Season's only about a month out and this forum is dead?!
- Thread starter freeboro
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Turkeys are dumb? I must have some pretty smart turkeys where I live then. I usually get my fair share, but I've had plenty that I swear had a 6th sense that told them not to take another step.
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Without question they are the dumbest animal in the woods. If they did not have great eyesight, they wouldn't live long enough to get out of the shell. Not to sound boastful, but if I get one to gobble, I'm 90% sure I can kill him, and that is not because I am a great caller or super-hunter...they are just dumb, and that is what makes them fun to hunt to me. Some things do not have to be as tough as finding the holy grail to be enjoyable. Now, killing a particular buck, for me, is that difficult, and that is why I don't mind putting in the effort to learn more about them.
PA Bandit
Junior Member
Turkeys are pretty habitual animals and will often roost in the same tree or general vicinity and utilize the same food sources daily unless something disturbs them from this pattern. I have followed birds from season to season just based on their habits (they don't have large territories of range).
The reality is that just because a turkey does not carry something as plain as a distinct "Rack" that characterizes them does not mean its any harder to pattern a singular bird it just takes time/dedication just the same as you would with a deer and just as you say its "handy" to get to know deer the same is true of turkey.
On the note that turkey are dumb I would like to argue that deer are not any smarter. Both have their own survival traits which provides difficulty to hunt but both of them are generally pattern able and for the most part provide similar key attributes of hunting experiences.
Some deer/turkey lack any awareness, some deer/turkey come running in to calls, some deer/turkey show up daily at a food source, some deer/turkey use the same common paths of travel, generally hunt deer/turkey during breeding seasons, some deer/turkey become smarter with experience (exposure)
I would personally not mark one up as smarter than the other in that I have personally seen both do some pretty "dumb" things but have also ran into many that have seemed to carry that sixth sense (luck as I refer to it)
PA Bandit
Junior Member
I would be apt to say that is because you single out a select 1 or 2 buck to hunt where as when you hunt turkey you just hunt any ones that gobble.......... to identify a single gobbler even more so one that is or has been hunted by another hunter as well and kill him makes for a particularly challenging task. Although one could argue as I previously stated that they do make dumb moves but so do deer or else I would be willing to say you would have none hanging on your wall.
yotehunter
Member
My area they are still flocked up ,48 in a flock this morning. Its a ways off yet IMO. My buddy and I have been knocking on doors getting permission but other then that not much on scouting. My birds are always in the same areas so its just basically putting them too bed and get after them the next morning. Don't get me wrong I love hearing them cut loose and love killing them. But just not too excited yet.
yotehunter
Member
I agree Brock they do make plenty of mistakes and can be fairly easy to kill. But last year me and my buddy hunted one exclusively after the first week and we never did kill that bastard lol. He has too weigh over 25 lbs and be at least 4 years old. He is a huge educated bird. And I'm pretty sure I seen him this morning in a big flock. So we are probably targeting him first. We had him killed so many times last year but never got a shot at him. Needless too say he got to us and we enjoyed chasing after that one bird and I hope we get some more chances at him this year. But all in all if you get them roosted the die pretty fast after that.
My guess is you're only hunting mature 3-4 year or older bucks, and selecting a single one at that. Try hunting a single 3-4 year old turkey and see how easy that is. I bet it's a challenging endeavor in itself.
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You guys may be right, but ive never had a deer brush up against a pop up blind 10 minutes after I set up. Turkeys are dumb imo, and it would take a smart turkey to prove me wrong. In 35 yrs of fooling with them, Ive never met that turkey.
PA Bandit
Junior Member
You must not watch much hunting on Television when the deer looks at the three "idiots" (pardon my language) in a tree, stares them down, then puts its head down and continues feeding, I see more dead deer than turkey's on the road, I personally have had a deer walk between my ladder and the tree it was connected to, I shot an 8 point 3 years ago that let me walk within 7 yards of it in its bed before it decided to even remotely care. These things do not even begin to center around what I have seen deer do during "deer drives" (probably get a lot of flak for this but in PA that's how we hunt).
The reality is the turkeys that typically respond and run into calls are typically 2 year olds, jakes, or very unpressured birds of which one could say hunting unmature (i.e. <3 year olds) deer is by no means a hard task. I could honestly say that if my goal was to go out and shoot a deer with a bow I would by no means consider that a high degree of accomplishment because its easy.
I personally feel that deer are one of the dumbest animals I have encountered and could justifiably provide endless stories to lead you to why I say that but I guess the more important thing is that I think turkey are equally as stupid. So I guess at that point there both dumb easy to predict, easy to pattern, and with the right dedication and luck easy to kill. If they weren't dumb you wouldn't see so many killed every year.
In perception they range much like humans though some of total are completely mentally challenged while others are witty and smart. Might be a function of they have a brain and some mental capacity although I don't know the extremes and learn from life experiences much like any species.
PA Bandit
Junior Member
I would be prone to say that this in itself defines what I am talking about in that you chose a single bird (much like people do with bucks), set it as a target, and tried to kill him which essentially speaks to exactly what I enjoy the most. Much like people chase their "code named" buck as a prize I set my goals on the dominate gobbler of an area and try to lay him down.
If people hunted deer like they use to where you shot the first buck that came in I am sure most would agree that this is not some difficult task.
Mao
Member
PA Bandit
Junior Member
Oh and related to your blind story that sounds like it was probably pretty comical to watch sure wish they would do that for me.......................But just to give you one of my deer stories my friend got a (4) point on camera sticking its rack in the blind after they grunted at him close range messing around with it. I watched it and laughed for like a half hour because they got scared and you could hear them yelling at it. Obviously it was very brief but speaks to my point of why I think they are just as dumb as turkeys.
I'd say the vast majority of turkeys that have caught me moving are immediately exiting stage left, while the majority of the deer are like "Did I just see something move? Let me head bob or stomp my foot to see if I can make it happen again...Nope. Maybe if I get a step or 2 closer...."
So IMO, there are both "smart" and "stupid" creatures of both species and if you're gonna compare them, you need to compare them apples to apples. Old, smart, cagey, mature bucks to old, smart, cagey, mature gobblers. Both CAN be tough to kill and both CAN make very stupid mistakes. They just don't do it often or they wouldn't be old.
So IMO, there are both "smart" and "stupid" creatures of both species and if you're gonna compare them, you need to compare them apples to apples. Old, smart, cagey, mature bucks to old, smart, cagey, mature gobblers. Both CAN be tough to kill and both CAN make very stupid mistakes. They just don't do it often or they wouldn't be old.
yotehunter
Member
Don't take me wrong Brock I agree killing a buck on my hit list is way harder then killing a long beard. But man was we pulling our hair out trying to kill that one. He truly made us look like idiots. In fact I gave up on him the last week of season and killed a two year bird as my second bird for the year. I do agree a mature buck don't compare to killing a long beard. Its a whole nother game.
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Deer; a good season is when over the course of 4 months I get the one I want in range.
Turkey; I consider it a poor DAY if I don't have the opportunity to kill one.
No comparison between the two, and it could very well be that I don't count any turkey more valuable than another. If he gobbles and puts on a show and I have time to pluck... I'm shooting. Then again, I may just let 'em walk off, cause they are dumb enough to come right back in the next time I go out.
Pretty easy to keep track of a particular deer. Not so much with turkeys. That said, there is a bird on our farm that is 4 at the minimum. He's a B&C bird with 6 senses. I'll never kill him, but we've had some fun the past 2 seasons.
I seen a piebald colored hen during deer season and it's just appeared to be one of the flock now all winter. I wish in the worst way to take her during the fall season for a full mount. Now that's hunting a special turkey in a flock to me.
As far a smart I really don't think so as they have the smallest brain out there. To me turkeys seem to be a creature of habit and scare out at the least movement. I really don't think the turkey has any idea what spooked them they just want to leave the area.
The last 6-7 seasons I've been hunting out of a tower and I'll be damn if the turkey knows what it's all about. Not smart at all.
As far a smart I really don't think so as they have the smallest brain out there. To me turkeys seem to be a creature of habit and scare out at the least movement. I really don't think the turkey has any idea what spooked them they just want to leave the area.
The last 6-7 seasons I've been hunting out of a tower and I'll be damn if the turkey knows what it's all about. Not smart at all.
I think we oughta whip out the ole paintball gun and everyone mark a 3 year old bird and see how many people can bag em.
Then in the fall everyone pick out a 5yr old buck and see how many ppl can bag em. I think I know what would be more likely. It takes a lot more to fool a whitetail than a turkey.
But Im on Brock's side with it he comes in gobbling his head off and strutting his stuff and I feel like cleaning him, he's going down. That's why we get 2 tags.
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Then in the fall everyone pick out a 5yr old buck and see how many ppl can bag em. I think I know what would be more likely. It takes a lot more to fool a whitetail than a turkey.
But Im on Brock's side with it he comes in gobbling his head off and strutting his stuff and I feel like cleaning him, he's going down. That's why we get 2 tags.
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True dat!
I appreciate the passion guys have for turkey hunting. It's quite the thrill when a gobbler is coming in. No denying that.
On my end, it's a time issue. Work and coaching baseball gets in the way. But, I've had fun when I was out.