Wednesday I guided a guy on a turkey hunt. I have roosted the birds daily and knew where they were going every night and coming out every day. At 5:00 AM I helped him set up his blind at a point where I have seen lots of Toms pass everyday. I showed him the trail and I backed out for him to hunt. At 6:40 AM, 12 Toms walked 15 yards past him and no shot. As I sat on the hilltop watching, I wondered if he had fallen asleep. At 6:50 AM, 2 more long beards strolled by him and again, no shot. Feeling frustrated, I made my way around to the North of him and walked through the trees along the creek and got 13 of the Toms to retreat right past him again. Still nothing from the blind. We agreed to meet by the road at 10:00 AM to regroup if he didn't get his bird before then. When I picked him up I asked what happened. His reply was the first birds caught him off guard and then when they came back by him, the shot didn't feel right. He said he had a good time and would like to do it again next spring. Personally, I was frustrated to no end. Got up at 4:00 AM to help someone else out and when the shot was there, it wasn't taken! I guess I'll never become a guide.
Wow, I am not sure if that guy is even wanting to kill a bird, I would have gone nuts with that many good birds around. Kudos on getting him on birds at least.
i know how that is man. i called one in for a guy last week with almost a 12 in beard to 25 yards and he said he couldnt get a shot. i was sittin right by him and i could have shot.
I told him to give me a call and I'd check my schedule. If I know when he wants to come down, I know I can be busy that day, week, month...
Damn, the man said he had a good time, thats all that matters! If he had no shot he had no shot! You did your job and put him on the birds, I'd be stoked about that!
Hey, as long as you both had fun! 12 Toms...thats crazy, the most i have ever seen at one time here is 5 or 6.
If someone asked me to set them up to "hunt" then I would expect them to want to shoot at an animal that interests them. I am usually pretty laid back about what others define as "hunting" but come on man, he was there to "hunt" right? Then shoot! It would be like me paying a guide to help me catch a large bass. The guy gets me all set up and within the span of 1 hour I get 12 large bass strikes....yet I say, "it didn't feel right to set the hook".....huh?
The problems as far as I am concerned are: 1. The guy talks like he lives for turkey hunting and all the 20 lb birds he's taken. Of the 27 Toms that I saw that morning almost all of them were 25+ lbs. The two long beards that came through after the first 12 were pushing 30 lbs and really mature birds. 2. When I tell someone I'll help you take a big bird and I fulfill my part by roosting the birds, getting their patterns down, and getting up real early to put them in the best situation, all out of the goodness of my heart, I'd expect to see them score when the opportunity arises. If If I was doing this and getting paid for it, I wouldn't care if they shot a bird or not. 3. Because if #1 and #2, he had fun, but I was totally disappointed.
Turkey hunting, or any hunting for that matter, is done for different reasons by different folks... To some of us, it is not all about the kill. I don't know where your hunting? But in our camp we take about a dozen mature birds every year, and I have never heard of any body getting a 30 pound bird, to think 2 of them that size in one group The biggest one we ever got weighed 26 1/2 pounds. And that is the only one that ever exceeded 25 pounds... I would think 30 pounds would be close to, if not the state record here in Wisconsin...
Well that bites Iowa Vet at least he can't think it had anything to do with you. If it will make you feel better you can get me on a bird since I can't seem to do it myself. lol
I disagree, that sucker will shoot one before you ever even get a chace to draw, J/K but he really will kill one if you ask him too.
I think I would be able to fill in for him next year and meet both your and my expectations of the hunt, don't worry...I will pull the trigger as long as I have tags in my pocket!
From what I have read and heard from guys on here, the average turkey in the good spots in Iowa run 5-7 pounds bigger than the average turkey in most other states, based on the incredible amount of nutrition.
Go to the NWTF record site. There are multiple birds that score over 30 lbs. Lucas County (where I live) was the county where turkeys were reintroduced into Iowa in 1970. Come see for yourself. The birds here are huge and the number of turkey hunters in this area is low. Results = big birds.
