Turkey Diary!
 

Dont know how many of you all keep a hunting journal but believe me when I say its a great idea!Besides recounting stories and past hunts (which brings a smile to anyones face)it brings back to memory what worked and didnt in that general location you hunted on those particular birds.I make a concentrated effort to list the location,# of birds,time of year,how hot they were,and what calls brought the most response!Not only does it help in your own general area you live but throughout the U.S. if you hunt out of state.I see a # of posts here lately of fellas who are seeing turks and most of the guys that are deer hunting are running into turkeys too,I suggest writing it in your journal because this is how new areas are found to hunt.Although the birds pattern changes in many cases from fall to spring I still have returned to an area that I saw birds in during deer season to find them there in the spring.Keep a journal not only can it help but its fun too,especially 10 or 15 years down the road when you are able to read and feel the excitement of a past hunt!!!BOB<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Monarch isn't a butterfly it's the King of the Spring!

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

I've been keeping a detailed journal almost from the very beginning, and it now encompasses 13 volumes covering 863 days of the past 20 seasons that I've spent turkey hunting. I keep a wide variety of details such as time of first gobble and flydown, weather conditions, number of turkeys heard, seen, and called in, calls used and results, etc. Then I write a page or two about how the hunt progressed and the things I saw or learned along the way. The journal is one piece of equipment that is ALWAYS in my vest, and I'd feel lost if I ever forgot it. Makes those slow spells in the field pass more quickly, and as you said, all it takes is the reading of a portion of any particular passage, and the memories and excitement of that day come flooding back even decades later. Some day I hope to put a portion of it all down as a book.

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

i don't keep a journal per say. but i do write short stories about most of my hunting experiences.

Ryan Tucker

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

I have been writing down everything about my successful hunts but not about my unsuccessful hunts and I usually don't write everything down until I get home and take care of my turkey. What do you use in field. Is there an actual turkey journal that can be purchased or do you just write everything down on a small tablet?? If there is a journal to be purchased,where can you?

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

TURK,I carry a small 4x6 diary and do the best I can to keep it updated.Obviously there are those times we're in a hurry,so often times I write down all the information a few days later at home.The information as to place,weather,reaction from the birds,time of year,time of day can prove to be quite helpful! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Monarch isn't a butterfly it's the King of the Spring!

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

Thanks for the info Bobgobble2. I think keeping a daily diary is a great idea not only to relive old memories but to remember important info like what time it starts breaking light each week of the season. I am diffenently going to start one this spring but I think I am going to get the ball rolling this fall. Thanks for the info!

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

Turk...there are a couple of journals being put out commercially that are just for turkey hunting, but I much prefer ones that you can buy at any bookstore or Walmart more cheaply. The ones I'm using are 5 x 8 inches, and are nicely bound with about a hundred blank, lined pages. They're around $3, or less.

I'll often quickly jot down things like times on the endpapers of the journal, then when there's an opportunity later on in the day, I'll fill in the daily record. I start each page with date and location, then an overview of what the weather was, followed by a whole list of abbreviated headings of particulars that I think are important, such as: whether I roosted the night before & results, hours hunted, whether I owl hooted before first gobble & results, how many toms I heard gobbling...while they were still in the trees, on the ground, and total for the hunt, time of first gobble & flydown, whether or not I called to the tom in the tree & results, how many times I set up on each bird, calls used & results, # of turkeys seen & called in, if a tom was killed--the time, range, weapon, & stats, or if one was missed or boogered the range and reasons, etc. etc. etc.

Then I write a detailed free-hand account of the hunt. Sometimes it seems like a lot of trouble, but down the road you will be glad that you did it. When I go back to a place later on, I can glance through my old journal entries of the previous hunts there and garner all sorts of helpful information.

RE: Turkey Diary!
 

Thanks for the info Swingin Peduncle. This is something I always wanted to do but never did it. I am going to start writing everything down this fall while I turkey hunt. Thanks again.