Personal Ethics-Tree Gobbler

[Super Fox]

This morning early -a gobbler was sounding off in my favorite area.
My hearing is challenged, but I moved closer to him.

(In this same area I bumped into a big gobbler 3 years ago-he was with a hen and took off flying. I did not shoot him
as my infield fly rule saved him. )

Today-After he gobbled 6 or 7 times, I caught movement in the oak tree 45 yards ahead of me. It was my old friend, as it turned out-as he had a hen with him.
He pitched to the ground, and started to come up in my direction, until his girl friend came up to him -then they both walked off into the woods.
This is the same gobbler, as he is 5-6 years old now and does not generally respond to any type of call.
I could see him clearly in his roost tree, and I was tempted-looking at his long beard while he half-strutted in the tree.

This is not the first time I have hunted and fooled with a  wise turkey for a couple of years in a row- before finally getting him.
That is the challenge, but the possibility of wounding this bird under less-than-ideal conditions is anathema -not happening.
This makes it more interesting  as he is now an old  mossback "acquaintance". The NWTF have indicated that some gobblers might reach 10
years of age occasionally. 

[Lcmacd 58]

Probably will get alot of comments on this 1
I won't shoot 1 out of the tree
Just my 2 cents

[vt35mag]

Not all of them are callable but they are all killable. Setup around his roost tree or between the roost and  where he tends to go when he leaves it. Don't call even once and shoot him on the ground when he works into range.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Ihuntoldschool]

Same gobbler 5 or 6 years? 

Lol.

[Tom007]

I will never shoot a gobbler off his limb. To me, it's like shooting a wood duck on the water. The whole idea about turkey hunting for me is fly down, coax/call enticing him in and taking a 30 yard shot resulting in a clean harvest. Sneaking in under him in the dark  and taking a "daylight crack" at him on the limb pretty much takes all the "fair chase elements" off the table for me.  This is my "rules of engagement" in the turkey woods.....

[Happy]

As many things are. Its personal choice. I wouldn't shoot one off the limb, but I also won't set up so that I can blast him as soon as his feet touch the ground. There is little difference between the two, in my opinion. I had an old gobbler years ago that gave me fits, I finally got in tight to his roost, and he flew down at 30 yards from me. I gave a few soft yelps, and he went on high alert and slowly walked off. If he had gobbled or gone into strut, I would have probably killed him, but he didn't, and he walked. In my opinion, he didn't deserve to go out that way, and I never killed him. I think as years go by, some of us become concerned with how we win just as much as if we win. That's not everyone, though. An old gobbler that has kept his fan attached for many years has my respect. If I am going to kill him, then it's going to be a result of my maneuvering and calling.

Good-looking and Platinum level member of the Elitist club

[Bottomland OG]

As Happy stated it's a personal choice. I've been hunting turkeys a lot longer than most on here and not near as long as some others. But I consider myself to have good ethics when it comes to the way I hunt. I own property in my home state and in a neighboring state. No I don't have money but I have worked my tail off my whole life and have been blessed beyond measures by the good Lord. I'm pretty picky on killing a tom on those places but I have hunted public lands my entire turkey hunting history and my season wouldn't be the same if I didn't kill one on public every year. But the way the majority of these new age turkey hunters are and the disrespect they have for other hunter has made me throw ethnics out the window more than once. One instance I roosted a bird one evening next morning in there at 4am. Now this was opening day. Not a soul there the evening before.This is not a parking lot, it on the side of a road middle of nowhere. 1st truck drives by a hour and a half after I have been there, goes a quarter and parks. 2nd truck pulls up to my truck backs up 100 yds and parks by this time it breaking day. Turkey starts gobbling. 3rd truck pulls up to my truck stops gets out heard a gobble, drives 100yds past my truck, they get out. Now by now I'm as close as I can get to the turkey. 3 different people are moving in every gobble. I haven't said a word, which I hardly ever hoot. But the closer they get the madder I get. One person is less than 100 yds now, it's daylight the turkey is strutting and gobbling 35yds from me on the first big limb in a giant white oak. I told myself I will kill him or nobody will. So you know how it ended they didn't kill him. I hate to shoot one like that but I refuse to be disrespected like that and then get it rubbed in my face. They got what they deserved. This same thing has happened a couple times. I'm sure some of you would have done it differently but I'm sure there are others that would have done the same thing if you where put in that situation.

[Super Fox]

Good points, B-OG;

I have found another hunting area this year, but the old area still has the most turkeys and I am a lifetime guest with family property rights.

It would be indeed a shame if the "modern turkey hunters" start acting like some deer hunters, or start acting like
night spot light deer "killers".

Since my first turkey brought back in the 1950s, I learned ethics from my father, who was a friend of Tom Kelly.
If it is done right, you feel that you earned that particular gobbler. The harder it is, the better in some cases.



Honorary Member--------------------Tenth Legion

[sasquatch1]

I don't shoot them unless I at least call them across some sort of big barrier. A street, river, fence etc etc.

Did I win?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Marc]

This is the same gobbler, as he is 5-6 years old now and does not generally respond to any type of call.

Unless he has some really unusual identifying marks, I would be doubtful that this is the same bird.

A good roost tree is a good roost tree and will be used by numerous birds throughout many years.  Feeding areas, hen breeding, and good roosting will often go to the birds that are at the top of the hierarchy...  And that hierarchy is in constant fluctuation.

As to the OT...  I think it would be pretty much universally argued on these forums, that shooting a bird out of the roost is unethical...  Should be illegal.

Sneaking into a roost tree at dark, and having the wherewithal to hide, and hold still enough, and to be in the right location to harvest the bird when he flies down is more of a personal choice of ethics (there is undoubtedly some woodsmanship skills involved in this process)...  Me...  If I did not have a hand in calling him in, I feel like I robbed myself of that pleasure...

Several years ago I called some hens off the roost to me...  And a nice tom flew into the tree I was sitting under (no idea if he flew off the roost or from the ground).  It just felt wrong to shoot him...  Had he flown to the ground in range, I would have killed him before his second foot hit the ground though...  I would argue that it is more difficult to call a bird into the tree you are sitting under, than calling him in on the ground, but it simply did not "feel" right to me...  He ended up flying to the ground just out of gun range and the hens followed him.  I do not think that shooting that bird would have been unethical, and it came down to a personal choice for "me" to make...

We all have to make personal choices in the field...  If you are able to feel joy and pride in the harvest, it is probably the right choice for you...  If there is guilt or dissatisfaction in the means or methods you use, then it was not the right personal choice for you.

[GobbleNut]

...Not a soul there the evening before.This is not a parking lot, it on the side of a road middle of nowhere. 1st truck drives by a hour and a half after I have been there, goes a quarter and parks. 2nd truck pulls up to my truck backs up 100 yds and parks by this time it breaking day. Turkey starts gobbling. 3rd truck pulls up to my truck stops gets out heard a gobble, drives 100yds past my truck, they get out. Now by now I'm as close as I can get to the turkey. 3 different people are moving in every gobble. I haven't said a word, which I hardly ever hoot. But the closer they get the madder I get. One person is less than 100 yds now, it's daylight the turkey is strutting and gobbling 35yds from me on the first big limb in a giant white oak. I told myself I will kill him or nobody will. So you know how it ended they didn't kill him. I hate to shoot one like that but I refuse to be disrespected like that and then get it rubbed in my face. They got what they deserved. This same thing has happened a couple times. I'm sure some of you would have done it differently but I'm sure there are others that would have done the same thing if you where put in that situation.

That situation sucks...and I would have been in a similar frame of mind that you were.  I agree with the idea that, in a situation like that, "if I ain't gonna kill him, none of these other jokers are goin' to either".  Still, I could not bring myself to shoot him out of the tree, much as I might like to just to spite those other jerk-o**s.  I would have no qualms whatsoever about "touchin' one off" into the tree he was in to get him to fly as far out of the county as I could get him to go...and hope that those other *%@$# &*%^!@ got the message about moving in on someone who was there first. 
...Wouldn't bring me complete satisfaction about the entire affair,...but it might help a little...although not a lot...   

[Zobo]

As to the OT...  I think it would be pretty much universally argued on these forums, that shooting a bird out of the roost is unethical...  Should be illegal.

Completely agree with Marc, this is not even debatable.

[Vintage]

In Kentucky it is illegal. I have no idea why someone would come on this forum and tell that story. Most on here would not shoot that bird. EVER.

[Bottomland OG]

In Kentucky it is illegal. I have no idea why someone would come on this forum and tell that story. Most on here would not shoot that bird. EVER.

Well, it wasn't illegal where it happened. Never said it was ethical either or something I was proud of but it happened. I responded to the question that was asked. You can think what you want to about me but it happened. Truth be known there are probably more on here that has than  you think, they just won't say in fear of tripping someone's trigger like you.

[Vintage]

You should not have told that story. Period. It was definitely unethical. So if other hunters on here have done it they had the decency to keep there mouth shut and not tried to justified it by saying someone else did it so it's all right for me to do it.