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Post by rusty on Mar 17, 2023 8:19:05 GMT -5
For me it's all about enjoying what I'm doing. Killing game is secondary-believe it or not. And the most enjoyable part of spring birds is the show and the up-close gobbling sending chills down my spine unlike just about anything in hunting.
Many times my spring turkey hunts have turned into hunts for mushrooms or leek digging trips. And I don't know if there's ever been one that was not at least a little about scouting for deer-old scrapes, rubs, sheds... And some hunters may not hunt where they are free to roam over miles of ground even if they wanted. The way I like to do it would never work where they hunt.
Everyone hunts for their own reasons. One definition of the word "Play" is when the joy of doing something is an end in itself. I guess that my hunts might better described as play.
BTW, I don't consider myself any kind of a great turkey hunter. The fall birds I've killed were usually targets of opportunity and the spring birds were more a matter of eventually finding a gobbler in the mood to come in to my calls to a point close enough to kill with the gun I use.
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Post by Loggy on Mar 17, 2023 9:45:04 GMT -5
I certainly don't consider myself as a "Long Range Turkey Hunter" by any means. I hunt using various methods...ground blinds(with/without decoys), run & gun, open stand sitting against trees etc etc. I as most strive to call a gobbler in as close as possible allowed by conditions. Most of my kills are inside 40 yards but some not. Early Spring in upper tier mountains there's lil or no foliage so it's not uncommon to get a gobbler hung-up sometimes 50-60 yards out. Same goes for Fall Season's increased visability when leaves drop. For me....I'm carrying a gun/load that's versatile in delivering a heavy/hard hitting payload resulting in an ethical shot best for my hunting style/locations I hunt. I pattern my gun/load so know exactly what it & I are capable of. That's how I roll.
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Post by dougl on Mar 17, 2023 15:40:38 GMT -5
I never been able to sit in one place waiting for very long, especially when I was a young hunter. I can do it for a couple hours at a time in archery season, but turkey is more moving and listening for a bird to work unless I had listened to them roost the night before for me. As said above, like all hunting, to each his own. This isn't directed at you. Some say that shooting them from a blind isn't challenging or not a true turkey hunting experience. Yet, some of these same folks don't have the patience to do it, preferring to run and gun. I can tell you that I have killed many dozens of spring gobblers over the year here in Pa. Both with arrows and shotguns. I used to run and gun like many do looking for that hot bird. Killed many that way with shotguns and a few with arrows. When it comes to some of my most rewarding hunts from an hunting experience standpoint, a few have been from a blind. Scouting to find some good roosts. Setting the blind well before light. Working the bird as he gobbles from the roost. Get frustrated as he doesn't work due to hens or other factors. Sitting tight peering out of a small window for 4 hours as he answers occasionally. Listening to other gobblers sounding off two ridges and deciding to sit tight on the same bird instead of making a move on the "hot" gobbler. Baking in the blind till 10:30 then all of a sudden the gobbler you are after gobbles his head off looking for you finally. You call and he answers back and he sneaks in at 11:15 and does the death flop after over 6 hours in the blind. One of the best turkey hunters I know is a run and gun type of hunter. He wanted to try to shoot some with arrows and did the blind thing for awhile. He found out he didn't have the patience to sit and work one bird for hours and went running and gunning the hot birds then switched back to the shotgun when success didn't come easy with arrows. SO NOW IT'S ACTUALLY MORE CHALLENGING TO SIT IN A BLIND AND WAIT THEM OUT LOL?I don't care how you kill em Gene.I only care how I kill them but that's a real gut buster.
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Post by fleroo on Mar 17, 2023 15:56:38 GMT -5
I know you directed this to that stud-muffin, Doug But to me, calling a bird off a ridge, and watching it strut at 90 yards out, should be a bird that is currently considered "hung up".
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Post by dougl on Mar 17, 2023 16:13:42 GMT -5
When my son started to hunt he learned real fast that you don't have to kill every turkey or deer you see.Sometimes they win and that's part of the fun.You know what isn't fun?Watching one run away with a face full of bird shot.To each his own though.If that hero shot is that important.
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Post by dougl on Mar 17, 2023 16:31:26 GMT -5
Well,the difference is,it's specifically stated in the digest that spring hunting is "by calling only." So you can't call them down off of a ridge and shoot them in the field at 90 yards? Is it only considered calling only if you shoot them within 40 yards? Personally,I don't consider a bird 90 yards out as called in.Having a bird respond to your calls and having one committ are two entiring different things.I hunt turkeys for the adrenaline rush and challenge.Shooting one at 90 yards wouldn't give me either.
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Post by fleroo on Mar 17, 2023 16:32:05 GMT -5
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Post by dougl on Mar 17, 2023 16:38:41 GMT -5
Well,I don't like most of my extended family so.....
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Post by fleroo on Mar 17, 2023 16:46:24 GMT -5
Rutty Buck it is.
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 17, 2023 16:56:06 GMT -5
SO NOW IT'S ACTUALLY MORE CHALLENGING TO SIT IN A BLIND AND WAIT THEM OUT LOL?I don't care how you kill em Gene.I only care how I kill them but that's a real gut buster. Actually, if you would leave your chest pounding ego out of it and read what I said, what I actually said was "SOME" of my most rewarding hunts have been from a blind and hunting from a blind CAN be challenging. How is that for a gut punch.............. It CAN be more challenging than running and gunning looking for a bird to run your over. It also can be a very EASY hunt sometimes........... It is interesting watching folks talk negatively about blinds then some of the same folks then say they don't have the patience to do it. Patience is actually a skill when it comes to hunting that many people don't have, yet some ignore that fact. I highlighted some words so you won't miss them this time.
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 17, 2023 17:00:00 GMT -5
Personally,I don't consider a bird 90 yards out as called in.Having a bird respond to your calls and having one committ are two entiring different things.I hunt turkeys for the adrenaline rush and challenge.Shooting one at 90 yards wouldn't give me either. Having a bird gobbling to your calls and having one come in to your calls are two different things, I would agree. Here is another gut punch for ya. What I said was calling a bird down off of a ridge into a field is calling them in, which is what the regulations say despite your trying to insinuate that a bird has to be called to within a certain distance to be considered "called in".
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Post by dougl on Mar 17, 2023 17:02:18 GMT -5
The gut punch fely like a mosquito landing on me.It wouldn't be illegal to pop that bird at 90 yards,just cheesy.
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Post by fleroo on Mar 17, 2023 17:03:28 GMT -5
90 Yard Strutter.... "hung up".... all day long.
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 17, 2023 17:06:16 GMT -5
The gut punch fely like a mosquito landing on me.. As it was for me..........
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Post by Loggy on Mar 17, 2023 17:27:25 GMT -5
Not mentioning anyone in particular but if someone can bench press 300 lbs plus does daily weight lifting gym workouts..... but has an issue with carryin an 8 lb shotgun couple miles....think I'll enroll you in my gym workout program. I just do treadmill 1 hour a day & this 70 year old physical fitness speciman still manages to tote those BIG Guns with zero issues or complaints!! I don't "HATE" dem heavy guns!! lol
If I'd be in your area I would even offer to tote your lil 5-6 lb gun assuming you could keep up with me!! lol
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 17, 2023 18:32:31 GMT -5
But to me, calling a bird off a ridge, and watching it strut at 90 yards out, should be a bird that is currently considered "hung up". Hell. I consider a bird at 40 yards hung up when I am slinging arrows. I like them at 20 or less. With that said, calling them in from 300 to 90, 40, or 20 yards is still a bird that is called in.
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Post by rusty on Mar 18, 2023 3:49:04 GMT -5
Why are rifles no longer legal for use when hunting turkeys? And why was hunting them from a blind not legal in the past?
Does/did either of these regs have anything to do with making turkey hunting more challenging? The challenge of taking game is a big part of what makes hunting so much fun for me, but I will admit that I gave up hunting spring birds with archery gear after being caught drawing my bow a few times. That's one of the reasons Dutch's thread about the see through blind had me giving them some consideration. And staying dry in the rain would be a huge bonus.
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Post by ridgecommander on Mar 18, 2023 6:37:06 GMT -5
Why are rifles no longer legal for use when hunting turkeys? The real reason is the NWTF does not like rifles for turkey as it is not a pure hunt, in their eyes. The reason the PGC used was that folks hunting with rifles were more effective than those with shotguns in the fall and the PGC wanted to protect the resource. A few folks ran the numbers using PGC data and it was a joke how few turkeys eliminating rifles would actually save statewide. A very, very small amount. I don't know the answer to that one.
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Post by Loggy on Mar 18, 2023 7:37:50 GMT -5
Looked through a couple years old Digest(when rifles were legal in Fall) & couldn't find anything RE: Rifles not legal as a weapon in Fall Turkey Season in a blind.
Here's all I found(I may have overlooked somewhere else?):
The use of turkey blinds is legal under the following definition:
Any artificial or manufactured turkey blind consisting of all manmade materials of sufficient density to block the detection of movement within the blind from an observer outside the blind. Artificial or manufactured turkey blinds consisting of all manmade materials means blinds must be constructed of plastic, nylon, canvas, cotton cloth, plywood or other manmade materials. Blinds made by piling rocks, logs, branches, etc. are unlawful. The blind must completely enclose the hunter on all four sides and from above to block the detection of movement within the blind. Turkey-hunting blinds that represent the fanned tails of gobblers are illegal to use in Pennsylvania because they do not hide all hunter movement from behind or within. When fluorescent orange is required at a stationary calling location in fall seasons, at least 100 square inches must be displayed outside the blind and within 15 feet of the blind, visible 360 degrees.
Portable hunting blinds left on state game lands and other Hunter Access properties under the Game Commission’s management now need to be conspicuously marked with a durable and legible identification tag that includes the owner’s first and last name and legal home address, or bears the CID number that appears on the owner’s hunting license or a number issued by the Game Commission to the blind owner. Identification numbers can be obtained at The Outdoor Shop on the Game Commission’s website.
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Post by rusty on Mar 18, 2023 9:38:38 GMT -5
There was a time when turkeys were not to be hunted from a blind. I asked a WCO, probably back in the late ninties, if shooting a turkey with my bow from a climbing tree stand would be breaking the law. His answer was: "I don't think you'd get pinched for that." It seems to me it was not that long ago that the regs on blinds changed-but then again it doesn't seem like that long ago my oldest was starting school, and that was about 20 years ago.??
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Post by fleroo on Mar 18, 2023 13:48:00 GMT -5
Maybe we have to consult Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton, on what the definition of "called in" is ? "I DID NOT CALL IN, AND HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT GOBBLER!"
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Post by dougl on Mar 20, 2023 11:17:59 GMT -5
Not mentioning anyone in particular but if someone can bench press 300 lbs plus does daily weight lifting gym workouts..... but has an issue with carryin an 8 lb shotgun couple miles....think I'll enroll you in my gym workout program. I just do treadmill 1 hour a day & this 70 year old physical fitness speciman still manages to tote those BIG Guns with zero issues or complaints!! I don't "HATE" dem heavy guns!! lol If I'd be in your area I would even offer to tote your lil 5-6 lb gun assuming you could keep up with me!! lol Whatever you say loggy.
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