To me, turkey hunting and deer hunting are two completely different ball games. Like most, my passion for bowhunting whitetails is rooted deep and will not be swayed by turkeys. BUT..there are some reasons that I love hunting turkeys It is where I got my start. I taught myself to hunt with a 20 gauge 870 and the Primos Ol' Yeller slate call. I vividly remember my first turkey. I was belly-down on the edge of a dirt field and I called in a jake all by myslef, I was so pumped. My memories starting out turkey hunting run deep, and I like to keep making them. It's a social sport. You can sit in the blind with your buddies and talk BS all day long. Also its an awesome way to expose first time hunters. For me, it's stress free hunting. Is deer hunting stressful? Not exactly. Tense at times? Most certainly. When you are turkey hunting you can plop yourself in a blind and not worry a bit about scent, wind, etc. You can throw in a big chew and rip a big fart..doesn't matter . It's just relaxing. And, it's just plain fun. Calling in an animal is a really cool experience. Makes you feel like you've earned it..like you've tricked him.
Another detractant (because someone mentioned how good they are to eat, and I agree to a point) in Ohio it's another 24$ tag. I can buy a lot of Turkey for 24$. So the cost out-weighs the benefits if "meat" is the only goal. So how about others is it included in your license or extra? We pay 24$ for Spring tags and another 24$ for Fall tags. With the few morning hunts I'd be able to get out on..it makes it tough to spend the loot. If it was included in the license, a trip or two to the woods would be much easier to digest!
You get a spring gobbler tag and a either sex fall tag here in PA which are both included in your general hunting liscence. That would suck to have to pay that much a turkey tag. You can buy a second spring gobbler tag here for $21.
Having just come back from my first 'done the real way' turkey hunt, I gotta say.... I think it's okay but I'd much rather hunt deer or shoot fish. The very first time I drew a turkey tag was half a billion years ago when I was in college in ND. I knew zilcho aboat turkeys and learned on the run but I did manage to call some in just using my voice to imitate them. I blew some shots (once with a shotgun, once with a bow) but I did eventually manage to kill one. I kept after it because I was determined, not because I was enthralled with the birds. Last week I went with an outfitter (same one I deer hunted with). I've tried three years in a row to draw a turkey tag for public land within eighty miles of home with no luck so it was the outfitter or nothing. Our guide was great but he did pretty much what we would have done. He did some calling and Kendall did some calling. Mostly what we did was sit in blinds waiting for something to happen. Turkeys did come in and while I wasn't able to get a shot, Kendall did and smoked his bird. It was neat but just not neat enough that I'm really excited about going again anytime soon. ('specially if I have to pay an outfitter again) Sitting there in the blind, sun shining down, birds singing and I just kept thinking, "I should be out bowfishing." To each their own. BTW, I went out bowfishing over the weekend. Killed 105 fish in about 7 hours. That is exciting and there are far less ticks involved.
VERY well said. Part of my thing may be this is just my first season. I've yet to hear a turkey gobble. I had 2 strutting 60 yards out with 6 hens around so they had lock jaw. And since March 21st that's the only gobblers I've seen. Now my feeling on the turkeys may change once I either hear them gobbler, get better at hunting them, or actually kill one...since it is all new to me. But I like what you said and can relate to it. In GA it is included in your Big Game license. I hunt in TN as well and it is also included there.
I was hoping to get for the first time this yr, but didn't time the license sale right and missed out. I've never had the spring craze like some of the guys at work have. Now as for whitetail hunting, that's a whole different subject.
I love turkey hunting and think you're definitely missing out. I consider hunting Spring turkey to hunting bull elk in September. I love the interaction with the game. I look forward to it every year and then mushroom hunting after a successful or sometime unsuccessful morning. Either way I learn something every single year I go turkey hunting. It makes me a better hunter and I love hunting...that is why I turkey hunt.
I'd try it if they where closer to me, but right now I'm more interested in figuring out these North Woods whitetails.
Turkey season is the same time as soccer and baseball for the kids. I'm sure many deal with this detail. In Va for the bulk of the season you can only hunt til noon and my farm is about 90 miles away. That just means hunting Sat a.m. is really hard and I don't really want to use any vacation time because I save that for family time, sick days, and deer season. So basically I don't really have the time or make the time for it. If I get out 2-3 times in a spring season that is a lot usually I get to go once maybe twice. I enjoy it but not so much for the turkeys, mainly I like spending time at the farm, we get some spring cleaning done on the house there, maybe wet a line, and just enjoy the spring weather. I like spring gobbler hunting but I don't feel a real drive to do it, I mean it's definitely not deer hunting.
