Turkey's in The Tree

I really enjoy Turkey Hunting, for a number of reasons. Being out in the woods, early in the morning, watching the sun rise. You also get to see the spring season come into its glory, the birds all awakening, and singing. Then there is the start up of the Turkeys. Hens clucking and the Toms Gobbling their fool heads off, WOW, just amazing.

Then, you finally call one in; I can still remember the first Tom I called in, man was I ever pumped, and I still get pumped when one is stalking you.

That said, if I had a tag in my wallet, and it was the last day of the season, I would seriously consider blasting one off it's roost if the opportunity presented itself. I see no "unsportsmanlike" conduct in doing so, I just choose to have the, for me, very rewarding experience of calling a Tom in. Years ago, they used to hunt Turkey's with flushing dogs, and shoot them "on the Wing", I think that could be a lot of fun as well. Any Legal hunting is all good for me!
 
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This is a lot like the crossbow vs compound bow discussion. The purists would like to see all archery hunting accomplished with sticks and strings and preferably a broadhead you made yourself out of a coke can or maybe a piece of flint that you sharpened for three weeks by rubbing it against a granite outcropping. You cannot expect rational thought from somebody whose opinions are so cast in stone.

I know grouse hunters who would spit at me if they knew that I shoot grouse on the ground. If I see a legal grouse I take the shot, I do not care where it is.

I have friends who would consider shooting a duck or goose on the water as simply shocking. :eek: If I am set up on a pond and a legal bird comes in and decides to swim in my kill zone, I shoot it.

If I saw a legal bird at a legal time on the roost, within range, with five hundred witnesses, that bird is going to receive my undivided attention and a load of duplex shot. I do not consider that to be unsportsmanlike.

Now some poster went on about conservation of the species. Nobody believes that wild turkeys are threatened here in Ontario, and we have a TWO bird spring limit and a third bird in the fall. It is a specious argument to state that any legal shot is going to inexorably lead to the extinction of the species. Trot out any tired old ethical argument that you want, but if we are talking facts and science, the total number of turkeys shot off the roost in Ontario is probably insignificant.

But if we are talking ethics, consider last fall's deer hunting. When it became apparent that the deer herd here in Eastern Ontario was in trouble, many hunters (myself included) passed up on does and fawns for the good of the herd. MOST hunters are conservationists because it is in our best interests to be. Almost none of us would willingly do anything that would cause harm to our game species. But shooting turkeys off roosts does not, in my view, fall into that category.

Flame away folks, but please remember that YOUR beliefs are not necessarily MY beliefs, and nor are they in any way superior, regardless of your strongly held opinions.

Doug
 
At 9am the on the openning day I had a turkey land in a tree nearby, he must of been spooked from all the shooting around me. No I did not shoot HIM because he saw me first? I know two birds were shot out of the roost in my bush as I seen one fall and the other was shot when it was still dark this one I am guessing at? I can hunt everyday from opener to closing all day long so I have lots of time to kill two birds and no need to roost shoot. If you hunters think turkey do not get bumped ( not shot ) off a roost in the dark from a hunter walking under the roost tree you have not spent much time in the woods?
 
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Doug said:
Now some poster went on about conservation of the species. Nobody believes that wild turkeys are threatened here in Ontario, and we have a TWO bird spring limit and a third bird in the fall. It is a specious argument to state that any legal shot is going to inexorably lead to the extinction of the species. Trot out any tired old ethical argument that you want, but if we are talking facts and science, the total number of turkeys shot off the roost in Ontario is probably insignificant.
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Pretty sure this must be referring to my post, and if so than I must have not worded my position very clear. I certainly didn't mean that shooting a bird off roost is a matter of conservation, and I also understand that there are hunters who rely on the roost to fill a tag.
My reference to the previous extinction of our birds here in Ontario was reflecting of of the simplicity of shooting over the complexity of hunting.
It was a money game, the birds were harvested for monetary gain, the easiest way to harvest a bird was from shooting it from the roost, that is why I referenced the roost as part of that age old problem, certainly not conservation of today's species.
Shooting a bird from the roost is by no means the same as shooting one from the ground, regardless of what it tastes like when it hits the grill.
This morning I woke up in Varney, a couple hours from my home on a one morning turkey hunt (the rest of the day was dedicated to groundhogs), at morning light I was under 9 turkeys, two of which were legal birds. I didn't for one second consider taking a shot at them, I waited until they began the process of becoming what I would consider "fair game", two feet on the ground. They spotted me and blasted away before they had a chance to land where I wanted (needed) them. I still feel like I had a very successful hunt, I seen my quarry and it beat me at the game. Shooting them where they sat would have bagged a bird, no doubt, but I would not have walked away with the same glow I had knowing I had been beat, again.
To each their own, my goal wasn't to simply tag a bird, I wanted the hunt, not the kill. The kill feels good too, but it isn't why I was there, waiting on the sun getting eaten by black flies.
Could I have filled a tag? Yup, 9 actually, but the hunt simply wasn't there for me. I wasn't there in a last ditch effort to put food on my starving family's table, I was there to hunt.
Me, I would rather stop at McDonald's on the way home then shoot a bird from the roost, because anyone, and I mean anyone who can lift a shotgun can hit a turkey on a branch.
Someday they may evolve and be more Leary up there, but until then it is simply filling a tag, it isn't fair to the rest of us to call that hunting.
 
7.62mm said:
If it is legal, it is a fair hunt. Individual morals and ethics have nothing to do with a legal hunt!
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Ah, the law..
So what's your stance on ### marriage? Must be ethical because it's legal right? I mean, they must know what is good and what isn't, after all, they do make the law..
It is also legal to dump 6 tons of corn in a field and hunt deer over it, does that make it right?
I am a believer that morals and ethics have EVERYTHING to do with it.

If the hunting and firearm laws were written by hunters and firearm owners they would not be the same as they way they are now.


I am not saying shooting a bird from the roost is unethical or illegal, I am saying it isn't hunting. Like my groundhogs over the last 48 hours, I killed lots of them, but make no mistake, I wasn't hunting, I was shooting.
 
back to Pyd, I say again:

YOUR beliefs are not necessarily MY beliefs, and nor are they in any way superior, regardless of your strongly held opinions.

I am not "pathetic" as you state in your first post, nor am I "not a hunter" as you suggest in your last post, if I choose to shoot a turkey off his roost. I have not done it yet, but I surely would, and YOUR moral judgements will not deter me.

I surely RESPECT your opinion, I just do not share it, and I do not accept your judgemental attitude about people who do not agree with you.

For what it's worth, I know people who disagree with groundhog hunting unless you eat your kills. Do you eat your goundhogs? (I do not. I just shoot them and consider it good sport.)

Ethics are pretty relative, and we hunters do NOT need folks within our ranks suggesting that LEGAL activities, like groundhog shooting, and taking turkeys off a roost, are somehow immoral, unethical, unsportsmanlike, or whatever.

Like 7.62mm says, if it is legal, it is a fair hunt.

JMOYMV. MY beliefs are not necessarily YOUR beliefs, and nor are they in any way superior, regardless of my strongly held opinions. :D

Doug
 
OK I see that ### marriage is bad in Pyd's world, but slaughtering lots of groundhogs that he is not going to eat is OK.

REALITY CHECK PLEASE. Take a poll of ALL voters in Ontario on that proposition. We do not have to like what constitutes public opinion, but that is life in a democracy...........:rolleyes:

Hey, Mister Pyd, as I already said I respect your opinions and your right to state them but I do not necessarily share them. And I am having a bit of a hard time to respect them, no offence.

Doug
 
Doug said:
For what it's worth, I know people who disagree with groundhog hunting unless you eat your kills. Do you eat your goundhogs? (I do not. I just shoot them and consider it good sport.)
Doug
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Eww.. Couldn't imagine eating one of those, although it did come up in conversation today.
The groundhogs we were shooting were on a sheep farm, the holes were causing physical damage to the farmers livestock. Apparently (this was an educational couple days for me) the groundhogs surface rocks that damage harvesting equipment as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the hunt, but it wasn't simply for selfish pleasure, it is my job. I do indeed feed my family with hunts like that, but not necessarily from the meat of the game.

Doug, I am not judging you, or anyone else who has different opinions than mine, my opinion of turkeys comes from my enjoyment of the hunt, not anyone elses ethics, morals or shooting ability. I am not challenging your ability to hunt, hell, I don't even know you. I am just saying that shooting a bird from the roost is not the same as hunting turkeys. My blanket statements are not aimed at an individual, it is just my opinion and I have accepted years ago that it doesn't have to be the same as everyone elses to have validity. Don't take it personal, they are just words.
 
Thanks Pyd, good on you. :)

BTW groundhogs are fairly tasty, as long as you eat the younger ones. In the old days when we still had lots of them to shoot, if I got a smaller dirtpig with a nice head shot I would clean it and cook it. Hey, they eat grass, it's not like muskrats that taste like mouldy pike........:eek:

Doug
 
Pyd,

It is good to see that now "Your" morals and ethics don't apply to everyone. What constitutes "Your" hunt is for you only. No one else can tell you what you can or can't take out of a hunt, but rather you decide, your own personal choice, of what you want your hunt to be like. To judge others in a bad light, for a legal hunt that you find offensive, is a long slippery road. Who knows, someday someone might tell you, that what you are doing is wrong, morally and ethically, who are they to decide? It is really up to the individual to make their own hunt theirs, to get out of it, what they want! As long as it is within the law, and witin the hunting regulations, who are we to judge?
 
The two birds I referred to that were shot out of the roost were by the same hunter. He is a good paper shooter but at his best, he is not a skilled hunter ( that is being kind ). He does the best he can. But he paid $24.50 x 2 for a turkey licence and about $30 for gas and as long as he shot the turkey within the game laws then good for him even though he screwed up everyone else that was nearby in the woods as the rest of turkey flew away? So after that I got to hunt educated birds in a fair chase?
 
key hunting is about beating the bird at what it excels at,
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What would that be? Besides being the stupidest animal on the planet.:D


Have you ever watched one jump over a creek and then loose his mind when he cant figure out how to get back to the other side.:D
 
I'm all for the hunters of turkeys. Those little f@$kers have almost launch me a couple of times off my bike, popping out of ditches at the last minute and then running like their head was cut off, trying to figure out what to do next! They maybe coy & hard to hunt, but they got to be one of the stupidest birds alive!? I have counted as many as 50 - 75 birds in one cornfield in this area. I don't believe there's a shortage of them lilly basturds in this area... I surprised the coyotes in this area aren't all over weight & fartin feathers?
 
7.62mm said:
It is really up to the individual to make their own hunt theirs, to get out of it, what they want! As long as it is within the law, and witin the hunting regulations, who are we to judge?
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A quote worthy of a sticky!

Another quote from a CGNer whose name I have since forgotten:

"poultry beats poetry"
 
I have never shot one out of the roost, but probably would if I got the chance - It would depend on how many tags I had left, how many days in the season were left, etc... If you can get that close without them spooking, good for you.

Ethics are a personal opinion. Some people think you should only shoot big bucks, or grouse on the wing, etc... If it's legal, have at 'er!
 
Pyd said:
"Fish in a barrel" comes to mind.. If you are incapable of actually hunting then a roosted bird is definitely for you. Turkey hunting is about beating the bird at what it excels at, if a treed bird is fair game to you then it speaks volumes about you ability to hunt.
They became extinct here because of the absolute ease of snapping a bird from a tree, it involves no talent or skill. It is the opposite of turkey hunting, it is simply "shooting". Any person with a gun can shoot a bird from a tree, only a hunter can get one off the ground.
This isn't just my opinion, it is the reason for their previous extinction in this area.
Pathetic at the very least.
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I agree somewhat. I remember hear a guy bragging about shooting 2 big toms in the first 2 days in the gun shop last year. Then he made a comment about shooting them off the roost. Legal yes, but not sportsmanlike in MY opinion.
 
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