Your longest and shortest hunts

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bowmike
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Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby bowmike » Sat May 30, 2015 12:33 am

Just wondering what are the longest and shortest hunts you've had with gobblers from the time you make your first call at the set up to trigger time.

This year I had my shortest and longest hunts.

My first bird I heard a gobble about 400 yards away. Closed the distance and did 3 yelps and struck a single gobble at about 80 yards. I set up and check the phone. 6:45. I do a few excited cuts and 4 birds answer. 6:48 I was standing on the birds head. So 3 minutes from first call to trigger time.

My second bird I made my first call some where around 5:00. Played with calling in his hen and such, layed low with not too much calling. I had to double back and switch locations on him. Trigger time was right around 6:40. I just looked at my phone and the first picture was 6:42. So that hunt was an hour and 40 minutes.

It felt like 3 hours, with the adrenaline going. I am a fan of these kinds of hunts where you have to use your head, and really play the chess game. THe short ones are fun and I feel the adrenaline is a bit more intense, but not as everlasting as those marathon hunts.

Just wondering what everyone elses shortest and longest are. Just kind of want to put the nail in the coffin and drive home that your season can change in a second.


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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby Racks&Beards » Sat May 30, 2015 12:41 am

I've had 2 extremely short turkey hunts where I was walking out with a bird on my shoulder by like 6:30 or 7am.

The longest turkey hunt (that actually resulted in a bird down) was in 2011 when my brother and I doubled up on twins out of the same blind. We heard the gobblers on the roost before daylight, and they came into sight about 75 yards to our left around 6:30, and worked a long slow circle around the field until finally getting in range in front of us. All told I think it was about 2.5 hours from the first gobble till we pulled the triggers.
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby Stanley » Sat May 30, 2015 3:09 am

Many long hunts. My shortest was about 10 years ago. I carried all my stuff about 1/2 mile to a cedar grove. I was ready to set my blind up when I heard a gobbler let loose. He was only 20 yards away behind a cedar tree. I took my blind and decoys off my shoulder knocked an arrow and scooted around a cedar tree and arrowed the Gobbler. Had to walk all the way back, now with a 25 lb. bird. I was bagged out when I got back to the truck.
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby BigHunt » Sat May 30, 2015 3:54 am

Shot a gobbler I was after on the last night of the 7 day season with 10 minutes to spare...shortestv was 5 minutes
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby JoeRE » Sat May 30, 2015 4:41 am

A single longest turkey hunt I have had doesn't come to mind but I have had a couple where I engaged a gobbler for 3-4 hours and had to shift position several times before getting him. A few I went after day after day but most of those marathons ended with the bird winning.

I am not sure about the shortest one. I have jumpshot a couple while just walking in to where I wanted to set up but that's probably not exactly what you were talking about. I also snuck in and shot a gobbler off his roost about 1 minute into legal shooting time - but getting within 40 yards in the dark took probably an hour. Some might frown on those tactics but seemed to be the only way I could get that call shy random moving bird. When my quarry sufficiently frustrates me the gloves come off :lol:

There are one or two that I can remember I shot within 5-10 minutes of sitting down in a more traditional calling setup.
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby BigHunt » Sat May 30, 2015 5:12 am

Getting CLOSE ON THE ROOST Is actually one of my most successful tactics and main tactic......
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby backstraps » Sat May 30, 2015 5:28 am

My shortest was in 2005. Back when I used decoys. Set up on some gobblers I roasted the evening before.

Set silent until they gobbled. Threw a soft tree yelp out and four gobblers pitched straight to the decoys. Brother in law and I doubled instantly.

Longest hunt was a gobbler I played his game daylight to dark 3 days in a row. He was an old mature gobbler that literally had a broken wing. Roosted in a fallen tree lap. I could've easily stalked up and killed him at dsybreak, but I wanted to play with his handicap and by his rules. Darn bird knew every inch of the farm and how to use it to his advantage. Had I not finally tricked a boss hen into dragging him to me, I may have lost the war with him!

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PK_
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby PK_ » Sat May 30, 2015 12:07 pm

So, funny story. I had what should have been a short hunt turn into a long hunt. Also, the most exciting turkey hunt of my life.

I setup 75 yards from roosted gobbler. He gobbled his head off. I did a mock flydown and he flew down nearly in my lap. BANG! I missed him. He proceeded to strut/gobble all morning in a nearby field with two hens. I belly crawled within 100 yards in the woods, took me several hours. So I am laying prone when I hear all kinds of scurrying behind me, finally it gets so close I am scared so I sit up and turn around and there are 8 long beards 10 yards from me. They were so shocked they just stood there for a split second. Lead bird had a paintbrush. BANG! Miss #2 for the day. Great.

I look in the green field and those birds vanished. So I go sit on the edge of the greenfield to sulk. I look at my phone, 11:55, legal shooting hours are til noon. What the hay, I'll hit one call for the heck of it. Boop, red head pops up over the crest in the field. The gobbler must have gotten separated from the hens in the commotion. He walks right up to me and BANG! Dead bird.

The next morning my dad setup on the greenfield and shot the paintbrush off the same two hens.
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun May 31, 2015 3:33 pm

ive had a couple of each...


this year i had one of each...Fridays bird was minutes...maybe 15 or so...


Saturdays bird was right about 2 hours....and i never moved from my location...




one year i was 17-18-19yo..still learning a LOT...i heard birds roosted off their normal roost...i went in and realized i was CLOSE...they were still gobbling so i sat down...STILL gobbling so i started calling... a LOT...


STILL gobbling...so i KEPT CALLING...i eventually realized i could shoot them from the limb because i was WAY too close...


why 3 mature longbeards hit the ground infront of me is beyond me...they shouldnt have...they REALLY shouldnt have...but all 3 hit the ground at 25-30 yards...i got the bead on one and dumped him...i was sitting down maybe 10 minutes...and i called nearly the entire time on a glass call lol...good bird too..i think 10" and 1 1/8th though mice stole the spurs...




ive had a couple push 2-3 hours..my first bird was one of them...i think i shot him at 805 if i remember right...so about 3 hours...and i never moved..my double beard SGL bird was a longer hunt..i dont think i shot him till 8 or 9 but could be wrong...



it took me a while to learn that patience kills birds...especially GOOD birds..


the suicidal birds that run to the call are fun...but that doesnt always work out...


todays bird is a prime example of sitting and waiting..it was a good half hour since he last gobbled and he was 200+yds away going away...my gut said sit when my mind said GO...i sat...big ole heavily pressured birds are known to come in quiet like he did...
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Re: Your longest and shortest hunts

Unread postby kurt » Sun May 31, 2015 4:01 pm

I've called a lot of birds off of roost right to me. Like 15 minutes after it opened Getting close to roost has been awesome for me. Even if you bust them. I've still had luck really setting up in direction they went and calling them in..
. Like there searching for each other. A tactic that works good is breaking them up at roost at night and calling the Tom back next morning.

I've had long hunts that ended in tag soup. But I've gotten birds in the last few hours I had to hunt before i had to head back home by getting aggressive

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