Calling vs Bush whacking

[jblackburn]

I call it the Missouri sneak an I have never regretted doing it to fill a tag.

[troutfisher13111]

I have done both and will continue to do so. I think most everyone would prefer to call them in, but as a turkey hunter I will do what it takes to be successful minus shooting them out of a tree. If I was paying a guide, I would want him to have the same attitude.

[bghunter777]

I repeat it is ILLEGAL to stalk a gobbler during the spring hunt in Pennsylvania. I will quote the regulation from Pa.'s 2012-13 Hunting and Trapping digest. On page 35 under turkey seasons, bag limits and regulations it says "Statewide. Only turkeys with visible beards are legal. Hunting by CALLING ONLY-NO STALKING- one-half hour before sunrise until noon from April 27 through May 11, and then from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset from May 13 through May 31. Hunters are asked to be out of the woods by 1pm when closing hours are noon". So you can see if you choose to stalk or try to sneak up on a turkey in Pa. without calling you are breaking the law and subject to arrest. With the high hunting pressure that we have here it is a safety issue plain and simple. In Pa. like I said before the sport is in the calling.

After what I witnessed on Saturday, PA dnr has a lot more to worry about than how you're killing a turkey.

Furthermore, the quality of the calling displayed by your fellow PA hunters left me wondering if most of them should give up calling and adapt another tactic.

Yes PA has the worst DNR in the counrty IMO I lived there most of my life and still travel back every year out of habit. But the game commission in that state couldnt manage a 1000 acre high fence.

The people that work are not hunters don't understand hunting or even wildlife biology. I travel to kentucky as well every year and dealing with their DNR is night and day! As for the hunters in PA its like anything else some good some bad but I have quit rifle hunting in that state for that very reason its not the rifle hunting I don't enjoy its the people and how they act. Its a shame a state with such a rich history has decimated there wildlife populations other than select private lands they have no control.

[jims]

I imagine it's an entirely different ball game closing the distance with calls in the fall vs spring?  Have many of you had much luck luring in turkeys in the fall w/calls and decoys.  I would expect bush whacking ought to be an easier route to go in the fall...but possibly setting up immediately adjacent to roosting/feeding sites may work?

[bghunter777]

I admittedly do little fall turkey hunting but it is growing on me. I'm always ussually switched into archery mode that time of year. The success I have had calling birds is breaking up a flock and calling them back in other than that its tough to call a flock of fall birds in.

Bushwacking in the spring? I try to avoid at all costs have I done it yes but find myself doing it little as I get more birds and years under my belt. I do use the tactic of setting up in areas I think they want to go but for me personally calling is 90% of my enjoyment.