Have you ever wondered who the better turkey hunters are? Modern hunters with all the latest gear or those pioneers of our game from a half-century ago?

Modern conservation and modern marketing have taken turkey hunting to new heights. Wildlife science has also come a long way so that ordinary hunters are expert wildlife biologists now (especially those who think professional biologists don’t know what they’re doing).

The advantages we have today should make us better hunters. First off, the modern venatic sits in the spring woods at first light wearing head-to-toe designer camo, with all the latest gear in his expensive vest. (Give the old-timers points for knowing what the word “venatic” means. It’s Latin for “relating to or engaging in hunting.” And if they needed a piece of gear, they made it.)

Old-timers weren’t as spendy as we are. Back then, brown canvas did double duty–under the ’57 Chevy and in the turkey woods. We moderns, on the other hand (especially big wallet types), fire up our computers to shop for high-dollar single-purpose camo. (Never mind that turkeys haven’t mentioned what they think of it.)

While old-timers might have toted a rickety single-shot smoothbore, we crowd into a store to expound on our personal tall tales before dropping money on a shotgun thoroughly camouflaged to blend in with a name-brand camo hunting coat.

Atop that shotgun, today’s must-have is the latest battery-powered red dot sight, or a $300 low-power scope with optical glass that makes the first dim rays of dawn look like noon. Old-timers simply eyeballed the line where the gobbler’s feathers stop and his naked head starts, covering that line with a tiny bead at the muzzle end of a long barrel. They did fine. The gobblers didn’t.

With the perfect turkey rig, we’re ready to sight in. We count the BBs for the tightest group on a paper target at 25, 30, 35, and 40 yards. And if we want to blast away at 70 or 80 yards, we grab ourselves some special alloy ammo that outweighs lead and retains tight groups and plenty of energy far enough away that gobblers get dead before they ever get “hung up.” Never mind that two boxes of five are about equal to the price of a week’s worth of groceries. Come to think of it, better get a third box ’cause sighting in doesn’t always go as planned.

When all is said and spent, you’re north of $1200 just on your shootin’ iron–$600 for the shotgun, $300 for the scope, $150 for ammo, plus $100 for a choke tube specially suited for your ammo. You pay everything (including sales tax) with plastic, and you’re still a few hundred under your credit card limit. When all this stuff pays off, a special sling will make it easier to carry your gobbler. So, you fork over another $50.

You haven’t replaced the pricey custom call you crushed with the tailgate of your new 4×4 last year. And you need to replace the head net you lost. (Probably ought to add a spare). You also want that new-fangled turkey hunter’s chair you saw at the sport show, but the guy selling it didn’t take credit cards. Having the best gear (or at least the most expensive) gives you confidence that a big longbeard will get a ride in your 4×4.

At that sport show, you attended a great turkey hunting seminar. The presenter talked about Ben Rodgers Lee, Roger Latham, and a few other old-timers like they were personal buddies. You’ve forgotten what turkey call manufacturer the guy repped for, but you went away thinking the path to successful turkey hunting is having the proper gear and memorizing the lore of turkey hunting pioneers and the wisdom of today’s experts as though it’s straight from scripture.

Late in the season, you’re running short on sleep. You’ve been working a boss gobbler for two hours and it’s decision time: move, change up your calling, or rack your tired brain for some other strategy. That’s when turkey hunting scripture becomes like Holy Scripture–you forget it, you do your own thing, and you fail.

When you look at that unfilled tag, you realize it–alone in the woods with all the expensive advantages, the old-timers have you beat. And you vow next year, you’ll buy one of those super-realistic $300 decoys. That’ll make the difference. Yep, next year you’ll get the bird.

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When “The Everyday Hunter” isn’t hunting, he’s thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell Steve exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him through his website, www.EverydayHunter.com. He writes for top outdoor magazines, and won the 2015, 2018, and 2023 national “Pinnacle Award” for outdoor writing.