What's Your Patience Equation?

[Ben Sobieck]

Mathematician Gary Sefton says patience equals confidence, plus comfort multiplied by three, plus inclination in this article.

What's your patience equation?

[Everyday Hunter]

I don't know how to do the math on that, or, more accurately, I don't know how to set numerical values for confidence, comfort or inclination.

But I do know this: St. Augustine said, "Patience is the companion of wisdom." The sainted philosopher and theologian wasn't talking about turkey hunting, but his advice is as good in the turkey woods as it is anywhere.

Lack of patience shows up in many (if not most) of the ways we fail to put a tag on a turkey. They include:
[ul][*]calling too loudly
[*]calling too much
[*]moving too soon
[*]quitting too early[/ul]Taking more of a philosophical/theological angle than a mathematical angle, I wrote about this exact issue on www.EverydayHunter.com (scroll about halfway down) a month ago. I didn't mention comfort, but I have taken steps the last couple of years to make sure a lack of comfort doesn't contribute to a lack of patience.

Good thoughts, even if I am more of a word guy than a number guy.

Steve

[Cut N Run]

My brother the accountant, got all the numbers skill, I got the hunting patience. 

Here are some more numbers for you. Turkey season is only one month long in North Carolina (where I hunt).
That give me 11 months (or 335 days) to;
1. read (books, magazines, & online forums) about turkey hunting.
2. scheme about techniques.
3. scout everywhere I hunt...hard.
4. improve the land I hunt.
5. get my gear back up to speed from last season.
6. find new places to hunt.
7. practice shooting.
8. practice calling skills in my vehicle everywhere I go.
9. scout by studying topographic maps of the places I hunt.
10. practice calling in the State Park before the season.
11. practice sitting still so I am ready when it counts.
12. triple check my gear a few days before the season opens.
13. throw in a little deer hunting to help fill the freezer and look for turkeys while I am on the deer stand.

Since I have 11 whole months of that between when I can hunt turkeys, I am extremely patient when the season rolls around.  I am also just as comfortable because I use a go anywhere chair to hunt from.  I have supreme confidence in the places I've scouted...sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not. I am a difficult person to be around if I have not notched a tag in the first two weeks of the season.  It just makes me hunt harder because I know the clock is ticking.

That might not make a lot of numerical sense, but it shows how afflicted I am with this turkey hunting obsession.

Jim

[Bobbyparks]

Ben this  is a good and interesting post. I never thought of associating patience with a mathmatical equation but it makes perfect sense and I like the formala.

I like Steve's & Cut n runs prespectives as well.
I don't have any formalas to throw out there but maybe a few comments.

In a way I excercise different types of patience or apply patience to different hunting situations.

Patience Version A:

I generally start out my season with what I'd describe as a patient and methodical approach on a roosted bird. This would be for private property and not public land.

I'll have an idea of the areas I'm going to find birds at the beginning of the season and although I'll work in as close as I can to a roosted bird, I won't push it at first as much as I may later on in the season. I guess I'm looking at it like I have time to study, observe,adapt, and manuver on a bird

I'm more likely to hold back and get a feel for what will unfold and try to a feel situation out and gain an idea of what birds do and where they're going. Often I'll kill a bird the second or third day this way as I learn where I should be etc.

As the season progresses I will likely push harder to the point of blowing it up to go after a particular bird. I will take this less patient more aggressive approach on travels hunts as well because I know I'm on a clock so to speak.

On birds I move around and locate , I may be patient with my first set up and more aggresive and less patient on following ones and I'm always pushing the edge.

Patience Version B:

The fact that I have confidence in a particular area is very much associated with having the patience to sit it out and try to hang with a plan. Again I like the mathmatical formala that includes confort as you're not going to sit still or stay anywhere long if you're not .
This has been an implimented patience thats paid off time and time again and its attained thru knowledge of bird activity and belief that you can kill a bird in a particular area.
 
As I get later into the season and depending where I'm at with my bird count or if I have someone with me thats trying to get a bird, I'll go wide open on days birds or gobbling and push. I may even get up from where I've been set up hunting an area if I hear a gobble and go towards it quickly even if its for only 50-100 yards where earlier I'd give him more time to come to me.
 
The truth is I think desparation affects patience and the 2 are not a good mix. Also I feel that I can be more patient earlier in the season because I have plenty of time wherea s later I don't.
 
I hope this makes sense and I realize these are kind of random thoughts but something to throw into the mix.

[icdedturkes]

i dont waste too much time in a day on any one gobbler unless I am stuck. Much better success going and looking for one willing to die because they are out there if you are willing to walk, and if not successful coming back and trying the original bird later in the day or the next.

Some folks claim " I waited 2 hours for him to break" when truth be told when the birds are gobbling they could have found one or two willing to die in that time.

[Gobblerman]

Everybody above has made some really applicable comments on this subject.  I agree with almost all of them in many respects, but I think icdedturkes pretty well summarized my personal perspective on things in his last post. 
 
To take it a bit further, though, my patience equation is often a function of the amount of land I have to hunt, my perception of the number of birds that reside there, how much they are gobbling, and the amount of time I have to hunt them. 
 
If I have a small tract of land to hunt, with very few birds, and very little gobbling going on, I will be more inclined to have more patience in terms of finding a likely spot to park my behind and wait them out.  On the other hand, if I have lots of country to hunt, with lots of active gobblers, any gobbler I strike up a conversation with better be willing to play pretty quickly or I will be off to find one that will.
 
I have no doubt walked away from gobblers that I might have eventually killed, but I am also positive that I have killed gobblers that I would never have encountered if I hadn't been so impatient with the fickle birds that I finally got fed up with and moved on.
 
Jim

[Everyday Hunter]

ORIGINAL: Gobblerman

If I have a small tract of land to hunt, with very few birds, and very little gobbling going on, I will be more inclined to have more patience in terms of finding a likely spot to park my behind and wait them out.  On the other hand, if I have lots of country to hunt, with lots of active gobblers, any gobbler I strike up a conversation with better be willing to play pretty quickly or I will be off to find one that will.

Jim

Exactly right. It depends on the prospects of success through moving compared with the prospects of success through staying. And that depends on a whole lot of things.

And there's a third way -- "lots of country to hunt," but the gobblers are silent. That's usually what I face. In that case I focus on the hot spots within that larger area -- the places where gobblers like to strut, breed, or simply cross paths with other turkeys.

If you're going to "be a turkey," then be patient in the areas turkeys frequent, especially if they're not gobbling.

Of course, there's a fourth way, too. It's what we dream of -- a small tract of land with lots of birds and gobblers that won't shut up.

Steve

[Bobbyparks]

QUOTE   [quote]ORIGINAL: Everyday Hunter



And there's a third way -- "lots of country to hunt," but the gobblers are silent. That's usually what I face. In that case I focus on the hot spots within that larger area -- the places where gobblers like to strut, breed, or simply cross paths with other turkeys.

If you're going to "be a turkey," then be patient in the areas turkeys frequent, especially if they're not gobbling. 

...............................................................................................................................................................

First of all I have to say there are some seriously turkey wise folks here on this post that have a great way of putting things. 

There are days in Georgia where birds gobble well off the roost and later into the morning. There are many more days where they get quiet pretty quickly after flydown or not gobble at all.  Sometimes they pick back up but mostly not. This year especailly I've heard alot of "not much gobbling this year" stories.

I've found that hunting my birds here requires me to slow down and set up in areas more than I 'd like but often believe I don't have much choice. Easterns have gobble that'll send chills down your spine , they just don't gobble as much as  (in my experience)  their cousins. It seems like I have a weekend or 2 where I feel the birds gobble well each year and that I can really aggressively get after them. I'm not saying you can't employ moving and finding tactics regularly as I know some that do, I'm just saying it seems that there are more days that I've felt this wouldn't work than would.

When I hunt Texas the birds gobble well and I can slip along until I have an encounter or 2 or 3 and not have to cover much ground to do it. It allows for the kind of hunting that without a doubt is more fun to do

In Montana I  enjoy hunting the way I truly love to do it which is to cruise and cover some serious ground to find birds. Every year I've hunted them out there it's been this way and it's always just a matter of time before you strike up a bird.

I guess in a nutshell I have to use a lot more patience here than I do when I hunt in the prementioned states.
I've just never been there when birds didn't gobble.

I have no doubt that I've just jinxed myself  for next year

[thunderchicken]

I have accustomed myself to the fact that if you wanna kill more turkeys , Then you must be patient! I know here in NH that alot of guys hunt the first couple of hours off the roost then get frustrated and give up on that bird! I have snuck into some of these spots after they have left later in the morning and set up in know strut areas or dusting areas and just wait! Patience I believe is something that is practiced  day after day in the turkey woods. It is not easy to sit and wait for that tom to come to you whether he is gobbling or you just know this is the spot where the hens like to frequent or this is the area he likes to strut! I beleive that in order for me to have a HUGE amount of patience, I have to be very confident in my area and the birds in it!
 
2 of the 4 birds I shot this spring, did not gobble much, but I knew, but observing them that they liked certain areas everyday! If I am patient, they will come!

[Johntravis]

I use a simple formula:  STOP THREE

By this I mean before you move stop three times and sit awhile.
You have set up in a likely spot, but you are not sure how close birds may be.  You call for quite some time with no response then you start to think it is time to move.  Just as the urge to move becomes overpowering, STOP, and sit awhile longer.  Do this THREE times.  It forces me to be patient.  It is uncanny, but I can remember many times when I have Stopped only two times instead of three and when I stood up I heard the sound no turkey hunter wants to hear.  The alarm putt of a turkey who was coming in to my call! 
STOP THREE.... code words for 'push yourself to be patient'.