I've been watching plenty of videos lately and it's got me thinking. I know what I'm about to say is purely circumstantial but, In Your Opinion, what method of Turkey hunting leads to more dead birds and on the Flip Side more bumped (Educated) birds, Patiently Waiting, Running and Gunning or a Combination? Each of us have OUR own particular style and areas of the country we hunt but what leads to SUCCESS for you?
I'll start. For me, I have my Slam in 4 different States and different parts of the lower 48. I've hunted flat wooded areas, flat open areas, rolling hills and mountains but my Greatest successes have come from locating birds and getting in close at first light, being patient and calling them to my location. For me, PATIENCE has been a GREAT virtue.
On a slow, quiet morning, I'll run & Gun to cover ground. The last few hours before noon (quitting time), I'll go to my historically good spots, set up and call quietly. Patience for me has killed most of my birds for sure...
locating birds before the season, calling them and having patience.
I just enjoy using my calls and fooling him into thinking i'm his hen ....
I'm with Greg, it's all about the calling for me, regardless of success.
I can walk up on birds in my area and blow them away if I wanted to. But that's not rewarding for me at this stage in my life.
Scouting heavily pre season and then sitting until at least noon has been working out since I became an "old geezer" with less than perfect knees. In the good old days I was always run and gun. Run and gun was by far the the most fun.
When I was a much younger hunter in WV it was very possible to roll up on a good vantage point and hear 5-6 turkeys sounding off. Those places would have been considered average by me at that time.
Moving to an interested turkey and working him was the plan. When that didn't work, move to the next and so on. Often, at the end of the days hunt I would find myself searching for a player. Run and gun.
Today it's much more a walk and gun tactic. Mainly because today too hear five turkeys off of one vantage point would be amazing. Secondly, knowing the likelihood of multiple players in my area to be low I have changed my tactics considerably.
I am much more cautious and calculating in any moves I make. I have slowed those moves down as well. I in know way want to spook my one player for the day. I want to make the most of every set up.
When I find myself in a location that is a dud I cover ground, as much as possible. Which may even mean jumping in the truck and completely relocating to a different area.
This past spring I was very happy to find a few locations that my previous methods would have been acceptable.I did not revert back and was happy. Probably saved me some walking too.
The last few spring I have traveled some which has giving me a higher yearly harvest number. Prior to that I would say the average number stayed the same using the slower method.
The main difference is the amount of blown opportunities by me. I do still make mistakes! But, that number has dropped significantly!
Back when I started turkey hunting there were fewer birds but also fewer hunters. They were more vocal and, if you searched a bit, overall easier to call in. Due to the fewer birds, I would cover several miles looking for a response. Nowadays they call it "running and gunning"...no such thing back then. I called it "walking and calling". Less pizzazz but more realistic. With the passage of time I've become more patient and, if I know there should be, or is, a bird in the area, will sit and call for a period of time then meander around a bit and repeat. I think whatever success I have is about the same with both methods, except nowadays I'm less tired at the end of the morning!
I'm happy just hearing one sound off :turkey2:
Then, if everything aligns such as calling, setup location and dealing with unknowns such as other people, unseen hens, terrain, foliage, etc..., it is icing on the cake to get him in range for an opportunity to pull the trigger!!
I've bumped more birds running and gunning over the years, I think. The older I get, the more I use patience after getting one to talk to me. I had a true turkey expert tell me don't be afraid to be more aggressive in moving. He assured me birds get spooked by things daily, unless you did a screaming charge at him, he's probably still workable a short time later.
Patience wins out for me. I still hobble and gun, but with patience. Z
Walk and gun. Knowing when to be about and doing it slow and careful. Knowing when to sit and when to call and when to shut up.
No question as to what leads to the most dead birds the quickest. Roosting and getting close hedges your bets but to answer the question the best I'd think circumstances are everything. If you have a single 70 acre piece can't run n gun too much without blowing birds off prop. If the woods are real open and it's real flat, run n gun might not be great but than again how long to sit in a dead spot rotting? That makes no sense either you gotta go by what is best that situation imo
As a general rule, I assess the place I am going to be hunting and try to do what the place and circumstances dictate. I prefer and would say that most of my success has come from moving until I find a responsive bird...and conversely, don't relish the sit and wait game unless, again, the place and circumstances dictate that it is the only realistic approach. Now, I admittedly sometimes misinterpret what the place and circumstances dictate, but on occasion I do get it right.
As for bumping them, I'm sure I occasionally bump birds with my approach to hunting them...and I certainly don't like to do that if at all possible. However, if I do, I don't worry too much about it UNLESS they have somehow associated my turkey calling with me, the human hunter. In my experience, THAT association makes them much more difficult to call in. They ain't Einsteins, but they sure seem to be able to put that "two plus two" together from what I have seen.
Also, as far as bumping and educating birds goes, my particular problem in hunting public stuff almost exclusively is that there are almost invariably other, less experienced hunters out there that have most likely thoroughly educated them long before I get there...and probably don't have a clue that they did it.
I do not have the patience nor desire to sit for hours and wait for a turkey. I'm sure it has costed me birds and that's fine. I've killed my share and helped others do the same in the past. And besides myself and my two young sons, no one gives a hoot if I kill one anyway. So with that being said, what trips my trigger is going to a spot I've never stepped foot on, finding a high ridge or mountain and wait for gray light, when one gobbles that's my player, I'll move to him, hopefully at the same time he moves to me. I enjoy the interaction and I enjoy having to be quick on my feet and make my decisions on the move and quickly based on instinct and past experiences. Sometimes it's right, some times it's wrong. But either way, for myself, I would rather hunt a whole season this way and end up eating a tag than sitting in a blind or similar and filling a tag. I like to hunt them on my terms, the way I enjoy, whether that means success or not.
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For me, it's a combination of both. I ain't one to sit around waiting for something to happen. I have no problem spending my time working on a gobbler that will at least occasionally sound off. I will be patiently aggressive if that makes sense. I will be trying to find the right combination of location and calling to crack the code. I will not sit for hours in a good location, calling and hoping in silence. In my humble opinion, knowing the ground and the turkeys that use it is the most deadly piece of info a guy can have. Not to brag, but I can be downright wicked on land I have hunted for years. Put me on new ground, and my odds drop until I get it figured out. For the guy who just relies on calling and positioning, I think that is the most important factor.
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Both. I am going to assess the situation and decide what is best to do.
As for preference...that varies too. Great fun to move along and strike a hot gobbler, but that doesn't happen a whole lot. Sometimes I just want to take a break and sit in one spot too.
Never want to limit myself to one type of hunting and I can have a LOT of patience at times and also known how to move with at least some stealth through the woods.
Great topic. I have two parcels on which I can hunt. One parcel is mostly woods with old logging roads. I have several spots on it where I will start and listen. If I hear a bird, I will move to it. If not, I have had good success with the walk and call. The woods and hills provide enough cover to allow movement. How many birds have I spooked, only the turkeys really know for sure.
I have another property that is field mixed with woods. Again, I know several good starting places but I have to be much more careful with movement. Often, there is no way to get closer to the birds without being seen. Success has often come from getting as close as I dare but then waiting patiently.
I don't think there is one clear answer. It depends on the the lay of the land, your knowledge of how to move in that terrain, your woodsmanship, infinite patience and the ever needed luck that the turkeys do what you think they will do.
Both for me too. If one is stuck using only one method, there will be missed opportunities. I would rather not miss those opportunities. When I am "running and gunning", There is always a certain amount of patience involved when I hunt, be it sitting and calling or roaming around or working into position to sit patiently. Hunting requires a mixed bag of tricks. The more one is willing to pull those tricks out of the bag, the more opportunity one will have.
Pre-season scouting helps eliminate a lot of my farms and I can determine whether to set up for mornings or afternoons. No running & gunning as our woods are too thick and getting too old to "follow the hunt." Setting up in the dark on field edges in A.M. and in shaded areas around noon in P.M., where I know a flock will congregate, is my method of operation.
Quote from: ScottTaulbee on December 18, 2024, 11:17:20 AMWhat trips my trigger is going to a spot I've never stepped foot on, finding a high ridge or mountain and wait for gray light, when one gobbles that's my player, I'll move to him, hopefully at the same time he moves to me. I enjoy the interaction and I enjoy having to be quick on my feet and make my decisions on the move and quickly based on instinct and past experiences. Sometimes it's right, some times it's wrong. But either way, for myself, I would rather hunt a whole season this way and end up eating a tag than sitting in a blind or similar and filling a tag. I like to hunt them on my terms, the way I enjoy, whether that means success or not.
Pretty much sums up my outlook, as well. Don't get me wrong...there have been times when I have had to admit that doing the above was not going to work based on where I was hunting, but those times have been few and far between. More often than not, however, if I become resigned to the fact that I am not going to kill one on those terms, I just head for another location...or if that is not feasible, I just go home.
Quote from: GobbleNut on December 31, 2024, 10:07:43 AMQuote from: ScottTaulbee on December 18, 2024, 11:17:20 AMWhat trips my trigger is going to a spot I've never stepped foot on, finding a high ridge or mountain and wait for gray light, when one gobbles that's my player, I'll move to him, hopefully at the same time he moves to me. I enjoy the interaction and I enjoy having to be quick on my feet and make my decisions on the move and quickly based on instinct and past experiences. Sometimes it's right, some times it's wrong. But either way, for myself, I would rather hunt a whole season this way and end up eating a tag than sitting in a blind or similar and filling a tag. I like to hunt them on my terms, the way I enjoy, whether that means success or not.
Pretty much sums up my outlook, as well. Don't get me wrong...there have been times when I have had to admit that doing the above was not going to work based on where I was hunting, but those times have been few and far between. More often than not, however, if I become resigned to the fact that I am not going to kill one on those terms, I just head for another location...or if that is not feasible, I just go home.
I agree. I have my way I like to hunt them. I've hunted them this way for a long time. I started when I was 5 years old, mainly because my dad wouldn't take me deer hunting but he would turkey hunting because he didn't turkey hunt. His idea was to sit in an ambush spot and wait. I learned very quickly that is not my style. Same with deer hunting. Dad always told me that "you can't hunt that way" "you'll never kill anything that way" and at the end of the season I'd fill my tags and he wouldn't see a critter. I tried sitting in a blind and just hate hunting that way, I even stooped so low as to try fanning once, and was successful but it wasn't for me. If I can't hunt them and kill one on my terms the way that I enjoy playing the game, than I'd rather sit at home, just like you.
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Before my accident in 2001 I had always done the run and gun thing, there were a lot more birds then and I saw a few, but since my accident and having to hunt from a blind and study them the best I am allowed on the property and place my blinds accordingly I see many more not just sitting still in the blind.
That said I would love to be able to return to the run and gun and sitting against a tree, I try every year but I can only manage about 20 minutes or so before the pain makes me return to the chair in the blind.
I hunt agricultural land mixed with woodlot in between, all private. Best way to hunt I think is to study birds and know what they do and where they go, and set-up accordingly.