Turkey Season's End - Lessons Learned

[Hotspotter]

Great season! Wonder if we'll set a record for harvest again this year?

I like to reflect on every season by figuring out what I did wrong, and starting a list of "WILL NOT DO AGAINS." Though I didn't get a tag this year, I went with my brothers who committed a blunder or two Fill in your own if you wish.....hopefully we won't be doomed to repeat our mistakes in coming years! I have a log book full of my own, so don't be shy.

1. I WILL NOT set-up too quickly with 4 sticks in my butt, and then be forced to sit motionless for 30 minutes in utter pain.

2. I WILL NOT head to the woods with someone who hasn't patterned their shotgun excessively, and doesn't know their maximum range!

3. I WILL NOT lose patience and faith in the fact that no matter how tough it seems, it only takes one dumb bird!

Feel free to add your own.

Joel

[This message has been edited by jnelson (edited 06-03-2004).]

[jeffyo45]

I WILL NOT be moving out of my house the same week as my season. Pretty pathetic first turkey hunt if you ask me. Got to scout once and didn't even see or hear a bird on the land I was hunting. They were there at some point this spring. Just not while I was there. Oh well, maybe next year I will get an earlier season.

[Borch]

I will not get too attatched to one peice of property(or one bird).

Spent too much time on a good piece that the birds just weren't going on. Wish I'd switched earlier to give the kids a better chance.

My son learn that you can't move the barrel around even if the tom is a 100 yards oout there.

Borch

[TomBow]

I will not sit in one spot too long or not long enough! (somebody tell me just how much time that exactly is, please.)

This year was quieter than last year and I couldn't get birds to come to me. Had to head toward gobbling birds to put one in the freezer.

lesson: I will stop buying decoys and create nice garden decorations out of the ones I've bought. (every bird that saw the decoys either hung up or left immediately.)

I will keep chasin' the wily gobblers. Oh yeah!!

Best of luck to all ya'll, fishin', huntin', bow-practice, stand placement and may your hunts or fishin' trips be unbelievably fun and successful!

[Borch]

I agree on the decoys Tombow. Had the same experience again this spring. Only one of the last 6 gobblers I have shot have responsed positively to decoys. So many that I didn't shoot because of them that I can't keep track. I'm getting so I just don't use them much anymore.

Althoough I do use them in my stawberry patch to help keep the robins out.

[Ray Esboldt]

I will not place decoys in a field, and if I do use a decoy it will be in the woods.

I will be buying an automatic or a very short stroke pump with a shorter barrel. An old, heavy, long stroke pump with a 28" barrel cannot be held in a shooting position for one hour. It cost me my bird in Missouri.

I will not tolerate early morning deer visitors. If they get your scent, they let every living being in the woods know you are there.

I will probably keep ammending this list throughout time. As frustrating as my 8 days of hunting were this year (3 in Missouri, 5 in Wisconsin), I am enthused about how much I learned.

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Ray Esboldt

Catch-N Tackle
MarCum
Stone Legacy

[little buddy]

borch, isn't that just the most valuable lesson for a beginner? Just how keen their eyesight is. good luck to you and yours next year. or the fall, for that matter.

[CornPirateKiller]

Scout, scout and scout some more. The thing that made my hunt a success was that I patterned the birds and knocked on doors.

Decoys could have been left at home. The birds ignored them or went wide of them. Three of us took birds because I took the time to scout their movements and we set up in their path. I'll continue to hunt the late seasons, but I'll scout even more next time.

Oh, and I will use my portable blind no matter how much work it is. The best invention since sliced bread. The turks had no idea we were there (neither did the deer or pheasants).

Too bad it's done for another year!

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati (When all else fails, play dead)

[Ben1022]

I WISH I could've experienced those sorts of issues mentioned above sans the stickers in the arse. I never saw or heard a turkey all season. In fact, I haven't heard one to this day...hen or gobbler. Hence, I will NOT take a left over tag, despite the thought that a left over tag is better than not going hunting. I will scout even more until birds are physically located. I will apply only for an earlier season w/known success rates. I will secure more land to hunt.
For this year, I'd have rather written a check to the DNR for the expenses and had more preference going into next year's draw. This was not a good season by any stretch of the imagination.

[aaronbye]

I WILL NOT forget to change the choke in my gun!!!

skeet choke just does not do it.

[bart simpson]

I will not set up in such a position that, after calling to a tom 300 yards in front of me for about 20 minutes, another turkey, Mr. Quiet Tom can sneak up behind me so close without my knowing it that when he finally does gobble I can smell his breath.

I will not jump 3 ft into the air when Mr. Quiet Tom gobbles.

I will not try to shoot Mr. Quiet Tom as he makes his escape, after I return to the ground. Especially if my hunting buddies are close enough to hear my shots.

[This message has been edited by bart simpson (edited 07-21-2004).]

[bigbucks]

First off, I will "try" to recover from my laughter at Bart Simpson's post. Totally understand & can completely imagine it.

I most likely won't use decoys, or certainly won't use them in open fields, unless possibly if I hunt in the first two seasons.

I won't, like someone else said, setup where I'm not comfortable, unless I know a bird's close & enroute.

I will scout more if possible & know more what to look for.

I will get there earlier.