What Makes A Successful Season For You Personally?

[Wayne D Davis]

Success is seeing a hen with poults 4 of the last 5 days.

Does a heart good to see those littlins.... last day i seen a dozen with momma. Seen another family yesterday while pig hunting

 

[Whit90]

I love being in the woods, but the point of hunting, for me, is to eventually kill what I am after. I was successful at running around chasing turkeys, getting on turkeys, and having fun doing it, but unsuccessful at killing one... kinda disappointed in myself, but there is always next year...... is it deer season yet?!

 

[antharper]

Successful season = Fried turkey nuggets ! And spending spring mornings in the woods with my dad and daughter !

 

[antharper]

Success is seeing a hen with poults 4 of the last 5 days.

This is also my goal , the reason I’ve been trapping and trying to improve the habitat where I hunt , Xironheadx I noticed u mowed your food plot in the videos u shared . Do u think it helps the poults , I’ve left mine standing the last few years just thinking I was giving the poults somewhere to hide

 

[sea trout]

This is also my goal , the reason I’ve been trapping and trying to improve the habitat where I hunt , Xironheadx I noticed u mowed your food plot in the videos u shared . Do u think it helps the poults , I’ve left mine standing the last few years just thinking I was giving the poults somewhere to hide

ant I know ironhead will answer with a more knowledgable answer with reason.
But I'll just add that I think... (think mind you, I don't know anything only think)...
I like to bushhog the foodplots so that the turkeys can use them with out gettin ambushed, and so that they can use it to be seen and see eachother for breeding.
I don't know, I've just always thought that.
I could be backwards!

 

[sea trout]

Success to me is fun times, hard times, knowing that God is there and created all this.
I am a turkey hunter and I love to kill, cook, eat and share the food and stories with other food and stories. No body...... NOBODY..... is more concerned about the continuation of a healthy wild turkey population than turkey hunters!!
Success is passing this down to our youth and watching them learn and care and succeed!

 

[Timberman]

What constitutes a successful season has changed for me thru the years. Used to be I had to make a kill for it to be successful. This year it was turkey camp and checking out some new country.

This season will also be remembered as the last one before my son heads off to college. Just like me when I left and came back to hunt with my dad it will never be the same.

 

[XIronheadX]

This is also my goal , the reason I’ve been trapping and trying to improve the habitat where I hunt , Xironheadx I noticed u mowed your food plot in the videos u shared . Do u think it helps the poults , I’ve left mine standing the last few years just thinking I was giving the poults somewhere to hide

I'm not sure if it helps, but we had to get that wheat, and some weeds off the Durana. I really wish it had been mowed 2 to 3 weeks earlier since 5 inches was high as we could mow it. The poults need a little more height to hide in. The other areas were left high for fawns and poults. I think some strips mowed through it about 8 inches high would work best. I get nervous when they are crossing it, lol. Even though its only about 20 to 30 yards wide.

Just had a strutter following 2 hens on cell about an hour ago. It's still going on I guess.

No coyotes on camera the whole season until 2 nights ago. They usually show up when its fawn and poult time. Bobcats need to go somewhere else too.

 

[coastalredneck]

very simple answer... got to hunt a few times with by best friend.. my kids when they wanted to get up>>haha. and saw the spring woods come alive. Did not kill a bird this year but had the opportunity several times.. killing them is getting lesser of an issue with me... now.. a big buck that's a different story!

 

[Wayne D Davis]

very simple answer... got to hunt a few times with by best friend.. my kids when they wanted to get up>>haha. and saw the spring woods come alive. Did not kill a bird this year but had the opportunity several times.. killing them is getting lesser of an issue with me... now.. a big buck that's a different story!

I agree..... end of turkey season i whimper. End of deer season i cry

 

[antharper]

I'm not sure if it helps, but we had to get that wheat, and some weeds off the Durana. I really wish it had been mowed 2 to 3 weeks earlier since 5 inches was high as we could mow it. The poults need a little more height to hide in. The other areas were left high for fawns and poults. I think some strips mowed through it about 8 inches high would work best. I get nervous when they are crossing it, lol. Even though its only about 20 to 30 yards wide.

Just had a strutter following 2 hens on cell about an hour ago. It's still going on I guess.

No coyotes on camera the whole season until 2 nights ago. They usually show up when its fawn and poult time. Bobcats need to go somewhere else too.

Maybe I should of started another thread with my question , but this is similar to what we’ve been doing , mowing some and also cutting some strips , my dad loves to ride the tractor. I told him a few weeks ago to leave the little ones somewhere to hide , he said he knew what he was doing ! Lol

 

[turkeykirk]

Maybe I should of started another thread with my question , but this is similar to what we’ve been doing , mowing some and also cutting some strips , my dad loves to ride the tractor. I told him a few weeks ago to leave the little ones somewhere to hide , he said he knew what he was doing ! Lol

Had a grown up field in a river bottom that the landowner wanted to bush hog at the end of last May. Asked him to wait a little longer. Said I would do it for him later on. He didn’t wait . Made about it about 3 times around the field before he almost ran over a hen on a nest. She flushed off and he decided to quit. Too late. Her nest was too exposed. A coyote got her and the eggs that night. Just a pile of feathers and broken eggs left. Said he’s gonna wait till late June this time. Sure hope he does.

 

[Todd E]

"How do you define success?"

1, 2, or 3 dead gobblers. I won't sugarcoat it. I will not hide behind some false pretense.

If not to kill, why hunt? Bottom line.

 

[Timberman]

"How do you define success?"

1, 2, or 3 dead gobblers. I won't sugarcoat it. I will not hide behind some false pretense.

If not to kill, why hunt? Bottom line.

I admire your candor and do understand where you are coming from.

Allow me to relate something. When I was a young forester one of my first responsibilities was a shortwood yard in Quincy Florida. The scale house foreman was an old time woodman from Crestview Fl who was biding his time until retirement. He drove over on Sunday night and slept on a cot in the scale house trailer until Friday when he went home. We had many discussions about life and things in general. On occasion I would relate my amorous activities and he would listen with great intent, occasionally offering his wisdom. One thing he told me has stuck to me to this day and has held true. He said there will come a day when you will be content to just pat it and call it pretty names. As I have aged I have found the same to be true in hunting.YMMV

 

[Juan De]

I’m somewhere in the middle, I want to tag out, but I enjoy seeing turkeys do there thing.
I guess the only thing that can make it negative in my mind is if I beat myself. For example, make a bad shot, get busted trying to pick up the gun, and various other things.

 

[goblr77]

A successful season to me is dependent on some, not all, of the following list. Experiencing the joy of watching my daughter develop as a hunter and kill birds, closing the deal on birds while hunting with family and friends, calling and killing turkeys by the methods I prefer using, and adding another state or unfamiliar territory to the list.

I'm going to be like Todd E and not sugarcoat it. I don't consider a hunt a success when a gobbler gives me the slip. I love watching turkeys year round, improving habitat, and leaving birds for seed once a limit is reached but the objective during hunting season is to call in turkeys and close the deal.

 

[buckpasser]

"How do you define success?"

1, 2, or 3 dead gobblers. I won't sugarcoat it. I will not hide behind some false pretense.

If not to kill, why hunt? Bottom line.

How long have you been doing it? I understand what you mean, but don’t be surprised some day if you wake up and have lost some of that bloodlust. If you want to get there faster, study some egg to Tom survival chances. Even faster yet, raise a few wild turkeys if you ever get a chance on an abandoned nest (yes, I realize the legality). Wild turkeys are a true blessing and tagging out should be a real honor.

As for me, the older I get, the more I enjoy just being out there. It was certainly about killing at one point for me too. These days the trapping, chufa plots, rx burns, and poults following Mama are the meat and potatoes. The kills are just dessert. (Don’t tell the Toms, but sometimes I even root for them to stay out of range)

 

[Todd E]

@buckpasser
For many years. I'm not a young whipper snapper. I do not live in the asphalt jungle. I'm not a weekend warrior. I enjoy the outdoors everyday and soak it up. I put a lot into the "pre hunt". Sweat, time, money. If I want to feel warm and cozy, I will set on the deck drinking coffee enjoying nature. If I want to feel warm and cozy, I will hook the camper up and go camping to enjoy nature. I do feel warm and cozy while hunting, but I'm out there for a reason. It is just a non sugar coated fact. Shot and killed 7 wild hogs Tuesday morning. It's okay to call me bloodthirsty. Does not bother me at all. I'm straight up honest about why I hunt. You don't have to agree with it. (As I'm eating wild hog)(wild turkey this weekend)

 

[buckpasser]

@buckpasser
For many years. I'm not a young whipper snapper. I do not live in the asphalt jungle. I'm not a weekend warrior. I enjoy the outdoors everyday and soak it up. I put a lot into the "pre hunt". Sweat, time, money. If I want to feel warm and cozy, I will set on the deck drinking coffee enjoying nature. If I want to feel warm and cozy, I will hook the camper up and go camping to enjoy nature. I do feel warm and cozy while hunting, but I'm out there for a reason. It is just a non sugar coated fact. Shot and killed 7 wild hogs Tuesday morning. It's okay to call me bloodthirsty. Does not bother me at all. I'm straight up honest about why I hunt. You don't have to agree with it. (As I'm eating wild hog)(wild turkey this weekend)

It wasn’t an insult, I was really asking. I kill a plenty of animals too, and hope you achieve your goals if they make you feel successful. It just seemed to hit me overnight and my focus of interest changed.

 

[HD28]

Kill at least one gobbler (why I go).
Hunt with my dad and enjoy the spring woods.