Chasin' gobblers after 60

[time4turks]

Hey folks. I just kicked off the start of my 7th decade on the planet, and I have decided it's time to make a transition. (No, not that kind of transition...) I am going to focus more on turkeys than deer. I was a fanatical deer hunter for many years, but, without land of my own where I could drive a truck or 4 wheeler to pick up a deer I am destined to drag deer and tree stands long distances. Not that I am in bad shape - actually great shape for a 60ish desk jockey - but I like to hunt remote areas. Carrying a 20# bird is just far more appealing than dragging a 160 buck. Don't get me wrong, I love deer hunting, but I think I am ready to leave the deer for the youngsters and start chasing birds both spring and fall.

Anybody else move away from chasing deer as the years turned into decades?

T4T

[1iagobblergetter]

 I never started hunting turkeys because of age,but simply because it's just plain fun.. I think you will be glad you did. I would much rather chase Turkey's than deer and have land to hunt that holds big deer.No comparison in my eyes..Somewhere around 20 years of hunting turkeys and still get as excited to go as my first time out hunting them.

[Tom Threetoes]

I'll turn 72 during season this year and I'll be chasing gobblers if I'm able. I like deer hunting but I LOVE to turkey hunt.









 

[Greg Massey]

I just enjoy the outdoor's  both deer and turkeys . I don't hate deer near as much as i did in my younger day's but i still enjoy the challenge of getting that nice buck... regardless if it's a trophy deer or not ... Turkeys are a different story, i like the chase and calling him within gun range , it's like a competition between him and me, someday's it all falls together and i get to carry him over my shoulder , someday's he just wipe's my BUTT...that why they call it turkey hunting . I fell i'm successful either way ... WHY .. because i got to hear him gobble before he hit the ground and in my opinion that's what it all about and the hunt is on ... scouting , call's, turkey guns and all the equipment necessary is something i enjoy .. As people have said , it's about as much fun getting ready to go hunting as hunting ....remember turkeys do what turkeys do regardless how hard we try sometimes , it just doesn't work out .... BUT I WAS STILL ABLE TO SEE ANOTHER SUNRISE AND HEAR HIM GOBBLE ONE MORE TIME ... Gobble , Gobble , Gobble... still raises the hair on the back of my neck...

[LaLongbeard]

I have a ways to go before I'm 60, but I haven't deer hunted in a couple years. I bowhunted deer with a recurve then a longbow, never owned or hunted with a compound and didn't rifle hunt. It took up a lot of time practicing to stay proficient with traditional bows. But I was a deer hunting  fanatic for most of my life. I killed a lot of deer and some really nice bucks and never thought I'd quit. I had to split my off time between bow season for deer and turkey season and that was the reason I quit. Now I take off the whole Spring season and am able to hunt in as many states as I want. It wasn't a hard choice. 

[fallhnt]

I like Fall turkey hunting the most. So I shoot deer that get to close while archery turkey season is open. Been this way since the mid 90's.

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[dejake]

Yup.  I don't deer hunt as much anymore.  Heck of a lot easier to get a bird out of the woods, and a LOT more fun.

[MK M GOBL]

It will be a little while before I hit the 60 mark but can say that since I started turkey hunting it's always been the passion, now I bow hunt and gun hunt for deer and predators, bowfish all summer, and waterfowl, small game and bird hunt too, do like to do some fishing as well, pretty much put me outside and I'm happy  

Biggest thing for me was we never had wild turkeys in Wisconsin when I started, dad raised me on hunting and fishing but not turkey, all I knew of them was we raised them on the farm for food. I was 23 when this all started, buddy and I wanted to try it out. Wisconsin DNR had been working with NWTF and turkeys were being released and trapped and transplanted in south west Wisconsin, my buddy deer hunted the area and a few turkeys were being seen. Well from a fall scouting trip, a few seminars and old Primos "The Truth" about Turkey Hunting VHS the game was on. Buddy and I drew tags (WI has a lottery draw system) now I didn't kill a bird that first year but I did call one in for my buddy and he did! (lot more of a story here) but by the next year I had my dad going and I called in his bird too ( buddy and I didn't draw tags but were both on that hunt) and third year was mine! Success!! After those first few years and getting Hook'd on turkey hunting things really changed from job (construction) to working for a mom & pop archery shop to several outdoor stores and more and still continues today.

Dad taught me about the outdoors, Turkey Hunting was the one thing I got to "teach" dad about

Like I say it's always been the passion, dad even said if he had to give up deer hunting to keep turkey hunting he would have...

Enjoy the Hunt it's what it's all about!


MK M GOBL

[Happy]

Turkeys have always been my favorite. That being said I still enjoy my deer hunting. Bowhunting is my favorite but I still get after them with a rifle as well. I don't have any plans to quit any of them so long as my health holds out. I make a pretty big effort to be in shape and feel like I am just hitting my prime at 38.

[tomstopper]

Just turned 40 and can honestly say that I stopped deer hunting about 3 yrs ago (just didn't have the passion that I once had for it. Also must say that I don't miss freezing in NY in a tree stand either). I will never stop hunting turkey. Just love this sport since I was a kid. Best of luck this spring.

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[Spitten and drummen]

Im a avid bowhunter but im a turkey hunting maniac. I have always said if i was limited to choosing only one thing to hunt for the rest of my life , it would be spring turkey hands down.

[ddturkeyhunter]

I like deer hunting, but I LOVE Turkey hunting. There is something about a turkey gobble, and the excitement that it brings, knowing what you are hunting is in the same woods as you. And now all you have to do is try and get him to come close enough. Started late turkey hunting been hunting them about thirty years, and i am 63 now. And still in good enough shape to run up and down the hills for another year, thank the lord. But always thought this is one sport I could always have someone push my wheelchair out into the woods to hunt. And unlike deer that can smell you and bust you. If you can sit still and call when your suppose to you can Bring a turkey to you and have a great time. Welcome to the addiction now that your ready.

[Gobbler428]

I'll be 71 next month when another spring turkey season rolls around and God willing I'll be in the woods before sunrise on opening morning. I still deer hunt but I have always said, "if I had to give up either turkey or deer hunting, there is no doubt, deer hunting would have to go"  There is just something magical about hearing that longbeard gobble and knowing that "the game is on"

[shaman]

I turned 60 last July, and have been going at the turkeys close to 40 years.

Turkey has always been like a second religion for me, and going hunting was like a pilgrimage.  I spent the first few years not even seeing a gobbler, and it was almost a decade before I got a shot. I did it, because it was hard to do, and it was one of the few things I had in my life that I could be wholly mediocre at and still feel good doing it. When I first started, I'd have to drive 3 hours after work on Friday, hunt a half day and then come home, because there was no hunting after noon and no hunting on Sundays.  That was a heck of a commitment.  I still feel like a beginner, and I still throw myself at it like it is my first season.

Deer was something altogether different.  Once I found a place to hunt that had a good population of animals, I was pretty well set.  For me, deer hunting has long become a routine.  I still love doing it, but I'm far more concerned with the complexities of being the patriarch of camp than I am about my individual hunting success.  Deer season is like Christmas with guns.

[MISSISSIPPI Double beard]

I'm only 52 and for years I loved deer huntin more than any other species. I still love to deer hunt hunt but if I had to choose between turkeys or deer I'm going turkey huntin!