I heard my first wild turkey gobble when I was 15 years old. My dad and I were fishing from a canoe on the Satilla River in southeast Georgia on a clear spring morning. We were easing into the mouth of a small slough when the sound of my paddle hitting the side of the canoe made a gobbler in back of the slough gobble. I can still close my eyes and see and even hear it all over again. That's when the fire was lit. However, it wasn't until I later moved to Alabama in 1992 that I began to hunt the majestic bird. I had never hunted them before and had no idea how to even get started. I watched the hunting videos and hung out at the local mom & pop hunting stores listening to different people share advice. I grew up reading Outdoor Life magazine. There were a few old articles written by Archibald Rutledge about turkey and deer hunting in the South Carolina low country. He had a deep respect and appreciation for the noble bird. This made the fire grow stronger. I started hunting the Talladega Nat'l forest in Tuscaloosa in the spring of '93. I heard several gobble but I did EVERYTHING wrong to kill those birds. As I matured into my role as a TURKEY HUNTER I felt like the sport had more of a gentleman feel to it, just like Mr. Rutledge. Unlike deer hunting where I did everything legally possible to put a deer on the skinning rack. Deer hunting felt kinda felt primeval. Turkey hunting began to feel more refined, respectful and ritualistic(in a good way). Don't get me wrong, I love hunting deer. But, when I get dressed to go hunt turkeys I feel like I'm going to meet someone at a formal event. I feel that when I turkey hunt my rules for taking a bird are far more strict than the game laws. I have literally passed birds that I've eased up on or flushed that were easy kills. Those kills would leave an empty feeling, so I don't take those shots. In my mind there is a civil process that has to play out. I love beginning the day with the owling of the gobblers. Then weaving through the woods to a spot that I feel my targeted gobbler would want to travel to find his "mate". I like that process and the chess match that unfolds. I like how some days the plan in my head plays out in front of my eyes. I also like it when I never see my bird because a silent bird decided to play instead and comes strutting in from an unsuspected direction. I like to hear the gobble of my bird grow louder and louder as he closes in on me. I also kind of like it if he's hidden behind a small rise or large fallen tree and then gobbles as he suddenly pops out 20 yards away strutting, wings dragging and head laid back into his feathers. I will never, ever get tired of experiencing that moment. I will always remember how the majestic, well respected bird of the forest looked moments before the match came to a close. God truly blessed us with gifts on this earth and I believe in a small selfish kind of way the gobbler is one of mine.

Well written and heartfelt. I agree 98% with you. I only diverge on the point of passing on an "easy kill." If I'm in the right place, at the right time, and an ethical shot presents itself on a gobbler, I will take it. Every time. And without a shred of regret. Since it happens so infrequently, I'm good with it. on your post!

Dr. B

turkey hunting to me is to kill every freaking turkey that I can kill in my lifetime, call as many of thhem up for other people as I can and watch them die. I have hard feelings towards turkeys once season comes in, but I do everything I can to take care of them in the off season. I don't think turkey hunting is a gentlemen sport either, i'll be your friend before season but If i catch you on my property during season I'm peppering you with my shotgun. and noone trespasses more than a turkey hunter and noone lies more than a turkey hunter.

Locating turkeys, getting one within range, killing it.

True. I mean't gentlemanly by way of how the hunt is carried out. No, on my club I will drive over and step on gobbler tracks. I've been blessed with some fine turkey hunting properties. I don't mind telling where a solitary bird is, but I won't divulge the where abouts of any shonuff honey holes. I don't mind sharing a hunt, but I do have places I only go by myself. I ain't that cultured.

The state of no regret is a great place to be. Thanks for the compliment.

Ahhhh I see, and I agree

I enjoy filling my freezer with a big whitetail doe. I enjoy the fellowship of a good dove shoot. I even enjoy squirrel hunting. But turkey hunting is the only type of hunting I've ever done where you have 1 on 1 contact with the animal you're after. I imagine a bugling elk would be similar but I've never done that. I relish the whole experience of locating a bird, determining his likely destination, moving into position, and coaxing him in range. A successful hunt to me is one that gets my adrenaline up. I've walked out of the woods many mornings with no turkey but one heck of a good memory. Two of my favorite hunts this year didn't involve a kill, but I located gobbling birds on public land and had them so close I could feel the rattle in their gobble. That's what gets me out of bed every time the alarm goes off.

I don't kill as many as I used to. I give other people the first chance.

I don't go as much as I used to but when I travel to hunt I can still
get down and dirty.

I hold my Alabama gobblers in higher esteem somehow. It's hard to explain.

I feed them by planting and burning and disking and feeding in the winter. I want
the young people in my life to have a great hunt.

I love turkey hunting.

Turkey hunting- a form of hunting in which the wild turkey is pursued./see also: hair loss,sleep loss,financial ruin,mental instability, and divorce

The people that get all worked up about how they kill a turkey, and pass on easy ones seem to always have the most birds. Easy to pass on one today if you know you can just go get one tomorrow

I don't know what it's like to pass on a bird. Never have. Never will.

Dr. B

The essence of turkey hunting is calling one in to the gun. Tricking one into thinking you're a turkey he wants the company of - with just calls.

Me neither. Thought that was bad juju

Does passing on a turkey mean missing him while he's flying? If so, I've passed on one

I am with Booger on the easy kills. I have never shot a bird that I eased up on whether it was in the truck/golf cart or just walking down a road. If I am able to set up because I spotted one in a field and hunt him and he doesn't want to work I would be willing to try and crawl and kill him. I am not all about just shooting because the opportunity arose.

It used to be blasting one that walked by when hunting squirrels but not any more.

I keep saying I am going to get an old lynch box and try to hunt them but I have not so far.

Odd bunch turkey hunters. Every one I ask to take me hunting just laughs. Except Bait57, he said we could go but it would be TNF. Probably not prime turkey hunting although I do see them in the woods when pig hunting.

I passed on a longbeard this past May in OK. I had already killed 2 and had one tag left and still 2 days to hunt. I was sitting in the pink chair and the gobbler walked down the road 18 yds away. I made this pic after he walked by, and I was standing where the gobbler had been standing a few minutes before. He never paid any attention to me or the dead turkey on the table. I don't think he would live long on the Coosa WMA.



Years ago I would take any shot I felt confident would kill the turkey. I remember walking up on one in a road back when I was in HS and he angled back towards me when he flew and I dropped him. I don't take shots like that anymore, but can't blame anyone who does.

As Hal said, it's all about getting to carry on a conversation with the turkey. But I don't carry that to the extremes that some do. If one flies down in gun range before I have a chance to call to him, I'm a blasting him.

I go turkey hunting because I like punishment and humiliation.

this.

I have many hunts that are like this too.

Once upon a time I would sit in a double bull blind all day trying to kill one with my bow. Did it a couple of times. Killed a bunch with the ole scatter gun. Now hogs get my full attention from the day deer season goes out until the day deer season starts again. And if I ever got permitted I would hunt the blasted things year round.

I'm all about the tradition of turkey hunting, and lessons learned by talking turkey with the sure nuff turkey legends at the Dime store. There's something about a good turkey story that draws more excitement than any other critter. I usually start the season thinking of turkey hunting as a gentleman's game, but then quickly realize that they don't need my help to stay alive. If you give a turkey an inch he's gonna take a mile. I'm not patient enough to give out free passes yet!

Turkey hunting in its purist form is the pursuit of a turkey with the intent of killing the bird. However, the circumstances surrounding the killing of said bird are governed by a set of rules that are so formalized, individualized, arbitrary and excepted that even the most versed of individuals would be unable to commit them to written logic. Perhaps in the future a new medium of communication will emerge. Until then, turkey hunting can only be understood and not defined.

Purty good first post.

x2

I like that.

I agree with most of your statement booger except for passing on easy shots. They are far and few in between for me. The excitement of going one on one against them is what brings me back every year.

BamaGrad85, I don't blame you. I love eating them about as much as I do hunting them. For several years I hunted land that had small numbers of birds. In those days I killed every gobbler I saw as long as it was legal. No passes were given. It the past few years I have just been really blessed to acquire some great turkey hunting land.

for me, any LEGAL means that is needed. I have used the lay of the land to get real close to kill one after watching him and 5 hens for over 2 hours and not getting closer. deer hunting them in Nebraska. 2 nice turkeys that time, a double, 1 for me and 1 for nfhunter. to this past spring in Oklahoma set up where these birds have flown down to at 30 yards and not say a word let them come to me. they were in the same spot for 3 mornings in a row. got there a hour before daylight.

I strongly disagree with the ANY LEGAL MEANS statement. Its legal to limb a gobbler but I think it is unethical. You can sit on a small greenfield and kill em as they walk by without ever calling. When I hunted Fl the first time the outfitter wanted me to close by a feeder but I made him take me to a part of the ranch that had no feeders, bait(as they did it) was legal but not my way of hunting.

.....


I want to know what ol Whild_Bill thinks of this question. Someone needs to log out of their real profile and answer with their alter-ego's perspective.


.....

I agree on the baiting part. I don't need to kill one bad enough to sit around a feeder or on a green field deer hunting them all day.

Now there have been a couple that deserved a limb launch had I been able to get close enough.

when I hunted Fl the other five hunters in camp were shooting scope sighted rifles. They thought I was crazy for using a shotgun. Then I heard some of em use a call and realized they NEEDED rifles.

All the folks that wouldn't shoot one on the limb probally don't agree with good quality optics and shooting deer at 400+ yards is fair either..........

apples to persimmons TC....

Nah

I see nothing unethical about shooting a deer at 400 yards, I've prolly killed a dozen that far and never lost one out there. I know folks that shouldn't be shooting at deer over 50 yards away.

I find limbing an unwounded gobbler distasteful and unethical. Just the way I was raised.

Spring turkey hunting is a multitude of things. It's a reminder to be thankful to live in a Country where we can hunt any time our schedule allows. It's a time to be thankful that we hunt those old hardheaded easterns in the South. It's a time when a bird can get in your head and make you lose hours of sleep. It's a time when you see God's handiwork when a strutter comes slowly into range. It's a time when you just want to kill one more...even though you've hunted them over 32 springs.

Although I will hunt with my son some, it's a solo thing. It's not for everyone. It's not the circus you see on tv with field turkeys running to decoys. It's going in at dark, crossing beaver dams with cottonmouths falling into the water, to get to the right listening spot. It's getting as tight as you can, knowing the next step might bump him off the roost. It's making that 4 or 5 year old public land gobbler think you are the real thing. It's what you do when no one else' is looking....a test of your character. Ex. When that gobbler finally commits and you can't shoot or you will pepper multiple turkeys. It's that feeling of throwing him over the shoulder and thinking where can I do this tomorrow? It's the prayer to thank God for letting me do this one more time.....

let me say this, legal means. I consider shooting one off the limb illegal. that being the roost. if one comes in on the ground and flies up into a tree around say 0800, I will shoot him and i have no problem with it. that being said I know others will strongly disagree with it but that's fine.

limbing birds is not illegal in Alabama

Yes sir!

Well said

^^^ what he said

I think it changes depending on the person from year to year, month to month, and even day to day. I normally wouldn't shoot a bird from a limb, but there was one bird I chased for three years that I'd gladly have shot that way if given the chance. These days, I get to hunt FAR less than earlier in my life... from three times per week to about one. Booger... how about sharing some of that hunting land you've acquired?