How Little $$

[btodd00]

the threads about cost of everyday gear and lifetime gear got me thinking the other side of the coin and how cheap it could be done 

personally years ago I killed one out of a brush blind wearing a camo shirt and pants with work boots I already owned, 1 cheap primos call in my pocket, my mossberg 500 my dad bought me when I was 14, had 3 shells but only used 1, facemask/gloves and a thermocell (I live in FL, id rather hunt with no gun than no thermocell)

 That's as cheap as ive walked into the woods and got it done. Might be something I strive to beat next season rather than dragging more gear than I could ever need with me

[ScottTaulbee]

That's about how I do it. Mossberg 835 that I've owned for years, 3 longbeard XR's, 4 mouth calls, (2 different cuts but doubles of each) a trumpet, a handful of baby wipes and my camo is typically how I roll. I have a thermacell but hate carrying it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tom007]

If you play a chess match with a willing gobbler, and make all the right moves, an open bead shotgun, work boots, cheap green clothing and a simple mouth call will lure in the wariest Tom in the woods. Hunt with what you can afford and enjoy every minute in the turkey woods.....

[Greg Massey]

The first turkey calls I had were homemade, Snuff can cut out with a piece of condom used for the latex, Homemade turtle shell with a piece of roofing slate glued inside the turtle shell and we tried using gourds with slate and cedar corncob strikers, but we keep breaking the gourds etc. All of our cedar was just a small cedar limb and we trimmed them with a pocket knife and stuck it into a piece of corncob .. lol

I still have the old snuff cans and the turtle shells with glued slate and we did make a few strikers from a small piece of Cane ...

Most of my hunting clothes were hand-me-downs if you want to call them hunting clothes, same with the first shotgun which was a single barrel my dad used and shells were just whatever we could find in a heavy brass load.

My real first camo was army surplus woodland, I still feel it is some of the best camo, and I still use some of the old woodland camo..

So I guess back in the early years the most expensive were vehicles and gas and a lot of the times us buddies would share the cost and ride and hunt together... I miss some of the old days, but I also enjoy the NEW times and gear ... Calls especially along with friends I've made in chasing gobblers. 

So in my opinion turkey hunting is a journey with a lot of ups and downs.. You can't really put a cost to something you really enjoy doing.
 

[deathfoot]

My first set up was with a Mossberg 500 (bead) with factory extended choke, Lynch Fool proof box, faded camo (which I still hunt with some) and Winchester #5's Supreme (best I recall). No vest at that time either. Just carried everything in my cargo pockets. I killed a lot of birds with that gun.

[Greg Massey]

If you play a chess match with a willing gobbler, and make all the right moves, an open bead shotgun, work boots, cheap green clothing and a simple mouth call will lure in the wariest Tom in the woods. Hunt with what you can afford and enjoy every minute in the turkey woods.....

Tom , I think I have seen a few pictures of you still hunting with the old woodland camo pattern .. Great camo in my opinion.

[btodd00]

I remember thinking after that hunt that it couldn't happen much better than that, years later and who knows how much more in gear, the feeling is still the same every time

I did forget to mention the gun had whatever choke came in it, this was long before I ever purchased an aftermarket turkey choke. The shells were Remington 4x6's if I remember right. Definitely didnt have anything but a bead on the gun, at that time I had never seen one with an optic in person and the camo was most certainly something faded and 100% cotton that I used for deer season also. I can appreciate how far some of this stuff has come and I do enjoy buying calls and using different guns (especially 410) but ill never forget that I used to get by on alot less

[Hook hanger]

It definitely can be done on the cheap side. More than once I was driving by my hunting grounds while working and seen gobblers. Made a u-turn grabbed mouth call and gun with a couple shells  no camo and got into position to call from and proceeded to get a lunch time bird. So those hunts were gun (win 1300 or bps 10ga) 2-3 shells (probably actives or remington 4x6) and a mouth call.

[Bowguy]

When I was a kid I killed tons birds w an old 870 w 2-3 shells, faded camo, 1-2 mouth calls and a plastic owl hooter.
Can still be done that way but I liken it to going trout fishing. 1-2 spinners would work but once the water gets pounded how does only that 1-2 spinners work every day? You be best to change it up.
When I was a kid no one bowhunted, you had to explain what a black powder gun was. Not even a boot track in the snow that season.
I knew 1 guy besides me turkey hunted. There were birds all over and no one chasing them.
You'd be best being able to mix it up today.
Myself I've toned it way back again but ain't giving up some of my "tries" cause old school I walked til I found another bird. Sometimes 2,3,4 dif chances or misses if I was calling for a bud  a day. And that was most days...
You can wear boots out walking now for very little noise too often

[Happy]

Remington 870 express from 1953 (my Great-Grandads)
Lynch box call (my Grandads)
Homemade wingbone call
Remington 2 3/4", #6 shot high brass shell.  I think that box of 25 cost about $15.00 back when I bought them.
Military fatigue camo. I think the set cost about $30.00
That's my cheapest gobbler.

[Bowguy]

Remington 870 express from 1953 (my Great-Grandads)
Lynch box call (my Grandads)
Homemade wingbone call
Remington 2 3/4", #6 shot high brass shell.  I think that box of 25 cost about $15.00 back when I bought them.
Military fatigue camo. I think the set cost about $30.00
That's my cheapest gobbler.

Happy that was prob a wingmaster. Remington I thought didn't develop the express til later.
That was the end of a great company when they started pushing that junk

[Happy]

Correct sir. It is a wingmaster. Cool gun but a bit on the long side for my taste.

[Bowguy]

Correct sir. It is a wingmaster. Cool gun but a bit on the long side for my taste.

Yes but fantastic. Greasy smooth slide, fit n finish nice. The express junk looks like a sewer pipe. Remington shoulda never done that.