hunts when a turkey died??

got to thinkin the other day and i counted 58 turkey hunts ive been on where a turkey came home in the truck i started in 93 the mrs in 97 anybody else have any #’s??

My brother and I started back in 2000 with a grand total of 18 birds coming home since then. His daughter started 3 years ago and she got her first bird (nice tom) last year! Looking forward to adding to that total this spring in WI and MN!

My #’s are not as impressive as yours…. i was off to a great start and was 5 for 5 in MN then last year i missed (it’s a whole diff story). I did get picked again this year and hope to get back on the board and say i’m 6 for 7

I am 2 for 4, But my odd’s will get better with my Covert Blind, right Dartman

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got to thinkin the other day and i counted 58 turkey hunts ive been on where a turkey came home in the truck i started in 93 the mrs in 97 anybody else have any #’s??

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Is it really that easy? I thought turkey hunting was supposed to be a challenge? btw:in no way am I questioning your abilities.

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got to thinkin the other day and i counted 58 turkey hunts ive been on where a turkey came home in the truck i started in 93 the mrs in 97 anybody else have any #’s??

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Is it really that easy? I thought turkey hunting was supposed to be a challenge? btw:in no way am I questioning your abilities.

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I get that question a lot, and I think the answer varies. As with anything, someone hunting hard, in great habitat, who knows what they’re doing has good odds of taking home a turkey every year. At the same time, one only needs to look at the past 5 year harvest avg. of wild turkeys in MN to get a sobering view of how easy it really is.

~25% of people who apply and are drawn for a tag end up punching that tag each season. Obviously, there are people that never make it out which drive that number down. On the other extreme, you have hunter surveys from many other states which put it around 35-40%. This statistic is inflated as they’re asking hunters to be honest about their success. If you split those numbers down the middle, you’ve still got the majority of hunters walking out of the woods empty handed. Do it with a bow, and your odds hover around the 5% mark, at least in MN.

As for the numbers of birds I’ve been directly responsible for killing, either calling in for a buddy, or killing myself, I can’t really say, nor do I care to count. I only started keeping meticulous records from the year 2000 – on. I could guess, and probably be pretty close, but I’ll keep those numbers to myself.

There was a time when I looked at those numbers alot more closely, and felt a certain amount of pride for taking that many over the years. However, I found that the more attention I paid to the number I’ve put down, the more of a primadonna attitude I had, and the harder it was on my turkey hunting psyche to get my butt handed to me. Now, I’m confident in what I can do, yet very mindful that I’ll get beat over and over again each and every spring. It happens. And the better I think I am, or worse, that other people believe I am, the harder it is to swallow defeat (which is inevitable in the turkey woods).

I took a buddy hunting last year to kill his first gobbler, and while we did eventually get him a bird in MN, 5 grueling days in WI had him 2nd-guessing every move we made. The tournament bass fisherman in him was determined to crack the code. Figure it out. Analyze what we did wrong on each occasion. His other buddy came into WI a day after we quit, took the information we learned, and had a bird dead in roughly an hour of hunting. That’s turkey hunting.

I think what alot of folks don’t get, is that with certain birds on certain days, there is no right….there is no wrong. You’re not going to kill him. Close calls are close calls, and sans a major blunder, you’d be hard pressed to figure out what in the hell is in that gobbler’s walnut sized brain. These aren’t bass, where favorable weather moves in, we develop a pattern, and fill the boat. Each one of those beasts has it’s own set of fears and soft-spots. And why one does something a certain way, another might do the exact opposite.

And by no means am I criticizing you gutone!!! I just choose not to keep that close of count because of past experiences. You obviously are doing something right to have that many birds under your belt!

Sorry to ramble!

Joel

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got to thinkin the other day and i counted 58 turkey hunts ive been on where a turkey came home in the truck i started in 93 the mrs in 97 anybody else have any #’s??

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Is it really that easy? I thought turkey hunting was supposed to be a challenge? btw:in no way am I questioning your abilities.

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i personally am very lucky to have a very understanding boss who lets me “tweek” my working hours to allow me to hunt just about every morning and he is also is a very avid turkey hunter i also am very lucky to have many people that let me tag along to call and video so its very realistic for me to go on 10-15 different hunts every year also im not trying to brag and i didnt say successful hunts because just getting one doesnt make the hunt a success so more often than not the turkeys still win but im trying to close the gap

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got to thinkin the other day and i counted 58 turkey hunts ive been on where a turkey came home in the truck i started in 93 the mrs in 97 anybody else have any #’s??

---

Is it really that easy? I thought turkey hunting was supposed to be a challenge? btw:in no way am I questioning your abilities.

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i personally am very lucky to have a very understanding boss who lets me “tweek” my working hours to allow me to hunt just about every morning and he is also is a very avid turkey hunter i also am very lucky to have many people that let me tag along to call and video so its very realistic for me to go on 10-15 different hunts every year also im not trying to brag and i didnt say successful hunts because just getting one doesnt make the hunt a success so more often than not the turkeys still win but im trying to close the gap

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10-15 a year is what it takes to really dial yourself in every year I think. Sounds like we’ve got the same boss.

Good luck this spring!

Joel

It all makes perfect sense.. I think i’m in for a world of hurt since this will be my first year chasing turkeys! I appreciate the insite!

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I am 2 for 4, But my odd’s will get better with my Covert Blind, right Dartman

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I’ve only hunted a couple times and with a bow. Im going to post some pictures from my trail camera from last spring. You might wonder why I haven’t killed a turkey yet. I ask myself the same question. lol