By calls alone

[shaman]

It was well over a decade ago when I witnessed an online war on the Turkey & Turkey Hunting Forum between a faction of self-styled "Old Schoolers" and the rest of the turkey hunters online.  One of the biggest issues was that of ambushing.

By the Old Schoolers' way of reading things, turkey hunting should be done "by calling alone."  There was even a section in several states' rules that mentioned this.  Pennsylvania was one of them. 

At the time, I voiced the opinions that:
1)  Fair Chase demanded that one obey the rules of the state.  Since Kentucky did not have such a limit, I was not bound by it.
2)  "By calling alone" was a proscription against stalking turkeys, not a proscription against ambushing. 
3)  If it were taken to an extreme sense, the PA rule would mean that once you heard a turkey gobble, you'd be breaking the law if you did not sit down immediately, since closing any distance at all was against the letter of the rule.

"Ambushing" in the terms of the Old Schoolers seemed to be anything you did that didn't conform to their standards of pursuit.  It was lumped in with decoys, baiting, and (in one fellow's terms)  sodomy and late-term abortion. Yikes!  Even that got the most ardent anti-ambushers censure.  Eventually the "Old Schoolers" began to argue amongst themselves and they all buggered off to go infest another forum, but that interaction left a distinct mark on my psyche. I ended up making good friends on that forum.  Eventually, I became a pro-staffer for T&TH for the Ohio and Kentucky region.  Now, it has been 12 years since that argument, a good  5 years since T&TH's forum went toes-up.   

I was thinking about that interaction this morning and went looking for the PA turkey rules.  I found this:

https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Turkey/Documents/PA%20Turkey%20Hunting%20Success%20and%20Safety.pdf

No mention is made of "by calling alone." In fact, the document discusses decoys and only states the following:

Resist the urge to stalk turkey sounds. It is nearly impossible to sneak up on a turkey. It is also unethical and could lead to an accident.

EDIT: I did find a section where the rules are laid out a little more succinctly.  The current verbiage is:

NO STALKING
Hunting by Calling Alone

https://read.nxtbook.com/pgc/huntingtrapping/20182019/turkey.html




Me?  I'm still as much of an apostate as ever.  I stopped chasing turkeys years ago.  I've been hunting the same 200 acres for almost two decades, and after the first 5 years or so, I found myself putting my back against the same few trees every year.  I call, but it is usually from one of just a few good spots. Is that ambushing?  I don't know.  Do I care?  Not really.

[aclawrence]

Thanks for sharing.  I love having a Gobbler respond to my calls and come to me. If that doesn't work The chess match of maneuvering begins. Which I guess you could say includes ambushing turkeys. Honestly if you sneak within 40yds of a turkey that's something to be proud of.


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[fallhnt]

Same on Old Gobbler

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[shaman]

After 12 years, I'm still kind of wondering: what is "ambushing" and how does it relate to contemporary turkey hunting?

Let me begin by saying, I'm dead set against stalking.  I've been stalked on public land.  It's scary to see a guy with a loaded shotgun creeping through the bushes-- he and the gun both on a hair trigger.  Thankfully, I don't hear much about that these days.  I hunt in the middle of my own plot all season anyways.

As far as I can tell, ambushing is camping out in one spot and not calling.  No, I don't advocate it as a good method.  However, I do sit in one spot a lot during season, and I'm a fairly conservative caller.  If that makes me a semi-ambusher, then fine.   I also think that given the number of turkeys and turkey hunting land available now, folks should lighten up a little.  If it is legal to do something in your state, it is not my job to sit in judgment.  I have a hard enough time filling my own tags, and not worrying about how you are filling yours.

What I will say is that the gold standard of putting your back against a large tree and calling a gob in is about the best way I've found to hunt.  I enjoy the esthetics of it.  I also find that it is the most efficient means of doing a bird in. Turkeys have a hard time picking me out from the tree, but I can see them from a long way off. I have much better visibililty than being cooped up in a blind, and I have a lot of options.  I've frequently scooted to the other side of the tree, or laid down prone or whatever. I've also picked up and moved on the fly, sometimes with nothing more than my gun and a single call. That's hard to do when you're bogged down with a blind, decoys, and the kitchen sink.

[Gooserbat]

I'd say just go to TX where it's legal, and snipe one off a corn feeder at 300 yards with a 22-250 and call it a day.

[Greg Massey]

In my young day's i would do the run and gun , but i felt i was lot more successful just working my way around the woods and fields and just calling with my back again tree or sitting in turkey chair. I just felt i wasn't spooking near as much game , and running turkeys off my property . It's like hunting the roost tree's on the property i don't do that either and i have turkeys roosting in the same tree's year after year young and old turkeys. It's like you pick what style of hunting is best for you and the time you have to hunt during the season. Being retired i  have all the time and someone working , may only have small opportunity to try and kill birds. As long as it's legal , your the one that has to live with YOUR choice of how you hunt. BE SAFE ...

[GobbleNut]

Let's face it, any of our opinions about what is the "noble" way to turkey hunt are based primarily on our own set of circumstances and personal "history" of turkey hunting.  I am quite certain that if I had started turkey hunting under the same set of conditions that some on here face, I would probably not hunt them.

From a personal perspective,...and as my screen name implies,...spring gobbler hunting is entirely about finding "gobbling" turkeys, vocally interacting with them, and doing whatever it takes calling-wise or "woodsmanship" wise to get them within shotgun range.  That "Utopian" outlook on turkey hunting may well be unrealistic in some parts of the country,...but that is how I want to hunt them,...and shall do so until "the end". 

Those of you that hunt under circumstance where you cannot realistically approach it under my set of rules: knock yourselves out.  You will get no complaints,...and no competition,...from me. 

Regardless of how you wish to hunt, just do it with an awareness of how your actions impact the resource and always look at it from the standpoint of insuring their posterity.  Other than that,......do yur thang!

[Harty]

There's the Law which we should all abide by and then our own personal ethics which will differ from person to person. Based on that go do your thing. I won't get my undies in a bundle over it if you're ethics are different then mine.

[gdc23]

I think waiting in ambush on a known turkey travel route without calling is missing the fun part of this sport, nothing like sweet talking a gobbler that is hesitant to come within range.

[Gamblinman]

I can tell you run and gun doesn't work well down here in Texas. You're bumping more birds that you have any idea. Yes, you'll harvest birds doing it, but you will be more successful if you spend more time scouting and determining where the birds want to be, move in, be patient, and call your birds up. You're welcome to hunt however you wish...just some insight from a well traveled guide and hunter.

[1iagobblergetter]

There's the Law which we should all abide by and then our own personal ethics which will differ from person to person. Based on that go do your thing. I won't get my undies in a bundle over it if you're ethics are different then mine.

  ..X2

[greencop01]

Whatever floats your boat as long as its legal. As for me I call 'em in, no decoys, no blinds, that floats my boat, and I let 'em in close as I dare.

[Cut N Run]

shaman, I remember that dust up and how riled up members at T&TH got over it.  Some called it a discussion....yeah right, not so much. 

Reality is that some participants there didn't actually go their merry way, but were jettisoned from the T&TH site.  Apparently, they were messaging one another behind the scenes and attempting to P!$$ off as many on the board as possible just to stir the pot and create enemies. Man, it sure did work too. The powers that be busted up the ring and sent the guilty packing.   Hard to believe that was 12 years ago.

I'm not an ambush hunter nor stalker, but if I have to get out ahead of one to call him in, I'm there.  I'm also one of those who GobbleNut doesn't hunt like for the simple reason that the properties I hunt are limited in size.  I have to hope the turkeys buy my calling and are willing to cross property lines to get to me.  I hate trespassers crossing boundaries to mess with the same birds I hunt & I have enough respect not to do that to somebody else.  I wish I had big tracts of land with many options, but I don't.  Human population has skyrocketed around here and the nearest public lands I used to have free range to roam are now hunt by draw only or state parks where hunting is off limits.  The gamelands which are open to anyone get a LOT of traffic by folks that I'm not sure I feel safe being in the same woods with.

I am suspicious of baiting going on at one of the farms near where I hunt, because I kept hearing shots from the same general area last year and there was minimal gobbler traffic on the farm I hunt a lot.  Usually, there's a few birds around, no matter if they come to my calls or not. Last year, that farm was an absolute ghost town and was the first time in 7 years I didn't see a gobbler.  Most of the gobbling and shots came from the same small area across the road, and that just ain't right.

I liked it better before turkey hunting became a "thing" and there were fewer participants just looking to post hero shots with a turkey on facebook.

Jim

[shaman]

shaman, I remember that dust up and how riled up members at T&TH got over it.  Some called it a discussion....yeah right, not so much. 

Ah! The good old days!

[catdaddy]

I'm no "purest". When I leave the truck I am turkey hunting with a primary goal of killing a turkey. There is a reason why I lug around that 9 Lb piece of steel and wood. Of course, there are limits--baiting, roost shooting at daylight that are universally recognized as unsporting. But-- if I watch turkeys leave the roost the same way for two days in a row and pass though a gap in the woods--you can bet on the third day I'll be positioned there in hopes of killing one. Why wouldn't I? Do purests expect me to stand back and call in hopes of making them change direction?