Turkey Hunts
Turkey Hunter interest | Common TimelineA typical sequence of events for someone is allocation a membership after the regular fall seasons and before the spring turkey season. That hunter's first foray onto Association leases would be to call us long in advance of his hunt to receive recommendations of where to turkey hunt. Taking those recommendation and using the member issued maps that self guided turkey hunter would then proceed to his favorite aerial website and download to his own resolution level preference the aerial photos for those turkey hunt spots. From those aerials he may begin his scout/hunt effort planning developing a priority of work from first to last farm he wishes to turkey hunt.
On arrival at the lease the first day, that day should be considered a scouting day to include for those that setup early that first morning. While luck may result in a tom tagged that first morning the more likely outcome would be to listen and observe the roost, flydown, and breeding/feeding/movement patterns as a means of determining a good setup for the next morning. The subsequent days should lend themselves to increasingly greater opportunities for success until tags are filled. This scouting before the hunt is by far the greatest distinction between our hunt on your own approach and that of a guided hunt. That scouting effort is not a waste of hunting time. That scouting effort is the truest part of the hunt. If the scouting effort is effective then the rest of the "hunt" is a turkey shoot rather than a hunt for turkey. Should that self guided hunter find this sequence of activities results in over-pressuring that first lease then simply a telephone call to change reservations is required to relocate to another farm. Each hunter will arrive with a plan A, B and C to insure the range of options are pre-planned to be reactive to any adverse condition that may arise. The point being that each hunter has choices and not placing all his hopes, money and effort on just one single place or time. AlternativeA second probable self guided turkey hunter sequence would be for those that are allocated a membership after spring turkey season and before the regular fall seasons. During any fall season scouting or hunting trip that hunter would by happenstance encounter turkey sign or flocks during a hunt. Marking those encounters on his map sheets over time will add up to more than one possible spring turkey hunting spot. Returning that subsequent spring season with having previous boots on the ground experience with that land, turkey sign knowledge and an aerial will speed the first day's scouting effort making more likely earlier success at filling tags. That same self guided turkey hunter would then repeat this sequence with each succeeding trip and soon have multiple turkey spots. Having several will always allow for contingencies of leases or roosts being lost due to land use changes, crop land improvements, land sales and so on. This year to year synergetic effect would continue as scouting and hunt proficiency increases with increased knowledge of the land means additional time may be gained to compensate for areas of lesser success such as may be applied to additional deer scouting to enhance that fall's deer hunt. This builds up to having more of the desired experience of heart pounding hunter to wildlife encounters that makes for more memories that gains the hunter greater satisfaction on increased frequency. As proficiency of exploiting the land resource increases, many also increase the occurrence when a tom or two is seen with an exceptional beard or body size. Those toms then become the objective of the hunt rather than just any turkey to fill a tag. This builds into a different satisfaction of knowing the turkeys are there, the land resource plenty to support many hunts and the enhanced quality of the individual hunt of exceptional animals brings an increased level of satisfaction. This is the natural progression within our organization. An the alternative comparison is a collection of many average toms that soon would degrade into routine and likely lead to the hunter's cessation of future hunts. The short answer to this longer discussion of self guided turkey hunts is that each hunter makes his own hunt what he wants that hunt to be. We provide the private land resources and through the year observation recommendations to make that hunt as good as it can be. More complete details about our private land, self guided turkey hunts in Missouri, Kansas and Iowa |
