Pick your poison.

[nhtrkybstr]

Hey everyone!

What's your favorite style of turkey hunting. Runnin' and gunnin' or sittin' and waitin' or a combo of both.

I prefer the setting up and ambush on a strut zone.

Mike

[mark hay]

I try to be flexible . Whatever will put me in a good close-in set up that will require the bird to be close before he can see the call spot.

[1Morgan]

I like to sit and call...watch the other birds do what they do...I actually had a hawk dive bomb my decoy this year, tapped it once on the head then caught a branch above me and seemed to wonder why the decoy didn't run. Was really awsome to see.

[Gobblerman]

Nope, I definitely not a "sit-and-waiter".  I'm run and gun all the way if it is a viable option, but admittedly, there are times when it is not.  I will resort to a sit and wait approach if I determine it appears to be the best approach in a given situation, but I really don't like to hunt that way.
 
Of course, my hunting style is a function of the fact that I have hundreds of thousands of acres of public land to hunt, and that out there somewhere is a big old gobbler that's just waiting to gobble at my calling, balloon into full strut, and come spittin' and drummin' right up to me.  That is the bird I am always looking for, and if I am sitting and waiting somewhere, that little devil on my shoulder is just jabberin' away in my ear,...telling me that the bird of my dreams is strutting around just over the next ridge...waiting for no other turkey call except mine!
 
....I cannot resist,...I've just got to go look for him!!
 
Jim

[Turkeybuster]

I hunt like you Jim right down to the little devil If I sit for more than a hour the devil always wins.
I will do it if I have to but that is not very often guess you could say I am a runner and gunner.
 
 

[Bobbyparks]

I much prefer the excitement that comes with going after a gobbling bird. I like making the decisions as to how much to push to get into position, manuever, and set up on a vocal bird. I don't know if you'd call what I do run and gun although I do run to birds on the roost are initially anywhere I hear em.

Its more of a move and cover ground effort hoping to cross paths with a willing & preferably dumb bird.

Thats what I like but not always what I get to do here in Georgia. 

I will set up and "hunt an area" on certain days or parts of certain days when birds are quiet.

Thats mostly how I hunt in the afternoons as these birds will rarely gobble for you then. You can get a gobble occasionally afer 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. but my experinence has been that its tough otherwise. 

With thicker woods and  quiet birds, sometimes it seems to be the best option and I've killed alot of birds hanging with a set up.

The key of course is to put time into a good spot that birds will frequent.

[eggshell]

I used to be a full fledged "run and Gun" guy, but two things have slowed me up, age and experience. I am more of a hybrid hunter now, but I still don't set well. Yet I Have learned that some areas deserve some serious sitting time, especially late day hunts. When I do move I would call it plod and gun more than run and gun. I actually improved my spring hunting through fall hunting. I learned that fall birds often hear you but wait until your close to answer, and then do it very subtly. When I used to run I think I spooked birds that may have eventually answered. Now when looking for a bird to strike I adapt some fall tactics and slip around slowly and stop every few hundred yards and soft call from one spot for 5-10 minutes then hammer a cuttin series and move on. some of this is dictated by the fact so many people in the spring woods have shrunk my territory immensely.

Bobby, I would bet our hunting styles are real close. I too like the positioning and set up as much as any aspect. I have a buddy in Kentucky who quips at me all the time about hunting "Dana Style", that is crowd em close and kill or bust em. I don't spook as many birds as he thinks, that's the art in it knowing when to stop. I have been shocked at how close i can actually set up; one bird this spring I was 60 yards from before i even called...5 minutes or less and he was strutting in front of me and died shortly there after (this was an old hook spurred 24  pounder too). On Public ground this can pay dividends, but  I tend to stop a little farther out than on private, because I am Leary of who else is closing in.

[Bobbyparks]

Dana,
 
Yes it sounds like we do hunt in a similar way and I like the term "hybrid hunter". That would make a good name for an turkey hunting article.
 
Sometimes with age comes the need for that mix of experience, turkey hunting wisdom, and instinctive hunches to balance out the speed, agility and endurance that bleeds off with age. I'm in the same boat. 
 
 I enjoy the stressful anticipation of pushing the limits, and hoping you're not gonna get busted that comes with moving in close, and then the relief that comes when he answers the call and you know he's there and not spooked and the game is on.
 
Bobby

[Cut N Run]

Because of the size limitations of the lease where I primarily hunt, I listen for and scout favored travel areas, then set up as best I can ahead of time by making small brush blinds. Then I return with the hopes I can call him to one of his favored travel areas.  That makes me a sit and wait guy when I hunt at me lease. 
 
When I hunt off the lease, I ease around looking for a good place to set up on a gobbling bird.
 
I hunt the lease the majority of the time and tend to enjoy greater success there.
 
Jim

[grizzly]

pre season scouting tells me where the toms are coming and going so i'll try to set up in good spots to set and call .but if i'm working a tom and he just wo'nt commit i'll will relocate to a differant spot to try to get him i do'nt know what kind of hunter that makes me hopefully a successful one[:D] wayne