time in the woods.
Another note. Over half of the turkeys ive killed in the past 20 years came in silent. Dont think that just because he quit gobbling that he isnt still on his way. What works on turkeys one day wont always work the next. Learn as much as you can from the Turkey hunting magazines, videos and the people here and put it to practice out in the woods.
Good luck.

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

You ain't having a bad season, you're just turkey huntin'!!! LOL.

The part about the girl friend almost made me fall out of my chair laughing. That sounded just like my EX-wife. My current wife knows better than to mess with my turkey hunting.:D

Hang in there! When you get your first bird, you won't know what happened until it's over.

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RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Hang in there man, your doing better than I my first time out. I was usually lucky to find sign my first two years.( the birds use to be really scattered up here). Four years before I tagged one. To call one in that close my first year like you did, I'd hung it up in the WIN column;) Your doing fine. Plus now your sunk you'll chase these critters the rest of your days now:D

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

don't feel bad, with each hunt comes a learnin' experience....you have the birds coming to you, they'll cross that line, believe me and them.....your time will come...i hunted 4 years before got one, and i mean at least 20 days of the season , each season...my sister got me into it, but i'm still learning...alot more than she ever will;) trial and error and some good luck, he'll be in your freezer soon enough and when that time comes , you'll forget about all those hours spent in the woods....poooof, they wont even be a thought....:D:D:Dgood luck....:D

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

You think you have it bad. I wish you could walk in my turkey boots for a couple of springs. You prob give up turkey hunting. Christ if I killed 2 turkeys every year for 10 years I think I would hang up the gun for good and take the bow to make it a little more challenging...

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Like everyone else has said, don't give up. The reason everyone makes it sound so easy, is they're only posting the hunts that ended in getting a bird. The computer would probably lock up if everyone posted the ones where they didn't get a bird or didn't even see a bird. Come to think of it, I could probably lock it up and this is only my 3rd year turkey hunting.LOL Hang in there and like someone else said, if your close enough to see them and they spook when you move, your definitely doing something right. It will all come together. Good luck and happy hunting.

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Welcome to turkey hunting.
Thats The Fun..Try To Outsmart Them. But Most Or The Time There Dang Lucky

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

.308 swar ,
you can't possibly be the worst turkey hunter since I'm just now starting this year ! ;) :D :D :D

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RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Just scroll around and find my post ifn you think your bad :D

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

308

I honestly feel that alot of turkey hunting is luck. It's about being in the right place at the right time. When you go out to hunt, slow down and take your time and relax. Don't put pressure on yourself we deal with that to much in our daily lives. Turkey hunting is a vacation for me, no schedules or timetables. I leave my watch at home. Go out in the woods and enjoy just being out in the woods. It all has to do with your frame of mind. I tell myself I am going out and going to enjoy just being in the woods, if I get a turkey hey that's a bonus. Since I have taken this philosophy I have just hammered birds over the last 10 years. I have already taken 2 this spring. Just remember to slowwwwww down and relax. The birds will come! Trust me.

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

Everyone thaks so much for the words of encouragement. I really appreciate you all telling me not to give up and that is waht turkey hunting is about. I truely have a respect for turkey hunting and turlkey hunters. It is a sport of patients. It has taught me to enjoy waht i am doing and not be in such a damn hurry to find one and just realx. Well i did just that and i finally shot one. Read my next post for pics...
again thanks so much for all of your words of encouragement. I will never forget this first bird, it was awesome

dave, (brokenbucket) thanks for your emails and phone calls. I will hook up with ya soon. I cant wait to learn some more. You all are right, i have learned somwthing everytime i have been out

.308

RE: Worst turkey hunter
 

YUP, been there done that. Being older and wiser I'll tell you one thing. Enjoy the hunt, win or loose. I started turkey hunting in 1980. I had sold my business and closed on it the day before turkey season. I hunted public land EVERY AM for a month with a couple exceptions. It was a great season. I didn't shoot a bird but I called in 2 for other people. It was a blast. I had practiced with my mouth call for months. To me it was just getting into position to shoot and laugh at the beginner failures. I made them all, fences and creeks in the way, to close a set up, to far away setups, positioned wrong on a hill... you name it. There weren't a lot of people turkey hunting then, even if I was in Georgia. There weren't a lot of articles in magazines or anything to learn from. It was all OJT. Wonderful times. Don't think you JUST GOT TO GET A BIRD. That's when it stops becoming fun and people have accidents. Enjoy the trip and chill out a little. "It's suppose to be fun". ( CATHY)