The excitement. The anticipation. The preparation. Etc. If you simply shoot them because they taste good, why not just go buy one?
Assume a buck wakes up, scratches his balls and then starts grunting (gobbling) loud enough to be heard 1/4 mile away. Yeah....that turkey hunting is much tougher, huh.
It's just that turkey are completely dimwitted. Pea sized brain don't get u much for patterns or anything else that makes sense. Deer on the other hand, can bust you sitting in that tree, try to out psych you, stare you down, and back away right on their own footsteps. Turkeys go where ever the sound takes em'.
BM I agree the turks wil make you pull your hair out sometimes trying to figure them out Mine are giving me fits now. They were everywhere weeks ago now i hardly see any in the fields but that may change come closer to my season. As far as compared to Killing mature for me the Deer win over as being harder for a mature one anyway.
Deer hands done. Has nothing to do with me never hunting turkey but no biase here. I just know. :d Tim
I would dare say that not ONE person on this sight puts anywhere near the time and preperation for turkey as they do for whitetails ..... like Mike said, Apples to Oranges ...... I have seen plenty of Big mature Toms where I hunt, but only a few P&Y bucks .... NO DOUBT in my mind that a mature buck is in a different category .....
I can hunt deer for 3+ months, I get usually about 2 or 3 days a year to fill my turkey permit. I go to hear them gobble, and hopefully kill one. My season starts Saturday and I haven't started any prep work. I'll roost the birds Friday night and go from there. Like many things in life, turkey hunting can be as simple or complicated as you make it. I prefer to keep it simple. Gobble, yelp, boom. Oh....make that "thump". :D
Actually I put way more time on turkeys then deer and have for a dozen years... I was your typical rabid deer hunter until I went out spring turkey hunting about 12 years ago....Turkey hunting made me lose interest in deer for awhile...I'm back into it now because of bowhunting....My feeling is if a Turkey could smell, you couldn't kill one with a bow or a shotgun.
Jeff, not trying to pick on you here but maybe turkey hunting Isn't your thing yet. Some people click better with different animals then others. I know guys around me that can't shoot a deer to save there ass but what It comes to turkey hunting their damn good. I'm that way bear hunting. Bear hunting clicks with me better then whitetails, just the way It Is right now.
Bow only? 0/0 Not that either are easy, but given a week to tag one or the other...I am going with the turkey.
I am guessing turkeys aren't my thing either - I killed 4 in Fla 2 with bow and 2 with scattergun but just got to going after them in NC, last year - seen one hen in a few trips and lost interest. I have honestly seen more turkeys in fields this year than any year prior, but not having any access to those fields makes it tuff. I am trying to hunt hardwoods bordered by big fields - the land is very narrow that borders the fields - so basically I am thinking if I had access to those fields turkey hunting may be easier but since I don't its kicks my ass on a regular basis and honestly have a hard time getting fired up - I've done ok on mature bucks in the last three years - but on turks I am 0-11 with one hen sighted during the spring - which was all of last year in NC. I will try and get out this year and see what happens - but to answer your question turks are tuffer at this point - if Increase my time commitment and gain access to larger fields this may not be the case
There are turkeys around my hunting area but I have never fealt any motivation to hunt them. I see them once in a while from my deer stand. They just don't do anything for me. Here is a little different question...Who would RATHER shoot a mature turkey than a mature deer???
I don't think anyone can answer turkey the way that is worded, but these seasons are six months apart from each other, and don't conflict. So I choose BOTH! :d
X2 (Not really 6 months in GA. Deer ended on Jan 1 and Turkey opened on March 21 so still no overlapping.) Oh and to answer the question of SB I'm 0/0 with mature bucks/toms with a bow and 2/0 if I extend it to any deer.
I'm 3/0 bucks/turkey and THAT's with a shotgun for the turks. I've killed gobblers, but I don't know what counts as mature. 7/8"-1" spurs and 8-9" beards people told me were 2 year old birds. I'd really love to figure out if I suck, or my birds are tough. I cannot imagine hunting a place where huge gobblers routinely came running in to my calls. I typically get one chance a season and that is hunting my arse off.
I don't care which one is harder, but to me, I can honestly say I am OBSESSED with turkey hunting. I would rather turkey hunt 1000x more than deer hunt. But that's just me.
What does it matter which is harder? I don't understand what we are always grasping at with these types of threads. If you just want shear toughness in a hunt you don't have to go after Big-Horned Sheep. Go out and try to kill a Field Mouse with archery equipment. How many have done that? A Crow? A Chipmunk? Why the need to always feed the ego. Hunt for the love and the passion you get from the pursuit of your animal of choice. If you have to "qualify" it. You're in it for the wrong reasons!
Depends..are ya a golfer or a bowler?? No rub, Jeff your skin is getting thin. don't be so defensive. Just because my view, isn't your view doesn't make us opponents.
