Traditional Hunting

[Gobbler]

We always talk about Old timers or old ways or Old school . Timbrhuntr made a good point in his post about BS.
Will turkey hunting branch off into a philosophical traditional group of hunters. Are we at the point of defining that group or what makes up a traditional turkey hunter?

[guesswho]

I think were way past that point. But are in the middle of defining the new tradition.

[Bigspurs68]

If our new generation of turkey hunters learn their techniques by watching the outdoor channels, we will have a group of blind sitting decoy watchers. Without woodsmanship skills passed on, I'm afraid we are the "old school" of the near future.
I rest assured knowing that my kids know the difference between hunting turkeys and just shooting them when they show up. For those of us that have the opportunity to teach kids, we owe it to ourselves and them to teach all the tricks we know. Even when we don't consider these things secrets, they will be lost if we don't do our part.

[GobbleNut]

I think were way past that point. But are in the middle of defining the new tradition.

Completely agree. The bottom line is that those that stand by the "traditional philosophy" of turkey hunting being strictly about calling and woodsmanship can stick to that philosophy if they want to. Nobody is forcing them to change,...and ultimately all of us have to decide for ourselves what is the "right way" for each of us to hunt.

In my own case, we have about eight guys in our turkey hunting group that hunt together regularly. We have already divided into two segments,...those that are willing to use "fanning" as an aid in hunting,...and those that are not. I can state without hesitation that the guys that have added fanning,...one of the "new traditions",... to their arsenal in the past few years have been much more successful and have had many more close and exciting interactions with gobblers than those that have chosen not to.

[ole5beards]

I agree. I'm not above fanning and decoys, I just feel if I have to use that tactic to kill a bird then I don't really want to kill him. Does t mean that decoy placement and fanning does t require skill because it does, it's just a skill I don't want to master. I'm 34, I think I'm too young to be "old school" however I was taught by "old schoolers" and in my early learning years decoys were not legal. Ground blinds were still being invented and fanning hadnt even popped into a head yet. So I'm sure that has a lot to do with my personal choices, the fact that these weren't tactics yet. There's something to be said about killing a turkey. I grew up hunting with the real old schoolers. The ones that knew the exact tree they were gonna sit by when we got out into the woods that morning. No matter where the bird was roosted that was the spot we were calling from. To me that was way boring, so I took that and modified it into my own method. Sure it's not the same as I was taught but I use some of the same principles that we did back then, and sitting there for hours calling to a bird that was just in hearing range taught me a Lot about patience. Even though I don't do that today the patience I learned had helped me out today. We tried decoys when they first came out and had some success with them, but we also had a lot of spooky hens walking around that would sound the alarm the instant they saw one and the hunt was over. After getting burnt a few times doing that I learned quickly that I had a better chance at killing one without a decoy as I did with one, so the decoys got left in the truck. I'm not a calling purist neither, but I do enjoy hunting turkeys because of the vocal interaction between myself and an old gobbler. I understand what he's saying and he knows what I'm speaking as well. But if an old wise field bird doesn't want to play fair I won't either. I'll crawl on one in a heartbeat if I feel that's necessary to kill him, usually this is a last resort but I'll do it. However usually during my "bobcattin" I will mix in some soft clucks,purrs, and yelps while sneaking up to him, and that usually does the trick. Now I will say this my mentors wouldn't do this ever. That's not their style but they don't look down upon me for doing it. I'm also still mobile enough to do this and they're not. I'm sure if ages were the same they'd be right there beside me. So you see even though I was introduced by old schoolers I don't consider myself an old schooler, I like to think and look at a situation through the eyes of my old school companions but I don't necessarily plan my attack the same way they would. I have old school in me but not 100%. I've taken what I've learned and tweeked it to my liking and have been successful with it. I think a lot of the newer generations are doing the same, however most of them don't have mentors like we did so some of theirs might be guys we see on the Outdoor Channel. Where as we grew up watching the hunt in person they grew up watching it on tv. Same concept just different generations, one with more technology than others. A man can watch tons of turkey hunts on TV, go to his local sporting goods, spend tons of money, and go kill a bird based on what he saw on tv and call his hunt a success. And honestly it would be a success, he set a plan and made it work therefore he was successful. Even though he didn't learn from hunts he'd been on he still learned. And this to me is just a difference in technology and age. But yall are all correct, if this is considered the norm for new turkey hunters, what will the future old schoolers be like? I hope I'm around long enough to see, will my method one day be considered "Stone Age", interesting.

[ICDEDTURKES]

Its funny I see something so similar on the BBQ boards with old school pitmasters vs new school pitmasters..

Old School No foil or butcher paper New School foil butcher paper
Old School Simple rubs salt pepper Garlic New school complex rubs in layers
Old school no injections, marinades New school complex injections brines and marinades
Old School feeding splits New School Automatic Temperature controllers
Old School 225 low and slow New School 275+ Hot and Fast

Just cracks me up, threads will go countless pages on what is the correct way to make BBQ much like folks on these boards go countless pages over constitutes proper turkey hunting

[Grumpy]

Just a basic thing the way I see it, one finds a good place to hide in an area where there are turkeys, the use of decoys is fine by me and any turkey call is also fine by me. It all boils down to getting a Gobbler close enough to shoot. If we can have the patience, most of the time to do this,then it was a successful turkey hunt.

[GOLD HUNTER]

I know some hunters that have been turkey hunting for years and never killed one and then i know hunters that kill one or two every year.

There are hunters that can hunt and kill birds and there are hunters that can't kill them. The old ways is fun and the new way is faster.

i have killed birds the old and new ways so if you get the job done then thats a BIG 10.4 IN MY BOOK !!

[Tail Feathers]

Old school, as I've read, seemed to be sitting still for hours on end and not moving. They called sparingly. They didn't use decoys or blinds.

I think a lot of folks nowadays call some version of running and gunning old school. They don't use decoys or blinds.
Seems to me the run and gun folks (my style to a large degree), adapted to the growing turkey population. The blind and decoy folks are going back to find a good spot and wait 'em out, albeit with the added burden of carrying all that stuff in.

I love the freedom of roaming the woods in the spring. Sitting in one spot is how I deer hunt but come spring, I get to go on the prowl.

[Waddle Whacker]

So you see even though I was introduced by old schoolers I don't consider myself an old schooler, I like to think and look at a situation through the eyes of my old school companions but I don't necessarily plan my attack the same way they would. I have old school in me but not 100%. I've taken what I've learned and tweeked it to my liking and have been successful with it.

I'm the same way. I grew up hunting with those same "old school" tactics. Boring as hell. That's how my dad learned to hunt, so that's how I learned. As my style has changed, my father has basically adopted my style as well. He kills more turkeys now, too. I have morphed into a hunter that I would consider somewhere in between those old schoolers and all this new stuff. I just can't sit by that same tree and wait for hours making a 3-5 note yelp on a box every 30 minutes, but I'm not gonna fan either.

And this to me is just a difference in technology and age. But yall are all correct, if this is considered the norm for new turkey hunters, what will the future old schoolers be like? I hope I'm around long enough to see, will my method one day be considered "Stone Age", interesting.

I think we may be getting there already by a lot of folks standards. And that's fine with me. Our style of hunting will one day be looked upon as boring, much in the same manner as you and I now look upon our predacessors style.

[hawglips]

Decoys have totally changed modern turkey hunting. The game has been forever altered; for better or for worse. (I think it's for worse.) Any new guy coming along automatically thinks you're supposed to use decoys. Because that's how they do it in all the videos. It probably never dawns on them that it wasn't done that way till quite recently. And they many never understand how much more exciting it is to do it the old school way (old school defined as the post boom method of calling them up into shotgun range).

I suspect those who call rather than decoy birds in will become as rare as oysters in a desert in a couple more decades. It's just too much easier for new hunters to kill birds using dekes and a blind. Old school call them up hunting with a back on a tree is on the way out. And then maybe someone will write an article about discovering hunting sans decoys and how much more exciting it is, and maybe it'll make a come back as a cultish technique among a handful of future hunters and be preserved that way.

[Bigspurs68]

Hawglips, you are exactly right that many up and coming turkey hunters won't know the excitement of calling a bird in close with no blind or decoys. There are things a hunter learns that can be learned no other way. This is why I try so hard to show my kids these ways. They can learn and pass it on.
Have they killed birds from a blind with decoys? Yep. When you have a 5 yr old behind the gun, it makes it reasonable. Now my girls are 9 and 12 they have killed 25 birds between them and if I give them a choice between a blind or hunting, they smile and say "let's walk dad". That makes me smile.

[Stinky J Picklestein]

I guess I might never experience the excitement of a tom coming at me spurs first, while I hide behind a fan. I can't draw quick enough anymore for that kind of excitement.

[GobbleNut]

I find it interesting that there are those that will condemn the use of visual aids for turkey hunting (decoys, fanning, etc.) but are perfectly content with sitting down next to a food plot or field where turkeys have been conditioned to go. There are those "call'em in only" guys that will do that,...sit there calling "sparingly" thinking they are calling in a wary old silent gobbler, when in essence they are just shooting a turkey that is headed to its food source. ...But they will condemn decoys or fan use all day long. ....Makes me chuckle....

[hawglips]

I guess I might never experience the excitement of a tom coming at me spurs first, while I hide behind a fan. I can't draw quick enough anymore for that kind of excitement.

I am tempted to try that once. It's got to be exciting in a different kind of way to wonder if you're going to kill him before he spurs you or before you get shot by another hunter. On second thought, I may be with you - too old for that type excitement....

[hawglips]

Hawglips, you are exactly right that many up and coming turkey hunters won't know the excitement of calling a bird in close with no blind or decoys. There are things a hunter learns that can be learned no other way. This is why I try so hard to show my kids these ways. They can learn and pass it on.
Have they killed birds from a blind with decoys? Yep. When you have a 5 yr old behind the gun, it makes it reasonable. Now my girls are 9 and 12 they have killed 25 birds between them and if I give them a choice between a blind or hunting, they smile and say "let's walk dad". That makes me smile.

[Gobbler]

Decoys are decoys. Why don't Duck and geese hunters get beat up for using them?

[Jaybird]

Personally, I use whatever method is dictated by the type of land I hunt. I much prefer carrying in as little equipment as possible including dekes, but my availability of land to hunt is mostly fields with little cover.

[ChiefBubba]

Talking not long ago with a couple duck hunters about hunting ducks in the old days and how's it's changed, one commented that in 20 years right now will be the old days and be complaining about how it's changed.
Henry Edwards Davis the author of The American Wild Turkey was a friend of my grandfather and his brother. He wrote it took no skill to kill a gobbler in the springtime when it was looking for hens. His favorite gun to hunt with was a rifle I think a 22 but I could be wrong. As times go on the sport keeps evolving. Chief

[hawglips]

Decoys are decoys. Why don't Duck and geese hunters get beat up for using them?

I reckon it's because they've been using them for a few hundred years and it's the way the game has been played since market hunting went out?

Wouldn't be many ducks killed if decoys were made illegal.

[timbrhuntr]

Timbrhuntr made a good point in his post about BS.

Oh my I feel giddy Doug said I made a good point ! Yoo Hoo !

[Gobbler]

Timbrhuntr made a good point in his post about BS.

Oh my I feel giddy Doug said I made a good point ! Yoo Hoo !

I'm buttering you up in case I go to Canada. I may need a Beer drinking buddy. And don't say you don't drink beer. Half my relatives are Canadian. I even speak some EH?

[KPcalls]

I find it interesting that there are those that will condemn the use of visual aids for turkey hunting (decoys, fanning, etc.) but are perfectly content with sitting down next to a food plot or field where turkeys have been conditioned to go. There are those "call'em in only" guys that will do that,...sit there calling "sparingly" thinking they are calling in a wary old silent gobbler, when in essence they are just shooting a turkey that is headed to its food source. ...But they will condemn decoys or fan use all day long. ....Makes me chuckle....

I think you have that azz backwards...



Personally, I think it's elvolving in the wrong direction. For the new guy it's about instant gratifacation....the, that's how they do it on TV..what gadget he can buy to make it easier group. They don't have a clue what there missing.

[ICDEDTURKES]

I find it interesting that there are those that will condemn the use of visual aids for turkey hunting (decoys, fanning, etc.) but are perfectly content with sitting down next to a food plot or field where turkeys have been conditioned to go. There are those "call'em in only" guys that will do that,...sit there calling "sparingly" thinking they are calling in a wary old silent gobbler, when in essence they are just shooting a turkey that is headed to its food source. ...But they will condemn decoys or fan use all day long. ....Makes me chuckle....

I think you have that azz backwards...



Personally, I think it's elvolving in the wrong direction. For the new guy it's about instant gratifacation....the, that's how they do it on TV..what gadget he can buy to make it easier group. They don't have a clue what there missing.

See my Ambush or Calling thread

[GobbleNut]

I find it interesting that there are those that will condemn the use of visual aids for turkey hunting (decoys, fanning, etc.) but are perfectly content with sitting down next to a food plot or field where turkeys have been conditioned to go. There are those "call'em in only" guys that will do that,...sit there calling "sparingly" thinking they are calling in a wary old silent gobbler, when in essence they are just shooting a turkey that is headed to its food source. ...But they will condemn decoys or fan use all day long. ....Makes me chuckle....

I think you have that azz backwards...



Personally, I think it's elvolving in the wrong direction. For the new guy it's about instant gratifacation....the, that's how they do it on TV..what gadget he can buy to make it easier group. They don't have a clue what there missing.

Although I think my first comment is right on the money with some "old school" hunters, I do agree that there is a percentage of new turkey hunters that have been hijacked/brainwashed by the commercialization of hunting in general, and turkey hunting specifically. It is very true that they do not have a clue what they are missing. Such is progress, I suppose.