53 newbie kills

[hawglips]

I was just talking to a guy who has kept a journal of his kills. He says he has 53 first timer kills that he has guided and called in. Not including misses and mess-ups. This includes about half that are kids. And his success rate of those 53 is a little better than 75%. And that is since 1991.

Is this reasonable to believe?

[guesswho]

Depending on where he hunts. Where I live which is on the AL/GA line if you hunt both states 53 would be very doable in 24 years. That would only be a little over two a year. Even the 75% success rate is believable if he's hunting prime property. The harder part for me to believe is finding 53+ first timers wanting to go.

Now if he's hunting WMA's in Florida I'd have some serious doubts.

[dirt road ninja]

It would be all relevant to the area he is hunting. In Texas or Kansas on good ground a 75% success rate is vey obtainable in my opinion. In SW MS, Southern alabama, or any where in Louisiana, I'd say nope.

[killerstump]

It would be all relevant to the area he is hunting. In Texas or Kansas on good ground a 75% success rate is vey obtainable in my opinion. In SW MS, Southern alabama, or any where in Louisiana, I'd say nope.

Why not in them 3 states? I always thought was a lot of turkeys there? Granted don't mean they are stupid by no means. Just curious cause of hearing was so many birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dirt road ninja]

Is that 75% rate for that person getting the bird or is he putting 7.5 birds on the ground in ten days?

[Gobbler]

I will admit I have seen posts where guys separate their beards and spurs by subspecies and I have seen posts where guys will label the dates on each kill and log when and where.
He may have done this but he is unemployed.

[dirt road ninja]

It would be all relevant to the area he is hunting. In Texas or Kansas on good ground a 75% success rate is vey obtainable in my opinion. In SW MS, Southern alabama, or any where in Louisiana, I'd say nope.

Why not in them 3 states? I always thought was a lot of turkeys there? Granted don't mean they are stupid by no means. Just curious cause of hearing was so many birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cause that is where I spend most of my time and while I'm not a good hunter, I've stumbled on a few over the years and come out the woods empty handed way more often than with a bird on my back. If I could kill with a 75% success rate alone, much less with another I'd consider myself a great hunter in the 3 states I mentioned. Basing my logic on 1 day of hunting killin 1bird = 100%.

[killerstump]

It would be all relevant to the area he is hunting. In Texas or Kansas on good ground a 75% success rate is vey obtainable in my opinion. In SW MS, Southern alabama, or any where in Louisiana, I'd say nope.

Why not in them 3 states? I always thought was a lot of turkeys there? Granted don't mean they are stupid by no means. Just curious cause of hearing was so many birds.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cause that is where I spend most of my time and while I'm not a good hunter, I've stumbled on a few over the years and come out the woods empty handed way more often than with a bird on my back. If I could kill with a 75% success rate alone, much less with another I'd consider myself a great hunter in the 3 states I mentioned. Basing my logic on 1 day of hunting killin 1bird = 100%.

Ahhh ok sir understand. Thanks for the reply


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hawglips]

Is that 75% rate for that person getting the bird or is he putting 7.5 birds on the ground in ten days?

75% of his hunts with a newbie putting a bird on the ground

[dirt road ninja]

Is that 75% rate for that person getting the bird or is he putting 7.5 birds on the ground in ten days?

75% of his hunts with a newbie putting a bird on the ground

Then I would guess it would be possible, given he could spend a few days with each person. Hats off to him for indroducing that may folks to the sport. I've only helped out a couple and one was my son!

[hawglips]

Is that 75% rate for that person getting the bird or is he putting 7.5 birds on the ground in ten days?

75% of his hunts with a newbie putting a bird on the ground

Then I would guess it would be possible, given he could spend a few days with each person. Hats off to him for indroducing that may folks to the sport. I've only helped out a couple and one was my son!

I misunderstood you.

The > 75% rate is hunts with a newbie, that ended with the newbie killing a bird. 1 morning hunt, 1 bird, >75% of the time.

I have only had 6 newbies kill a bird. 53 is more than I can imagine ever taking. He isn't a professional guide, just someone who likes to hunt turkeys and is nice enough to take folks out.

[Grumpy]

He maybe hunting and calling at a ranch feed corral for cattle, not hard to do in that case.

[davisd9]

I would say it is a little hard to believe but not impossible. As already stated there would be a variable of details to take into consideration, property/properties, area, populations, etc.

In my humble hunting experience, I have hunted a few of the Southeastern states, but no where else so I cannot speak about the differences between here and a place like the Midwest.

I would think even on a place we would agree as easy hunting grounds that is a high percentage because of factors beyond a hunters control.

Who knows beside him? I would ask to see his records.


Sent from the Strut Zone

[drenalinld]

I call BS. I wouldn't believe that success ratio for himself much less guiding newbies. Maybe he hunts Kroger or a turkey growing house.

[guesswho]

If he has access to prime property I think 75% would be very doable. By prime I mean large private tracts, lot's of birds with little to no pressure. Some properties require nothing more than sitting in a blind watching a spread of decoys and pulling the trigger. And if you only do this for two or three people a year it could be a slam dunk. Now if he's limited to 200-300 acres he shares with other hunters, then he's probably exaggerating a tad.

[Gar Commander]

In Mississippi, for every 75 times we go hunting we kill one turkey. That is our 75% statistic.

[hawglips]

He hunts probably about 80-90% public land, no decoys or blinds, except when he takes a handicapped hunter, which I believe only accounts for a handful of those 53.

He mostly hunts out west, merriams and rios. I don't believe this would be possible even in the best of situations anywhere in the Southeast. But I know he's telling the truth about his numbers. Guys call him all the time asking him to take them out, or to take out their kid or their wife or whoever it is that wants to kill their first turkey. Everybody in his area knows him as the turkey expert. His job requires that he be out in the hills regularly, which allows him to keep an out for turkeys.

Still pretty hard to believe when you think about the numbers.

[hawglips]

I call BS. I wouldn't believe that success ratio for himself much less guiding newbies. Maybe he hunts Kroger or a turkey growing house.

In 2015, he went out 19 days, and had 15 turkeys die in front of him, which he called in. He only triggered 3 of those himself, including a fall tom that took him 3 hunts to kill.

That is a typical year for him.

Again, I don't think this would be possible in the Southeast.

[dirt road ninja]

Either way it's mighty nice of him to do that.

[HunterGKS]

Hal, Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you posted.

"53 first timer kills"

"And his success rate of those 53 is a little better than 75%"

If he guided 53 1st timers & they all killed, that would be 100% success rate. If his success rate for those 53 was 75%, the 1st time kills would be 40.

Did I miss something? Either way, it's pretty impressive & over 24 years, probably doable.

[toasty]

Is this reasonable to believe?

He is a hunter and they are as bad as fishermen at embellishing the truth.

This isn't your brother is it? If he really did those kind of numbers in Utah, he is a much better hunter than I ever imagined.

[guesswho]

I can believe seeing 15 killed in 19 days in the Southeast.

I think he's saying out of 70 first timers, 53 of them killed. That would roughly be 75%.

[DC1.]

He hunts probably about 80-90% public land, no decoys or blinds, except when he takes a handicapped hunter, which I believe only accounts for a handful of those 53.

He mostly hunts out west, merriams and rios. I don't believe this would be possible even in the best of situations anywhere in the Southeast. But I know he's telling the truth about his numbers. Guys call him all the time asking him to take them out, or to take out their kid or their wife or whoever it is that wants to kill their first turkey. Everybody in his area knows him as the turkey expert. His job requires that he be out in the hills regularly, which allows him to keep an out for turkeys.

Still pretty hard to believe when you think about the numbers.

I'll trade you two good laying hens and a rooster for the location of his public land!!! just PM it to me.... lol

[guesswho]

Merriams and Rios? Based on my experience with public land Merriams I can believe 53 out of 70 spread over 24 seasons.

[SwampDrummin]

I think its plausible out West, especially since he stretched back in the early 90s and 2000s when those birds weren't as publicized. Plus, when you start getting into those numbers, the truth itself impressive enough not to embellish.

Then you've got the newbie-can't fail- mentality, I usually go above and beyond when I have a newbie with me, and if he's somehow got southern turkey hunting wits about him I could see making the 75% happen.

Now if he said he called all of them them in.....I'd call him a damn liar Too much female competition out west to hit those percentages without decoying, ambushing, crawling, calling, roost camping, etc.