Turkeys Killed as opposed to relocated

[pinball wizard]

Folks, I came here to post this story because I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions on it.  Please do not bash me for trying to stir up trouble cuz I assure you that is not the case.  There are many feelings on this event by hunters, non-hunters, and anti-hunters alike.  I appreciate anything you may have to say on this.  http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=96733

[TRKYHTR]

Turkeys can be intimidating to some people. Women and kids especially. Sounds like it was a situation that was getting out of hand. I can tell you that if they would have came after me they wouldn't have lived long. That said, the excuse that the birds would die and can't take the heat while being transferred is ridiculous. It sounds like you could have caught them with your hands and transported them to some woods somewhere. Either way it don't matter. Sounds like he whacked them with a knife. Nothing wrong with that. I would have used a baseball bat to the head. Either way I would be eating turkey for diner.

TRKYHTR

[drenalinld]

I know what a turkey can do when it's dying, I bet it could really hurt you when full strength. I would rather them to have been relocated, but it sounds like the threat needed to be dealt with and he did.

[handcannon]

This was the brightest comment made in the whole article. - "The wild turkeys' death could have been prevented, Prater said, if people hadn't started feeding the birds, which allowed them to acclimate to urban life."

Though it's something "cool" and "you dont see that every day", these birds should have been relocated as soon as they started appearing around humans and not being afraid of them. The excuse of it being too hot for them to be transported is bull. You dont have to put them in a trash bag in the trunk of your car to carry them across state lines. A simple cardboard box with air holes and carry them down the road and drop them off in the woods.

Turkeys can be very aggressive when they are out of there element. I know someone who had three  domesticated yard turkeys that will not even let you out of your vehicle unless the owner comes out to greet you. Believe me, I had cuts from my knee to my ankle while wearing shorts thinking I was one bad hombre getting out of my truck. Ended up bleeding in the back of the truck.   And taking a flogging from there wings is at just the right height to have your man card knocked up into your stomach.

It aint funny! I coulda been killed!

[pinball wizard]

I can agree with just about everything stated here and I appreciate the comments.  My problem with this situation is on a couple of different levels.

Firstly, without a doubt, the citizens feeding these animals share most of the blame for what happened here.  Many of these people are also the most vocal against the agency's action to deal with the turkeys.

Secondly, in an attempt to sell more papers, this news rag made this an "above the fold" front page story and used words like "slaughter" and such to get as much attention as they could.  One of my favorite lines this idiot writer stated was "Since turkeys are considered large game, a kill permit was issued."  Nice to know they put their best outdoors expert on the story.  This news rag allows very few stories that include fishing and hunting and focuses most of their "outdoors" articles on hiking and birdwathcing.......but I digress.

Thirdly, I also fault the TWRA for handling this the way they did.  The knew, or should have known, that killing these pets was going to raise a reaction from non hunters, anti hunters, and sportsmen alike.  The news stories that ran about these animals could have easily included quotes from TWRA discouraging residents and business people from feeding them.  Might not have done any good, but at least they would have had some PR behind the fact that because of their continued feeding, "slaughter" was the only option.  These turkeys would have had to survive about twenty  minutes of captivity before they could have been released to outside the city limits to fend for themselves.  This entire debacle was just a cluster@#$%. 

I understand that there are still four other turkeys in this area that have also taken up residence in this same area and may suffer the same fate as their fallen bretheren.  As a hunter and sportsman, I would much rather see them captured and relocated and then let mother nature take her course as opposed to a guaranteed death at the end of a knife.  We will see what happens next with these other animals.  Thanks for the replies and I will keep you posted, PW

[gob09]

they should have transported the turkeys i cant believe the twra did that i think it is dispicable that they did that