Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting What do you hate about turkey season?

Our season doesn't open till May and it sucks.

Turks just ain't worth much suffering to me. If they weighed 200 lbs and had antlers it might be different.

As someone stated earlier, sleep deprivation.

Not so much anymore because I’ve cut most of it out. I won’t hunt in rain or high winds. Snow is ok. I don’t sit on the ground any more because I about killed a house dog with the ticks I’ve carried home. I have a 2lb small, collapsible “lawn chair” that sits very low but is comfortable, and between that and spraying, I’ve cut out 90% of the ticks.

I don’t out in the early-dark anymore either. I hunt public land and I know the area very well and where to sit, so I go out about midmorning, set up, and cold-call. The area has big, steep ravines but I stay on top as the birds seem much more apt to come up to you rather than go down to you. And I don’t have to climb down and then up again which is especially good this year as I will be 2 months post-new knee. If I don’t get any action within an hour and a half, I may move and set up again one more time that day. The area is full of turkeys.

Prefer cool, early 1st season, mid-April in Iowa with little or no foliage and no bugs yet. I like visibility. It’s only four days but usually get a big eastern in that span.

I do hate carrying lots of crap around though. My 3 decoys are inflatable/collapsible and along with my chair fit snugly in a day pack. Two collapsible hiking sticks round out my gear. They also double as shooting sticks if I desire.

I've hunted in all kinds of weather here in sw Oklahoma.
I've called in turkeys while it was sleeting and when it was coming a flood. I've hunted when we had to beat the ice off the lock to get in the gate and had sweat running down into my eyes.
Shivering like a dog passing peach seeds to turning my face mask around because of the buffalo gnats.

All of us that have hunted these birds for any length of time have seen a lot of different circumstances!

For ticks gamehide has elimitick clothing in camo, no bug spray needed works great.

For ticks gamehide has elimitick clothing in camo, no bug spray needed works great. Doesn't help with knats and mosquitoes though.

Work

Nothing, like it, Whipperwills are tearing it up in central Texas. We must be on a main flyway.

When it gets above 70 degrees.

Ticks, getting up at 3:00AM and it being hot most of the time.

That I'm so out of shape from winter that carrying a moderate amount of gear kills me.

I'm still a slave to decoys and a little fence blind and I pack a lunch for the all day hunt. Things get heavy fast.

trespassers

In exactly a month, it will be opening day of turkey season in Oregon, where I used to hunt them. God is paying me back. I heard a gobbler earlier today and called in a couple birds, just messing around:





This one was interested in what I was doing. Measuring groups from a Z challenge I shot with my Ruger 10-22.. I hate it that I'm not hunting them this year!!!! Damn..