Turkey's vs. Bucks...

[gorrilla]

One of my buddies has claimed "Its harder to get a turkey than an eight pointer." After getting my first three longbeard before 9 am on opening days I guess I can't buy into that way of thinking. Also I have to admit its very cool being in the spring woods taking it all in, but given a chance to shoot a small doe with my bow or a HUGE tom, I guess the venison is whats for dinner(and gets the heart going more)...

What do you guys think?

[mnhunter2]

Turkeys can be dumb and very smart,try hunting them on a indian res the last 2 day of the season and you will have a whole new outlook on how they compare to a whitetail buck. I have hunted them for years and I would say without question bucks rank 2nd to turkeys. If turkeys could smell like deer we might never get one.

[bigbucks]

I guess that would need to be qualified by how nice of an 8 pointer you are talking about. If you mean any basket racked yearling 8 pointer I would say it's far easier than the turkey. I've gotten turkeys the two springs I've hunted, but I worked my tail off to get them. I would say it's like deer hunting in that if you have some really good land with a lot of deer or a lot of turkeys, it's quite a bit easier.

[Hotspotter]

If you're willing to hear a totally biased response....here goes .

For me, it's easier to kill a turkey than a trophy 8-pointer. This could be because I have more experience with turkeys, put in more time here, and study them more. I also just plain enjoy turkey hunting better. It's a much more interactive hunt, and for me, more fulfilling in that these birds respond to your calling, movements, and presentations.

Is it harder? I have to be honest here and just draw from my experiences in the neck of the woods I'm from, and say.....no. However, I believe it would be accurate to say that taking turkeys consistently is much harder than taking one trophy buck. The best turkey hunters I know of, take birds in a variety of states, conditions, and seasons, and do it in a very methodical, and almost predictable manner. Anyone can have one of those fat 2-3 year olds strut into their setup, even sometimes do it 2 or 3 years in a row, but the best hunters I know of can do this year in and year out, faced with a host of different confounding variables.

Trophy bucks in our area get heavvvvvy pressure, and I think there's this persona people take on as "horn-hunters," that makes their appetite for trophy deer almost insatiable. Turkey hunting isn't like that. It's a forkhorn jake, or it's a trophy 10-point Tom. There's a scoring system sure, but not really a great way to "field-judge" in "inches of turkey." "Only a fool passes up a longbeard."--Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland.

Turkeys and bucks just aren't the same, which I'm glad for!

Joel

[buckpredator]

For me I enjoy the whole spring turkey hunting experience more than I do deer hunting. As Jnelson said it is more interactive the dialog between hunter and tom.

With that being said I enjoy the reward of a nice deer more than that of a nice tom.

If that makes any sense. In my opinion you can't go wrong either way.

[ASMOLEY]

I'm only a morning person 5 days a year and that’s turkey hunting! Don't get me wrong i love deer hunting especially archery but turkey hunting is an experience all in its own. I have gotten my dad and two brothers into turkey hunting and they like it almost more than deer hunting now. It's truly a different type of hunt, the spring time, hearing those gobbles at the crack of dawn, calling a big gobbler across a field. It's not even comparable to shooting an 8 pointer, as mentioned earlier the interaction between hunter and turkey is like no other game.

[monstermoose78]

I agree to a point but calling in a big flock of snow ranks up there as does calling in canadian honkers or mallards. When you start to talk to something it is special thing. I have to say i am hooked on turkeys now and have made plans to hunt in Nebraska next spring.