What helped you become a better turkey hunter?

[RockyMtnGobblers]

Experience working birds and when things go wrong sitting still and just observing the turks every move from roost back to roost, they are creatures of habit learning that was key.

[turkey junky]

once i stopped just hope n that good things would happen in the turkey woods for me & i started making things happen that changed my way of hunting... you can sound horrible on a turkey call but if your set up in the write spot that bird will be yours on the other hand you can sound like the most sexy hen in the woods & if your in a bad set up that bird will gobble & show out but you will not grab em by the feet very many times...

i herd a pro turkey guide/hunter say i think it was bob walker or tom stucky? he said i think of every turkey encounter like a series of choices that have to be maid for each bird & if i make the wrong choice i dont get a shot at the bird so my main goal is not to make as many mistakes as the gobbler im working & if he did make the wrong choice he trys to learn as many things from that encounter as he can to help him try & kill that gobbler the next day ETC. i feel the same way while im out in the turkey woods im trying to not make any mistakes as each mistake puts me that much farther from the gobbler im working its all about making as few mistakes as possible while in the turkey woods & learning from what that turkey did to fool you & turning that on him to get a shot at him ASAP... i now think things out much more B4 i make my 1st calls i feel will bring the gobbler in... i used to just flop down & start calling not so much now...

i feel if more folks scouted there land & or the birds they are hunting more they would not need to re-lie on there calling so much the more time you spend in the turkey woods the better off you are in the long run & being able to work many different calls well also helps big time... i can work calls very well but i re-lie on my roosting & scouting skills to tag turkeys in far from home states & in strange new places... as well as being able to read turkey habitat & wear is better then other places to hunt helps also... food water roost & a place they dont get bugged all the time is a turkey heaven!!! if thats all in 1 spot even better its turkey mecca!!!

also the more you are out in the turkey woods hunting/learning from the turkeys them selfs the better off you are once i started hunting different areas/states out of my home comfort zone i became a much better turkey hunter as only 5 days a yr in MN was barely scratching the surface for me... each turkey hunt is like practice & practice makes perfect in my eyes... only the guys that cant learn from there mistakes wish & hope they get gobblers each season i graduated from that class long ago that helped me the most...

[kygobbler]

What has helped me more than anything is just being out in the woods and watching them on what they do. When I first started turkey hunting I grabbed a slate call at wally world and a box of shells and went out into the woods. I played with a gobbler for 2 hours and finally was able to shoot him. After that encounter I found out real quick that killing these birds are a lot harder than what I thought they would be.I have learned a lot thru the birds that I have hunted and it didnt matter if they rode back in the truck with me or not. It seems every bird you encounter can teach you something knew.

Something else that has made me a better hunter is talking or reading the storys that you guys have put on here. So thank you guys for helping me be a better hunter also.

[stankyolgobbler]

Call shy turkeys are a myth created by hunters who believe turkeys have memories and reasoning abilities.

Uh oh Charlie...here we go with the "turkey memory" discussion!!!! lol

[grizzly]

putting time in the woods and learning from lots of mistakes. to spending many hours of playing with my calls have made me a better hunter. but i have to say that this website has helped a great deal . i really enjoy picking you guys minds when i feel that maybe need some new tricks to improve my chances. also the talk on new hunting products have helped on buying interests . so Thanks guys for being here and i hope we can keep on all that is turkey for many years to come.....wayne

[Uncle Nicky2]

Many things come to mind, I will try & list a few:

1). Love of the sport & desire to improve & learn more with each new season. It took me 5 years to figure out how to use a diaphragm call, and I still have a long way to go.
2). Tagging along with other more experienced guys and even paying a guide when I first started out.
3).Fall turkey hunting....usually a lot more difficult than spring hunting, but you get to see & hear things you normally don't in the spring, as well as try different techniques.
4). MANY, MANY scouting trips before, during, & after the season.
5). Out of state hunts, especially out west. Watching how a turkey behaves in an open field or prairie is completely different than the occasional glimpse I get in the big woodlots I hunt close to home.
6). A good alarm clock so I don't sleep past 4 AM in the spring.

[ylpnfol]

when i was a young man, i was fortunate in that i had a mentor in the club i was in, we hunted together a lot in the fall back then, [ we had some really good property, and only a couple of other guys hunted turkeys, on a regular basis ], actually we still hunt together, not nearly as much tho, he's 75 now, but we still manage a half dozen times a year i guess, my first call was a turpin trumpet, which i still have , but when i learned to use a mouth call, things really picked up, so i guess being able to hang out with like minded turkey nuts, being able to use various calls, and having confidence in your calling, and, in my opinion, having years and years [ where did the time go ] of technical training from the birds themselves, have enabled me to put a notch or two on my belt....its kinda funny, for the first 5-6 years i never went spring turkey hunting, always headed to the outer banks to FISH.....blasphemy!!

[1Morgan]

I had/have 2 mentors. One is a soft caller on a pot, the other is very aggressive with a box. I learned (am learning) both ways of calling. They both taught me how to move in, around, and through the turkey woods. I will be forever grateful to both of them. Funny thing is I don't work a pot or a box all that well!!

[Bobbyparks]

Barring physical or mental limitations......I'm a firm believer that the more you love to do something...the better you'll become at it.

For me I believe the desire, drive, and the fact that I became somewhat obsessed with wanting to keep repeating the encounters with gobbling birds pushed me to spend time chasing them and learning how to be a better hunterl.

I did not have a mentor or anyone that taught me but I read everything I could find and watched every video and listened to every cassette of the time

The fact that I already loved the outdoors..and having developed some woodsman ship skills helped

The acceptance of the challenge involved also drove me

Persistence, patience, and practice helped me

No doubt time in field and developed turkey hunting wisdom makes us all better....

And I ave been fortunate enough to have pretty good places to hunt and in my early days plenty of time to hunt.....the more exposures / encounters the quicker you learn what works and what doesn't

To a large extent you'll get back what you put in based on your efforts.....

For me..l still have not grown up I guess..and have let my priorities get all messed up...and chase turkeys even when I should be doing other things..

That part I'm not sure I can explain :D

[J Hook Max]

My daddy who started taking me turkey hunting in the late 1960's. However , my daddy died in 1990 and I would like to think that I am a better hunter now than I was then ( if only I could hear that well again ). The last twenty plus years , I think the birds themselves have made me a better hunter. That along with living and hunting in South Alabama for the last thirty years and hunting without decoys.