What Is Your Preference??

[Happy]

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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[Treerooster]

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.

[Notsoyoungturk]

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.

[Dougas]

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.

[310 gauge]

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. 

[GobbleNut]

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.

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.

[ScottTaulbee]

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.

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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[Sir-diealot]

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.

[YoungGobbler]

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.