After spending the evening trying to figure out where the large group of gobblers I spotted the other evening were roosting, the wheels in my head started turning and I got to thinking about the differances between turkey and deer as far as hunting goes. This was started when I had an idea where the gobblers were located and I decided to try some locator calls to get a response. I tried the typical crow call before the sun set and I didn't get a response. I waited till the sun hit the horizon and tried a few owl calls....nothing. What the heck is going on....more than a dozen gobblers in the area and not one response. I was tempted to try a hen yelp with my mouth when some numb nut decided to burn rubber in his truck down on the road and the woods lit up. I had atleast 8-10 different gobblers start sounding off all over the ridge. When that noise stopped the woods got quiet and I tried another owl call to no avail. That changed again to the sound of a dog barking on the other side of the property. I don't want to take anything away from deer hunters, but I find it much less challenging. I always hear "whitetails are the toughest animal in North America to hunt" and I gotta laugh. To me, a deer is always patternable, even during the rut when they aren't thinking straight, its still easy to figure out what they are going to be doing and fairly easy to figure out where. Turkey on the other hand really do some crazy things for no reason at all. I watched a half dozen gobblers two years ago that flew down from the roost and headed straight towards a busy road instead of meeting up with a half dozen hens that were feeding on the woodline. To me, there is no guarentee with turkey, they are so unpredictable that it makes you want to rip the hair out of your head. For those of you who hunt for both, what are you feelings on the difficulty of hunting these animals?
I guess I don't think Turkey are harder. Deer have more senses to keep them from danger. A turkey has what his eyesight? Yeah deer can be patternable and it still can be tough to close the deal when they are in front of you. I agree it's tough to figure out what makes a turkey tick but if your not moving they are pretty oblivious. Walk right up to a square box (blind) in the middle of a field where they were the day before and there was not one. And deer don't give their location away from a distance. Hot gobbler is much easier to close the deal on IMO than even the ruttiest crazed buck.
Like comparing apples to oranges.. really. We as hunters.. get what .. like 4 or 5 days to kill a bird. And we're all looking for toms usually. So.. for giggles.. we'll say a tom is comparable to a 3 year old buck. Now.. we have 3 or 4 months to kill the buck. Let's see someone hunt down a 3 year old whitetail in 4 days.. where their week is usually drawn for them.. so you could just as easily get a tough deer week as a tough bird week. Cause I'll tell you right now.. give me 3 months on a bird.. and I like my odds. And I don't even bird hunt. Like comparing apples to oranges.
I got to chase Big Tom Turkeys out of the road when they take time to gobble, strut, or fight on a regular basis. Have even had to throw sticks at them. I have never had to do that with a mature whitetail.
I've usually been able to park a blind almost anywhere in turkey country, even out in the wide open, place some decoys, call them in and shoot them. I've never had it this easy with the bucks that I've killed.
Turkeys give me fits. Even if I am chasing them with a shotgun, they are FAR from easy for me, and we have a even more turkeys than we do deer. If I had as many gobblers around as mature bucks I would probably never kill one.
I agree 100% plus we should also compare only the deer that are taken with Archery equipment since thats about the distance you would take a gobbler with a gun. So that would eliminate a good portion of the deer harvest.
Let ole SB say his piece..... If your are talking about shooting any deer/turkey...turkeys are way tougher....if you are talking about mature trophy animals..most would say deer is tougher...but let me say this, if you are talking about a "mature" Gobbler that is 2-3 years old then I might give a mature buck the nod....But if you are talking about a 4-5 year old gobbler with 1.5" spurs, I'd be willing to say that you'll kill a dozen pope and young bucks before you kill 2 of these rascals. SB
It's all about location, as bad as I HATE that cliche. Depends how hard the deer/turkey are pressured. Turkey on farms I hunt around here? Easier...Turkey in Alabama, harder... I'd take 3 days of turkey hunting my woods in KY over 2 weeks on the farm I hunt in AL. (and YES, I did just roll in from a frustrating 3 days of being skunked by the only 2 toms down there) Mature Buck is harder than a Tom. We get weeks for turkey compared to months for deer though, like Duke pointed out...which helps even it out. An OLD mature gobbler can be downright impossible to call in on pressured birds.... I like my odds for turkey 3+ year old vs a Deer 3+ year old. I'll post up some photos from the trip INCLUDING a buck carrying BOTH sides of his antlers this morning later....gotta shave now. LOL
If the gobblers are hot then I think they are easier to kill....however, if they are not vocal, then it's a whole different ball game. A mature buck is the hardest between the two though over all. Look at it this way, rut vs spring mating, which is easier?
OK OK I'll bite, How do you tell if it's a mature bird? Does it get a ring around it's beak for ever year it is old or do you have to actualy feel around under it's feathers to see if it's balls have dropped.
When it comes to which is easier for me personally, i would say that a mature gobbler and a big buck are equally hard, as i have killed neither. I have a 1.5 year old buck and a 2 year old "Jom" turkey (shotgun though). Turkeys get almost if not more pressure then deer here, because they are being chased by gun hunters for a month compared to a week for deer. It would be nice to have an early archery week for turkeys now that i think of it.
I bet the record book will tell alot.....I've killed a good many Gobblers and I've never seen one with 1.5" spurs.... Wonder what the SC book will tell us? SB
Here is a quick take on what the DNR site says about the record book....SC uses the B&C system and require a score of 125 typical and 145 non typical,they record around 228 new entries a year....SC has a 6 month deer hunting season. Turkey Season is 6 weeks in the lower part of the state 4 weeks in the upper....I didn't find any record book for Turkeys yet, but everything I saw talked about how bad the turkey flock has been doing since 04..... I have killed several birds with 1.25 spurs but never a 1.5....and I've never seen one other than in mags and don't know anyone that claims to have killed a 1.5 in SC. I just don't think they live that long here very often. And the ones that do don't get killed by hunters very often at all..... Does anyone here know anyone who has killed a Gobbler in SC that had 1.5" spurs ? SB
Here is the SC record for spurs 1 R. WILLIAM CRAIN, JR. (M) SC ( details) 1.8750" Apr 13, 1999 LAURENS, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRISTOPHER B JONES (M) SC ( details) 1.8750" Apr 2, 1993 MARLBORO, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 MICHAEL FISHER (M) SC ( details) 1.8125" Mar 21, 2008 ORANGEBURG, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 RICHARD GRUBBS (M) SC ( details) 1.7500" Apr 23, 1982 HAMPTON, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 DR. J. WILLIAM BURCH (M) SC ( details) 1.6875" Apr 12, 2007 WILLIAMSBURG, SC, USA M Firearm ATYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BENNIE GREGORY (M) SC ( details) 1.6875" Apr 26, 2008 DARLINGTON, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JEFFREY JOYNER (M) SC ( details) 1.6875" Mar 30, 2005 BARNWELL, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 JERRY MALLOY (M) CO ( details) 1.6250" Apr 5, 2004 HAMPTON, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMES D SEWELL (M) FL ( details) 1.6250" Apr 2, 1991 FAIRFIELD, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AVERY LOUIS YOUNT (M) SC ( details) 1.6250" Jan 5, 1980 DARLINGTON, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 LARRY PROFFITT (M) TN ( details) 1.5625" Mar 25, 2008 BARNWELL, SC, USA M Firearm ATYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BILL SHIRER (M) SC ( details) 1.5625" Apr 3, 1989 ABBEVILLE, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 E. W. ANDERSON (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 30, 1992 SC, USA M Firearm ATYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMES BOWMAN, JR. (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 2, 2001 YORK, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DARREN CARTER (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 1, 2002 GREENWOOD, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MATTHEW COON (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 26, 2008 WILLIAMSBURG, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROBERT A. DOBSON, III (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 1, 1999 ABBEVILLE, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MARSHALL GANDY (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 3, 2008 MARLBORO, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRIS GRAHAM (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 5, 2003 OCONEE, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RICHARD GRUBBS (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 23, 1982 HAMPTON, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHARLES L. HALL (M) SC ( details) 1.5000" Apr 3, 1995 PICKENS, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMES F. HASCUP (M) NJ ( details) 1.5000" Apr 25, 1991 ALLENDALE, SC, USA M Firearm TYPICAL --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd have to agree with you. I know here in GA the turkeys get skiddish quickly on the WMAs once the season opens.
