Turkey Hunting Gear: Redhead Bucklick Creek Turkey Lounger Vest

Today I ordered a new Bucklick Creek Turkey Lounger from Bass Pro Shops. It is the only turkey vest I will consider wearing to the woods. I have had mine since 2004 or so. Before that, turkey hunting was a seat-numbing experience, a literal pain in the butt. The Turkey Lounger changed that forever for me. It was invented by a hunter in Missouri who sewed one of those self-supporting folding camping chairs into a vest. Other vests have more thickly padded seats, but this one allows you to lean back and take some of the weight off your seat, and that makes all the difference. You can also set up without a tree if need be. I have shot a bunch of Iowa turkeys since I got this vest, and it definitely gets a share of the credit for the birds that have demanded patience.

It’s a strap-style vest with enough room for the calls, snacks, extra headnets, clippers and other gear I bring to the woods. It’s not perfect: it’s heavier than other vests, and could be better made, but I don’t care. The camp chair makes it worth the price. My old vest also has plastic tabs on all the zipper pulls that click lightly when I walk hampering my natural ninja-like stealth. The new model, I see from the Bass Pro catalog, replaces the plastic tabs with nylon and that’s all it took for me to order a new one. Now I will be as stealthy as I am comfortable. It’s $79.99 from Bass Pro and as a turkey hunting invention it ranks right up there with HeviShot.