Mr. Longbeard

Our opening day was Mon 19th. I was scouting this spot(just listening from the road) Fri,Sat and Sun morning and evenings. Not once did I see any hunter anywere within a 1/4 mile of my hunting spot. Well I get to my spot at 4:00am. Around 5:00am this guy comes down the road see my truck and locks up his breaks and skids like 5 feet to a stop. He does a 3 point turn in the middle of the road and goes back the way he came and pulls in the next pull off on the road wich is only like 75 yards from were I parked. I pretty much know what this jerk is going to do so I get out of my truck and head into the woods. I see this guy comeing down threw the woods with a flash light and he is heading to the same spot that I was going to hunt(surprise surprise!!!) Well he gets about 50 yards from me and I've about had it and ask the guy if he could possiblly give me some breathing room. Well he turns around and walks like 50 yards from me and starts to owl hoot at least 10 times. Well I realize there is no shame in this guys jungle so I just take of and put like 4 ridges between us. Mean while I can still hear this guy owlling the whole time I'm putting realastate between us. Now just 3 days earlier I heard atleast 6 to 7 gobblers in this area each day. Opening day and not one gobble. My brother told me I should of just blasted off 3 rounds and went to my back up spot. I really didnt want to do that figuring I might get lucky and still bag me one off those gobblers. Welp I didnt get one of the gobblers but maybe later in the season I might get him. Just figured I give you private property guys a little look into my world. Trust me it SUCKS!!!

mauser06

nothin like public land huh!? thats pretty much all i hunt......and i have 1000 storys like yours.....and im only 17!!! one day ill own my own land....and noone but me dad a few close friends and my kids will be able to hunt it......if theres any land left to buy when im older.....turkey huntings gota be the hardest thing to hunt on public land.....they call to the birds before the season.....chase them all around....and scare every bird within 10 miles.....BEFORE the season starts.....then come time to hunt the birds wont respond for jack.....me and dad started to walk farther and farther in......were upto about 2 miles one way now.....and still have the occassional weekend warrior back there with us......we know hes there because he usually stalks us as we call....i lost many chances at my first turkey because guys heard my soon to be long beard going nuts to my calls so he runs down into the woods and the turkey busts him as he runs after the gobbles.....but when you dont have private land to hunt....what can you do??? if a private land owner around here lets you hunt they usually let everybody and their grandmothers hunt the land too.....so its not much better.....oh well........hiking in a few miles at 4am is kinda fun.......just what i want to do just to find me a turkey.....thats after an hour and a half drive till we get to our spot.....oh man...i cant wait for saturday...the memorys......if i didnt love hunting turkeys so much i wouldnt do it......but man.....something about them big ole birds.....they make me do some strange things.....next friday i wont even sleep.....i get off work at midnite and have to be out the door by 330am........ill come home get my gear ready shower and then maybe ill have time to doze off....good luck......youll find a bird that wants to talk.....just stick with it

Mr. Longbeard

Good luck to ya sat

JW

I would not have been so nice!

This jerk as you describe needs to be told about Turkey Hunting Ethics!

He doesn't take the hint after you have talked to him! I would have been hollering all the ay back to my truck....sat there a bit......and any gobble he could elicit......truck horn would have sounded..orange clothes would have gone on and mushroom hunting I would be.......

I also have been there on public land andyes some private is not better.

It is the hunters code of th ethics that should prevail......

Now one other thing on public.......gobblers easy to get to off roads usually don't get killed. Try to find areas on public land back away from the crowds......they are there and little treasures to behold.

JW

huntnma

i agree it sucks at times, but the way i look at it is " if God wants me to have the bird, he'll bring it to me and not them"....it has worked too many times for me not to believe in that....i have tried to take the attitude that i am more than capable of going anywhere and having just of a chance ....life is too short to be getting all worked up over someone too stupid or inconsiderate....i sometimes forget , but i look at the hours i have spent worrying or freaking out about someone hunting in the area i have chosen, and most of the time, for no real reason......it's good to vent though, just do yourself a favor and dont dwell on it....

cj5

have to agree with huntnma here, but you have to remember it is public land and the other guy has just as much right to be there as you do, in fact he could walk right up and sit at the same tree you are ( has happened to me[:@] )it sucks that people have to be that incosiderate to pull cow dung like that but thats life on public land!

arkansasbowhunter

sounds like you had it better than me. opening day I had 8 people on the ridge in the ozark national forest that I was huting. I roosted a turkey the p.m before and was within 75 yards of it opening morning. It was so crowded it was like being at kmart for a blue light special. I have had many more opportunities but all have been spoiled by other hunters. Thats life in the public forest I guess. Turkey hunting has really exploded and there are more people doing it now than ever. I can remember going to places in the forsest and never seeing another hunter. Now, it is take a number for which turkey you want to hunt. Even hunting during the weekdays is crowded.

DaveH

I hear ya. Like you, I've been making my annual spring turkey hunting rituals out to western MD. And for all but, this year, I hunted public land with the hordes of others--several of which were what you described and some were far worse. I finally have some private land to hunt now, but the turkeys weren't where they were in previous years and when we located them, they were right on the border to another farm--and that place was hunted all week long by some real idiots who obviously were clueless about turkey hunting.

We had fun and great weather, but came home without turkeys.

Mr. Longbeard

You know you guys are right. I think I just needed to vent a little. No matter how much hunting pressure these birds get I still love the challenge of trying to get one of these pressured Gobblers!!!

slicendice

Longbeard,

We were up at Green Ridge for the first 2 days, then two of my friends went back Saturday. Results: 1 missed bird on Tuesday, 1 killed bird on Saturday.