Kind of apples and oranges but...I could sit in a blind on a watering hole and definately get a shot at a nice pronghorn with my bow. I enjoy seeing how close I can get, low crawling, playing the wind and yes even cacti and rattlesnakes are a part of the hunt. I have tried for 3 yrs to stalk close enough, no cigar...YET....but this is a new year and on 15 Aug 2010 I will be on the prairie low crawling with my bow, sweating, cussing cacti and spooking pronghorn....but that is hunting and when I finally get it done it will be something to remember...a true trophy....no blinds for me thanks

Different set ups call for different strategies. I'm all for run-n-gun in the morning, setting up against tree. Killed several birds that way. But for an afternoon set up on the corner of a field when you know that you are going to be there for several hours, why not use a blind. How many times have you made your own blinds with limbs and sticks? No difference in my mind.

What you didn't see were the Gameboys and cell phones they had in their pockets. Pretty hard to play games and text when you're out in the open.

I do find blinds helpful when hunting with kids that can't sit still or need some hands-on guidance. Also nice when it is raining or well below freezing. Have to agree with you that you lose the true experience of being in nature when you're looking at it through a window. Being mobile is also a huge advantage with turkeys, especially in the woods.

I'll tell you what, you've sold me with just one of your points. I've been debating a blind for archery in the fall. I have a climber, but I'm much happier on the ground. However, I never thought of, "I don’t even feel like I’m outside when I’m in one.". I just got done telling a coworker my favorite part of hunting in how much more intimate you become with insects, tree bark, birds' songs, the woods daily progression of shadows, etc. when hunting...you would lose that in a blind.

I've only hunted turkeys a few times. I've been inside a blind, sitting at the base of a tree, and stalking with my dad's friend. The closest I've been to a turkey was when I was just sitting at the base of a tree. It couldn't have been more than 10ft away.

Phil and suburban bushwacker - AMEN.

You won't catch me in a blind. Too immobile, too boring, too easy.

Time and a place for everything, *GASP* blinds included ;)

The only reason I got into hunting turkeys was because I have never done it before and I was sick of eating squirrels in the fall awaiting deer season. I was doing some scouting in the fall and figured that I would take my shotgun with me and shoot a turkey. I had a lot of fun. It never even occurred to me to dress up or buy a special turkey gun. After having a blast that fall I felt silly just buying camo pants and a turkey call. I felt like a schmuck spending money on "turkey loads,' even though I use a 20 gauge and the shells were purchased on the cheap over the winter. But I got my second turkey this spring and had a great time just finding my turkeys and laying an ambush down. I was really surprised to see that the turkey call actually worked. I don't know why. Maybe it is because I have had miserable success with deer calls and considered calling animals a gimmick to sell plastic. But after that I am hooked and maybe next year I will even splurge to buy some other gizmo. But to me, if the cost of the hunt reaches past the prize of the turkey meat then I will just leave the gadgets and take a walk in the woods.

I enjoy going low teck. No blinds, no decoys, no camo. My permit starts Monday, and I will see if I can make the magic happen again.

I find those popups usually stick out like a sore thumb anyways. The only nice thing is when the weather is a little iffy and it does allow you to move around more. Call that a plus or minus, depends on the day.

It's what all the people on the TV shows do. It's a shame that most of the outdoor programs on TV are about selling and not about teaching.

I think it is interesting the everyone gives the excuse that they have young kids with them. I guess, then, you could sit in a blind or just sit in your living room with the window open for a gun slot and feed the turkeys all year so they come in your yard. But then you wouldn't need a shot gun because you could butcher them like a chicken. What I am trying to say is that just because you have smaller kids tagging along doesn't mean you have to change what hunting is. There is nothing wrong with having a 9 year old sit against a tree for as long as he can sit still. After that, sling the damned gun and go for a walk. Maybe you will kick up some turkeys while exploring and that will be better incentive for her to sit still longer on the next sit. So my point is that we can hunt or we can train our children to hunt. Sometimes we have to forget about bagging a turkey for a while and just have fun in the woods. Otherwise we get teenagers who have never gone without a blind, scent control, electronic turkey calls, heated butt seats, and on and on and they think that that is hunting and that hunting is all about siting in a hut until a bird walks buy and blowing it away from 40 yards with their 10 gauge super magnum. Oh yeah, and for some reason, the more wizardry and less hunting people use out in the woods, the more important it seems to be for them to 'bag that trophy,' whatever the trophy happens to be.
Just get your kids out in the woods and get em dirty as hell. Them maybe they will have something to remember besides what the inside of a tent looks like while they text their friends about how bored they are.

Some of the State Game commissions don't help matters either. Run-n-gun is illegal in PA for Turkeys. You must hunt from a stationary calling location. No stalking of turkeys or turkey sounds, warden catches you and you better have a good reason to be walking thru the woods in Spring Turkey!

April 10-11 was the youth hunt here in Wisconsin. My dad, brother, and I went out the first day and decided to run and gun (like always). With one miss throughout the hole day and two close calls, we ended the day. The next morning we were walking the field edge listening for gobbles. We got a response and the bird immediately flew down. The only thing we had to hide behind was......A 10 foot grove of pricker bushes. We dove into it and it ended up we would get a double at the same time that morning. I've shot many turkeys with my bow and gun, and would say you don't need a blind for hunting turkeys at all. A gillie suit works good though. The next day at school my friend asked me if i got anything. I told him that we had two birds down and he said in shock: WHAT. He then told me that he sat in a blind all day for both days and never saw a turkey.

I like you're writing and I enjoy your blog, but don't start acting all high and mighty. I've never successfully hunted turkeys, to each his own I guess, but your rant about hunting turkeys from a pop up blind sort of reminds me of the movement to marginalize hunting game with an ar-15, or using a deer stand. As a duck hunter it seems we're always under scrutiny about spinning wing decoys. I respect your opinion, but what do you care how someone hunts as long as it's legal/fair chase? I'd rather see people getting out and furthering our shooting sports rather than overalalyzing how it's done and pointing out how it's not like it used to be.

i agree with your comments of hunting turkey from a blind, but i have developed a slight problem in the spring ( april, may )allergies! to pollin and mold spore ! so hunting is not the best but it helps!and if i wear a particulate respirator ( ihave not found any in camo )it helps too. i would love to be able to run and gun but this condition makes it tough,and places like pennsylvania, west virginia, missouri, ohio, florida don't make it any easier.

This story makes me wonder if.... the boys may have also been carrying a turkey that had just survived one such encounter.

I am not a Blind hunter either;I may have more success if I were to, but I don't so some animals get to live another day.
Honestly, I am a bit if a wonderer in the field thinking that darn animal has moved, so I better move to another spot,too!

Modern hunting techniques; Deer hunter perch. Turkey hunters nest.

Good help these fat boys-n-girls if they had to walk more than 100-yds and use REAL hunting skills.

I think the use or non-use of blinds for turkey hunting has to do with the particular location one is hunting as has been stated by others in this blog.
My buddy's son shot a big gobbler through the mesh window of his blind. We asked him why he did that. He stated that the tom came from a direction he hadn't anticipated. He was afraid that tom would catch some movement if he tried to open the mesh window. So he shot him through the mesh window. We still get a good laugh from that.
I prefer to sit in the open because I too enjoy the woods and all the sights and smells.
I may be wrong but I opine historically, that all purpose hunting blinds (prefab and others) are an inevitable evolution of the duck blind. I do not know too many people who do not hunt ducks and other waterfowl without the use of a blind. It was simply a matter of time before someone's light bulb went off and thought "Hey, I could hunt deer (or whatever) from a blind."
I say like'em or not, they're not going away so we may as well get used to them and be thankful the people who use them are at least buying a hunting license and going hunting. After all we in general are supposed to be a dying breed.

You have a point. I too enjoy sitting against a tree much more than I do hunting from a blind, but there are times when a blind is useful. Consider, for one, hunting in the rain. And another example is hunting a large field. If the turkeys come out from someplace you don't have permission to hunt, or are careful to keep away from field edges, a popup is the way to go. (I have seen people try to hunt from layouts for turkeys... Bad idea.)

this is only my second season of hunting anything, including turkey.
Last season I killed my first gobbler while sitting with my back against a mud bank...I did have out two decoys,...and a buddy called in the gobbler for me.
So this year I've been going it alone...no pop-up, sometimes a decoy sometimes not.
It is definitely more exciting to "cut out" a hide out and call in a bird,...any bird, hen, jake or gobbler.
Been taken to school twice this season by two different gobblers, one gobbled aggressively to my calls, closing to with in 20-30 yds but not showing himself,...called him back twice, then he went quiet...45 minutes later I stand up to move and he flys off, not 20 yds from me,...slipping up from behind me.
The gobbler I mistook for a jake.
It sure is fun hunkering down in the woods, watching all the critters move about, and pretty cool to have an adult Turkey hen walk up to with in 10 yds of you, look you up and down, then go about her business...that was cool.

I am jealous to hunt the birds the way all you who run and gun do. Unfortunately It is very difficult to hunt he birds over big open field with bad woodlines without a blind. I missed a bird opening day that snuck up on me at 25 yards, while it is thrilling in a way to have them close and personal, it is also disapointing because I have proven to myslef that my woodsmanship was good enough that day to lure bird within range, but not to finish the act. Our birds also tend to move pretty quiet so once they come down from the trees and make a little noise, they shut up tight for the most part, No gobbles, nothing. It doesn't really matter anyway cause you are not going to locate on in a 15 wide fence row or a 25 acre plowed soybean field. I am with the other guys at least we are out there, thats more than a lot of young men can say.