Would you shoot a turkey out off the roost?

[washelkhunter]

The difference is you are shooting a turkey at 50 yds.  Can you walk right up under a deer that has an elevated position on you and get 50yds away and just blast them?  NO!  A turkey feels completely safe in a tree in low light.  You can literally YELL at them!  Like I said they are a completely different animal from deer and elk so to compare them is not accurate.  It would be more accurate to compare it to resting your rifle on the fence at Oak Creek feeding station and shooting an elk.  That would be an accurate comparison.

OK, I get it. Thanks for explaining the logic of it.

[Karl Blanchard]

whatever dude, you can easily shoot a bedded deer without using hunting skills.  im glad that you have everything figured out about what all is acceptable for everybody and what isnt.  maybe you could brief us on what maximum shooting range is acceptable with a rifle for deer, what is acceptable for archery, how about coyotes?  is it hunting to use an electronic call or should we all use blades of grass?  id also like to know if using scent away products is hunting, or if its not hunting, and you just have to play wind?  please elaborate on all of these and more, since you seem to be the guy who sets all the standards for everybody

Calm yourself man!  I'm not telling you what to do or not to do.  Go back and read what I posted.  I have tried several times to explain how a bird acts on the roost.  You are the one trying to tell us all they act like deer.  All I did was say I won't shoot a bird on the roost and won't allow my hunting partners to do so either.  You are the one that got all pissy saying its the same as shooting a deer. 

If you want to blast a bird out of a tree go for it!  He will just look down at you and probably gobble!  Hell he might only be 8-10ft off the ground.  If its real dark you could climb the tree and just grab him!  Just like a deer right?   If you know nothing about an animal don't try and lecture others on their habits.

[deaner]

i think what it boils down to is... who cares how somebody else gets their two spring turkeys?  doesnt hurt you any.  hell turkeys arent even native here anyway.  i dont care if somebody wants to fill their turkey tags by shooting off the roost.  if they want to do that and take the fun out of it, just to fill their tags, thats their decision

[Karl Blanchard]

whatever dude, you can easily shoot a bedded deer without using hunting skills.  im glad that you have everything figured out about what all is acceptable for everybody and what isnt.  maybe you could brief us on what maximum shooting range is acceptable with a rifle for deer, what is acceptable for archery, how about coyotes?  is it hunting to use an electronic call or should we all use blades of grass?  id also like to know if using scent away products is hunting, or if its not hunting, and you just have to play wind?  please elaborate on all of these and more, since you seem to be the guy who sets all the standards for everybody

Inside 50yds?

[PolarBear]

I wouldn't but have to admit that when I was 5 or 6 years old in Tennessee and Alabama I would wake up before dawn to sneak up and shoot them out of the trees at daylight with my .22.  There were so many that they were a nuisance and my Grandparents LOVED fresh wild turkey.

[deaner]

whatever dude, you can easily shoot a bedded deer without using hunting skills.  im glad that you have everything figured out about what all is acceptable for everybody and what isnt.  maybe you could brief us on what maximum shooting range is acceptable with a rifle for deer, what is acceptable for archery, how about coyotes?  is it hunting to use an electronic call or should we all use blades of grass?  id also like to know if using scent away products is hunting, or if its not hunting, and you just have to play wind?  please elaborate on all of these and more, since you seem to be the guy who sets all the standards for everybody

Inside 50yds?

who cares what the range is if its unsporting.  if you think that makes a difference than essentially youre saying that as long as you use marksmanship it makes up for a lack of woodsmanship.  just stop already. 

[deaner]

whatever dude, you can easily shoot a bedded deer without using hunting skills.  im glad that you have everything figured out about what all is acceptable for everybody and what isnt.  maybe you could brief us on what maximum shooting range is acceptable with a rifle for deer, what is acceptable for archery, how about coyotes?  is it hunting to use an electronic call or should we all use blades of grass?  id also like to know if using scent away products is hunting, or if its not hunting, and you just have to play wind?  please elaborate on all of these and more, since you seem to be the guy who sets all the standards for everybody

Calm yourself man!  I'm not telling you what to do or not to do.  Go back and read what I posted.  I have tried several times to explain how a bird acts on the roost.  You are the one trying to tell us all they act like deer.  All I did was say I won't shoot a bird on the roost and won't allow my hunting partners to do so either.  You are the one that got all pissy saying its the same as shooting a deer. 


i didnt say turkeys act like deer.  and i didnt say its the same as shooting deer.  i said shooting a roosted turkey is no less sporting than shooting a bedded deer at extremely long range.  dont put words in my mouth
If you want to blast a bird out of a tree go for it!  He will just look down at you and probably gobble!  Hell he might only be 8-10ft off the ground.  If its real dark you could climb the tree and just grab him!  Just like a deer right?   If you know nothing about an animal don't try and lecture others on their habits.

i never said anything about turkeys habits never lectured anybody about them.  never said i wanted to shoot one from roost.  and i wouldnt say i know nothing about turkey.  i see them every single day.  theyre pests around here.

[Karl Blanchard]

i think what it boils down to is... who cares how somebody else gets their two spring turkeys?  doesnt hurt you any.  hell turkeys arent even native here anyway.  i dont care if somebody wants to fill their turkey tags by shooting off the roost.  if they want to do that and take the fun out of it, just to fill their tags, thats their decision

  It does matter.  We all share the woods together.  Every year guys are shot by other hunters because they are set up working a bird and some knuckle head tries to stalk in on the tom and blasts him not knowing there was a hunter sitting under the tree directly behind the Tom.  I know you would be pissed if you got shot in the face (if you lived).  Some guys think knothing of stalking turkeys.  Ethics and safety do go hand in hand in some cases

[runamuk]

I done a good job with the kids I take out,  called turkey in within feet w/o a blind.  Kids get so excited! Even w/o a shot fired they'll talk about that for months.

I couldn't imagine letting a kid sluice one out of a tree and miss out on how much fun calling them in is, but that is just me!


Hell I get all excited when I'm staring at a big eyeball 4 feet away 

my son has been trying to call one in for 5 years he also hunts ducks and is adamant about the ethics......some of his other choices have kinda stunk but by gawd that boy takes bird hunting seriously.  too each their own and I might feel differently if I actually liked turkeys I dont so as long as a person is legal whatever floats their boat.

[Karl Blanchard]

whatever dude, you can easily shoot a bedded deer without using hunting skills.  im glad that you have everything figured out about what all is acceptable for everybody and what isnt.  maybe you could brief us on what maximum shooting range is acceptable with a rifle for deer, what is acceptable for archery, how about coyotes?  is it hunting to use an electronic call or should we all use blades of grass?  id also like to know if using scent away products is hunting, or if its not hunting, and you just have to play wind?  please elaborate on all of these and more, since you seem to be the guy who sets all the standards for everybody

Inside 50yds?

who cares what the range is if its unsporting.  if you think that makes a difference than essentially youre saying that as long as you use marksmanship it makes up for a lack of woodsmanship.  just stop already. 

Dude your really not getting this.  It has nothing to do with marksmanship.  We are talking the habits of the two different animals.  If you are going to compare them you have to use the same variables.  What part of that do you not understand.  Turkey in its tree inside 50yds, deer inside 50yds.  Not difficult to understand

[cbond3318]

Then the safest way to kill a turkey would be to shoot it while roosting. Good point.

[KFhunter]

Stalking them has got to be at least as challenging as calling them,  morso I'd say!

[deaner]

i think what it boils down to is... who cares how somebody else gets their two spring turkeys?  doesnt hurt you any.  hell turkeys arent even native here anyway.  i dont care if somebody wants to fill their turkey tags by shooting off the roost.  if they want to do that and take the fun out of it, just to fill their tags, thats their decision

  It does matter.  We all share the woods together.  Every year guys are shot by other hunters because they are set up working a bird and some knuckle head tries to stalk in on the tom and blasts him not knowing there was a hunter sitting under the tree directly behind the Tom.  I know you would be pissed if you got shot in the face (if you lived).  Some guys think knothing of stalking turkeys.  Ethics and safety do go hand in hand in some cases

hunter safety is an entirely different issue.  just stop already

[deaner]

man, what dont i get?  what dont you get?  im not comparing turkey and deer. and im saying nothing about shooting deer inside 50 yards.  im saying there are lots of ways to kill deer that involve NO woodsmanship and NO hunting skills, for example, long range shooting.  so if a guy can shoot a deer or elk or bear at 1000 yards using high tech optics while using no hunting skills, then why cant a guy shoot a turkey from roost using no hunting skills?  i dont see much of a difference.  who decides what amounts to a sufficient display of hunting skill to be determined "sporting"?  each person does for himself.  if joe schmoe wants to take all the fun out of his hunt by roost shooting, but not breaking the law, so be it.  go look in a mirror and tell me you do nothing that others couldnt stick a self reightous finger in your face for.

[Karl Blanchard]

Then the safest way to kill a turkey would be to shoot it while roosting. Good point.

There you go.  I would suggest soaking breasts in salt water to draw out the nasty, cut in smaller strips, batter and deepfry.  Makes them more palatable.