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Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:27 am
by bowhunter15
I was talking turkeys with someone the other day, and told them how I think I have a tom patterned and might even be able to just wait near his trail and take him without calling. His response was that he would never shoot a turkey he hadn't called in, because it was unethical and not sporting knowing he hadn't outsmarted the bird with his calling. I haven't heard of that before, but I know that turkey hunting has some different feelings vs. deer hunting... i.e. you can shoot a turkey first thing off the roost (deer leaving its bed) but waiting by the roost tree in the evening (waiting over a deer bed early AM) is a no-no. Some of it doesn't make sense to me, but I never really grew up with turkey mentors like I did for deer.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on this? I would have thought that patterning a bird by scouting travel routes was every bit as challenging as calling one in. But maybe that's just the deer hunter in me.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:33 am
by dan
Ethics is in the eye of the beholder... I would say waiting to ambush is just as sporting, if not more so... No tricks, no calls, just plain old out smarting and out waiting him.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 2:52 am
by muddy
The goal is to outsmart your quarry.

Maybe it's unethical to pretend to be a love sick hen promising all the great rewards that spring courtship has to offer only to shoot that poor bird thinking with the wrong brain.

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:00 am
by mheichelbech
I can't really see a difference....

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:25 am
by dirt nap giver
That doesn't make sense to me.
Doing the work and putting in the time to place yourself in the right location to connect is important. Other wise, we should just go in completely blind and rely on our calling to lure the bird in.
To each their own, but being I. The right place attheright time is more important. Would we just give up when birds are pressured and call shy?

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:29 am
by BassBoysLLP
If the law man is OK with it, it is OK by me. Good luck!

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:50 am
by Dhurtubise
bowhunter15 wrote:I was talking turkeys with someone the other day, and told them how I think I have a tom patterned and might even be able to just wait near his trail and take him without calling. His response was that he would never shoot a turkey he hadn't called in, because it was unethical and not sporting knowing he hadn't outsmarted the bird with his calling. I haven't heard of that before, but I know that turkey hunting has some different feelings vs. deer hunting... i.e. you can shoot a turkey first thing off the roost (deer leaving its bed) but waiting by the roost tree in the evening (waiting over a deer bed early AM) is a no-no. Some of it doesn't make sense to me, but I never really grew up with turkey mentors like I did for deer.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on this? I would have thought that patterning a bird by scouting travel routes was every bit as challenging as calling one in. But maybe that's just the deer hunter in me.



Funny the kind of high-brow diatribe some people feel free to offer others. If it works, it works. Good luck. I suspect it's much easier to call one in than figure out regular movement. Typically what makes something sporting is how hard it is to accomplish, right? Please post the video if you get some good footage. I'd love to see it work.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:27 am
by goldtip5575
Calling in turkeys is as useless as trying to call in a flock of ducks most of the time.They are headed where they or the hens want to go most of the time,had more success calling in hens than toms.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:29 am
by Stanley
A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:33 am
by BigHunt
dan wrote:Ethics is in the eye of the beholder... I would say waiting to ambush is just as sporting, if not more so... No tricks, no calls, just plain old out smarting and out waiting him.

Agreed

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:36 am
by BigHunt
bowhunter15 wrote:I was talking turkeys with someone the other day, and told them how I think I have a tom patterned and might even be able to just wait near his trail and take him without calling. His response was that he would never shoot a turkey he hadn't called in, because it was unethical and not sporting knowing he hadn't outsmarted the bird with his calling. I haven't heard of that before, but I know that turkey hunting has some different feelings vs. deer hunting... i.e. you can shoot a turkey first thing off the roost (deer leaving its bed) but waiting by the roost tree in the evening (waiting over a deer bed early AM) is a no-no. Some of it doesn't make sense to me, but I never really grew up with turkey mentors like I did for deer.

Anyways, what are your thoughts on this? I would have thought that patterning a bird by scouting travel routes was every bit as challenging as calling one in. But maybe that's just the deer hunter in me.

I honestly think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard..........lot of guys also think its unethical to kill a buck that close to there beds :think:

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:42 am
by Trailcamaddict
No call for me this year. Still got my Tom. Get them any way you want a long as it's legal!

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:53 am
by wiscbowhntr
muddy wrote:The goal is to outsmart your quarry.

Maybe it's unethical to pretend to be a love sick hen promising all the great rewards that spring courtship has to offer only to shoot that poor bird thinking with the wrong brain.

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Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:55 am
by hunter_mike
:lol: unethical? No way. It is you, your two feet and your weapon vs. a wild free range gobbler and his keen senses.

There are a lot of people who think hunting any way besides their way (or the TV way) is unethical.

Re: Not calling turkeys... unethical??

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 5:24 am
by JoeRE
Yea, just do what you are comfortable with. Don't waste your breath around the ethics nazis its just another faith based argument :lol:

Taking that a step further, a lot of guys would not jump shoot a turkey but that is how I have filled several tags over the years on call shy toms that I got tired of trying to ambush. If you sneak as close as possible in thick cover then approach quickly they often try to stay concealed then flush at close range. Bang.

Turkeys are a nice slow target when taking off, easier to get a nice clean head and neck shot on them than most upland birds.

To get the ethics naxis really riled up...tell them you shot a turkey out of a tree. I and my brother once had this old wary bird we just could not call, ambush, or anything. BUT he liked to sit in trees during legal shooting hours :L: