| Author | Message | ||
| GOBBLENOW |
Our newcomer Mr Hopson--who I suspect posts as "shopson" on some other boards - asked a good question about whether others make a turkey do what they want(gobble, strut) before they kill it or do they just kill one under any circumstances(bushwhack it if they walk up on him in the road). My sense of this board is that there are a bunch of very good spring hunters in here(take a good look at the photos in the Trophy Room Freddy has attached) but it would be interesting to know whether most on here would bushwhack a big bird if they just happened to walk up on one in the woods, or would they only shoot one that gobbled, got called in fair and square, etc? I will readily admit that I have killed birds that I walked up on , in the not recent past. But I would like to think I would not now. I do not think this is meant to be a moral question, just curiopus as to your expectations of yourself and your hunt? | ||
| TScottW99
|
G.N. My first turkey I ever shot was during the fall. I had tried for years and everything that could go wrong did. Finally one day i'm walking through a pine thicket and there stood three turkeys. B-O-O-M! My first turkey. It was a fall hen and I was quite proud of her. A week later I called a gang in and shot my second ever turkey. I think now though I would pass on a "walk upon" turkey. Not that it's immoral or anything... just that I enjoy the "chase" too much! | ||
| Ryan Tucker
|
I do not believe I would shot one that I just walked up on. But I do not have to call him in to feel like I beat him. I do not mind moving on a bird to the point that you might get him in range or in his travel path. The circumstances for this have to be perfect. I am not talking about just getting up and stalking a bird. In fact it almost requires being able to see the bird the entire time from some vantage point. If was walking down the road and spotted a gobbler strutting and I got down and belly crawled him or something I might think different. I also know the odds of this happening are slim and none if I got away unspotted I would probably try to call him to me since I was so close. I like to think I am not about killing them anyway possible, but I do believe that turkeys can be taken with out a traditional calling set up. | ||
| Turkey576 |
Some of the best hunts I have had was when I ambushed the bird. I would use a travel route to a field and wait. I think that woodsmanship is three times as important than calling. If you know what that bird is doing and when he will do it you can count him out. As for just walking up on a bird in the woods and shooting I will pass, unless he is a bird that I have been after for a long time(HAHAHA)  | ||
| shopson
|
I won't shoot one I jump or happen to walk up on, or still roosting. I will shoot one that I have patterned. I hunted one last spring that I busted when I should have stayed put. I new where he liked to be and late on in the season I caught him roosting where he hadn't all year. I got to where I thought he would enter thr woods, set out a decoy and got in position. While I was deciding whether to call or just wait, a flock of jakes started gobbling off to my left, within 50-75 yards. What a perfect setup. I didn't have to wait long cause the big boy couldn't stand those jakes gobbling in his territory. He showed up, saw my decoy, srarted coming at half strutand I didn't give him a chance to go full.I put in a lot of hard hunting to get that bird | ||
| gobbstopper1946 |
My hats off to the hunter that can move on gobbler with hens, get in front and take him. I had one occasion when I sat down to call and spotted two gobblers and about twelve hens working my way. I sat tight and didn't move. The hens fed past coming within ten yards with the gobblers in tow about sixty yards back, things were looking good! Then...I hear this putt,putt.. too many eyes. End of hunt! Thats the only real opportunity I've ever had to bushwhack a gobbler. I believe moving to intercept a gobbler with hens is "iffy". I also believe one lone gobbler can be called in. My answer is, I really like to call and see'm strut and gobble up close, it unravels me! GS... | ||
| Daddyjan |
Being a bowhunter i doubt one would stay put long enough to try and get a shot off but i would try.i have stalked birds and i have set up in feeding areas and just waited em out,i prefer to callum but i dont mind tricking them .I love to eat turkey and anylegal way i can take one i will. JMF | ||
| Dale Harless |
This debate reminds me of the fly vs. bait discussions in trout fishing circles. A fly fisherman would sooner die that to put the Jolly Green Giant on a number 10 and the bait fisherman just sees it as evening the odds. To call or not to call is more likely a product of your hunting upbringing and the opportunities to hunt productive areas. Is it the pinnacle of the sport to learn a gobbler through the course of a season, or in most cases many seasons, set up with this knowledge and call ol' Tom in? Sure. It gives us with the impression that we out witted the ol' boy with skill and knowledge. If after hunting the whole season on poor territory and not even so much as hearing a gobble, you encounter a quite fellow faithfully following his lady friends, which by the way, happens to be on a path that will come right by your perch on a log eating your mid-morning snack, a fair percentage of us, the honest us, would seize this opportunity to harvest the bird given the chance. Would we have preferred to have experienced a tense duel first? Sure. If Jeff Gordan runs 23rd the whole race, but on the last lap all 22 cars ahead of him are collected in a ball of twisted metal and smoke so he crosses the line first, do you think he's smiling in the winner's ring? His reward is money. Our satisfaction is knowing that we put in an honest season, practicing calling for months before, scouting, devoting time away from work and family to pursue our love of the outdoors. | ||
| Gobbler Getter
|
I have ambushed several hens in years past during the fall season but have never just walked up on a gobbler. I don't hunt turkeys in the fall anymore, I save all my tags for the spring season. I can't honestly say that I wouldn't take a gobbler if I walked up on him but my tactics now are to move and set up on gobbling birds only. I like to cover a lot of ground and I'm not looking to walk up on him, I'm looking to get in close and set up to call him in. Moving quick and often probably makes my chances of walking up on a gobbler slim. I want to make him walk up on me. Just the way I like to hunt em and I've been successful at it. Kevin Lee | ||
| Freddy McGuire (Vaturkey)
|
Great post GN and great answers... I won't shoot a turkey if I happen to just walk up on him in the woods/field. But, if I can pattern a bird that is considered a ^$#%^@$# in the neighborhood then I will setup on his favorite travel route, throw out a few soft calls and try to take him. |