Interesting debate going on in Missouri

[Neill_Prater]

I am another one with a  "no dog in this fight" mentality about it.  I think the all day hunting question is a no-brainer.  That is an anitiquated regulation that has no basis in biological reasoning,...and should be done away with. 

The question of allowing a segment of the public the opportunity to hunt before another is a different matter altogether, and is a bit more complicated.  I think that most of us would agree that allowing kids the opportunity to get the first chance at game is one thing.  However, there are obviously varying opinions here about allowing adults, because they make a choice to use a certain kind of weapon type, that same privilege. 

It could legitimately be argued that a really good archer, sitting in an enclosed blind using decoys to attract gobblers to point-blank range, and with little or no chance of being seen, may be just as effective at killing turkeys as a shotgunner.  Maybe even moreso than a gun hunter who chooses to hunt turkeys with no blind or decoys. 

So do the shotgunners without a pop-up blind or decoys deserve a set-aside season for themselves?  ...And if so, then what about the guys that decide they want to use a pellet gun, slingshot, spear, or throw rocks? 

That argument, in and of itself, is not enough for me, though.  Adding it to the fact that spring gobbler hunting is, at its basis, all about calling,....and that the more "experiences" a gobbler has with people calling to them the more difficult they become to call (except, of course, for those "turkey whisperers" we have here as members), then the combination of the two arguments begins to get some traction.  If you allow certain hunters to go out and call and/or decoy turkeys for a length of time before the others, at what point in the "turkey education" process does that go from being a reasonable advantage because of a weapons choice to being unfair to the remaining groups of hunters?

After all, spring gobbler hunting is about a hunter(s) attracting a gobbler(s) by calling, or decoying, (or waiting).  For me, getting the turkey to come is the attraction, not the weapon choice. 

So the question ultimately becomes,...."Is it fair to give one group of hunters an advantage over another group solely on the basis of a weapons choice,...and knowing that giving the one group an advantage may, in essence, decrease the chances of success of the other group when their turn comes?"  ....Or is the proper course of action to say,..."Everybody plays by the same rules,...choose your weapon and go get in the game?".....

Very well said. I like the way you think. Neill

[Neill_Prater]

This is an interesting debate. In my opinion, comparing early/extended archery seasons for deer to spring turkey hunting is definitely a case of apples to oranges. An early archery season for spring turkey (or pre-season if you will), is different in that it if you don't tag out, you can simply wait until you can take a gun and go a hunting with ol' Betsy.

For those who love the challenge of archery hunting, why not a 3 week season prior to the 3 week gun season? It would be an either/or situation, where you would have the choice of purchasing either an archery permit, or a firearms permit, but not both. That, I think, would be fair to all parties.