PotashRLS Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Let me set the stage................. You get to your secluded back field just as you can start seeing well. No birds answer your locator calls so you pick a spot and set up. As daylight comes, birds start to gobble in the neighboring properties around you. One gobbles fairly close to the northeast in the mixed cedar and overgrown spruce woods. The bird is inside 200 yards for sure. He continues to gobble here and there but doesn't answer your calls. On a side note you've seen 2 coyotes already this morning but no shot. By 7:30 all birds have gone quiet except the one closest to you. You decide to close the distance and use the small hills and tree cover to work towards him. He gobbles again and seems to be just over the next rise. You begin to call and he answers. This goes on for 15 minutes with no results. He no longer answers you so you decide to get closer to the hill you last heard him near. As you approach you let out a couple yelps hoping he pops his head up for a shot and he gobbles very close. But something doesn't sound right. You continue to sneek from tree to tree one small step at a time when you hear some clucking and putting. You ready for a quick shot and see no birds!?!?!? All of a sudden the tom gobbles and he is in some large white pines only 25 yards away. You can see one bird, which is a young tom with about a 5" beard hanging, but you can't see the gobbler. You wait them out and they go back to their normal activity. The small tom finally decides to fly down away from you and lands over a small cattail marsh. The larger tom gobbles and finally shows himself. He is close so you do some purrs and clucks to get his attention. He gobbles again and starts looking for you while strutting on the limb. This goes on for at least 5 minutes until he decides to fly down where the younger bird landed. Both are gone. You look at your watch and see it is after 8:30. It is nearly 3 1/2 hours after first light and the birds were still on the roost. There never were any hens with them that you saw. Did the coyotes keep them on the roost? What a fun morning. Here is the question........shoot or don't shoot? Both birds were perfectly legal. What would you have done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I answered I would never shoot a turkey from a tree... reason being is that it is illegal here in Ohio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethan Givan Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I answered I would never shoot a turkey from a tree... reason being is that it is illegal here in Ohio. Same here. I wouldnt shoot one out of a tree even if it were legal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsharp01 Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 It is legal here in NY but I would never shoot one out of the tree. Just ask yourself this question, Would you want to be shot in bed? Eventhough he was awake I still consider him "in bed" and will not shoot off the roost. However if the bird has been on the ground and then flies up in the trees for some reason then they are fair game, as long as they are not roosting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I have had the opportunity to shoot a few out of a tree and did not. There needs to be more of an adventure to it than that. Now, if the family was starving that would change things a bit. It is somewhat strange the way we have our hunting/shooting ethics locked in our head. When turkey hunting it is frowned upon to shoot them in flight or while in a tree although in some areas it is common practice to shoot them at long range with a rifle. The "purist" feel that if you did not bring the bird in to a call it was not done right. Now if you are hunting pheasants it would be frowned upon to shoot them on the ground as they must be in flight before you shoot and it is the same with ducks. Here in Montana it seems that a large portion of the hunters, if you can call them that, road hunt and have never strayed more the a couple of hundred feet from their vehicles and hunting season of any kind is just a time of year when you can kill something. It does not matter how. I guess the question is; Is it hunting season or killing season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted May 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 It is legal here in NY but I would never shoot one out of the tree. Just ask yourself this question, Would you want to be shot in bed? Eventhough he was awake I still consider him "in bed" and will not shoot off the roost. However if the bird has been on the ground and then flies up in the trees for some reason then they are fair game, as long as they are not roosting. He may have been on the ground earlier and flew back up because of the coyotes. I don't know that for sure. Good point though. Either way, I just couldn't do it. It's the hunt, not the kill. I was pretty proud that I got that close to them in broad daylight though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Nope wouldn't do it...had the opportunity before a few times and passed...once with a youth hunter sitting by me. Nothing illegal about it here (except jakes aren't legal) but not the way I want to kill my birds. As I've said before...The hunt is the trophy to me in turkey hunting...not the bird. BTW...that youth hunter was rewarded with a special experience later on along with his 1st gobbler. Maybe the yotes did tree the birds. If they had here in my neck of the woods they would have been silent for a long time, if not the rest of the day. Also...I know my chances of slipping within 25 yards of 2 roosted male turkeys is virtually nil without spooking them off long before I ever got even close to that 25 yard line. I wouldn't even attempt it knowing there's always tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohiobucks Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 Even if it was legal here in Ohio, I wouldn't do it. Seems to easy I guess - you could roost one the night before, get in there well before first light the next morning and blast 'em from the limb...? Not my kinda hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PotashRLS Posted May 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 Maybe the yotes did tree the birds. If they had here in my neck of the woods they would have been silent for a long time, if not the rest of the day. Also...I know my chances of slipping within 25 yards of 2 roosted male turkeys is virtually nil without spooking them off long before I ever got even close to that 25 yard line. I wouldn't even attempt it knowing there's always tomorrow. Here in Wisconsin we have 6 spring "seasons". They start on a Wednesday and end on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday are off and then the next week starts again on Wednesday. I drew week 4 and of the 5 days in that season, I worked one and did the Mother's Day thing with my Wife and Mother/Mother-in- Law. When we turkey hunt up here, you better be ready to giver hard for 5 days in order to get a bird. When it gets later into the seasons, you have to be a little aggressive because the birds are no longer coming to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsharp01 Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 I wasn't reffering to the same bird that was in the tree. I had a fall turkey hunting excursion and when we busted the flock up and started calling them in, a hen came over a ledge and hopped onto a branch about 10 feet off the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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