I grew up in a non hunting family. I got interested in hunting about 6 years ago. Started out with deer and 2 years later I gave turkey huntingna go. I'm from northwest alabama. I am hunting Mulberry Fork WMA and Bankhead.

This season is my 4th season going for turkeys. Year 1 I missed a bird in Illinois that my uncle called in. Never saw another bird that season.
Year 2. Spooked 1 out of the roost and never saw another. Heard a few but they weren't interested.
Year 3. Called 2 gobblers in on day 2 but I moved a bit to take the shot and that's when I saw the second bird who busted me.
Year 4. Called 3 jakes in on Tuesday. They came in completely silent after sitting for 4 hours and caught me off guard.

Really struggling to find the encouragement to keep going. Was just wondering if anyone has any tips to keep the mind positive when you just keep striking out. Feel like turkey hunting is more of mental discipline than anything.

Congrats to all who have been fillings tags though!

Find some land with lots of turkeys and not lots of turkey hunters

Won't help you at all this year, but you should apply for quota hunts in Florida and have fun. Turkey hunting is awesome when you hunt places that are loaded with turkeys. The one four day trip I took down there a couple years ago was more satisfying than two full seasons of trying to kill birds off of public in Alabama.

Nate, You have only been turkey hunting for 6 years and it doesn’t sound like you’ve had a whole lot of opportunities so your learning curve is going to be steep. Unfortunately you can’t learn how to be a good turkey hunter until you make some mistakes that you mentioned in your post above.
My word of encouragement is this. If you truly love turkey hunting, then stick with it. If you don’t, quit. There’s plenty of other things you can do in the spring 😁

Pure Gold as far as advice.

That thread at top of page first time hunter advice has a lot of good info. Do you hear many in Mullberry when you go?

This is called paying your dues , and it will get easier with time and experience. You will never get that experience if you give up. Remember…… that turkey has to win every time, you only have to win once.

Just think how sweet that first bird will be.

It seems so obvious, but it's so true. Hunt where they are. Lots of them.

Ive been turkey hunting for 40 years and will still like to find the land with lots of turkeys and not lots of turkey hunters.

Watch The Colonel and the Fox on youtube should get a little inspiration.

Foldemup is giving outstanding advice

And in short - if you see a turkey - never move - not a 1/2 inch. Wait till they go behind a tree or hide their head behind a fan before u raise gun cause they will see you move every time

If possible - try to go with a good turkey hunter. I was lucky to hav kenfolk that had killed 500 birds 30 years ago and i had a best friend that was awesome turkey hunter!! I had a lot of hard knocks when i started as a teenager learning on my own too

My hunting Now i mainly dont hav turkey - but just hang in there - i understand your frustration

Lastly and this dont near-bout cover everything - go pattern your dang shot gun. I missed about 5 birds as teenager before i killed - thought i was worlds worst shot. Somebody finally said - hey dummy - go pattern your shot gun. I did and found out i had the worst scatter gun ever made. You want to be able to put 15-20 pellets in a turkey head at 45 yards and now w tss - that really sucks - but can kill. Find what your gun shoots best. If it cant shoot good - get one that can

With calling - less is more

And 4 hour sits are brutal - i never done that!!!

This is pretty good advice. Lots of turkeys and no hunters is all but impossible to find these days. Patience, learning when to move and not to, and where to set up is the biggest things…other than calling to much and to loud. Lots to learn every time you step foot in the woods. Either you enjoy it, or it annoys and makes you mad. Sometimes both. If you leave pissed off more times than not, I hope you enjoy golf or fishing.

I should hav said this - i dont blind call or sit in one spot callin often - but if i do - i sit about an hour - to hour and half

So much to tell - hav good cover around u - but u dont want a thicket - hav stuff behind u to break u up or sit on a big tree and i like to hav lanes to shoot in or a lane or open area - not all thick around me. If he answers you some - dont be afraid to go silent for 20-25 min and make him hunt you. If he shuts up completely - likey he is either coming r a hen has intercepted him

Google hen turkey calls - make sure you sound like hen. Clucks and yelp your most basic calls and easy to pur on a slate - i would not get any fancier than that for now and if he does not answer one call - try another - some times they like certain tones bettr and hav a crow call for locating/checking

You are either helpless in the grip of your compulsion or you are not and take up other avenues.

I’ve had plenty of rough years, makes the success all the more rewarding.

Having plenty of Turkeys to fool with makes it fun, otherwise it’s a grind.

The frustration either drives you or drives you away,

Good luck!

1). Hunt with someone who has years of experience. (To start with)
2). Hunt where there are plenty of turkeys.
3). If you can’t sound like a hen, make sure you get the cadence right. Hens in general have a faster cadence than a Jake. (Hens don’t always sound the same either)
4). I would suggest starting with a Lynch box call. They sound good and are extremely user friendly. You can advance after you master that. I use a Billy White’s hustlin hen in combination with a mouth call.
5). If a bird has been answering you regular and shuts up, GET READY!
6). Take plenty of time to pattern your gun. Apex 7-9 blend works best for me.

Golf

Disc Golf!! I’ve learned more from my own mistakes than I have from anything. Great hunters can teach and tell you a lot.

It doesn’t matter how long you hunt, or how many you kill, sometimes the slumps come. If you don’t want to endure the long dry spells, you should quit now.

Believe me when I say I know exactly how you feel. I got into it in 2013. A buddy took me a couple times at his place then I started going it alone on some highly pressured public land. I didn’t hear my first gobble until sometime in S3 and didn’t kill my first one until next-to-last day in S6. Killed #2 the next day, on the last day of S6.

S7 was slow, without much action but killed #3 on the same public land toward the end of S7.

Didn’t kill anything in S8, 9, or 10 but got close a few times here and there.

Last season, S11, I killed #4 on private land and it was one of those perfect textbook hunts that couldn’t have gone any more perfectly.

So far, this season has been completely devoid of any evidence that turkeys even still exist other than 1 brief interaction with a lone hen.

It’s frustrating when you hunt land with low density and/or high pressure. I almost quit several times and there are still days I don’t particularly enjoy it but it’s more of a helpless addiction than an enjoyable hobby. I promise though, when you shoot one in the face and his head snaps back like Barry Bonds just hit him with a bat, it’s absolutely worth it. It’s the most satisfying feeling I’ve ever experienced.

It’s short-lived though, then you need another hit like a crackhead