Need your ideas

[LITTLEBUCK]

OK, I know some people here on the west side that have a 300 acre farm that is over populated with 200+ turkeys. Get your attention? The kicker is, they are Rio Grand turkeys. They bought a few ten years ago from Idaho and well, they escaped.  These are free ranging birds and are as wild as any bird you will find on the east side. I know the state frowns on this, so I don't want to here a bitch session regarding. These people are good people and would like to thin down the population and are interested in letting people hunt these birds. This would be a great handicap or a youth hunt. You can make it hard or make it pretty easy. This area has really no predators and these turkeys are living to full maturity.
Questions to ask. #1. Is anyone interested in hunting these birds?....... #2. would anyone be willing to pay anything and how much would you pay to hunt these birds to help recoup some damage costs?.......#3. Being these birds were not realeased by the state and not Easterners on the west side, are the hunting seasons,  and tags required?  Any Ideas to help? Questions? lets here it.  Thanks

[carpsniperg2]

cool offer, i am sure you would get busted if you do not hunt in the season and use tags. if i was closer i would take you up on it and do some guiding for them and pay the owners a trespass fee or a harvest fee for birds taken but to far.

[Birdguy]

Littlebuck, I started a little research on this today  . I will let you know what I find out. Sounds like a blast. If I can shoot one with my third tag I would be willing to help pay for some of the damages  .

[LITTLEBUCK]

Birdguy, I plan on going up there in a couple weeks and check it out myself. I will be using my tag as needed to be safe. Will take some pictures and post to give people idea of what is there. Not much time for this season but we can sure try to fix them up for next year.

[LITTLEBUCK]

Carpsniper, what is a reasonable trespass fee?

[Whitelightning]

Yelp, I had not thought of it as you put it. I will have to agree with your thinking, They would be live stock so to speak. Thanks for putting that into perspective.

[yelp]

First of all..there is no law in raising poultry on your property as stock.  Second they bought Rio grande game farm turkeys ..they are not wild turkeys. They escaped..so the landowners intentions were to raise turkeys for meat...but he decideded to wait until there were 200? .I have no issue with raising turkeys, but to promote it as hunting??.  I wouldn't pay any money to harvest an overgrown chicken plain and simple.  As far as recouping costs from damaged caused by releasing, raising and not properly managing stock seems irresponsible.  It seems there is interest in promoting this as a wild turkey hunt?  They are livestock..slaughter away if they are causing damage..don't come on here and have some hunter disabled or youth pretend it is a turkey hunt.  My idea contact the county health department, local vet and have them put down..if the landowner can't manage his stock.    

[BPturkeys]

Give'em hell Yelp...you're right on!

Sounds a lot like high fence hunting to me. Real wild turkeys don't just hang around and over populate an area. I would suspect that there is some reason there is over 200 birds on this place and I suspect that that something is yellow and rhymes with scorn.

[Turkeyman]

Well said Yelp sounds....

[LITTLEBUCK]

Yelp, thank you for your helpful ideas. I totally expected this kind of responce from you. That's why I said this thread was not for a bitch session. It is what it is, Big chikens or turkeys, I ask for some ideas. I do agree with you, it is a little to late to start taking care of the problem. I also agree with you that they are no different then a pen raised game bird for release on a release site. That's why I asked if one would even need a licences or bother with Hunting season. Call it what you want, hunting or shooting. I did say you could make it hard or easy. I put the info for what it is, some people might not be able to walk that three miles or clime that 1000 foot hill. So yes some of those people would call it a hunt. I personally would not, but I would call it a good time with your family, or friends. And yes its as close to high fence as you can come but with no fence. If it interest you great, if not at least keep it nice.  Thanks

[carpsniperg2]

i agree with littlebuck, YELP what i look at is some people can not do what others can. i am sure it would bring some youth hunters or DISABLED hunters like he stated a very great joy and put a smile on there face. when he asks people not to start problems we should respect this and not start the high fence bashing and this and that. like we were tought in school at a very young age if you can't say nothing nice don't say nothing at all. i know a few very disabled kids that would love to get a turkey and if they are not the wildest birds in the world, so what. it would bring them so much joy to drive there wheel chair up to a turkey that they got. and i say shame to anyone that would bash a kid or disabled person for getting a bird this way. i agree with parts said and the fact that for the average joe no its not a sporting hunt by the sounds of it and nothing i would want to do or promote, but i would gladly pay a small fee to take a person with disablitys or a youth out because i know how much it would mean to them.

[yelp]

If they were white turkeys roaming the farm would you have the same opinion carpsniper? I am not talking about taking opportunities away from disabled or individuals..but selling it as a "turkey hunt" when it clearly killing domesticated turkeys doesn't make it the same as hunting. I understand you look at it as a stocked trout pond, but you still need to fish to catch them.  I would rather have a disabled or youth hunter see the joys of turkey hunting..making the call, hearing the gobble, the back and forth, there is more to a hunt than a kill.  The experience is what we should be selling.  If they need a turkey that bad they must be starving too, if that is the case let them shoot as many as they want..why charge a fee?

[carpsniperg2]

no, i am not talking about outfitting or me making money but me paying a tresspass fee to take other out hunting like kids or disabled hunters and such. this is getting out of hand and there is no changing anyones mind.

[wapiti hunter2]

If you find out that tags are not required, i would love to use this as an introduction to hunting for my son.  He is 18 he has never shot and killed anything and this would be fun as well as put some meat in the freezer.  Would depend on the fee.

[fishunt247]

Wasn't there a similar deal with "Easterns" in Okanogan County last year on hear? Didn't it get the same response? Sounds like a planted pheasant hunt at the pen before they even got planted. The way a hunt is defined is so skewed anymore. Youth or disabled or able bodied or whatever, these are yard turkeys...therefore livestock.