Pre-season Calling Prohibition

[Spurs Up]

Does any state other than Kentucky do this??!

"A person shall not mimic the sound of a turkey in an area open to turkey hunting and where turkeys are reasonably expected to be present from March 1 until the opening..."

In your opinion, is this a good thing, worth adopting elsewhere or government overreach?

[SteelerFan]

Not here in PA or MD.

I'm curious as to the origin and or intent of this regulation. Is it geared to not "harassing" birds during what biologists believe is peak breeding? Or is it on behalf of hunters not wanting birds messed with before season?

[Spurs Up]

Not here in PA or MD.

I'm curious as to the origin and or intent of this regulation. Is it geared to not "harassing" birds during what biologists believe is peak breeding? Or is it on behalf of hunters not wanting birds messed with before season?

Good question. I was assuming the latter but really don't know.

[MickT]

TN has it on WMAS. The idea is to not educate birds before season starts.


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[GobbleNut]

I would agree that the regulation is probably on behalf of hunters.  In my early years, I would call birds prior to the season.  It didn't take me long to figure out that gobblers can become more difficult to call with just an encounter or two with phantom hen calling, or worse yet, calling encounters where the hen that they go to turns out to be a human. 

From my own experiences doing so, and the results I have witnessed because of it, I personally believe it is unwise to call the gobblers you plan on hunting before the season starts,...and it is just a sign of respect to other turkey hunters to have the same courtesy with their birds. 

Whether or not an actual regulation is needed to discourage preseason calling,...well, that is a matter of opinion.  But there is no doubt in my mind that the practice can have a negative impact on a gobbler's responsiveness to calling. 

[guesswho]

Good luck enforcing that. 

I don't call much during the season.  I am guilty of an occasional owl hoot or two before season.   But even that is rare.   

[falltoms]

Pennsylvania was trying to pass a law of such, don't know if it did though

[joey46]

Was a full time resident of KY when this was passed.  From memory - Came about because so many were trying to be Oscar winning wildlife cameramen with their video cameras.   Compliance based pretty much on the "honor system"

[fallhnt]

IL ,can't call before season starts.

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[Double B]

It's a good law on public ground for sure.  Use a crow or owl locator if you want,  that's legal.  I don't  pre season call to birds I plan to hunt.

[LaLongbeard]

Should be a law everywhere,but I think it's common knowledge to experienced Turkey hunters. This came up on  La forum early season couple of the older guys tried to explain the reasoning but the new age know it alls could not/would not comprehend. At the end of the season these same two or three experts were on a thread crying to each other about how hard the season was and how nobody killed a turkey lol. There is no logical reason to call a gobbler before the season.

[eggshell]

I have hunted Ky. public land for 33 years and I am convinced it has made a significant difference in my hunt success. I live in Ohio just an hour from the Ky border and have good friends in Ky to hunt with so it is part of my yearly plans to hunt there. Before the law was enacted many of the locals would pound the public land practice calling and video taping. You had to get into isolated pockets to find green birds. Most of the birds you were hunting reacted like mid season birds and it could be really tough. The first year the law went into effect my buddy and I tagged out in two days and repeated that success for the next two springs. The area we hunted had a particularly active conservation officer who made morning patrols in the area and enforced the law. I would like to buy him a steak dinner sometime. I confess in the early years I done the same thing in my home area, but it did not take me long to realize I was making my hunting more difficult. Today I have control over most of my private ground and I do not allow preseason calling of any kind, period. As a matter of fact all we ever do for scouting is walk the ridge roads a couple times the week before season. It makes for more fun hunts as you often get to see birds show off well in range instead of having to bust his head as soon as he peeks over a bench in range. I am all for it.

[nitro]

There is (was) a Game Warden in Georgia that was notorious for calling to birds on the WMA(s) he managed in the preseason.  Once the Gobbler(s) got close, he would jump up and run at them yelling along the way.

You killed one on that tract and you had done something. He has retired. Last I checked, the success rate on those tracts had gone up.

[Cottonmouth]

There is (was) a Game Warden in Georgia that was notorious for calling to birds on the WMA(s) he managed in the preseason.  Once the Gobbler(s) got close, he would jump up and run at them yelling along the way.

You killed one on that tract and you had done something. He has retired. Last I checked, the success rate on those tracts had gone up.

Sounds like one of my neighbors.  He laid every egg and raised every turkey within 2 miles of his house.
One time I was messing with a henned up field bird on some land that bordered his. When he saw my truck parked there he went home and proceded to walk up and down his property line with a leaf blower. He didn't know where I was apparently because the turkey came running right to me. Under different circumstances I wouldn't have shot him, but it sure felt good waving at him with a longbeard on my shoulder beside my truck.

[sixbird]

There is (was) a Game Warden in Georgia that was notorious for calling to birds on the WMA(s) he managed in the preseason.  Once the Gobbler(s) got close, he would jump up and run at them yelling along the way.

You killed one on that tract and you had done something. He has retired. Last I checked, the success rate on those tracts had gone up.

Sounds like one of my neighbors.  He laid every egg and raised every turkey within 2 miles of his house.
One time I was messing with a henned up field bird on some land that bordered his. When he saw my truck parked there he went home and proceded to walk up and down his property line with a leaf blower. He didn't know where I was apparently because the turkey came running right to me. Under different circumstances I wouldn't have shot him, but it sure felt good waving at him with a longbeard on my shoulder beside my truck.

HAH!!! Love it!!!