Would you shoot if you didn't call him in?

[crow]

I've slipped along a ridge and had gobblers walk up gobbling and looking.
So did they come as a late response to where you were set up and calling 15 minutes earlier and 200yds back, or did they think your noise walking in the leaves was a hen feeding along.

If it was the walking/leaf noise option,
and scratching in the leaves when set up to imitate a feeding hen is an acceptable calling technique. Then by that precedent, I submit that calling one in by walking in the leaves should also be acceptable.

But keep in mind I was pre-med not pre-law.

[Zobo]

I would shoot one I didn't call in, because I rarely use a call. I spot and stalk or set up an ambush. I have as much fun doing it that way as I have when calling. Each has its own challenges and rewards.

It's not about YOUR challenge and reward. It's about the safety of OTHERS. Stalking is nothing to be proud of, and yes it's illegal in some states.

[kennedyh1990]

You earn every one of them....


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[Farmboy27]

I'm definitely killing him!  I love hunting more than anything else I do. But if I wasn't doing it to kill, I'd carry a camera instead of a gun!!  Most on here wouldn't think twice about killing a buck that they happened onto on the way to their stand. Or a coyote that came strolling past. To say that one that isn't called in isn't earned is just silly. When do you consider it "earned"?  How about a love sick 2 year old that runs straight into the first set of yelps?  Didn't do much to "earn" that one. How about when one flys down and lands 30 yards away after you only made one call? Didn't do much to "earn" him either. Hunting is different for everyone and everyone has his or her own preferences and standards. I personally don't understand the concept of "earned" when it comes to hunting. If I get an easy opportunity, I'm taking it!  Passing on a lucky chance is like passing on a lottery ticket you just won on!  I mean heck, you should. You really didn't "earn" it!!

Hey Farmboy, this isn't deer hunting

Hey zobo, why the heck do you feel turkeys should be different? 

[joey46]

Another joke thread.  Yes said "Horse Pucky" since this forum wouldn't allow Horse Shxx.  Maybe a few of you could start an "Elitist Section".   Maybe one state could be designated for cool guys only. No gps, no OnX, no decoys, no cell phones, no cameras, no crops of any kind, no social media allowed, if caught watching THP it's a permanent ban to hunt only Alaska for longbeards. Stalking game has been done since the cavemen.  It will continue as long as hunting is permitted. Get over it

.SAFETY - lol, sounds like the 2nd amendment attacker's - if it only saved one life.  Please stay home if the woods gives you the vapors.

[Old Swamper]

Never have and never will. Proud to be a turkey hunter, and not just a killer. If that offends you, I could care less.

But not enough to try and slam others.  Love these threads and time of year.  Things never change here but rapidly change in the real world.  YouTube - here to stay.  OnX - here to stay. Social media - here to stay.  Remember it's "Fore" not "Four" when you are on the links.

Your the type I'm glad to offend

[Yoder409]

Not legal to shoot a bird you didn't call in?  I find that difficult to believe and waaay more difficult to enforce, basically impossible.

Yessir.

Believe what you like.  Been this way since I started in 1979-80.

I reckon a whole lotta laws.......game or otherwise......are difficult to enforce.  That's where the nature of honesty and morality either shines in an individual......or it does not.

How is it they say ??  Some thing like "Character is what you do when no one is looking" ??

[Brian Fahs]

We all frequent old gobbler to share our love of the wild turkey and hunting them.

That being said, I think we all could use more time in the woods and less time on the keyboards.

[Zobo]

Another joke thread.  Yes said "Horse Pucky" since this forum wouldn't allow Horse Shxx.  Maybe a few of you could start an "Elitist Section".   Maybe one state could be designated for cool guys only. No gps, no OnX, no decoys, no cell phones, no cameras, no crops of any kind, no social media allowed, if caught watching THP it's a permanent ban to hunt only Alaska for longbeards. Stalking game has been done since the cavemen.  It will continue as long as hunting is permitted. Get over it

.SAFETY - lol, sounds like the 2nd amendment attacker's - if it only saved one life.  Please stay home if the woods gives you the vapors.

Ok first, it's not a joke, sorta.
And second, you have an unusual infatuation it seems with THP. Especially for a gentleman of your age, although I will admit I have no idea how old you are, but it ain't young.
I will admit you are kinda cool because you have a unique take. However, your logic is subjective. You believe in what's right for you. I'm thinking more broadly.

[Yoder409]

So where is it illegal to kill a turkey you don't call in?

Pennsylvania

[joey46]

Not really since this forum has more than it's share of elitist and hypocrites. If I didn't offend someone I'll try harder. I do know the "no stalking" state.  Please someone post anyone convicted of stalking a turkey ?.   Good time to have one of the famous silent dog whistles in your pocket.  Gee "wasn't stalking, called to him several times".  Joke regulation and everyone knows it.  Not as bad as the orange hat swap however.  Some old YouTubes during that period were a hoot

BTW - as usual many of the most vocal show NO AGE, NO STATE, no contact info.  A gang of anonymous nitwits.  Forum's typical here and most everywhere.

[MossyOak92]

I hunted a bird a few years ago on some hard hunted public land late in the season.  Over the course of a week I heard him fly down twice. Was beat to the spot twice. One of the days I heard him fly down I slowly worked my way through the creek bottom he was hanging in and found extremely fresh scratchings headed towards a private field. That afternoon I went back and heard him gobble one time on the roost.  The next morning I got there early enough to walk a big circle around him and set up where those scratchings were headed to that field. He played the part just as I expected gobbled his head off until fly down then silent, but straight to my gun barrel. I guess I should have called right before I pulled the trigger?

I don't see how he was any less " earned " than any hot bird I have yelped to three times and had pitch down into gun range. 

[Zobo]

Not really since this forum has more than it's share of elitist and hypocrites. If I didn't offend someone I'll try harder. I do know the "no stalking" state.  Please someone post anyone convicted of stalking a turkey ?.   Good time to have one of the famous silent dog whistles in your pocket.  Gee "wasn't stalking, called to him several times".  Joke regulation and everyone knows it.  Not as bad as the orange hat swap however.  Some old YouTubes during that period were a hoot

BTW - as usual many of the most vocal show NO AGE, NO STATE, no contact info.  A gang of anonymous nitwits.  Forum's typical here and most everywhere.

You're a little nuts. We are not elitists, we just believe in calling a gobbler to the gun. That's NOT elitism, it's sportsmanship and fair chase and it comes from a forum that's all about turkey calls and call makers. The guy who runs this site and created it is one of them.
Of course, there are exceptions and instances where no one in their right mind would ever make a noise or ever call. We know the that! You don't need to post those anecdotes, we've all been there.
It's about putting into hunters heads the right ethic, whether or not it's enforceable.

[Happy]

Joey,
Just a friendly suggestion but I see no reason to get wound up by how other people regulate their lives. We all have opinions and I for one, am grateful for that. My suggestion is to make turkey hunting about you and what you enjoy. Getting offended by people that have different standards than you is no way to live. I never walk into the woods worrying about what other people think of me. My game is with myself and the turkeys.   

[Yoder409]

I do know the "no stalking" state.  Please someone post anyone convicted of stalking a turkey ?.   

Yeah.  I don't make the rules here.  I just hunt within them.

As far as knowing anyone ever convicted of stalking a turkey ??   Nope.  Don't know any, personally.

I, however, DO know of more than one person who's been SHOT by someone stalking a "turkey".  And several others who had VERY close calls (me included).  So, as dumb as some of Pennsylvania's game laws may be......... I'm, pretty well, behind this one.