do you want to call him or do you want to kill him

[nosaj]

There is no such thing as Catch and release in Hunting!

With that said, of all the hunting I do, Turkey Hunting is the more about the hunt than any others. 

The thrill of the gobbler answering back then getting closer and closer.  The pounding in your chest as he fires off a gobble 10 yards behind you in the brush. The adrenaline pumping through your body as you hear him spitting, drumming and dragging his wings.  Then the moment you put it all together with a well placed shot.  The only thing better for me is when my kids do it.

   

For me...This is the perfect answer...

I like the way you think !! 

[grayfox]

I want to call him up & kill him. I'd rather hear him gobble too but if he comes in silent I will gladly bust him & be happy that I was able to call him up. Like someone else said if you are on public land like I hunt & he gobbles too much he's gonna attract too many other hunters as well & you are more likely to have someone else ruin your hunt. But I do understand it's more about the hunt & the experience than the kill. Being able to close the deal is just icing on the cake. The older I get the more I enjoy just being out in the woods & admiring God's wonderful creations. That alone is a blessing in itself.

[THattaway]

The pleasure for me is in fooling them. I've called plenty, waylaid a few and have walked up on a number I didn't attempt to shoot. Every few years though, I run up on one that likes to leave tracks in my boot tracks, plays dirty and such and on those types I sometimes just take what I can get. Don't mind being honest about it. Does one cluck to stop him and straighten him up count as called? LOL!

[larry9988]

If I am hunting one particular bird, I will hunt him trying to call him off the roost for three or four mornings. If that doesn't work the gloves come off and it's by what ever means it takes as long as it is with in the laws of my state.

[yelpaholic]

I LOVE turkey hunting. And whether its chess or checkers I just love playing the game.....

[WildTigerTrout]

Both.  The game is not over until I call him in and end up standing on his neck to end the game!

[Cut N Run]

All the years I've turkey hunted, this is the first year I killed a gobbler that I didn't call to.  I was surprised when he was drumming to my decoys, but I was thrilled when I got to fill my second tag.  I would have preferred that he gobbled, though it didn't stop me from shooting him.  In no particular order, I definitely hunt for the thrill, the experience, the challenge, the gobble & strut, and the food he provided.  More than any other pursuit, turkeys own me.

Jim

[deerbasshunter3]

Is sitting up against a tree, and having a wild turkey or deer walk by you, and not see you, not considered "fooling" them, or any different than making a sound (call) that "fools" them?

To answer the OP, I would rather kill a turkey than call a turkey and not kill it. I hunt to hunt, not to sit in the woods and call to have nothing happen. Yes, I enjoy when a turkey or a deer comes in my field of view, but I don't spend the money that I spend, and take the time for preparation just to go hunt and come home empty handed. Now, that does not mean that I will do anything illegal, or even "reap" or "fanning". I think fanning is the dumbest thing a person can do, and those people who do it belong in a special category of stupid..

Fact of the matter is, a turkey is a turkey, and a deer is a deer, and they are both animals. I will not put them up on a pedestal because somebody else believes that they are some mystic, ancient, holy creature. Game animals are merely animals that are there for humans to hunt and eat. As long as nothing illegal or dangerous is done, I have no problem shooting (some call it harvesting) a turkey or a deer, even if it did not put on a show, or "play the game."

Anywho, I recently had my heart surgery postponed to a later date, and every day it gets worse, so I have no qualms about saying what I feel now, even if it offends somebody.

I am deleting my account after the turkey contest is over (waiting so I don't cost my team any points), so if you do not like what I write, you won't have to read it much longer. As a matter of fact, you really don't have to read it now if you don't like it or don't want...

[Tom Foolery]

I like calling them in but in the end I am there to kill them.  The easiest birds I've ever killed have been called in and the toughest I guess I cheated on because they weren't called.  One bird in particular I got on opening day, was on him every day I hunted and killed him the weekend before season closed.  I finally gave up trying to call him, got between him and a hen, scared her off and did the Mohican sneak on him going up benches, through drainage ditches and slithering through treetops. 


I follow all the game laws for anything I hunt, but I'm not like a lot of guys that think a turkey is some sort of sacred being that can only be killed if he comes in gobbling.  That's like saying you won't shoot a buck unless he comes in when your rattling. 

"I was sitting in my treestand when a nice 10pt came strolling by at 30yds broadside.  I hadn't rattled in about 2hrs so I knew he wasn't looking for me so I just let him walk."  - I don't think I've ever seen that said


Like it or not, I'm there to kill them.

[ferocious calls]

Given that choice, it would be call them. I love to harvest Toms' and do fill my tags but, get just as much out of calling them for others. And boy did we ever call them in this season. Hunted most every day.