Old School/ New School/ Or your own School/ Thoughts on Turkey Hunting

[Dennis]

Carrier?

Oh yeah, their profile most closely matched my own.

 

[KPH]

My thoughts on Turkey Hunting are real simple. If you did not sit down against a tree and call the Turkey you just killed down your shotgun barrel, to within 40 yards, I personally don't want to hear about it, and will walk away from you if you attempt to tell me about it. No decoys, tents, crawling, fanning, sniping, or any other horsesh#t tactics, and I don't care if you are 6 yrs old or 60.

remind me to never tell you about any hunt i don't wont you to ware yourself out walking away. i don't look down my nose at how anyone hunts and don't think much of a person who does.

 

[TheLBLman]

We can't say that they are ineffective and then say that decoys are the only way a certain segment of hunters can kill turkeys.

I didn't say that.
I said it makes sense for those on small acreage to use a pop-up blind and stay put, rather than roam in circles on their small acreage. They cannot effectively "run & gun" like others can on a large acreage.

As far as decoys go, I've said repeatedly I believe they're generally as much or more liability as asset, and just see no reason to wholesale ban them any more than to ban turkey calling.

What's happened has been hyper-successful "marketing" of decoys.
We see videos of their success, but not the birds spooked, often just by the hunter walking out into the open to place the decoy(s). The hunter himself often never knows what he spooks, birds he can't see, seeing him.

I will say decoys should work better for a stationary guy on 20 acres than a guy roaming on 200 or more. But that's more because the guy trying to roam ends up spooking more birds in using his decoys, repeatedly moving his setups.

I do think more turkeys are killed in big field areas because of decoys, but also think accomplished turkey hunters would being killing fewer birds if forced to use decoys. Thing is, most of TN's turkey hunting is not done in big fields, and even there, the decoys only work "some" of the time, just like a particular fishing lure.

As far as hunting regulations go, the simplest & most effective way to improve our turkey population would be to delay our season opening a week, and reduce our limit to 2 birds. It's just that many accomplished turkey hunters aren't willing to sacrifice anything related to them personally, but want what they perceive as a "crutch" to others be banned.

Never mind that a turkey call is often a bigger "crutch" to some than a "decoy" is to others, and those crying most about others using decoys, seem to be the ones least effected?

My thinking is that by allowing the wholesale banning of decoys, what is our defense when others claim using turkey calls is also "unethical" and should be banned? You may think I'm totally crazy, but increasingly, our hunting regs are being set by non-hunters, and non-hunter citizens will increasingly weigh into those regs.

Sad truth is, a myriad of factors, largely beyond our control, have more effect on our ongoing turkey populations, than anything, regulatory, we do, or don't do, while hunting. I suspect hawks alone now kill more turkeys annually than all the human turkey hunters combined. Meanwhile, the more "divided" we become, the easier we all get defeated on any our thoughts about how we should hunt.

 

[Setterman]

@TheLBLman i see your point, but given where we are now some shlt is going to have to change.

whether you believe in decoys or not, there's no denying that they help novice hunters kill birds they normally wouldn't. Theres really no way to deny this

Hens should be illegal always, and until the numbers improve jakes as well

Ban the decoys and maybe we aren't faced with a 2 week season or 1 bird limit in the years to come.

If I was told tomorrow I could only hunt with a recurve to limit my kills I'd do it, and I'd learn how to be effective with it. It's how I'm wired. The issue is the decoy fairies cannot fathom a world without their plastic crutch.

There are segments of this sport that value the birds and the hunt, not so much the kill. Then there's the kill at all cost crowd. The first segment is willing to do whatever it takes to improve the flock, the other only cares about killing as easily as possible. They cannot un grasp their precious decoys or even conceive of hunting without them. That's the issue facing our sport and why we all may face a brutal reality in the upcoming seasons.

 

[Snake]

My thoughts on Turkey Hunting are real simple. If you did not sit down against a tree and call the Turkey you just killed down your shotgun barrel, to within 40 yards, I personally don't want to hear about it, and will walk away from you if you attempt to tell me about it. No decoys, tents, crawling, fanning, sniping, or any other horsesh#t tactics, and I don't care if you are 6 yrs old or 60.

I just don't understand some people acting this way at all. Seems they are trying to fluff up their feathers acting like they are the king rooster when most likely they are a banty . God giveth grace to the humble but resist those with a proud look . Hey guys I don't care if you tripped over a log and shot a turkey by mistake id like to hear your story .

 

[Stumpsitter]

I'm a run and gunner. That's the way I prefer to do it. I have two elderly uncles that can't run and gun anymore. I set blinds up for them every year on our property. They pretty much have to drive up or be driven up to the blind. I'll put them a decoy out if they want it. I can't fault anyone for wanting to get out and just listen to the birds singing and look at the trees blooming and if you're lucky maybe hear a gobble. That's what's it's about.

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . . . given where we are now some shlt is going to have to change.

Agree.

. . . . . whether you believe in decoys or not, there's no denying that they help novice hunters kill birds they normally wouldn't. Theres really no way to deny this

I don't deny that. But using decoys also costs the same hunters birds they would otherwise have a shot at as well. Regarding those big fields where some believe decoys work best, pretty easy to just ambush a bird, even easier if not messing with decoys? Heck, regarding any field turkeys are using, a guy can just sit there, much like we do "listening", and, without a decoy, kill a turkey in a field?

Also, just because we can prevent one hunter from killing a turkey while using a decoy, that doesn't necessarily mean another hunter, like me or you, or someone doing the belly crawl, won't simply kill that "saved" bird. You may be right, but in most areas, I don't see using or not using decoys effecting the collective total kill as much as the number of days, when they start, and the bag limit.

Hens should be illegal always, and until the numbers improve jakes as well

Great idea, totally agree.

Ban the decoys and maybe we aren't faced with a 2 week season or 1 bird limit in the years to come.

IMO, decoy banning would make very little difference in our total annual kill, and not nearly as much as just opening the season only a single week later. If we ever go to a 1 bird limit, it won't be because of decoys. Heck, quail are nearly extinct, and there's still a 6-bird daily limit.

If I was told tomorrow I could only hunt with a recurve to limit my kills I'd do it, and I'd learn how to be effective with it. It's how I'm wired.

Same here.
And you know what?
If the season remained as many days, the limit were 3,
we would both be able to kill 3, without a decoy.

The issue is the decoy fairies cannot fathom a world without their plastic crutch.

Probably to your surprise, I agree with you about this.
But two things: Every hunter who sometimes uses a decoy is not a decoy fairy.
And, hunters adapt.
Take the decoy fairies decoys away, they then get better at bushwhacking field birds and calling in woods birds. Just saying, they will still kill turkeys, just via different methods. They're not going to quit hunting, any more than you would if we replaced your shotgun with a stick & a string.

There are segments of this sport that value the birds and the hunt, not so much the kill. Then there's the kill at all cost crowd. The first segment is willing to do whatever it takes to improve the flock, the other only cares about killing as easily as possible. They cannot un grasp their precious decoys or even conceive of hunting without them. That's the issue facing our sport and why we all may face a brutal reality in the upcoming seasons.

I agree, except for the part of decoys doing all the damage.
Truth is, many of the "kill at all cost crowd" I see, well, they actually don't use decoys. They're just very avid and accomplished turkey killers, limiting out, ASAP, starting in a more Southern state, then in TN, then moving on to other states, each often killing over a dozen birds annually, while complaining about someone else killing three while using decoys.

That said, I really have no problem with TWRA outlawing decoys.
My problem is with us attacking other hunters for using them while legal, instead of just promoting the merits of more traditional turkey hunting. This is akin to a fly fisherman wanting to outlaw fishing with a spinning reel, instead of just promoting the merits of fly fishing?
Maybe we can all just strive to be better sportsmen without attacking each other.

 

[megalomaniac]

In my line of thinking....

If you are hunting 20 acres, you are an opportunist, not a turkey hunter.

You can say you are a turkey 'hunter' on those 20 acres, because a bird might cross them once or twice a season and you kill him by any legal means necessary. That's fine by me, I could care less and congratulations to you! Do it 4 times a season (like TNs past limit for the past 15 years), and you aren't a turkey 'hunter' in my eyes, you're just a selfish prick. No way 20 acres can sustain a 4 bird harvest. Do that a few years in a row and birds disappear and you just go crappie fishing in late March instead.

The real turkey hunter is willing to do whatever it takes to not only manage the resource by self limiting harvests, but also willing to leave those 20 acres for just a chance at a real wild turkey experience.somewjere else. Whether that be a large block of private to run and gun, or a vast expanse of national forest or WMA, just to hike miles in hopes of a single gobble. And repeat that over and over and over.

A real turkey hunter makes sacrifices. Burns vacation days during spring season, works extra shifts in the off season, spends tons of time with his family before season starts, gets his family involved in the adventure... whatever it takes to balance real life with the third most important thing in life (behind God and family).

A real turkey hunter appreciates each sunrise, the sound of the whipporwhill just before dawn, and the sound of every songbird as the spring woods come alive every morning.

The real turkey hunter has a successful day each day they step in the woods whether they hear a bird or not. And it's a great day if they hear a gobble. And it's an epic day if they actually work a bird. And the rare days they actually kill a bird are the days forever etched in their minds that they did battle with the most majestic creatures on earth and they beat them at their own game.

For me, I really don't care what tactics you use, as long as you appreciate how wonderfully made the wild turkey is, and how special it is we are blessed to hint them. But I'm jaded by all the decoy toting, head stomping, 'thunder chicken' calling, FB hero posing with audio blasting idiots that have taken over what is a way of life to the old timers.

Fine if you want to do that... but once you decimate the population with your remote controlled strutter decoys luring in the alpha male tom to your gun barrel so you can body shoot him at 3 yards and post his bloody body on FB, it takes away a potential memory from someone else who appreciates the bird for what he is.

The best thing that may ever happen to turkey season is the near extinction of the turkey. Once we reach that point, perhaps everyone will realize how special they are, instead of the traditional hunters who have been chasing them for 35 or 40 years.

 

[Setterman]

Agree.


I don't deny that. But using decoys also costs the same hunters birds they would otherwise have a shot at as well. Regarding those big fields where some believe decoys work best, pretty easy to just ambush a bird, even easier if not messing with decoys? Heck, regarding any field turkeys are using, a guy can just sit there, much like we do "listening", and, without a decoy, kill a turkey in a field?

Also, just because we can prevent one hunter from killing a turkey while using a decoy, that doesn't necessarily mean another hunter, like me or you, or someone doing the belly crawl, won't simply kill that "saved" bird. You may be right, but in most areas, I don't see using or not using decoys effecting the collective total kill as much as the number of days, when they start, and the bag limit.


Great idea, totally agree.


IMO, decoy banning would make very little difference in our total annual kill, and not nearly as much as just opening the season only a single week later. If we ever go to a 1 bird limit, it won't be because of decoys. Heck, quail are nearly extinct, and there's still a 6-bird daily limit.


Same here.
And you know what?
If the season remained as many days, the limit were 3,
we would both be able to kill 3, without a decoy.


Probably to your surprise, I agree with you about this.
But two things: Every hunter who sometimes uses a decoy is not a decoy fairy.
And, hunters adapt.
Take the decoy fairies decoys away, they then get better at bushwhacking field birds and calling in woods birds. Just saying, they will still kill turkeys, just via different methods. They're not going to quit hunting, any more than you would if we replaced your shotgun with a stick & a string.


I agree, except for the part of decoys doing all the damage.
Truth is, many of the "kill at all cost crowd" I see, well, they actually don't use decoys. They're just very avid and accomplished turkey killers, limiting out, ASAP, starting in a more Southern state, then in TN, then moving on to other states, each often killing over a dozen birds annually, while complaining about someone else killing three while using decoys.

That said, I really have no problem with TWRA outlawing decoys.
My problem is with us attacking other hunters for using them while legal, instead of just promoting the merits of more traditional turkey hunting. This is akin to a fly fisherman wanting to outlaw fishing with a spinning reel, instead of just promoting the merits of fly fishing?
Maybe we can all just strive to be better sportsmen without attacking each other.

I tried for a decade to preach the joys of traditional and why leaving the blind and decoys at home makes for a more challenging and rewarding experience. It fell on deaf ears, as there is a huge segment of hunters now that don't want to learn or work to hunt traditionally. They just want it easy.

The easiest way to tell how effective or ineffective decoys are, is have a one season moratorium on them. See how the kill data reacts that season and go from there. Or even easier our illustrious game agency could actually do some surveys and see what the data shows

 

[woodsman04]

Seems like some of the decoy people are the ones that are more willing to give up hunting days and lower limits.
That tells me that they do not care about the wild turkey as much.

I think that if we have seasons like the current model, it gives people more incentive to improve habitat conducive to turkeys. With a 2 week season and one bird limit some people may say the hell with it.

 

[TheLBLman]

Seems like some of the decoy people are the ones that are more willing to give up hunting days and lower limits.
That tells me that they do not care about the wild turkey as much.

Another perspective, maybe it tells us they care about the wild turkey more? How can we say those limiting out (without decoys) "care more" when they're not willing to give up one week of our long season?

With a 2 week season and one bird limit some people may say the hell with it.

Except no where have we heard anyone calling for that?

Seriously, all I've heard is many thinking our 6-full week (7 weekend) LONG season could delay it's opening by 1 week. I've heard no one seriously suggest we need a 1-bird limit, although many do believe a 2-bird limit makes sense.

Main thing Nashville is hearing are hunters who regularly limit out,
demand other hunters cease using decoys?

I think that if we have seasons like the current model, it gives people more incentive to improve habitat conducive to turkeys.

I'm a little slower than normal this morning.
You'll have to explain how our current model incentivized people to improve habitat conducive to turkeys.
Seems to me, improving habitat and hunting regulations are more separate issues?

As an aside, the main areas in TN I turkey hunt now have better habit for turkey than these areas did when we had a lot more turkeys a couple decades ago. I'm talking thousands of acres, private property (not LBL). It's going to be a real struggle just to keep this habitat anywhere close as good for turkey as it currently is, much less "improve" it.

This same area also has much better habitat for quail than we had when quail were plentiful. We have a few quail, very few, but their populations seem to be on the decline. My fear is that as go the quail, so go the turkey, and the "fix" is neither habitat improvement nor hunting regulations.

 

[Levee Jumper]

"The best thing that may ever happen to turkey season is the near extinction of the turkey. Once we reach that point, perhaps everyone will realize how special they are, instead of the traditional hunters who have been chasing them for 35 or 40 years." - Mega

Unfortunately this is what it will take!

"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times." - G. Michael Hopf

Turkey hunting is just following the cyclical nature of everything else in this jacked up world.

 

[DeerWhisperer]

Guys, I truly apologize for the direction this thread went. I was merely trying to offer my perspective on turkey hunting and how my thoughts and styles have changed over the years with changes in family, health and land availability. The intent was not for this to become a decoy or limit discussion. Just some thoughts I had on my personal experiences. Definitely will have second thoughts on making additional posts

 

[Snake]

Guys, I truly apologize for the direction this thread went. I was merely trying to offer my perspective on turkey hunting and how my thoughts and styles have changed over the years with changes in family, health and land availability. The intent was not for this to become a decoy or limit discussion. Just some thoughts I had on my personal experiences. Definitely will have second thoughts on making additional posts

Not your fault brother.

 

[TheLBLman]

Guys, I truly apologize for the direction this thread went. I was merely trying to offer my perspective on turkey hunting and how my thoughts and styles have changed over the years with changes in family, health and land availability. The intent was not for this to become a decoy or limit discussion. Just some thoughts I had on my personal experiences. Definitely will have second thoughts on making additional posts

DeerWhisperer, I apologize for contributing to that.
Hope you'll post more often, as we all benefit from more perspective, including yours.

 

[PalsPal]

The intent was not for this to become a decoy or limit discussion.

They all do eventually.

It has prompted a lot of people to refrain from posting or skip it altogether. This used to be a pretty good place to pick up tips etc.

 

[JAY B]

Great post!

 

[Laserman1]

What??? I don't want to hear about your 40 yard kill against a tree using a shotgun. Do it with a longbow and I will listen to you. Anyone can use a shotgun to shoot a turkey. Get on his level with a bow and then you can dictate how other should hunt

 

[Setterman]

They all do eventually.

It has prompted a lot of people to refrain from posting or skip it altogether. This used to be a pretty good place to pick up tips etc.

Still is, and there's numerous threads right now with loads of tips. You prefer to see only what you want so you can fluffy kitten

 

[Coker]

I just read this thread completely and now I have a headache.
DeerWhisperer.....excellent post!
LBLMan and Setterman....excellent posts as well, lots of good information and different perspectives

If anything, this thread proves we are all different but very similar in many ways. We are all hunters and want what is best for the game we pursue.

I wish season would hurry up and get here...........