Where will the line be drawn?

[Quackwacker NC]

I guess I may have a different view than others, I like them in close also but what I didnt like was people claiming 40+ yard shots with insufficient equipment and getting lucky and killing one out of who knows how many hail marry shots from lead and even hevishot, I know some hevi loads extended the range past 40, but with tss and yes I shoot tss it makes your gun capable for killing a turkey at 60 now with the right setup and that's fine with me, I haven't shot a long range turkey yet but if he hangs up at 60 my gun will do the job and I'm fine with that.

[Bolandstrutters]

due to terrain, my average shot is 30 ft not 30 yds. I cant remember the last bird ive killed past 25 yds.

Exactly!  And thats what I love about turkey hunting the Missouri Ozarks.  They are in your face before you get a shot opportunity. 

[RED NECK]

I worry about making a clean shot on my standards.I don't need to worry about or set somebody else's standards.This same old played out topic gets re-hashed with bowhunters as well.I only police myself and not worry about being the county sheriff when it comes to hunting ethics.People will never change,live and hunt for yourself and enjoy the woods.

[eggshell]

I am ok with whatever you set for your own limits and equipment as long as you have done your homework and know your effective range. Life is a collection of choices and this is just that a choice and it is each person's to make. I have no skin in your choices unless they unduly impose on me and cause me harm.

Just a thought on the use of the long range loads. They can be pretty good insurance. I like my birds 35 yards or less and shoot Remington nitros in #5 shot and 3" 12 gauge. I just can't swallow paying $4.00 -6.00 for a single shell when at my range I don't need it. Now enter a scenario I encountered last spring. I had a bird come in and started to flank me and go away.  I looked and I figured the range at 40 yards and knew at 40 I was good, so I dropped the hammer on him. He popped up and was on his way directly away from me and making the distance greater with each step. My only option was to jump up and chase him. Well I lost that bird, my first loss in a very long time. I was mad, embarrassed and whatever emotion you can imagine. I went back and ranged it and to my surprise it was 52 yards..how could I have misjudged so badly! My buddy was all over me when I got back to the vehicle. He has lectured me for years to use the extended range shell even though I shoot bird close. I had no rebuttal. So it's still a good tool even if you shoot close, it can save some pretty sad feelings if you misjudge distance.

[Gobble!]

I am ok with whatever you set for your own limits and equipment as long as you have done your homework and know your effective range. Life is a collection of choices and this is just that a choice and it is each person's to make.

Well said.

[silvestris]

I am ok with whatever you set for your own limits and equipment as long as you have done your homework and know your effective range. Life is a collection of choices; I have no skin in your choices unless they unduly impose on me and cause me harm...I went back and ranged it and to my surprise it was 52 yards..how could I have misjudged so badly! My buddy was all over me when I got back to the vehicle. He has lectured me for years to use the extended range shell even though I shoot bird close. I had no rebuttal. So it's still a good tool even if you shoot close, it can save some pretty sad feelings if you misjudge distance.

Another timely message from the Crippler family.  I mean it is only a turkey.  It is not like it is a Pitt  Bull Dog or something.

[Gobble!]

I am ok with whatever you set for your own limits and equipment as long as you have done your homework and know your effective range. Life is a collection of choices; I have no skin in your choices unless they unduly impose on me and cause me harm...I went back and ranged it and to my surprise it was 52 yards..how could I have misjudged so badly! My buddy was all over me when I got back to the vehicle. He has lectured me for years to use the extended range shell even though I shoot bird close. I had no rebuttal. So it's still a good tool even if you shoot close, it can save some pretty sad feelings if you misjudge distance.

Another timely message from the Crippler family.  I mean it is only a turkey.  It is not like it is a Pitt  Bull Dog or something.

Did you even read the rest of what he said or just want you wanted to read? He misjudged a distance. Most of us have been there. His point was he was using crap ammo which he knew was good at 40 but not beyond. He misjudged a shot and a bird got away. Sounds like he learned his lesson. With a better quality shell he may have had that extra insurance for a misjudged shot. 

THIS is why I like over kill. If my gun was only putting 100 pellets in a 10" circle a 40 yards I'd limit myself to 30 yards unless I had ranged the area before a bird walked into it. The 100 pellets in a 10" circle is nice until you push beyond that limit with a misjudged shot.

[sevetts]

I'm just glad I've spent my turkey hunting years being a turkey killer not a turkey hunter! Nothing beats the thrill of shooting a hung up 60yard bird so I can take some pics to send out to my expanse of friends on the internet for self gratitude and if I miss no big deal I just go back to the house and practice on my pit bull. Any turkey I have killed over 40yards was only for the satisfaction of killing something and to gain social prominence!!!  I honestly I mean honestly wonder how many of the people who tell other turkey killers how wrong they are for doing something actually have the right to tell them! What are the standards? The amount of birds you've killed??? How long you've been doing it? Were you doing it back in the old days??? How close you get to them? Do I gain hunting points for the numbers I've killed? Do I lose points because I've knowingly killed past 40? Do I gain points cause most were not in a blind. Do I loose points cause some were over decoys? Do I gain points because a few have been with a bow? Do I loose points because some were in a blind? Do I gain or loose points cause I don't hunt turkeys in the fall? I killed my first bird when I was 11yrs old by myself, I shot that bird and a few others with a Springfield single shot 20ga with a modified barrel and who knows what kind of shell. Since that time I have been a part of a very large number of turkey deaths, I'm not trying to brag but at some point it is no longer just about killing them but I will still today shoot a bird at whatever range the hunt calls for. There are some days I don't shoot. I'd say last year was a pretty typical year, I killled 2 birds and called in 3 others. I only got to hunt Missouri. I killed one bird that was very close and one that was not. You know what I did with the one that was not close? I ran my bare hands over his feathers and I thanked god for an awesome bird, the exact same way I did the other 4 that were shot under 30yards. I am going to let everyone know what makes you a turkey hunter..... Your MONEY!  When you buy tags or land or take trips out of state or buy a new gun or a $60 box of shells you are a turkey hunter! Nothing you can do will benefit the wild turkey or wild turkey hunting more than that. As long as we spend our money the wild turkey will remain a resource, and until that resource is outweighed by something else we will remain turkey hunters. So thank you for all that ALL of you do for turkey hunting! Take someone out let them hear a turkey gobble maybe even shoot one then you will become as good of a turkey hunter as you could possibly ever become! Nothing you do,not how you choose to hunt, not how far you decide to shoot matters except the fact that you are out there doing it! I wish everyone luck out there. Stay Legal and Safe!

[WyoHunter]

It's the same with everything kind of weaponry in hunting.

Bow sights that range the target for you and give you a luminated dot to aim with.

Guys building 600 yard muzzle loaders.

2000 yard hunting rifles.

It was only a matter of time before shotguns was part of the game too. I don't think we can do anything about it besides being true to yourself and hunt how you want and how you enjoy.

So true unfortunately. The hunt part of hunting has taken a back seat to shooting IMO.

[idgobble]

As I read all this I wonder if anyone ever paces off their effective distance when they set up to call.  It's easy and eliminates all the guess work.  We all know the effective distance of our gun and ammo.  All you have to do is pace off the farthest effective shot.  If you know it's 40 yards, great! The jam a stick in the ground or lay a branch there. Do another one at 30 yards on the way back and try to wait for that shot.  Do it in a couple directions if you want. Then back up your first shot with the heaviest size shot and load that's legal in case you have to shoot at one that's wounded and getting away.

[mtns2hunt]

As I read all this I wonder if anyone ever paces off their effective distance when they set up to call.  It's easy and eliminates all the guess work.  We all know the effective distance of our gun and ammo.  All you have to do is pace off the farthest effective shot.  If you know it's 40 yards, great! The jam a stick in the ground or lay a branch there. Do another one at 30 yards on the way back and try to wait for that shot.  Do it in a couple directions if you want. Then back up your first shot with the heaviest size shot and load that's legal in case you have to shoot at one that's wounded and getting away.

Good suggestion: although I use a range finder to mark my distance and use decoys to mark distance in the hay field. I think misjudging distance is primarily due to anxiety and adrenaline and possible inexperience. As a bow hunter I learned very quickly how important it is judging distance. Dispite all the hype Turkey hunting remains a short range sport unless you use a rifle.

[Sir-diealot]

As I read all this I wonder if anyone ever paces off their effective distance when they set up to call.  It's easy and eliminates all the guess work.  We all know the effective distance of our gun and ammo.  All you have to do is pace off the farthest effective shot.  If you know it's 40 yards, great! The jam a stick in the ground or lay a branch there. Do another one at 30 yards on the way back and try to wait for that shot.  Do it in a couple directions if you want. Then back up your first shot with the heaviest size shot and load that's legal in case you have to shoot at one that's wounded and getting away.

I have a string in my backpack with a rock tied to one end that I leave directly in front of blind and take the decoys to end of string which is 30 yards and set them up there. Not always easy to judge distance in the light let alone in the dark when I am normally setting up so this really helps.

[Happy]

If I am where I want to be then pacing off 40 yards is going to lead to a busted gobbler. It ain't that hard to learn to judge 40 yards and if you know your gun and load combination then you should be fine. Just cheat your shots well inside your max range. For example I patterned my gun at 40 yards and got 200 pellets in the ten. And then I checked at 50. This is not condoning 50 yard shots but I need to know these details. I had 100 pellets in the ten. So by limiting my shots to 40 and in I have a 10 yard lead way for error. Now as long as I stay at a self imposed 40 yard estimated shot I will be fine. But the thing to remember is that a typical pattern starts loosing pellet count rapidly past 40 yards (at least in my experience) just cause you have a great pattern at 40 doesn't mean it will be good at 60 or even 50 yards. We may not agree on "proper" range at which turkeys should be killed but I would hope we all want to make sure we do not go wounding turkeys. If you think it's pushing your guns limits it then it is to far.

[BottomLand54]

Ima chime in and may get scolded but all of us and I mean everyone here who has turkey hunted has misjudged yardage's at one time or another, even the old timers with their non choke Remington 11-87 12 gauge's and their Winchester supreme #4s. I had one of the greatest turkey hunters in our area With me hunting with last year he missed a bird we worked for 2.5 hours he missed him at 11 yards. I've also seen folks get so tore up they miss or don't shoot. We all have missed, we all have misjudged, we all have spooked birds, we all have locked our keys in our car, we all have sinned. Everyone of us has made mistakes. Success comes by learning from our mistakes!

I last year without tss misjudged a bird it was an open field and as many 3D archery tournaments I have shot in I have learned it is completely different when you are sitting down at a tree looking out into an open field. I hear the saying well why didn't you use a range finder. Well I ain't got time for all that when the bird came out of the woods to my left and straight into the open field and presented a clean shot that I thought was closer then what it was, I shot and yes the bird was further then I wanted to shoot but it was a clean ethical kill with non tss shot.

So my line is where do I feel comfortable shooting? For me that is within 30 yards. However what does my hunting setup do past 30 yards? Why would anyone shoot a bird last 40 yards? If he's a bird you have hunted and hunted and hunted and he gives you 40.1 yds and that's it are you going to shoot? We are worried about a guy making a clean ethical kill on a bird at a misjudged distance but don't make a big deal out of the guy who shoots them off the limb! To me it is a little crazy, I do not recommend or condone shooting birds past 40 yards, however if we were all honest and not prideful and braggers and so macho we all can admit we have all messed up!

I say practice, know your setup, and make clean ethical kills. I think shooting birds at 50+ yards is crazy but I am honest and I have accidentally misjudged and did it! I am not proud of it, but it happened to me! All of my other birds have been within 17 yds, Lord willing I hope they stay within that range I rally prefer to shoot at 20-25 yards it's where my gun performs best. So I will shoot a bird before he comes in and flogs my decoys if he is a shooter.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mtns2hunt]

Ima chime in and may get scolded but all of us and I mean everyone here who has turkey hunted has misjudged yardage's at one time or another, even the old timers with their non choke Remington 11-87 12 gauge's and their Winchester supreme #4s. I had one of the greatest turkey hunters in our area With me hunting with last year he missed a bird we worked for 2.5 hours he missed him at 11 yards. I've also seen folks get so tore up they miss or don't shoot. We all have missed, we all have misjudged, we all have spooked birds, we all have locked our keys in our car, we all have sinned. Everyone of us has made mistakes. Success comes by learning from our mistakes!

I last year without tss misjudged a bird it was an open field and as many 3D archery tournaments I have shot in I have learned it is completely different when you are sitting down at a tree looking out into an open field. I hear the saying well why didn't you use a range finder. Well I ain't got time for all that when the bird came out of the woods to my left and straight into the open field and presented a clean shot that I thought was closer then what it was, I shot and yes the bird was further then I wanted to shoot but it was a clean ethical kill with non tss shot.

So my line is where do I feel comfortable shooting? For me that is within 30 yards. However what does my hunting setup do past 30 yards? Why would anyone shoot a bird last 40 yards? If he's a bird you have hunted and hunted and hunted and he gives you 40.1 yds and that's it are you going to shoot? We are worried about a guy making a clean ethical kill on a bird at a misjudged distance but don't make a big deal out of the guy who shoots them off the limb! To me it is a little crazy, I do not recommend or condone shooting birds past 40 yards, however if we were all honest and not prideful and braggers and so macho we all can admit we have all messed up!

I say practice, know your setup, and make clean ethical kills. I think shooting birds at 50+ yards is crazy but I am honest and I have accidentally misjudged and did it! I am not proud of it, but it happened to me! All of my other birds have been within 17 yds, Lord willing I hope they stay within that range I rally prefer to shoot at 20-25 yards it's where my gun performs best. So I will shoot a bird before he comes in and flogs my decoys if he is a shooter.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No scolding from me. While I may not agree with all of your post. I do agree with your statement "Success comes by learning from our mistakes!"