ethics....

[ICEMAN]

Exactly the point I am trying to push....we should lay off the guys who wish to hunt legally, yet differently, to each his own...

[garyltbh]

I think that each person can choose how they want to harvest there turkey. If you hold turkeys in high reguard and want to call them in befor you shoot him then great.If you walk under his tree and shoot him thats fine to.Its up to each person to deside what they want out of there hunt.period.If you dont want to shoot a turkey out of a tree then dont. But dont give a guy a hard time because he does things his way.I have killed quite a few birds and no i havent ever shot a turkey out of a tree.But i dont have a problem if someone does.

[canyelk48]

If you just want a turkey dinner, then go to Safeway.

I hate when people say that..  Make's hunting sound more like a sport, instead of the intent of hunting for meat. As long as I pay for my hunting licence and tag with my own hard earned money, I I want to feed my family whatever legal game animal we feel like eating, the last thing I need to hear is that crap. I take it to the poster of that coment..  that when your hunting ...  your not going after the meat...  just the feathers...  Save the animal's lovers, love to hear hunter's saying that...  just give's em more ammo....  fact is...  is if all your going for is the feather's, then your a sad excuse for a" hunter", and I'd have to use that word loosely in your case.

making note to self...  add that name to the list of hunters never allowed on my place.

Sorry to spin you up Wayne.  The point I was attempting to make was that hunting turkeys (for me anyway) is more about the challenge of successfully outsmarting them and not about just hunting a turkey for meat.  Does a turkey shot in the field taste any better than one shot out of a tree?  No, but I feel better about the way I harvested my turkey.  That's why I don't shoot turkeys out of trees, hunt dove over a baited field, shoot deer (or elk) feeding over pile of corn or apples that was dumped in the woods, etc., etc.  It's just not my cup of tea; that's all, plain and simple.  If I don't fill my tag, then so be it.  I enjoyed the hunt whether I was successful or not.  If I was hunting solely for the meat, then I could easily fill my FIVE deer tags and THREE turkey tags that TN offers each year right off my farm.  If that makes me a "sad excuse for a hunter" as you so put it, then I guess you're entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to mine.  Nowadays the majority of hunters hunt for "sport" and don't rely on hunting as their means of providing dinner for their family.

[fishunt247]

It's pretty interesting how some of these people who seem so passionate about turkey hunting ethics, or about how those who hold themselves to a certain code of ethics are incorrect, don't even hunt turkeys??? Seems to me to have an opinion on the subject you would at least have to do it...and pretty much everyone on this thread that is saying turkeys should not be taken out of trees IS an avid turkey hunter. This really should speak loudly to those arguing the other side. But apparently it doesn't.

[cmiller85]

Turkey hunting ethics are no different than any other hunting ethics. That’s how people can argue against the calling those who shoot turkeys from a tree unethical. People keep throwing in their opinions on turkey hunting “etiquette” and calling it ethics.

Ethics are basically: 1) Making a clean, quick and humane kill, 2) Following the Law, 3) Keeping up after yourself in the woods.

Everything else is personal preference. So, I think it’s interesting how people run others down for hunting in a legal fashion. I guarantee you that every one of us does something (i.e. hunt with a high powered rifle, use binos, use manufactured calls and decoys, bait, use hounds, spotlight) that someone else could run up and down all day long on how unethical it is.

If it is legal and people make a clean kill, who cares if it isn’t “Your Cup of Tea”? That’s what I see many of the people (who have no experience hunting turkeys or those who shoot turkeys off the roost) arguing. And they are exactly right.

I could give you a list a mile long of all the things I wouldn’t do while hunting, because its not “My Cup of Tea”, that are perfectly legal. But my reasoning involves my personal hunting “etiquette” not “ethics.”

Etiquette you can argue and debate. Ethics is pretty straight forward across the board.

[steen]

First animals are different than someone who has hunted for years, your hunting skills change as you age.  If it is legal you shouldn't judge the person.  I can imagine the hunter was pretty excited, then it was a great hunt for him.  I wouldn't hunt a whitetail over corn in the sendaro (spelling) no matter what the inches on the antlers but it is legal and people put them on the wall all the time.  It is how it is done in Texas. 

[newbie]

This year for the first time, I called in a turkey and blew his head off. I was by myself in a place on public land that I had discovered by myself. It was the coolest thing I have done in a long time. With gas and everything, that turkey probably cost me a couple hundred bucks so the hunting for food thing doesn't really work. I personally don't care how anyone else shoots their bird but calling one in is definitely the most fun.

[Karl Blanchard]

nobody has pointed out the fact that unless you work a bird they really aren't all that cool.  If you want to walk up under a tree so be it but talk about lame.  no gobbling, no spittin and drumming no strutting.  Just "look there's one, BOOM!  Then you gotta carry out and clean his nasty stinking carcass for a couple breasts and some stringy tough legs.  Like someone else pointed out, I don't buy the meat thing because between gear, gas, tags, food and all the other expenses you could buy a flippin turkey farm. I hunt for meat but I want maximum "that was freakin awesome" factor while on my adventures and shooting a bird in the almost dark off a branch is not it.  work em in close and take their head off!!!!!