This is one game law, I agree with. It is on page 59 of the 2016-17 NJ Hunting and Trapping Digest. Use of a hand-held decoy or a turkey tail on a stick as camo to sneak up on a turkey is prohibited.
A few years ago- I bought a dvd showing a hunter crawling out into a field behind a gobbler -tail. Shotgun in one hand and gobbler tail in the other. I sold that dvd at a yard sale pronto! Even if it is private land-- someone could tresspass and a load of copper-plated 4s would be flying your way. Calling is everything ! What do members here think about-(reaping)?
Just like using a decoy,or a shotgun full of heavy shot or a blind etc. You can get shot. Hunter safety and education are the best tools to keep us safe.
I have done it a time or two and thoroughly enjoyed it, in fact looking very forward to doing it again. Something very exciting about watching them charge you with reckless abominate. If you don't feel safe doing it, then don't by any means do it. That's why I don't ride motorcycles. Hate to see any type of hunting outlawed.
My fan isn't on a stick, so would I be in compliance with the law?
Not my idea of hunting and have no interest in trying it.
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:deadhorse:
No good, but your choice. I personally wouldn't take the risk
Hasn't this been beaten into the ground enough? Seems like this gets brought up quite a bit. I'm not taking shots at anyone in particular but people will hunt the way they want. If others don't like it, don't watch or participate. I've not done it yet but the open fields here certainly lend themselves to the opportunity. Might try it, might not. I'm with DRN on this one. Hate to see anything outlawed. It starts there then they find other ways to take things away.
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Anyone who wishes harm to others in the turkey woods no matter the situation or consequences needs to sit down and some serious thinking.
:deadhorse: :deadhorse:
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,65148.0.html
http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,64010.0.html
A couple of things for this: 1. Anyone that shoots at a turkey tail (Fanning) and injures or kills a hunter should be put under a jail and have his or her license revoked for life and here's why, most States require that you kill a bearded bird not shoot at anything that moves or has a fan (Verify the beard!) 2. Just because you don't like or haven't tried some sort of hunting technique doesn't make it off limits or should be outlawed for everyone. Here in Eastern NC we can hunt deer with dogs, and yes that means using rifles, I've tried it but it's not for me but I'm not going to run out and try to get it banned. Fallhnt said it best, Hunter Safety, Education and I'll add following your State Regs already in place should be our #1 PRIORITY. This is the Liberals way of Outlawing something they don't understand, over legislate an issue or not enforcing laws that are already in place. I've had my say, now bring on the bashing.
If you have no reason for safety, then take your changes...I like safety myself...i have a lot more living to do...
Just curious, how effective is this method of "hunting"? Just because it works on TV doesn't really mean a whole lot to me. I mean I see guys (and girls) that I have generally poor opinions of kill 200" whitetails quite often on some of the so called hunting shows. We all know it's not quite as easy as the pay as you go high fence ranch stuff makes it out to be. Really not sure where I stand on this "issue". I'll hang up and listen now................
:popcorn:
Quote from: renegade19 on January 20, 2017, 05:19:58 PM
Just curious, how effective is this method of "hunting"? Just because it works on TV doesn't really mean a whole lot to me. I mean I see guys (and girls) that I have generally poor opinions of kill 200" whitetails quite often on some of the so called hunting shows. We all know it's not quite as easy as the pay as you go high fence ranch stuff makes it out to be. Really not sure where I stand on this "issue". I'll hang up and listen now................
:popcorn:
The two times I've utilized a fan it worked great. Not an expert on it, but will gain more knowledge on the subject thru trial and error/success.
Quote from: Greg Massey on January 20, 2017, 05:12:34 PM
If you have no reason for safety, then take your changes...I like safety myself...i have a lot more living to do...
I haven't heard of anyone being hurt in this manner of hunting, but countless other injuries by shooting at sounds .
Quote from: Treerooster on January 20, 2017, 05:05:10 PM
Quote from: wvmntnhick on January 20, 2017, 04:19:27 PM
Hasn't this been beaten into the ground enough? Seems like this gets brought up quite a bit.
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Not to my knowledge.
I have not heard of a state outlawing Reaping or stalking with a decoy/fan before. Maybe there is another state the outlawed it???
Have read the Reaping posts which are usually quite heated, but that's not what this post is about.
Maybe the OP made a comment about reaping, but still the post is about a state outlawing it. However it will deteriorate into an argument I am sure.
NJ always outlawed it. You must call the birds. Only this past session did they spell it out further to mention fan on a stick
:deadhorse: :deadhorse: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:
Hasn't been legal in Pennsylvania, either. As per the regulation: "NO STALKING...Hunting by calling only"
Quote from: Treerooster on January 20, 2017, 05:05:10 PM
Quote from: wvmntnhick on January 20, 2017, 04:19:27 PM
Hasn't this been beaten into the ground enough? Seems like this gets brought up quite a bit.
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Not to my knowledge.
I have not heard of a state outlawing Reaping or stalking with a decoy/fan before. Maybe there is another state the outlawed it???
Have read the Reaping posts which are usually quite heated, but that's not what this post is about.
Maybe the OP made a comment about reaping, but still the post is about a state outlawing it. However it will deteriorate into an argument I am sure.
My comment wasn't geared solely at the participation or practice of reaping. Many of the following posts weren't either. They were veering towards the "safety" aspect and personal opinion of such a method. Any time reaping gets mentioned here it becomes an "issue." Some like it, others don't. Something we all have to just deal with and get over. As for the outlawing of such methods, MY OPINION is that it's crazy. Think that was stated in my original post but don't see that in your quote. Once they find a way to outlaw one aspect of the game, they'll find ways to regulate more of it. Al it takes is a small foothold to get started up the mountain.
Quote from: wvmntnhick on January 20, 2017, 07:36:40 PM
Quote from: Treerooster on January 20, 2017, 05:05:10 PM
Quote from: wvmntnhick on January 20, 2017, 04:19:27 PM
Hasn't this been beaten into the ground enough? Seems like this gets brought up quite a bit.
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Not to my knowledge.
I have not heard of a state outlawing Reaping or stalking with a decoy/fan before. Maybe there is another state the outlawed it???
Have read the Reaping posts which are usually quite heated, but that's not what this post is about.
Maybe the OP made a comment about reaping, but still the post is about a state outlawing it. However it will deteriorate into an argument I am sure.
My comment wasn't geared solely at the participation or practice of reaping. Many of the following posts weren't either. They were veering towards the "safety" aspect and personal opinion of such a method. Any time reaping gets mentioned here it becomes an "issue." Some like it, others don't. Something we all have to just deal with and get over. As for the outlawing of such methods, MY OPINION is that it's crazy. Think that was stated in my original post but don't see that in your quote. Once they find a way to outlaw one aspect of the game, they'll find ways to regulate more of it. Al it takes is a small foothold to get started up the mountain.
Just to be clear, maybe my first post wasn't correctly worded. In a sense it was never legal, no one actually outlawed it. It was reworded in the hunt digest to include fan on a stick.,you always had to call them n in fact by law you can't even be in the woods without a call, also always stated no stalking, same as Pa.
Quote from: dirt road ninja on January 20, 2017, 05:32:25 PM
Quote from: renegade19 on January 20, 2017, 05:19:58 PM
Just curious, how effective is this method of "hunting"? Just because it works on TV doesn't really mean a whole lot to me. I mean I see guys (and girls) that I have generally poor opinions of kill 200" whitetails quite often on some of the so called hunting shows. We all know it's not quite as easy as the pay as you go high fence ranch stuff makes it out to be. Really not sure where I stand on this "issue". I'll hang up and listen now................
:popcorn:
[/quot
The two times I've utilized a fan it worked great. Not an expert on it, but will gain more knowledge on the subject thru trial and error/success.
I'd be really interested to see how it works for you in the future. Post your findings if you get time.
Will do.
NJ is a little different tghen olot of other states as there are hunters in every wood lot. But I dont think it should be illeagal. If you hunt in a place where it is safe to do it probably a fun way to hunt. There is never a shortage of stupid rules and laws.
Quote from: SteelerFan on January 20, 2017, 07:24:45 PM
Hasn't been legal in Pennsylvania, either. As per the regulation: "NO STALKING...Hunting by calling only"
It wasn't always illegal in Pa.
I've tried it twice. Once I had a gobbler charge in to 10' and strut his butt off. He got an arrow for his effort.
The second time I had a hung up rainy day longbeard slowly approach to about 60 yards and slowly walk away. I was in a wide open picked bean field without a stitch of cover anywhere.
Neither time did I stalk the birds. I simply crawled to where I could be seen and sat behind my decoy/fan. Clucking and yelping softly to keep the second one at ease. The first one never gave me a chance because he was on me within seconds.
I see it as setting up a decoy and sitting tight rather than crawling away.
I certainly beats hunting out of a pop up tent.
Now Pa says something about reaping specifically, not sure on the wording, but again, I have not used a decoy to stalk closer to the birds. I use them to decoy the birds to me.
I guess the best argument against it would be that you are using a decoy as a "blind". Since you aren't fully concealed, that would be against Pa law.
If they outlawed the idea of sitting withing "x" feet of a decoy, I wouldn't shed a tear over it. I'd just go back to the plethora of other ways I've used to kill longbeards.
Even on private property you may not be alone and that would have to be on the minds of hunters who try crawling out into a field with a moving gobbler tail. Gun Club leased lands would not be good for (reaping) either. How well I remember 2 turkey hunters--one had blue pants and white sneakers! They trotted off a connecting woods road and onto Gun Club leased land. A gobbler was hammering hard in the woods 75 yards in the woods and I was at a field edge and just ready to enter the woods. They ran towards me port-arms until they saw me - then ran down the field to get around on the tom. That was scary!! They spooked the tom. Some neighbors off your private land may know your land as well as you.
Posted this on another site having the same discussion,...too lazy to reword it for this one....
I agree this is a "dead horse" issue. For me, its pretty simple,....if you like hunting in this manner, do it,...and if you don't, don't do it. If we get to the point where "reaping" becomes a biological issue and threatens the well-being of our turkey populations, then I will change my tune about it. ...Or when it becomes clear that there is a genuine safety issue involved (there is no data available at this time to support that idea), then I might be persuaded to oppose the practice.
Each of us hunts under conditions that affect our abilities to be successful. The tactics and methods I use where I hunt are not necessarily the same tactics/methods that someone else needs to use to be successful where they hunt. Here's a question to ponder: Should the guy who hunts public (or private) land that is hammered by other hunters to a point that it is virtually impossible to call in a gobbler be restricted to the same hunting methods as the guy who hunts a private property that is loaded with lightly-hunted gobblers that are easily called in?
Personally, I have hunted both types of places. And I have concluded, in some of those places, that I was not going to kill a gobbler simply by using a call and having a gobbler come to it. I am not a "reaper",...but I have by-golly changed my preferred hunting tactics to something else,...something that some others that hunt under different conditions might have frowned upon,...in order to ultimately be successful. And conversely, there are those that have come here from other places and resorted to tactics that I would never "endorse" using here.
Here's another thing. I happen to be one of the people that believe turkeys are capable of "learning", through experience, to avoid things that are dangerous to their well-being. Turkeys that are called to a lot over time, and have negative encounters with hunters as a result, will learn to avoid going to turkey calling. I believe gobblers (and hens) will learn to avoid reaping techniques/fanning/gobbler decoys in those places where those techniques are commonly used.
Quote from: GobbleNut on January 21, 2017, 11:26:23 AM
Posted this on another site having the same discussion,...too lazy to reword it for this one....
I agree this is a "dead horse" issue. For me, its pretty simple,....if you like hunting in this manner, do it,...and if you don't, don't do it. If we get to the point where "reaping" becomes a biological issue and threatens the well-being of our turkey populations, then I will change my tune about it. ...Or when it becomes clear that there is a genuine safety issue involved (there is no data available at this time to support that idea), then I might be persuaded to oppose the practice.
Each of us hunts under conditions that affect our abilities to be successful. The tactics and methods I use where I hunt are not necessarily the same tactics/methods that someone else needs to use to be successful where they hunt. Here's a question to ponder: Should the guy who hunts public (or private) land that is hammered by other hunters to a point that it is virtually impossible to call in a gobbler be restricted to the same hunting methods as the guy who hunts a private property that is loaded with lightly-hunted gobblers that are easily called in?
Personally, I have hunted both types of places. And I have concluded, in some of those places, that I was not going to kill a gobbler simply by using a call and having a gobbler come to it. I am not a "reaper",...but I have by-golly changed my preferred hunting tactics to something else,...something that some others that hunt under different conditions might have frowned upon,...in order to ultimately be successful. And conversely, there are those that have come here from other places and resorted to tactics that I would never "endorse" using here.
Here's another thing. I happen to be one of the people that believe turkeys are capable of "learning", through experience, to avoid things that are dangerous to their well-being. Turkeys that are called to a lot over time, and have negative encounters with hunters as a result, will learn to avoid going to turkey calling. I believe gobblers (and hens) will learn to avoid reaping techniques/fanning/gobbler decoys in those places where those techniques are commonly used.
Agree, great words of wisdom, hunt the way you want and the way you need and use common senses and Techniques. Be safe..
Quote from: wvmntnhick on January 20, 2017, 04:19:27 PM
Hasn't this been beaten into the ground enough? Seems like this gets brought up quite a bit. I'm not taking shots at anyone in particular but people will hunt the way they want. If others don't like it, don't watch or participate. I've not done it yet but the open fields here certainly lend themselves to the opportunity. Might try it, might not. I'm with DRN on this one. Hate to see anything outlawed. It starts there then they find other ways to take things away.
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x2 I have know interest whatsoever, but doesn't mean others dont! Once that's outlawed it makes it easier to come after something I like. I'm sure whoever hunts turkeys this way have to know of the danger and if it's a chance they want to take so be it. If it doesn't go the way they want it'll probably be the last time they do it.
If you can't callem!!!!! Crawlem!!!
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Quote from: Big perm2 on January 21, 2017, 08:53:55 PM
If you can't callem!!!!! Crawlem!!!
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:TooFunny:
Quote from: Big perm2 on January 21, 2017, 08:53:55 PM
If you can't callem!!!!! Crawlem!!!
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Best one I've read in while ;D And to the don't want to see it illegal methods of hunting already have lots of restrictions wouldn't be end of world if state outlawed it due to lack of skill required into holding up a fan and stalking birds in states with declining numbers I could see this doing some real damage
NJ is full of crazy laws. Know your target and beyond!
Using a "decoy" to hide behind to stalk game must be a little different when you go West! Decoys are successfully used for stalking antelope, elk, and moose on a fairly regular basis. It's also common practice in Alaska (and elsewhere) to wear a white Tyvex suit to stalk dall sheep and mountain goat. Some hunters use a cow decoy to stalk antelope, elk, and other game. What if a guy decides to use a cow decoy in NJ to stalk turkeys...will they outlaw cow decoys?
I've never used a decoy to hide behind to kill a bird, but if all else fails try something new. But I have belly crawled out to a big strutted that was hen up and got in his way and killed one tho..
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Quote from: jims on January 22, 2017, 09:17:49 AM
Using a "decoy" to hide behind to stalk game must be a little different when you go West! Decoys are successfully used for stalking antelope, elk, and moose on a fairly regular basis. It's also common practice in Alaska (and elsewhere) to wear a white Tyvex suit to stalk dall sheep and mountain goat. Some hunters use a cow decoy to stalk antelope, elk, and other game. What if a guy decides to use a cow decoy in NJ to stalk turkeys...will they outlaw cow decoys?
As stated they'd not have to outlaw it, it's only legal to call them. You must legally even have a call. Don't ever remember it being dif. Stalking wearing a fan, cow suit or Madonna wig would all fall outside calling. Regulation specifically says no stalking so they'd be taking nothing away.
Decoy use by any means has been fairly recently allowed n our first season is just over 30 years old.
There's been no regulation changes except for allowing decoy use, fall hunt and coming up we'll be checking turkeys automated, used to have to go to a check station w em.
If anything it's gotten more liberal.
Personally i don't think it's safe here, too many people n though some places it might be safe enough it'd be impossible to make it legal for certain areas or certain people.
Hope this helps people understand
I wouldn't try it in my area, but I can see where it would be exciting to do. I think I would be upset though at some one trying to "reap" up on a bird I was working! I rather like calls and calling, and being alive to enjoy it, so I think I will stick to that.
I'm curious if it's legal to jump shoot ducks and geese in NJ or is it only legal to call them?
There's no regulation against it, you can jump shoot rabbits too. It's all about the policys set. NJ hunters didn't set em.
For instance you can bait deer, that ain't hunting btw imo but it's legal. Can't bait turks or waterfowl. Can drive deer, pheasant etc, can't drive Turks or waterfowl.
Can't use a 28 for turks, can for upland game not waterfowl.
It goes on n on. Confusing? To some but I'd bet every state has something makes no sense. NJ may have more but I think this one givin the area is correct.
Let me add to it, some people of all sorts aren't the brightest. They do silly dangerous things. Being the area, especially certain areas of the state are crowded it could be dangerous to have some guy waving a shoot me stick to an inexperienced, overexcited hunter., you hear stories of close calls all the time on the state wmas, n the guys being shot at are wearing flourescent orange.
Quote from: Bowguy on January 22, 2017, 02:19:58 PM
There's no regulation against it, you can jump shoot rabbits too. It's all about the policys set. NJ hunters didn't set em.
For instance you can bait deer, that ain't hunting btw imo but it's legal. Can't bait turks or waterfowl. Can drive deer, pheasant etc, can't drive Turks or waterfowl.
Can't use a 28 for turks, can for upland game not waterfowl.
It goes on n on. Confusing? To some but I'd bet every state has something makes no sense. NJ may have more but I think this one givin the area is correct.
Let me add to it, some people of all sorts aren't the brightest. They do silly dangerous things. Being the area, especially certain areas of the state are crowded it could be dangerous to have some guy waving a shoot me stick to an inexperienced, overexcited hunter., you hear stories of close calls all the time on the state wmas, n the guys being shot at are wearing flourescent orange.
I'll agree, every state has something silly in the laws. WV allows hunters to use bows, shotguns and rifles to take turkeys during the spring and fall season. On youth day however, children are limited to shotgun only. Doesn't make sense to me. What's the difference in a kid using a bow or rifle vs an adult. The adult must be close enough to render advice so they would ultimately be responsible for shot selection. That's just something that's never made sense to me.