At what point did you "get it?"

[vaturkey]

Read my Avatar ! Being Patient & Digging In IMO will kill alot of gobblers !




   vaturkey 

[Eric Gregg]

I haven't killed my first bird yet, but I believe I can tell where I have evolved as a turkey hunter.
3 areas where I have definitely improved on are
1. mouth calls and calling in general
2. thinking more about how and where I am setting up and putting myself in a good spot that gives me the advantage
3. being patient

With those three things I was able to call in my first group of turkeys. Gobbler never came in close enough to seal the deal, but jakes and hen came within 5yds of me and never spooked. All three components lead to a fun morning

[WildTigerTrout]

Everyday in the woods we learn something new!!!! But when i finally figured out the patience and letting turkeys do what they do, the numbers quickly went up!!!

My sentiments exactly.

[jblackburn]

Crap, I killed my first one in 1998, around 30 later I still don't know what I'm doing!

At some point every season I decide that I hate turkeys and hunting them and swear I'm going to sell it all.  Then God will smile and put a loud mouth two year old gobbler in front of me and all will be right again.

Man I love two year old gobblers!

[Yoder409]

I pretty much "got it" from the get go.  have been killing birds with much regularity ever since I started.

That being said.............. I learn and improve every time I go to the turkey woods.

some days you ride high and make 3 longspurs look dumb.  Other days a jake makes a monkey of you.  That's why this sport is so freakin' addictive !!!

[jakesdad]

Some days I feel like I know it all.......then there are the days the birds remind me I dont know a thing!

I've been fortunate to harvest several,several longbeards and for being self taught pretty much,i've done pretty well.But every year since i've started,bird or no bird,I always come away with something new learned.......good or bad.

[paboxcall]

When I realized the only one on a clock was me.

[Yoder409]

Some days I feel like I know it all.......then there are the days the birds remind me I dont know a thing!

Should be carved in a stone somewhere.   Yep.

[30_06]

Still not sure I have it all figured out yet, but that's part of what makes it all so fun.

One day I may get there, until then I will keep enjoying the ride.

[tnturkey]

I learn something new every year. but I felt like I had some what of a grasp on things when I started reading really paying attention to my mentors and not thinking it was so easy. it took me about 4 seasons to get what was happening and start to under stand how and why turkeys act the way they do.

[allaboutshooting]

First of all great post! I muddled along for what seemed like years. There were not many turkeys and not much in the way of helpful literature, tapes, etc. You pretty much had to depend on other hunters, most of whom did not really want to be of help, or felt that you should learn the same way they did, from years of experience in the woods.

I was lucky and killed a bird after only 3 years of hunting. It is still the largest bird I've shot and the hardest one for me to get. Literally hours of cold and wet time that included walking in water close to my waist and crawling in the mud up a hill. In reality, I was just very lucky on that hunt and it took me quite a while to shoot another one.

I've made so many mistakes, felt like I'd learned nothing and at one time thought how more much I really enjoyed hunting squirrels. Eventually, I became a little more consistent but even after several decades of hunting in a lot of different places, it's still a challenge...thankfully.

I did however come to realize that it's the hunt and not the kill that is most important.

Thanks,
Clark

[Hooter]

I think it was last season for me, when my wife gave me the biggest compliment any turkey hunter could get.
She has been with me on dozens of kills, and has taken her share too.
We had taken a friend along with us one morning, and got a turkey gooble to a hoot. We then closed some distance and made our setup.
I made one series of yelps, and he cut me off with a Gobble.
My wife turned to my friend and said, That turkey is Dead!!  We all just looked at each other with stupid grins, but she was right!

[TRKYHTR]

I remember thinking around year 4 or 5 of killing turkeys, am I going to be able to do it again? Call them in and kill them. I don't have those thoughts anymore but I still keep learning every year. One thing I try to do is make my calling better every year. Or at least learn how to use a different call or make the odd calls sound better. It keeps me sharp with my calling. Now I have thrown in making calls and thats a whole nother world.

[Deputy 14]

I haven't, and I'm not sure that I ever will. It seems as if blind luck is the best thing I have going for me. Every year I know exactly what I'm doing, then I hunt with a friend of mine and after watching him work a bird it makes me feel like I've never been in the woods, and I realize that I still suck.

[agturkey]

What worked yesterday won't work today cause that turkey is dead!