Limbing one (etiquette)

[jdl80]

It's poor form, and illegal in my state to roost shoot.

[Dtrkyman]

I would have to be 100% positive I called him in or was a follow up shot.

I love getting close in the dark, have been in range of roosted birds dozens of times and was never really that tempted to shoot one.  I love watching them on the limb!


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[Lcmacd 58]

Don't know if it's illegal here in Illinois...but I doing it

[Sir-diealot]

Vile, disgusting, unethical practice. I would NEVER hunt with someone again if I saw them do that and if it were on my property they would never be welcome back to even pick posies. No better than poaching in my book. Also it is very illegal in many states.

[Dtrkyman]

It was listed as illegal before 7am or something along those lines in Illinois back in the day, Illinois also has a 1pm cut off.

I'm sure you jest but at least be legal if you're a slob hunter


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[ferocious calls]

I enjoy playing the game with him. Could sneak in to range most mornings and be done by shooting hours. No fun in that at all for me.

Now if it's mid morning and ole Tom takes to a limb to get a better look around after we've been talking, he may be in trouble. Had it happen twice in 42 seasons.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Never.  Should not be legal.  And if he flew that far you can bet he knew you were there. 

As far as the other hunters that sounds about right on par for public land to me.

[Treerooster]

Define roost shooting. Turkeys go in trees for a lot of reasons, not just for the night.

Twice I have had gobblers jump up on a fallen log to look for me..."the hen" they heard calling. One was about 2 feet off the ground, the other was higher, about 4 feet up. The gobblers feet weren't on the ground in either case tho.

Once I missed a gobbler and he flew up in a tree after the shot. Out of range tho so no decision to make. Called him back in after 1/2 hour or so.

I had a hen fly up about 20 feet in a tree looking for me. She was about mid way up that tree. Turkeys will use height once in a while if they can't find the turkey they heard calling. Seen them hop up or go to an elevated piece of ground too.

[eggshell]

You know, this is solely a matter of conscious. It is a law that is almost impossible to enforce and thus is left up to each individual's moral conviction. Each person decides for themselves what is right or wrong in these scenarios. I have found also that we as a society like to virtue signal a lot and claim high moral ground. In the end we all go by our own moral conviction and make those choices when no one is looking. A discussion like this is important because it gives us support and comparable views to our own moral standards or lack of. It's a form of self policing, no matter if your actions don't follow your words, saying it publicly helps build the ethical standards that are good for our sport. I guess I'm saying, thanks for the discussion and validation that my conscious is right when it tells me that roost shooting is not ethical. 

[RutnNStrutn]

Public land. Had one guy stop and ask if I had planned to hunt "here". Told him nope that I regularly get up and stand out in the woods at 5 in the morning. Most of the time I don't even wear clothes, this morning I just felt like blending in. Never did see that guy again but anyway. 

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[RutnNStrutn]

Never have seen turkeys hold that long to the limb.

I haven't either. However, I hunted Ohio for a couple of years, and those gobblers were frustrating! I'd never experienced anything like it, especially for lightly pressured private land. Those longbeards would stay on the roost gobbling until hens walked underneath them, and they'd pitch down to the ladies. They would gobble at any call you sent their way, but wouldn't pitch down until hens showed up. The last morning we sat on a gobbler we had roosted and listened and watched him strut around on his roost and gobble over 300 times. Finally his gobbling attracted a poacher who bumped him from the limb.
I did manage to get a nice gobbler with almost a 14" beard!! Followed him around from fly down to 12 minutes before legal time ended. Watched him whip 2 gobblers' butts, breed a hen and "take care of business" himself while waiting for the hen to lay for him. Had to use a strutting jake decoy and gobble at him for over an hour to chap his posterior enough for him to leave his hen.

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[eggshell]

Never have seen turkeys hold that long to the limb.

I haven't either. However, I hunted Ohio for a couple of years, and those gobblers were frustrating! I'd never experienced anything like it, especially for lightly pressured private land. Those longbeards would stay on the roost gobbling until hens walked underneath them, and they'd pitch down to the ladies. They would gobble at any call you sent their way, but wouldn't pitch down until hens showed up. The last morning we sat on a gobbler we had roosted and listened and watched him strut around on his roost and gobble over 300 times. Finally his gobbling attracted a poacher who bumped him from the limb.
I did manage to get a nice gobbler with almost a 14" beard!! Followed him around from fly down to 12 minutes before legal time ended. Watched him whip 2 gobblers' butts, breed a hen and "take care of business" himself while waiting for the hen to lay for him. Had to use a strutting jake decoy and gobble at him for over an hour to chap his posterior enough for him to leave his hen.

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I can assure you that old gobbler wasn't an anomaly. I have seen more than my share do the same thing here in Ohio. It must be a genetic thing. I can honestly tell you after hunting several parts of the country I think our Ohio birds are some of the toughest I have hunted. I have never hunted Alabama and Ga, but people I trust tell me their birds are a tough hunt as well.

[dzsmith]

I have never done it.... I have had a bird that frustrated me so bad that I told me self if I have the opportunity to limb lift you I will.... Well that time came ... In certain geography  it is far more difficult to actually get in gun range of a treed bird than many realize. Especially when they are roosting in the tops of 100 year old pines . But anyway .... I actually did get under him a few times but only once where I could cleanly see him and it's because I was eye level with him on the side of a 400ft ridge . I didn't shoot him ...... well he sailed out eventually. And I climbed the rest of the way to the top. He showed up an hour later following a hen.... However he gobbled one time before stepping up on my elevation , I needed to adjust so I turned on the tree almost 90 degrees ... I heard walking 90 degrees back from where I was just sitting and there he was blown up at 40 yards with his hen.... He caught that slight movement of my head and sprinted out to 100 yards and putted in a circles for 5 consecutive minutes . I never saw him again...... one of many tales of birds I wanted to limb lift but didn't ....