Let's Get Real

[joey46]

Now that this forum has declared that the only thing worse than the decoy is an out of state hunter it may be time to get real.  There may be a few that do travel to multiple states and shoot every gobbler they can carry but they are so few and far between they are a non factor. 
Using myself as an example here is how my 40 plus years of turkey chasing has gone.  When I resided in Ohio if I tagged out I may travel for a few days to KY.  When I retired and moved to KY I would travel back and hunt Ohio.  Now that I live in Florida, where the season ends before many start, I am always looking for May opportunities.  This year I have two northern states in mind.  I won't mention either. 
Last May I took a well planned trip out west for ONE Merriam.  Maybe next year I'll look to the southwest for ONE Rio. 
I don't feel the least bit guilty about any of this.  Some of the post and proposed "solutions" to this OOS "problem" are truly delusional IMO.

[arkrem870]

Loose lips sink ships. Remember what got us to this point. More regs are coming to combat oosers

[ScottTaulbee]

I guess it isn't real to you because you aren't on the receiving end of the equation. When you use 4 days of your 10 days of vacation you get a year, and work for an employer that regularly has you work 7 days s week. Sometimes 50 to 60 days straight several times a year. You're also married, with 3 kids with the oldest being 5 that are already missing their dad. You wake up at 2:30 am and are on the road from 3 am until 12 pm trying to find an area within 3 hours of your house that isn't overloaded with a newfound surge of OOS. You burn 300$ in gas in 4 days just to actually get to hunt twice of those 4 days. Once at 2:30 pm and once in the morning. Both times you have OOS hunters walk in past you and blow birds that you have roosted or are working out. Then it's back to work and being a family man and trying to sneak out an evening or two before season ends. I don't have a problem with OOS hunters, but when it makes mine and any other hunters hunting opportunities non existent within 200 miles that have any stitch of ethics or respect, it's a problem.


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[Turkeybutt]

Nothing to feel guilty about Joey. It isn't just an OOS hunter problem it can and does happen in your own state with resident hunters.

[Cowboy]

Now that this forum has declared that the only thing worse than the decoy is an out of state hunter it may be time to get real.  There may be a few that do travel to multiple states and shoot every gobbler they can carry but they are so few and far between they are a non factor. 
Using myself as an example here is how my 40 plus years of turkey chasing has gone.  When I resided in Ohio if I tagged out I may travel for a few days to KY.  When I retired and moved to KY I would travel back and hunt Ohio.  Now that I live in Florida, where the season ends before many start, I am always looking for May opportunities.  This year I have two northern states in mind.  I won't mention either. 
Last May I took a well planned trip out west for ONE Merriam.  Maybe next year I'll look to the southwest for ONE Rio. 
I don't feel the least bit guilty about any of this.  Some of the post and proposed "solutions" to this OOS "problem" are truly delusional IMO.

100% agree with ya Joey

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[aclawrence]

I don't think there's actually that much more killing around me in Alabama but the pressure this year is unreal. I still go and hear some gobbles but you can forget about yelping one up. If you call at all they're pretty much going to go the other way. It's really dang frustrating because that's the most fun part of the hunt. There are trucks out riding around every day of the week. I had a hunt messed up Tuesday by two guys who heard the bird I was set up on. They drove down to where I was and got out and started calling. Me and the turkeys heard it and the turkeys  left.  I think I'm ready for less opportunity and more quality versus what I'm getting right now. My area is getting pounded!


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[Gooserbat]

As a traveling turkey hunter I have zero problems with a nonresident one bird limit especially on public land.  Private land is different in so many aspects and thus there is merit in approaching it differently.

[WV Flopper]

 In two, at most three years, after you reg out OOS, the RES hunters will be crying that their license cost doubled.

They'll still be crying about all the lost opportunities they reged out.

Instead of complaining about someone having more vacation time why not look for some private ground to hunt. There still today is a thing called "Private Ground". It's actually all over the country! Maybe if you can't find something free, you buy into a lease? There are options.

To the next coming question, if you can't afford and you work all the time...sounds like time to look for a new job to me. One that pays you, plus gives you some free time to live.

Some years are more busy than others for me. Just so happens, I ain't busy this year and I am going to hunt every day I can. When I run out of tags, I will go to another state and buy more.

It's 10 months and three weeks before season starts over again, enjoy this one while it lasts. I am going to, hopefully all the way til Maine ends.

[sasquatch1]

I guess it isn't real to you because you aren't on the receiving end of the equation. When you use 4 days of your 10 days of vacation you get a year, and work for an employer that regularly has you work 7 days s week. Sometimes 50 to 60 days straight several times a year. You're also married, with 3 kids with the oldest being 5 that are already missing their dad. You wake up at 2:30 am and are on the road from 3 am until 12 pm trying to find an area within 3 hours of your house that isn't overloaded with a newfound surge of OOS. You burn 300$ in gas in 4 days just to actually get to hunt twice of those 4 days. Once at 2:30 pm and once in the morning. Both times you have OOS hunters walk in past you and blow birds that you have roosted or are working out. Then it's back to work and being a family man and trying to sneak out an evening or two before season ends. I don't have a problem with OOS hunters, but when it makes mine and any other hunters hunting opportunities non existent within 200 miles that have any stitch of ethics or respect, it's a problem.


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People make choices, those guys hunting don't get to enjoy the family things you do either!

Some prioritize family, some prioritize hunting, and it's everyone's personal choice!

This sounds like religion, (Oh you don't like my god??? Maybe we need to go to war with each other)




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[sasquatch1]

I don't think there's actually that much more killing around me in Alabama but the pressure this year is unreal. I still go and hear some gobbles but you can forget about yelping one up. If you call at all they're pretty much going to go the other way. It's really dang frustrating because that's the most fun part of the hunt. There are trucks out riding around every day of the week. I had a hunt messed up Tuesday by two guys who heard the bird I was set up on. They drove down to where I was and got out and started calling. Me and the turkeys heard it and the turkeys  left.  I think I'm ready for less opportunity and more quality versus what I'm getting right now. My area is getting pounded!


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Where's the line drawn then??

Let's put things to the outer edge of the spectrum for explanation purposes

Would you be happy with the woods all to yourself, but in order to do so you can only buy a license every 5 years??


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[ScottTaulbee]

I guess it isn't real to you because you aren't on the receiving end of the equation. When you use 4 days of your 10 days of vacation you get a year, and work for an employer that regularly has you work 7 days s week. Sometimes 50 to 60 days straight several times a year. You're also married, with 3 kids with the oldest being 5 that are already missing their dad. You wake up at 2:30 am and are on the road from 3 am until 12 pm trying to find an area within 3 hours of your house that isn't overloaded with a newfound surge of OOS. You burn 300$ in gas in 4 days just to actually get to hunt twice of those 4 days. Once at 2:30 pm and once in the morning. Both times you have OOS hunters walk in past you and blow birds that you have roosted or are working out. Then it's back to work and being a family man and trying to sneak out an evening or two before season ends. I don't have a problem with OOS hunters, but when it makes mine and any other hunters hunting opportunities non existent within 200 miles that have any stitch of ethics or respect, it's a problem.


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People make choices, those guys hunting don't get to enjoy the family things you do either!

Some prioritize family, some prioritize hunting, and it's everyone's personal choice!

This sounds like religion, (Oh you don't like my god??? Maybe we need to go to war with each other)




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As far as license cost, I'd absolutely be happy with paying double for license costs if it meant actually getting the opportunity to hunt. And as far as the private ground debate, I'm not sure how it is in your area but around here our private ground hunting opportunity is non existent. People ruined that for others years ago, not considering most of it is leased up by outfitters or it's Amish owned now, which, in most cases the land is stripped barren. Like I stated in another thread, I don't hate OOS guys. Some of my best talks have been around a tailgate or WMA gate with OOS guys. And I don't look at it as we own the public land as residents. I welcome Respectful OOS guys that have the basic common courtesy to drive on by if they see a vehicle at a gate. Up until this year it's been that way. I met 3 this year that were great guys and that had been coming here for the last 4 or so years. The majority this year is like the duck hunting crowd, they leave trucks at gates and go elsewhere. They come crashing in on you after they pull in behind you at the gate and could care less that you're there or if they ruined your chances. They camp out at gates, which is illegal except at "camp ground areas". These areas have seen more pressure this year than they typically see in 3 years and one particular WMA had the 2 years seasonal average killed in 6 days. To me, it seems they have over hunted their areas at home until they had low turkey numbers, jumped a state or two down, will do it here and then move elsewhere leaving us with the rind of what it used to be. I'm all for you guys hunting here, if we had a draw system that limited number of tags for non residents, or even limit the number of hunters on each WMA, and that's for local and non resident hunters. As far as the guy that mentioned finding a job with more vacation time, what I have is plenty, I guess I'll just have to start using it to come kill your all's birds. Must be plenty available in Ohio and Michigan because they're all down here.


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[howl]

An area I hunt was promoted by NWTF, because NWTF put in a half acre food plot on national forest. The population was in decline. There weren't a whole lot of birds left. The next year the harvest in the area skyrocketed. DNR published and bragged in the magazine. I had people waiting by my jeep for me to come out so they could go in. Waiting in line! The next year the bottom dropped out of the harvest numbers while pressure continued. The birds we locals were killing were mostly at end of season and limbhangers.

The pressure finally dropped off this year, I would guess because published harvest data showed no birds. The point I'm trying to make is turkeys cannot withstand that level of pressure. It isn't a question of fairness to the hunter. It's that turkey populations can't take the pressure.

Also one of us needs a new job before life passes him by.

[arkrem870]

This same scenario has been played out in arkansas duck hunting. It's doesn't end well. And turkeys are even more fragile. Loose lips sink ships.

[wareagle22]

As a yearly multi-state travel hunter, I believe Mississippi has the right approach when it comes to their public ground.   Close it to residents only except for the draw hunts for the first 2 weeks.    You give the TAX paying residents time to hunt the land that their taxes support before us non-residents get the opportunity.   Travel hunters will still buy the OOS licenses with the hope of a draw or they will show up after the first 2 weeks.   If an OOS'er wants to hunt the first 2 weeks, they can join a lease on private land.   As a traveling hunter, I believe residents should have the first chance at hunting the properties in their state before I do.   Just my $.02 worth.

[arkrem870]

Wish we could put the genie back in the bottle and these YouTube and social media idiots wouldn't have put our public land turkeys on blast. We wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm thoroughly pissed off.  Public turkeys and turkey hunting has been bastardized for profit and ego. And for every dollar made and ego stroked the turkeys and public land hunters pay x10 in loss of hunting opportunity