# Is it ethical to shoot a turkey on the roost?



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

myself and a co-worker are having a difference of opinion on this subject. I believe you go to pinkiepinkiepinkiepinkie for doing such a terrible thing but my co-worker thinks otherwise.... any comments?????


----------



## Al33 (Mar 21, 2006)

It is not unethical if you have six starving kids and no money for food.


----------



## Rockin Randall (Mar 21, 2006)

U R Rite!


----------



## Randy (Mar 21, 2006)

Depends on if you are a turkey hunter or just do it for the kill.  My ethics are that it is unethical.

But if you are in to bushwacking a turkey, shooting him at 100 yards with a muzzleloader or baiting him up, then you may not have a problem with roost shooting.


----------



## Jody Hawk (Mar 21, 2006)

It is unethical....... Period !!!!! I was easing through the woods one opening day and it was barely getting light. I look up and see the silouette of a gobbler against the sky. I could have dusted him but it never crossed my mind. I know an old feller who's broken about every game law known to man but one thing that he won't do is shoot a gobbler off the roost.


----------



## Randy (Mar 21, 2006)

Al33 said:
			
		

> It is not unethical if you have six starving kids and no money for food.



In that case, you should be at work instead of in the woods.


----------



## Trizey (Mar 21, 2006)

I've heard of people doing battles with birds that didn't leave the trees, just bounce from one limb to another....  In this case I think it would be alright to wax one from the limb.


----------



## Carp (Mar 21, 2006)

NO


----------



## Jody Hawk (Mar 21, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> In that case, you should be at work instead of in the woods.



AMEN Randy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Nicodemus (Mar 21, 2006)

Naw, it`s more fun to call em to the gun.


----------



## Rockin Randall (Mar 21, 2006)

U & me r on the same page Randy.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

ttt


----------



## Al33 (Mar 21, 2006)

*Randy, Jody,*

Did you really miss my point???


----------



## elfiii (Mar 21, 2006)

No. Anywhere but on the roost is OK.


----------



## Junebug (Mar 21, 2006)

*Anyone remember?*

A couple of years ago Michael Waddell (Realtree guy) worked and killed a gobbler that sailed in and perched on a limb in a big pine right above him.  

Anyone remember that episode?  Does that count?


----------



## Trizey (Mar 21, 2006)

Junebug said:
			
		

> A couple of years ago Michael Waddell (Realtree guy) worked and killed a gobbler that sailed in and perched on a limb in a big pine right above him.
> 
> Anyone remember that episode?  Does that count?



That is the sort of situation I was referring to.


----------



## alphachief (Mar 21, 2006)

Wouldn't do it now...now being that we live in a day and age that we have formal "ethics" associated with "Spring Gobbler" season.  Now back in the day (60's and early 70's) in South Florida...see him, shoot him.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 21, 2006)

here are some things i think are unethical hunting. shooting a bird off a roost. shooting a bird as it crosses the road in front of your vehicle. riding logging roads looking for birds to shoot. setting up on a feeder field. here are some things i will do. shoot a flying bird. shoot a running bird. shoot a bird that flushes off the ground and lands on a limb. intercept a bird and ambush him.


----------



## Echo (Mar 21, 2006)

I wouldn't do it.I've also never in my 10 years of turkey hunting and going to who knows how many gobbling birds in the morning,ever seen a gobbler or a hen for that matter in their roost tree.I've bumped a bunch of them off the roost that I didn't know were there but never slipped in close enough to see them actually sitting on the limb.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

ttt


----------



## Ol' Buckmaster (Mar 21, 2006)

If you were still hunting a saw a giant buck bedded down, would you shoot it? I would, same with a turkey on the roost.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

Ol' Buckmaster said:
			
		

> If you were still hunting a saw a giant buck bedded down, would you shoot it? I would, same with a turkey on the roost.


 do you do alot of turkey hunting?


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 21, 2006)

Ol' Buckmaster said:
			
		

> If you were still hunting a saw a giant buck bedded down, would you shoot it? I would, same with a turkey on the roost.




That is amazing to me, are you a turkey hunter?


----------



## Ol' Buckmaster (Mar 21, 2006)

It's been a couple of years. If I see one in the yard, I'll try to sneak up on him.


----------



## Hooty Hoot (Mar 21, 2006)

My first trip to the turkey woods was in south Alabama. I believe the year was 1967 and I had just made my first gun purchase. I bought a Browning Auto-5 in 16 guage and a good friend of my dads introduced he and I to turkey hunting. That first morning I slipped up on a gobbler quite by accident. It was still dark and he was still on the roost when I lowered the boom. I never thought twice about it. I thought the whole purpose of going turkey hunting was to leave the woods with a turkey.
Last week turkey season opened in Alabama and I had the three best days of turkey hunting that I have ever enjoyed. I was able to bring a turkey to gun directly from his roost and dusted him at 6:50 A.m. But also on that same trip, I called in two jakes and didn`t shoot. I ambushed mature gobblers on two occasions and didn`t shoot. I walked up on five gobblers napping in a cut-over and didn`t shoot. Friday, I had a mature gobbler within 60 yards, gobbling his fool head off, and was busted by a bobcat. 
I guess the point of all this is..... Time changes what is ethical and acceptable.


  good huntin


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

thats what I figured (same as the "dude" at work)


----------



## Trizey (Mar 21, 2006)

Hooty Hoot said:
			
		

> I walked up on five gobblers napping in a cut-over and didn`t shoot.




Hoot-  Did you see my thread about sleeping turkeys?


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 21, 2006)

Ol' Buckmaster said:
			
		

> It's been a couple of years. If I see one in the yard, I'll try to sneak up on him.




go gettum Tiger


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 21, 2006)

I told "dude" that once he kills a few, his outlook will probably (hopefully) change. Right now he wants to "kill a turkey"


----------



## elfiii (Mar 21, 2006)

Echo said:
			
		

> I've bumped a bunch of them off the roost that I didn't know were there but never slipped in close enough to see them actually sitting on the limb.



Done that a bunch. Climbed a tree during deer season in the dark, tied myself in the tree, settled in. Turkeys started flying off the branches above me in the same tree, while it was still dark. 9 in all, spread out over about 20 minutes. The first two scared the dickens out of me, the rest became wonderment at how many there were in my tree!


----------



## Jody Hawk (Mar 21, 2006)

I walked into a field at B.F.Grant WMA one morning and couldn't believe my eyes. There was a gobbler standing less than 40 yards to my right and he was in full strut with his fan facing me. He never had a clue that I was in the field with him. I eased back out and sat up and tried to call him but he had been messed with and I couldn't do nothing with him. I could have putted on a diaphragm and got him to raise his head and the rest would have been history but I just didn't feel right ambushing him knowing that I didn't call him in, but that's me.


----------



## Ol' Buckmaster (Mar 21, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> go gettum Tiger



Thanks. I just got one of those suits with the leaves glued on it. It should be a piece of cake to get one now.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 21, 2006)

Ol' Buckmaster said:
			
		

> Thanks. I just got one of those suits with the leaves glued on it. It should be a piece of cake to get one now.




I hear ya Cuz, good luck


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 21, 2006)

Junebug said:
			
		

> A couple of years ago Michael Waddell (Realtree guy) worked and killed a gobbler that sailed in and perched on a limb in a big pine right above him.
> 
> Anyone remember that episode?  Does that count?




Saw it, think it was in Tenn if I remember correctly.
It comes down to a couple of things;
1.  being legal, will the law allow it?
2.  how do feel about it? would feel OK with yourself doing that? If you do and the law says you can, your choice.

Ethics are just like opinions, every hunter has them for their way of hunting for their staisfaction and they should not be used to judge other hunters.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 21, 2006)

Chrisw said:
			
		

> Saw it, think it was in Tenn if I remember correctly.
> It comes down to a couple of things;
> 1.  being legal, will the law allow it?
> 2.  how do feel about it? would feel OK with yourself doing that? If you do and the law says you can, your choice.
> ...




Well said......to each his own...


----------



## Jokester (Mar 21, 2006)

*It Depends........*

On your point of view as a tukey hunter. And that is the only opinion that matters........yours.........I don't let others dictate their ethics to me. This is something very personal to each individual. Being the mind doctor that I am,  let's say it is tied to the individual's conscience. Each individuals genetics and upbinging and environment is a large determining factor in their development of their ethical outlook. If you were brought up with relatives or friends that shot turkeys off of the roost and believed that it was okay to do so, you might internalize that viewpoint and claim it as your own. As we age, many people develop their individual ethical mindset and this follows them through the remainder of their lives, with a few exceptions........

Make no mistake, it is not ILLEGAL to shoot turkeys off of the roost morning or evening..........I personally prefer to shoot them off in the evenings. That gives them all day to get their affairs in order, sorta like dead man walkin' if you will........If I don't get him off the roost in the morning, you can bet your sweet buttocks that I will be posted between the way he went and his roost, waiting for him to come home from work so to speak.......I kinda like to roll em' in midflight right before their feet touch the limb they were planning on  roosting  on for the night.......

Just remember, the real satisfaction comes not from pulling the trigger but realizing that you outsmarted that particular gobbler that brought you to this point........

Hope this helps......!


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)

Chrisw said:
			
		

> Ethics are just like opinions, every hunter has them for their way of hunting for their staisfaction and they should not be used to judge other hunters.


The sums up a whole lot of threads on this forum.  Nice post.


----------



## discounthunter (Mar 21, 2006)

my opinion is no,i wouldnt shoot off the roost.ive pushed a flock of hen and jakes into a tree before but wouldnt have shot them if it was legal(hens)i think the turkey tradition is to call within range or stalk one hold up.if i was doing this for food it would have been cheaper to buy a budderball than a box of shot shells.also if i hunted solely to put meat on the table my family would have starved i long time ago.


----------



## Hooty Hoot (Mar 21, 2006)

*napping turkeys*



			
				Trizey said:
			
		

> Hoot-  Did you see my thread about sleeping turkeys?




Yes trizey, I did see that thread. I have seen gobblers napping on several occasions. It has always been mid to late afternoon, and on one occasion the wind was rather high. Last week, while trying to cut off a gobbler that had been spooked by a bobcat, I was cut-off by two hens that were lying in a fresh fire trail and it was only 8:15 a.m. I thought that they were dusting but they weren`t. I watched them for thirty minutes.

 good huntin


----------



## gobble4me (Mar 21, 2006)

Like Micheal Waddell said on Road Trips " He had to make an executive decision".


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)

I can see how personal opinion dictates shooting a turkey off roost but who decided it was unethical?  I think ethics should be taken out of a lot of these threads and personal choice inserted.  This is how we get a lot of fights started on here.


----------



## Greg Tench (Mar 21, 2006)

I wouldnt do it, PERIOD.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)

Woodswalker said:
			
		

> Since its been pretty much decided, based upon previous posts content, that we're not shooting to put food on the table, we must be shooting for the sporting aspects.
> 
> i wish i had the capacity to stalk up on a big Tom, without distracting him, and taking a good shot with a .22 magnum rimfire.
> 
> ...


And there is a personal choice that is ethical but illegal!!!!


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 21, 2006)

I would do it in a second.  MY objective of turkey hunting is getting bird into roasting pan.  My ethics dictate compliance with the game laws and if it ain't illegal, that bird will soon see the business end of a sharp carving knife.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)

I love your sig line 243!!!  This will be my first year turkey hunting but so far I agree with ya!!  OK I am ready Randy!!  Let me have it!!


----------



## Nicodemus (Mar 21, 2006)

How about climbin` the roost tree on the dark of the moon, catchin` em, and puttin` em in a croker sack?


----------



## Jim Ammons (Mar 21, 2006)

Nick,

Tell'um what a croker sack is. The city folk don't know. Cal, and some of us older heads know. Been a day or two since I heard one called a croker sack.


----------



## Timbo (Mar 21, 2006)

Originally by toridak


> I can see how personal opinion dictates shooting a turkey off roost but who decided it was unethical? I think ethics should be taken out of a lot of these threads and personal choice inserted. This is how we get a lot of fights started on here.



Originally again by toridak


> OK I am ready Randy!!  Let me have it!!



FIGH,FIGHT,FIGHT


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)

Leave it to my ol buddy Timbo!!!


----------



## Jokester (Mar 21, 2006)

*Whine,Whine,Whine........*

Can't we all get along??? 

I tell ya, PETA would be real proud of some of y'all.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 21, 2006)




----------



## Nicodemus (Mar 21, 2006)

Doesn`t everybody carry 4 or 5 croker sacks in the back of the truck to put varmints in  that they might catch?  And a 5 gallon bucket? Never leave home without em! I think the proper name is "burlap bag", those brown course weave sacks that corn and stock feed used to come in. I even like tthat old musty smell they have when they`ve been stored in the barn for a while.  Them pore ol city folks don`t know what they missed!


----------



## Vernon Holt (Mar 21, 2006)

*Is It Ethical???*



			
				nicodemus said:
			
		

> *How about climbin` the roost tree on the dark of the moon, catchin` em, and puttin` em in a croker sack*?


 
Nick:  Either that, or slip up on a gobbler who is snoozing in the sun, check first and make sure that he is snoring.  If you find that he is snoring, simply toss a handfull of salt on his tail, then put him in a croker sack.  Either way you have saved yourself the cost of a shell.


----------



## Hooty Hoot (Mar 21, 2006)

Naw.......... Your talkin about a gunny sack


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 21, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> Leave it to my ol buddy Timbo!!!



Timbo walks around with a big ol can of gas just waiting for you to strike a match doesn't he?


----------



## Vernon Holt (Mar 21, 2006)

I coulda swore that they were called Tow Sacks, or better still they were sometimes called Possum Sacks.  They were often used to carry two or three snarling possums in.


----------



## discounthunter (Mar 21, 2006)

we had em but called em patota saks.


----------



## dominantpredator (Mar 21, 2006)

It is unethical and I believe it is against the law. If it ain't it ought to be.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 21, 2006)

*That's OK DP...........*

I will shoot the ones you won't........


----------



## zksailfish (Mar 21, 2006)

*Turkey*

I have passed on turkey in late afternoon that were not strutting. If I just want meat then I can go to the supermarket an buy one for 10 dollars. I have such respect for turkey and think that a big bird deserve to be shot fairly. Also it is so much more exciting to shoot a bird that comes in strutting and Gobblin. Your property has only so many old birds so I would rather have the chance to get him another day under better circumstances.


----------



## Son (Mar 21, 2006)

*On the Roost*

I remember the day when all turkey hunters ended the day trying to roost a gobbler so they could slip in under him in the dark. Heck, it was just the way they did it back then. Say forty or fifty years ago. And one was lucky to get a gobbler about every four years or so. Remember, that was before videos, commercialism of hunting, high tec equipment and nice/nasty rules that some think everybody should go by. If it's legal and it's your choice, I think you ought to be able to do it without critisizm.


----------



## Killdee (Mar 21, 2006)

Yall roost shooters would have likely  shot a man in the back if you lived back in the wild west days.


----------



## BgDadyBeardBustr (Mar 21, 2006)

Two years ago I got out of my truck and started to the back of a pasture down a road next to it. I was caught way off when one gobbled on a the roost right on the road about 60 yrads in front of me . I sat down and began to do some soft calling in stead of shooting him out of the tree. I watched him strut and drum in the tree. He would not fly down. I finnally just shut up. When I did a hen flew out of some 15 year old pines next to me and hit the pasture. Then he pitched down just on the other side of her. She was well within range but he may have seen me and would not come close enough. It was so much fun and I never fired a shot. It would be unethical to me personally.


----------



## WSB (Mar 21, 2006)

I wouldn't do it.


----------



## SE.GAcoondawg (Mar 21, 2006)

I wouldn't do it.  I personally just enjoy knowing that I am interacting with another animal.  That's not to say I don't lay the smack down on one that is in range  , but I would rather call one up for someone else to shoot.  A turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas holds me over for the year, and I prefer that to be a fat butterball instead of a fifteen pound piece of leather.


----------



## GeauxLSU (Mar 21, 2006)

Fall before last I got to my camper real late at night.  Midnight at least.  I made my usual racket unloading the truck and getting everything set up, lighting the furnance/water heater etc... I mean a BUNCH of noise.  (Nobody else was in camp.)  Got up the next morning (late as usual, probably 10 minutes after first light) and the tree DIRECTLY above my camper exploded with turkeys.  
I wouldn't shoot a roosted turkey for the same reason I wouldn't shoot at quail on the ground.  It just wouldn't be rewarding to me.  The fabled limb hopping mid morning bird that you actually call in would likely be a different story.  
Roost a bird and then sneak in before first light and shoot him out of the tree when you can see him?  No thanks.     Yes, I'd shoot a bedded deer if I thought I had a good shot.  
Yes, it's about what's difficult to me.  Yes, it's subjective.


----------



## discounthunter (Mar 21, 2006)

th do you even hunt or just have a very off sense for a joke.


----------



## short stop (Mar 22, 2006)

One day a few yrs ago I was down in Union Point  hunting . I worked a bird    for several hrs    I figured he just   was in a strut zone --he fired up  about 8 am  and  things just  got old by   10  or so . I stopped calling   he stopped gobbling --I start, he started . I waited  20 more min or so and started easin towards  where he was  about 200 yrds away . I never  made a sound  . I  knew  I was close to where he was  gobblin  .I got that feeling of something watchin me , looked up and there he was  starin at me  from a  limb . Its now  10:30 in the mornin .  Yeah  you bet I shot him  I  dont think he ever  left the roost  that morning at all . --but hes not the first  that fell that way .

        It aint perfect   its turkey hunting . If you get a shot at a mature bird  inside 40  yrds you take it  ''whether   hes  on the ground or a tree ''. I was taught that   by the age of 10 by my Grandaddy who killed  countless #'s of birds  and rarely ever used  calls  , just  stalked up on em and shot'em with an old  1100  with a mod  fixed choke .He set out  before daylight to just that  catch'em before  the bird left the tree . It wasnt a an ethics ? then ,and  that was  only  25 yrs ago . We did things different back then .  I think some of yall just get hung up watchin the Outdoor Channel . If you think birds are going to  just run in, stop strutting at 20 yrds ,raise their heads  and then you aim and shoot  . Well it  doesnt work like that 99% of the time .
-Its just my  thoughts . I read  countless #s  of  responses here  and there . I wont shoot one in a tree , I wont shoot one unless hes  30 yrds  , I wont shoot one if I just walk up on him  - thats your  bucket you tote it  .I have  carried  birds  over my shoulder  every yr  for going on 25 yrs . I  hunt'em and kill'em any way possible , You Do your thing -Ill do mine  . Hope  to see ya at  the tailgate  with  a bird . 
short stop


----------



## Gadget (Mar 22, 2006)

Son said:
			
		

> I remember the day when all turkey hunters ended the day trying to roost a gobbler so they could slip in under him in the dark. Heck, it was just the way they did it back then. Say forty or fifty years ago. And one was lucky to get a gobbler about every four years or so. Remember, that was before videos, commercialism of hunting, high tec equipment and nice/nasty rules that some think everybody should go by. If it's legal and it's your choice, I think you ought to be able to do it without critisizm.


 

This is true, Rutledge and some of the other early writers talk about it. 

Although it is illegal in some states, Georgia is not one of them.


----------



## Bruz (Mar 22, 2006)

elfiii said:
			
		

> Done that a bunch. Climbed a tree during deer season in the dark, tied myself in the tree, settled in. Turkeys started flying off the branches above me in the same tree, while it was still dark. 9 in all, spread out over about 20 minutes. The first two scared the dickens out of me, the rest became wonderment at how many there were in my tree!



I had the same thing happen in Greene County the first year I ever Deer hunted. I climbed an oak with a climber and settled in right behind camp...Right a daylight I thought a 747 was coming at my head. Then I looked up and framed against the sunrise were about 20 Turkeys on roost in my tree and several other trees around me. They all flew down but by the time it was light enough to see the ground they were gone.

Fun though.


----------



## Jim Thompson (Mar 22, 2006)

Would I do it?  No.  Do I care if others do? No.

I have been under a roosted bird at daylight before and it did not cross my mind to try and shoot it while still roosted for whatever reason and I like Al have six starving kids and no job


----------



## SouthPaw Draw (Mar 22, 2006)

Wouldn't personally do it either. Like the thrill and challenge of luring them in to my area.


----------



## SimpleMan (Mar 22, 2006)

I would not.
It would be like the preacher making a hole in one on Sunday.
Would'nt want anybody to know.


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> I think ethics should be taken out of a lot of these threads and personal choice inserted.  This is how we get a lot of fights started on here.



That is a terrific idea.  Rather than trying to teach ethics, let's take them completly out of life.  Say what you want you are definately a liberal!  Everythng in life that is legal is not ethical.  Without ethics we would be..............uncivilized!


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 22, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> I would BUST HIM!!!!  Show me someone who can sneak up on a gobbler, especially a Georgia gobbler, on the roost and bust him, and I'll show you a very cunning hunter.
> 
> Personally, I think calling a love-sick gobbler and shooting him thinking he's about to get a little action is unethical.  Heck, I think hunting them in the Spring is unethical.
> 
> THunter


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

gobble4me said:
			
		

> Like Micheal Waddell said on Road Trips " He had to make an executive decision".



That was a totally different situation.  The bird was not in a roost tree.  For what ever reason he flew tree to tree to come in rather than walking on the ground.  He called the bird in.  I'd be willing to bet that bird had come on the ground to a call before and been shot at.  That was one smart bird.


----------



## Hooty Hoot (Mar 22, 2006)

Well.......I`ve done it and I admit it but that was nearly forty years ago. I couldn`t do it now. I`ve nothing to prove. I`ve got to call him in or out-wit him in some way to get any personal satisfaction from killing a bird. I still get alot of enjoyment from hearing and working a bird and I loose alot more contests than I win.

good huntin


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> that bird will soon see the business end of a sharp carving knife.


or an electric chainsaw....


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> I can see how personal opinion dictates shooting a turkey off roost but who decided it was unethical?  I think ethics should be taken out of a lot of these threads and personal choice inserted.  This is how we get a lot of fights started on here.


I agree....Most ethics are just that, a personal choice...


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> That is a terrific idea.  Rather than trying to teach ethics, let's take them completly out of life.  Say what you want you are definately a liberal!  everythng in life that is legal is not ethical.  Without ethcis we would be..............muslims!




Ethics are good to be taught but who determines whos ethics to follow. Game laws are basically our minimum guidelines and regulations, anything else we add to it is ours by choice only and should never be used to judge someone else. Everything in life that is legal may not be ethical, but who determines what is?


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

Chrisw said:
			
		

> Ethics are good to be taught but who determines whos ethics to follow. Game laws are basically our minimum guidelines and regulations, anything else we add to it is ours by choice only and should never be used to judge someone else. Everything in life that is legal may not be ethical, but who determines what is?



Amen to that......


----------



## Gadget (Mar 22, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> No. I am actually a PETA troll.
> 
> THunter


----------



## Jody Hawk (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> That was a totally different situation.  The bird was not in a roost tree.  For what ever reason he flew tree to tree to come in rather than walking on the ground.  He called the bird in.  I'd be willing to bet that bird had come on the ground to a call before and been shot at.  That was one smart bird.



Randy is right, that bird that Waddel killed "tree hopped" all the way to him. He didn't shoot him out of the roost tree. In that case, I say it's ok to take him.


----------



## Gadget (Mar 22, 2006)

Jody Hawk said:
			
		

> Randy is right, that bird that Waddel killed "tree hopped" all the way to him. He didn't shoot him out of the roost tree. In that case, I say it's ok to take him.


 
yeah I saw that hunt too, never seen bird do anything like that before.......


----------



## Jody Hawk (Mar 22, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> I would BUST HIM!!!!  Show me someone who can sneak up on a gobbler, especially a Georgia gobbler, on the roost and bust him, and I'll show you a very cunning hunter.



Well I can recall several, right off the top of my head, that I sat and watched gobble in the tree inside shotgun range.


----------



## elfiii (Mar 22, 2006)

short stop said:
			
		

> -Its just my  thoughts . I read  countless #s  of  responses here  and there . I wont shoot one in a tree , I wont shoot one unless hes  30 yrds  , I wont shoot one if I just walk up on him  - thats your  bucket you tote it  .I have  carried  birds  over my shoulder  every yr  for going on 25 yrs . I  hunt'em and kill'em any way possible , You Do your thing -Ill do mine  . Hope  to see ya at  the tailgate  with  a bird .
> short stop



There's only two times I'll shoot a turkey:

1. When I'm with somebody.

2. When I'm by myself.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

elfiii said:
			
		

> There's only two times I'll shoot a turkey:
> 
> 1. When I'm with somebody.
> 
> 2. When I'm by myself.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> Too many choices.  The only time I'll shoot is when I see one.



Thats unethical.....you should at least wear a blindfold.


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 22, 2006)

fulldraw74 said:
			
		

> Thats unethical.....you should at least wear a blindfold.



 I brought that post back to do an edit, you quoted me too quick.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 22, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> I brought that post back to do an edit, you quoted me too quick.


carry on then.....pulling posts is unethical also....


----------



## jcarter (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> That is a terrific idea.  Rather than trying to teach ethics, let's take them completly out of life.  Say what you want you are definately a liberal!  everythng in life that is legal is not ethical.  Without ethcis we would be..............muslims!


hmmm...i wonder if muslims like to turkey hunt. thats about the most asinine and bigoted statement ive read on here.


----------



## Bruz (Mar 22, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> hmmm...i wonder if muslims like to turkey hunt. thats about the most asinine and bigoted statement ive read on here.



The question is. "Would you shoot Osama from a roost?"


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 22, 2006)

fulldraw74 said:
			
		

> Thats unethical.....you should at least wear a blindfold.




that or chase it down with a chainsaw


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 22, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> I brought that post back to do an edit, you quoted me too quick.




I see you have an unethical driver, he done went bashed someone


----------



## Vernon Holt (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy:  It is always entertaining to watch em' squirm when the truth be told.  May be a little asinine, but it obviously is fact.


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> hmmm...i wonder if muslims like to turkey hunt. thats about the most asinine and bigoted statement ive read on here.



You may be right?  I went back and changed my response.  When typeing, I was trying to think of the most unethcial thing I could think of.  Right now with the war going on and the fact that their religion says convert or kill everybody that is not muslim, that was the most unethcial thing I had on my mind.

Am I a bigot?  No.

Bigot:a person who is intolerant of ANY creed, belief, or race that is not his own.

That is not me.  Am I intolerant of the Muslim faith?  Yes, just as intolerant as they are of ours.  Well maybe not quite as intolerant.  They are so intolerant as to believe that they should convert or destroy all other faiths.  I am not so intolerant as to believe I should destroy them for theri beliefs.  Most Christians feel that way.  And it might just be the death of us.


----------



## NotaVegetarian (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> Depends on if you are a turkey hunter or just do it for the kill.  My ethics are that it is unethical.
> 
> But if you are in to bushwacking a turkey, shooting him at 100 yards with a muzzleloader or baiting him up, then you may not have a problem with roost shooting.




Hey that sounds familiar; you ain’t pointing no fingers are ya.

 Oh you put baiting in there too, that aint me.

Brother David aint gonna let me smoke em with the muzzleloader anyway.


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 22, 2006)

Vernon Holt said:
			
		

> Randy:  It is always entertaining to watch em' squirm when the truth be told.  May be a little asinine, but it obviously is fact.




Wrong, its not truth, its not even close to facts, its still an opinion. I am assuming if everyone does not hunt exactly the way you approve of then they are not ethical?
Sounds like those little arguments on the playground, "If you dont wear Nike, you cant run"

BTW, I have never shot or thought about shooting a turkey from the roost but I am not put high enough up on a throne to condem someone else if they do it, that is their business.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 22, 2006)

what you are doing randy is lumping the whole  islam religion in with the outnumbered extreme radicals. do you think the klan or skin heads of our country, who consider themselves christians, are tolerant of beliefs that dont agree with theirs ? i agree with your sense of patriotism but i think leaving politics and religion out of this forum would be a good idea. unless you wanna pray for any gobblers that get in gun range.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 22, 2006)

Bruz said:
			
		

> The question is. "Would you shoot Osama from a roost?"


i think his beard length qualifies him as a trophy.


----------



## Meriwether Mike (Mar 22, 2006)

This question reminds me of the "Heard County River King." I chased this bird for two years and he won every battle. I got him close three times, but could never close the deal due to his cunning ways. Just as a little background I was hunting in a lease that bordered the Chattahoochee River down near Centralhatchee. I was walking along trolling and calling about every 100 yards along a road that ran parallel to the river. At about 11am after a call sequence I heard wing flapping and saw him drop off a bluff across the river and glide into a tree on our side of the river. He would then sit in the tree and look for a hen. If he did not see a hen he would take off and glide back across the river to safety. He did this to me twice. If you were not close enough to the tree he landed in he would have you pinned down. I tried once unsuccessfully to put the sneak on him and would have shot him from the tree if I could have got close enough. He was smart enough to pick me off before I closed the deal. As far as sneaking in before daylight or at dark I see no sport in it.


----------



## Dub (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> In that case, you should be at work instead of in the woods.


     

Right on target, Randy!


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> Am I intolerant of the Muslim faith?  Yes, just as intolerant as they are of ours.  Well maybe not quite as intolerant.  They are so intolerant as to believe that they should convert or destroy all other faiths.  I am not so intolerant as to believe I should destroy them for theri beliefs.  Most Christians feel that way.  And it might just be the death of us.



Off topic but here is an example:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/03/who_will_save_abdul_rahman.html


----------



## hawglips (Mar 22, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> what you are doing randy is lumping the whole  islam religion in with the outnumbered extreme radicals. do you think the klan or skin heads of our country, who consider themselves christians, are tolerant of beliefs that dont agree with theirs ?



Muslims danced and celebrated in the streets of NJ as the twin towers burned.  Muslims burned churches, embassies, rioted, and killed others in countries all over the world, because someone drew a cartoon of their prophet.  

By their fruits you shall know them.  The problem is their religion's teachings, not a "few" radicals.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 22, 2006)

I have no love for muslims-bunch of wackjobs!!


----------



## Jokester (Mar 22, 2006)

*How The Sam Hill..............*

did we get off on this??????


----------



## jcarter (Mar 22, 2006)

By their fruits you shall know them.  The problem is their religion's teachings, not a "few" radicals.[/QUOTE]
maybe you should read the teachings of their prophet mohammed before you make a statement about their religion. because what the extremists are doing is not what he taught. islam is practiced by about 25 % of the worlds population. so if they are all against us then randy may be right. guess we will have to open a season on muslims.


----------



## Bruz (Mar 22, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> By their fruits you shall know them.  The problem is their religion's teachings, not a "few" radicals.


so if they are all against us then randy may be right. guess we will have to open a season on muslims.[/QUOTE]


----------



## grouper sandwich (Mar 22, 2006)

I've never been spring turkey hunting, and most likely won't go this year either, but I thought that shooting turkies off the roost was illegal?  Maybe I'm thinking of the Florida law?


----------



## Razorback (Mar 22, 2006)

shooting on the roost to shooting muslins

just damm


----------



## hawglips (Mar 22, 2006)

Bruz said:
			
		

> so if they are all against us then randy may be right. guess we will have to open a season on muslims.



[/QUOTE]

They've already opened one on you and me...


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> That is a terrific idea.  Rather than trying to teach ethics, let's take them completly out of life.  Say what you want you are definately a liberal!  Everythng in life that is legal is not ethical.  Without ethics we would be..............uncivilized!


You stay hidden for a few days at a time but when you come back you come a firing!! 

Look Randy, you call me a liberal because I dont agree with you.  That does not make me a liberal.  The fact you voted for kerry does make you a liberal! 

Ethics are not defined by you for us.  Ethics are what a person is OK with inside of them.  So when you argue ethics you are basically saying any body that does not agree with you is unethical.  Wrong brother!  You worry about getting Hilary into office and let me worry about turkeys in trees.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> No.  I am actually a PETA troll.
> 
> THunter


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> hmmm...i wonder if muslims like to turkey hunt. thats about the most asinine and bigoted statement ive read on here.


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

hawglips said:
			
		

>



They've already opened one on you and me...[/QUOTE]

And my president opened one on them.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

Jokester said:
			
		

> did we get off on this??????


Randy got mad!


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> Ethics are not defined by you for us.  Ethics are what a person is OK with inside of them.



Nope, look up the definition.  I had a little educational piece on here yesterday but can not find it.  Look up the definition.  Ethics is not what one individual feels about a subject.  Ethics may or may not change with society or the location of he society but ethics are not individual beliefs.  Ethics are the moral beilefs of a group.  I dare say that by far shooting off the roost is a no-no in the turkey hunting society.


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> Randy got mad!



I don't get mad, unless you are my wife.  I get even!


----------



## jcarter (Mar 22, 2006)

im gonna pretend every longbeard i call up is a jihadist muslim. "thats all im gonna say about shooting turkeys off the roost." randy you are right on your definition of ethics. it is based on societal and cultural beliefs. but as you can see even within a society or culture not everyone is going to agree.


----------



## abrannon (Mar 22, 2006)

The funny thing about looking up a definition is that if you look hard enough you can can find one that suits you, or at the very least that is vague enough to support your stance.

i.e.: ethic (n.) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy. 

Since as a rule we do not derive social norms, thus the morales of a society, from such small "societies" as the "turkey hunting society" any arguement that your beliefs are based on a socially accepted Moral philosphical belief are exagerated at best.

This is a simple matter of personal choice.  The Laws governing this action are the bases for determining the social morality of it, thus the social ethical response.  

If your personal ethics differ, then that is ok, as long as they are not in violation of any established laws.

By the way Randy, do you deer hunt?

If so, do you shoot any bucks that you do not call in, such as rattling, or a doe bleat?  Not that there is anything wrong with it if you do or don't just curiuos.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> I don't get mad, unless you are my wife.  I get even!


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

Randy said:
			
		

> I dare say that by far shooting off the roost is a no-no in the turkey hunting society.


Well its a good thing I am not a menmber of that society!


----------



## Randy (Mar 22, 2006)

abrannon said:
			
		

> By the way Randy, do you deer hunt?
> 
> If so, do you shoot any bucks that you do not call in, such as rattling, or a doe bleat?  Not that there is anything wrong with it if you do or don't just curiuos.



I do deer hunt but deer hunting is not abut calling.  In fact there are some that believe that it is unethcial to call a deer.  I am not one of them though.

Turkey hunting on the other hand is about calling.  There are no roost shooting competitions but God knows there are thousands of calling competitions.  Again, I dare say the majority of the turkey hunting society feels that roost shooting is unethical.  In some states it is even illegal.  I have not counted the posts here but my guess, wihtout counting, is majority said it was unethical.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 22, 2006)

No Randy most did not say it was unethical.  Most did not bring ethics into it.  However most did say they would not do it.


----------



## TurkeyKiller12 (Mar 22, 2006)

*Taking away...*

Shooting a turkey on the roost, truely takes away from the sport of turkey hunting. If I can't call that bird within lethal range of shotgun, then the turkey wins a lives another day. The hunt is what makes this sport so exciting. If I or my family was starving, it might be a different story.


----------



## Killdee (Mar 22, 2006)

Well I'll stand up and be counted as saying I wont do it and I think its unethical.Dern back shooters.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 22, 2006)

*Nope, your definition is actually Socialist Ethics......*

You want everyone to think as the Turkey hunting fraternity does, sounds like Communistic influence to me. I don't give a darn what the fraternity or anyone else thinks! I kill turkeys the way I wanna kill em' and the ones that don't like it can kiss my pearly white butt!


----------



## Handgunner (Mar 23, 2006)

Isn't anyone concerned about the tree???

I mean, a 3" turkey load to the limb of a tree could hurt the tree, possibly killing the tree in time and ruining that roosting spot!  

Not to mention if it was the state tree!  Then there would be a fine and tree-huggers to deal with!


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 23, 2006)

Delton said:
			
		

> Isn't anyone concerned about the tree???
> 
> I mean, a 3" turkey load to the limb of a tree could hurt the tree, possibly killing the tree in time and ruining that roosting spot!
> 
> Not to mention if it was the state tree!  Then there would be a fine and tree-huggers to deal with!


----------



## LJay (Mar 23, 2006)

There ya go Delton. Shoot a roost, KILL a TREE.   Before long won't be no trees left to roost in.


----------



## dominantpredator (Mar 23, 2006)

Jokester said:
			
		

> You want everyone to think as the Turkey hunting fraternity does, sounds like Communistic influence to me. I don't give a darn what the fraternity or anyone else thinks! I kill turkeys the way I wanna kill em' and the ones that don't like it can kiss my pearly white butt!


 If a man will shoot a turkey out of a tree he is roosted in , that same man will shoot a deer under a light. The same principal holds true. A deer doesn't run because it is blinded or in a trance and can't see. A turkey roosts in a tree and won't fly down to the ground because although his eye sight is better than ours he has a lack of vision in low light. Since he can't see what is down on the dark looking floor of the woods he remains on the limb and gobbles to elecit hens to his area until it is light enough for fly down. I would be ashamed and plumb embarrassed to tell anybody or have someone else know that I had taken a wild turkey using those tactics. I too would be shamed faced to be caught shining deer.


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 23, 2006)

dominantpredator said:
			
		

> If a man will shoot a turkey out of a tree he is roosted in , that same man will shoot a deer under a light. The same principal holds true. A deer doesn't run because it is blinded or in a trance and can't see. A turkey roosts in a tree and won't fly down to the ground because although his eye sight is better than ours he has a lack of vision in low light. Since he can't see what is down on the dark looking floor of the woods he remains on the limb and gobbles to elecit hens to his area until it is light enough for fly down. I would be ashamed and plumb embarrassed to tell anybody or have someone else know that I had taken a wild turkey using those tactics. I too would be shamed faced to be caught shining deer.




Talking about turkeys during legal hunting hours. Michael Wadel shot one in a tree, but he aint shot a deer under light. When you category people, it gets ugly and unfair.


----------



## bull0ne (Mar 23, 2006)

Chrisw said:
			
		

> Talking about turkeys during legal hunting hours. Michael Wadel shot one in a tree, but he aint shot a deer under light. When you category people, it gets ugly and unfair.



Michael Waddell shot the turkey after the tom responded to calling & it was well after legal shooting time........just a clarification.


----------



## Ta-ton-ka chips (Mar 23, 2006)

dominantpredator said:
			
		

> If a man will shoot a turkey out of a tree he is roosted in , that same man will shoot a deer under a light. The same principal holds true. A deer doesn't run because it is blinded or in a trance and can't see. A turkey roosts in a tree and won't fly down to the ground because although his eye sight is better than ours he has a lack of vision in low light. Since he can't see what is down on the dark looking floor of the woods he remains on the limb and gobbles to elecit hens to his area until it is light enough for fly down. I would be ashamed and plumb embarrassed to tell anybody or have someone else know that I had taken a wild turkey using those tactics. I too would be shamed faced to be caught shining deer.


I agree


----------



## bull0ne (Mar 23, 2006)

There is a double standard that's been expressed in this thread.......some of the same folks who cry the unfair advantage about baiting deer admit they would shoot a turkey out of a tree,likely before legal shooting time if they're not careful.   

It's hard to sell your stance about morals,ethics and fairchase on one species of game animal and then admit to being a would-be turkey ambusher on this thread........just a thought.


----------



## Fireman (Mar 23, 2006)

100% ethical, 100% legal 


Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.


I shoot all my birds during LEGAL shooting hours, and no I don't shine deer. I guess it's really hard for some ppl to make intelligent statements, not surprising.


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> 100% ethical, 100% legal
> 
> 
> Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.



Interesting point.  Stalk your prey as a predator would do.  Are we not the predator when we hunt? How many coyotes or bobcats sit behind a blind with an assortment of calls trying to lure one in?  Sounds like fair chase to me.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> 100% ethical, 100% legal
> 
> 
> Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.
> ...


----------



## BigGun (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> 100% ethical, 100% legal
> 
> 
> Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.
> ...




I agree. much harder to kill a tom on the roost than to call one in. that's a fact.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> 100% ethical, 100% legal
> 
> 
> Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.
> ...


In the fall!!!!????   just what i figured.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

BigGun said:
			
		

> I agree. much harder to kill a tom on the roost than to call one in. that's a fact.



There are no facts in turkey killing friend, there all different.
Lordy i'm glad i don't have to share my turkey woods with some of these turkey killers.


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 23, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> There are no facts in turkey killing friend, there all different.
> Lordy i'm glad i don't have to share my turkey woods with some of these turkey killers.


I'll drink to that-


----------



## abrannon (Mar 23, 2006)

I like 243's solution to the debate of ethics and fair chase, except, I think you should restrict the hunter to a stick that is of official TURKEY wacking caliber oops, I mean diameter  . Then we need to discuss what size stick to use for deer and etc...  That way everyone would have to hunt animals the same way as everyone else.  

We could even make it more uniform, by setting the season to a series of single day hunts, that begin at 7:00 a.m. (so there would be none of that confusion about legal shooting hours.) and ended at 11:00 a.m. 

If we remove all of the choices from hunting and dictate the exact circumstances of the hunt, then we could all finnaly hunt just like everyone else. ( or you would go to jail for not obeying the law)  

By the way, in case anyone missed it, this is called sarcasm.  I know it is absolutely absurd, but that is the point.  

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde.  "Selfishness is not hunting as one wishes to hunt. It is asking other people to hunt as one wishes to hunt."

With so few people deciding to hunt these days we should not be bashing each other, or criticizing the way that some one hunts as long as their chosen method is both legal, and safe.  We need to encourage as many new hunters to take up the sport as we can.  And please if you have the privilege of introducing a person to hunting, try and teach them tolerance for their fellow hunter, because if we do not learn to tolerate each other, then there is no hope for the future of hunting.  

Just my humble rantings.


----------



## Fireman (Mar 23, 2006)

Pointer1 said:
			
		

> In the fall!!!!????   just what i figured.




There's a Fall season in over half this country, didn't think that would be too hard to figure out.


I'll try to type on a 1st grade level from now on.


----------



## BigGun (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> There's a Fall season in over half this country, didn't think that would be too hard to figure out.
> 
> 
> I'll try to type on a 1st grade level from now on.


----------



## BigGun (Mar 23, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> Lordy i'm glad i don't have to share my turkey woods with some of these turkey killers.





Yep , thank god I don't have to share mine with you!


----------



## Pointer1 (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> There's a Fall season in over half this country, didn't think that would be too hard to figure out.
> 
> 
> I'll try to type on a 1st grade level from now on.


good one! now roll over and go back to sleep-


----------



## jcarter (Mar 23, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> I would shoot a turkey out of a tree so fast it'd make your head swim, but I wouldn't shoot a deer under a light, unless you consider the sun a light.  Deer are a lot more important game animal than an overgrown chicken ever will be, so I guess that's what the difference is.
> 
> THunter


i would never shoot a deer out of a tree. so i guess i should give a turkey the same consideration.


----------



## SOD (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> There's a Fall season in over half this country, didn't think that would be too hard to figure out.
> 
> 
> I'll try to type on a 1st grade level from now on.






Muahahahahaah,    yep gotta wonder about the IQ of some people on here.


----------



## BrowningTech (Mar 23, 2006)

It's much harder to kill a bird in the Fall,  talk to any of the great well known hunters from years past and they'll tell you that. Most of them stalk turkey on the ground and the roost.

I guess ignorance is bliss with some people here.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

BigGun said:
			
		

> Yep , thank god I don't have to share mine with you!




You ain't no Turkey Hunter Sport  so no worries on that.. Now i'm done with you, so go ahead and think for a little bit and come back with a little reply that makes ya feel good about ya self and move on like i just did


----------



## BigGun (Mar 23, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> You ain't no Turkey Hunter Sport  so no worries on that.. Now i'm done with you, so go ahead and think for a little bit and come back with a little reply that makes ya feel good about ya self and move on like i just did






No need, your statement says it all


----------



## GeauxLSU (Mar 23, 2006)

Y'all don't trip over 'em now....


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 23, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> Interesting point.  Stalk your prey as a predator would do.  Are we not the predator when we hunt? How many coyotes or bobcats sit behind a blind with an assortment of calls trying to lure one in?  Sounds like fair chase to me.




Hey I thunk of that first.


----------



## hambone44 (Mar 23, 2006)

roost : A perch on which domestic fowl or other birds rest or sleep. , a support on which birds rest

roost·ed, roost·ing, roosts (v): To rest or sleep on or as if on a perch or roost., : to settle down for rest or sleep :

The roost is defined as where the turkeys rest or sleep. Do I wish to go and kill a turkey as it rests or sleeps? No. Do I think it is "ethical". Not if I am participating in turkey hunting as a sport. Clearly if I need the food that badly, I would shoot one on his roost.

If it is legal by the books, go ahead, but I will never.

If you kill a turkey on the roost at daylight, or in his roosting AREA in the late afternoon, it is probably a well defined little area in which you have pre-determined you can intercept and shoot the turkey after coming to the realization that your turkey hunting and/or calling skills fall a bit short, and you have to use such an act of desperation to take the turkey. 
Chances are, the majority of those who would do this, would not come home and tell the full fact or any of the fact.
He just wants the turkey in hand with disregard for all that constitutes the sport of "turkey hunting", as the great majority of us know it.
When the turkey wants to fly up and rest, and has made his day, let him rest. When the turkey awakens and begins his day, don't be in his bedroom in the bare light waiting to roll him off his perch, just b/c you know where it is. 

Keep a reasonable distance and play the game as it is meant to be played...by setting up, making sure he wants to play, and facing the challenge of your set-up and/or your calling, to bring him to you and not a  real hen or hens.

That is what makes turkey hunting, at least to me; not hearing one gobble that you can't kill by skill, and therefore stooping to hiding at his tree while he can't see, or waiting on his return to that tree in the evening to shoot him. 

Instead, brush up on your calling/hunting techniques and try him again on more fair and equal terms.

If, however,  the roost IS defined as a "place of rest or sleep" for the turkey, and you set up and call him to a new limb, in range of your gun, AFTER he has rested/slept, is the NEW limb then his roost? No. So shoot him. You have played the game fairly, and can feel the satisfaction that those of us who play the game the right way, feel every time.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

Well put Hamp, but on deaf ears to some i'm sure. It's all about the Kill man the Kill to heck with how you do it


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 23, 2006)

What are the real chances of finding a turkey on the roost, not in a tree but on the roost during legal shooting hours? I know you can get close enough to see them fly down but usually they dont fly, unless bumped, until they can see and usually that is light enough to be legal. I shot one out of a tree one time, I called the bird in, made a bad shot, chased him about 50 yds until he flew up in a tree, I finished him off. But that was just a tree and not the roost. Normally when they are roosting, it is not legal to shoot them anyway.


----------



## Jasper (Mar 23, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> i would never shoot a deer out of a tree. QUOTE]
> 
> JC must not care much for deer stands.........


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*Just to Make Y'all Feel Good........*

I am gonna bust one off of the roost Saturday morning.......


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 23, 2006)

Ok, I think everyone who has participated in this thread has made their case and collectively we should all agree to respect each others difference of opinions on the subject.  I said earlier I have no problem knocking one off the roost.  If it's LEGAL shooting hours, and LEGAL to shoot off the roost, then as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be raining feathers.  

It's a matter of personal choice and your belief in what is right or wrong.  There is nothing mandated and written in stone by any authority that condemns a mans soul for not complying with what some people believe is the correct definition of turkey hunting.  The season is starting soon....express your freedom of choice and enjoy your definition of the hunt by whatever legal means you choose to do so.


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 23, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> Ok, I think everyone who has participated in this thread has made their case and collectively we should all agree to respect each others difference of opinions on the subject.  I said earlier I have no problem knocking one off the roost.  If it's LEGAL shooting hours, and LEGAL to shoot off the roost, then as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be raining feathers.
> 
> It's a matter of personal choice and your belief in what is right or wrong.  There is nothing mandated and written in stone by any authority that condemns a mans soul for not complying with what some people believe is the correct definition of turkey hunting.  The season is starting soon....express your freedom of choice and enjoy your definition of the hunt by whatever legal means you choose to do so.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

I can't wait until Monday rolls around and see just how many of these folks tell us they killed there gobbler off the roost instead of a set up and call spring gobbler hunt. It's funny thinking back to years past, I've been a memeber here back way before the site crash and i swear i can't remember one turkey kill report where somebody told all of us about there turkey hunt and how they shot it off the roost and well was proud of  it to the point of posting it here, maybe i'm wrong, but  does anybody remember such a post?


----------



## Al White (Mar 23, 2006)

I shot one out of a tree once with a tater gun.....


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

Al White said:
			
		

> I shot one out of a tree once with a tater gun.....



you ate the tater too right


----------



## hambone44 (Mar 23, 2006)

Jokester said:
			
		

> I am gonna bust one off of the roost Saturday morning.......



Yes, I would hope your handle (jokester), is indicative of the disposition of your statement. Surely ye jest (or joke).


----------



## Bucky T (Mar 23, 2006)

nicodemus said:
			
		

> Naw, it`s more fun to call em to the gun.



That's how I feel about it.

Tommy


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 23, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> I can't wait until Monday rolls around and see just how many of these folks tell us they killed there gobbler off the roost instead of a set up and call spring gobbler hunt.



I won't mind at all sharing it with anyone, I'll even post pics if the opportunity arises.


----------



## groundhawg (Mar 23, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> Ok, I think everyone who has participated in this thread has made their case and collectively we should all agree to respect each others difference of opinions on the subject.  I said earlier I have no problem knocking one off the roost.  If it's LEGAL shooting hours, and LEGAL to shoot off the roost, then as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be raining feathers.
> 
> It's a matter of personal choice and your belief in what is right or wrong.  There is nothing mandated and written in stone by any authority that condemns a mans soul for not complying with what some people believe is the correct definition of turkey hunting.  The season is starting soon....express your freedom of choice and enjoy your definition of the hunt by whatever legal means you choose to do so.




Good words, great post!


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 23, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> I won't mind at all sharing it with anyone, I'll even post pics if the opportunity arises.




i can write the story for you it will go like this.. I pointed my gun a the roosted turkey and shot and killed him end of story. good luck hope ya get ya one


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*Don't Hold Your Breath...........*

BBBOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!


----------



## hambone44 (Mar 23, 2006)

Congrats, Jokester! You got your first 18 posts all on one thread and they all advocate shooting turks off the roostin' limb.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*Ok.......and......*

your point?


----------



## hambone44 (Mar 23, 2006)

No point. Just "joking" aroun'.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*Thanks to Everyone For a Great Thread!!*


----------



## hambone44 (Mar 23, 2006)

Thomas Lackey said:
			
		

> That's how I feel about it.
> 
> Tommy



Yep, me too.  

I'm signing off this thread at this point...just as well be typing to the wall as far as 1 or 2 folks on here are concerned, and i know when i'm being patronized, as well.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 23, 2006)

Jasper said:
			
		

> jcarter said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 23, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> I can't wait until Monday rolls around and see just how many of these folks tell us they killed there gobbler off the roost instead of a set up and call spring gobbler hunt. It's funny thinking back to years past, I've been a memeber here back way before the site crash and i swear i can't remember one turkey kill report where somebody told all of us about there turkey hunt and how they shot it off the roost and well was proud of  it to the point of posting it here, maybe i'm wrong, but  does anybody remember such a post?


How many times have you actually had the chance to shoot one off the roost?  As I have stated, this is my first year trying turkey hunting.  From all the posts I have read it is rare to find one on the roost and be able to shoot it.  Maybe that is why you have never read a post about it.

I am an ethical person but a tree aint going to protect a turkey if it is legal.  That is not ethics it is personal choice.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 23, 2006)

its not too easy to sneak up on a turkey no matter where it is. ive gotten close enough to shoot them a number of times. the problem is they are usually watching you and may let you walk on by if they think you dont see them. but if you happen to stop they are gonna make such a racket coming out of that tree your gonna think the sky is falling. another problem you might have if you decide to try knocking one off a limb is making sure its a gobbler. the light is bad and trying to determine the sex of a bird 40 feet up in a tree full of branches is not easy. potting a roosting bird may or may not be a bad thing. but knocking a hen out of a tree is not good in anyone eyes.  almost all the birds ive ever seen in a tree were after one or more had already blasted out of the tree. like i said all that racket will definitely get your attention...good luck.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*How Long Are Y'all Gonna Beat This Dead Horse???*

Well?


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 23, 2006)

Jokester said:
			
		

> Well?


If you are surprised a bout beating dead horses you are definitely new.  It will go on for a while!


----------



## jcarter (Mar 23, 2006)

Jokester said:
			
		

> Well?


crap, beating dead horses....is that ethical ?


----------



## short stop (Mar 23, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> crap, beating dead horses....is that ethical ?


only if he falls out of  a tree


----------



## dominantpredator (Mar 23, 2006)

Fireman said:
			
		

> 100% ethical, 100% legal
> 
> 
> Calling in love sick toms is too easy, Stalking up to one on the roost is much more sporting to me, especially in the Fall.
> ...


Calling in toms is too easy? Stalking up to one in the fall in Georgia to shoot would not only be unethical, but illegal as well. I agree, I do like to get as close to a roosted bird as possible; but, I have never even thought about shooting one off the limb. As far as intellegent statements go, I would be willing to say you have killed very few turkeys and even fewer turkeys that were actually legal. You probably think that if you show someone a beard and some spurs they will think you are the man on hunting. I have little respect for people who kill my means of unfair chase, and shooting a turkey off the roost at first light is not fair chase and is definetly not called hunting.


----------



## Rob (Mar 23, 2006)

*Not ethical in my opinion.....*

It is not ethical - I was bowhunting Sunday in Alabama and accidently  wound up 20 yards from two roosted gobblers (I miss judged where they were and the sleet covered my noise).   Even with my bow I would not shoot a bird from the roost.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 23, 2006)

*Willllllllllburrrrrrr!!!!*


----------



## NotaVegetarian (Mar 23, 2006)

THunter said:
			
		

> Is it ethical to hunt with a bow period?
> 
> THunter



Yes but it must be over bait and with some sort of scope


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 23, 2006)

NotaVegetarian said:
			
		

> Yes but it must be over bait and with some sort of scope



dont forget the spotlight......


----------



## Jim Thompson (Mar 24, 2006)

193 replies to anwser a yes or no question......and not 193 members responded....huh whuda thunk it?


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 24, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> How many times have you actually had the chance to shoot one off the roost?  As I have stated, this is my first year trying turkey hunting.  From all the posts I have read it is rare to find one on the roost and be able to shoot it.  Maybe that is why you have never read a post about it.
> 
> I am an ethical person but a tree aint going to protect a turkey if it is legal.  That is not ethics it is personal choice.



I have had plenty of looks at roosted gobblers and could have shot plenty, it ain't that rare.. The reason i have not read about it is, you ain't done anything, but shoot a bird out of a treei got that out of my system as a yuggun. Well i would hope this being your first year you get a chance to work a bird or have somebody work him for you and you see just how fun it is. Then you think back and say there is no way in the world i would want to hunt this bird any other way. Either way have fun and enjoy your first year.


----------



## jcarter (Mar 24, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> I have had plenty of looks at roosted gobblers and could have shot plenty, it ain't that rare.. The reason i have not read about it is, you ain't done anything, but shoot a bird out of a treei got that out of my system as a yuggun. Well i would hope this being your first year you get a chance to work a bird or have somebody work him for you and you see just how fun it is. Then you think back and say there is no way in the world i would want to hunt this bird any other way. Either way have fun and enjoy your first year.


if i had "yuggun" in my system id want it out too. maybe thats what makes peple shoot roosted birds. all you roosting shooting heathans go get the cure. ummm...how did you get rid of your "yuggun" ?


----------



## jcarter (Mar 24, 2006)

Rob said:
			
		

> It is not ethical - I was bowhunting Sunday in Alabama and accidently  wound up 20 yards from two roosted gobblers (I miss judged where they were and the sleet covered my noise).   Even with my bow I would not shoot a bird from the roost.


the question i must ask......is it ethical to use sleet as a noise cover.....??


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 24, 2006)

Jim Thompson said:
			
		

> 193 replies to anwser a yes or no question......and not 193 members responded....huh whuda thunk it?




Well.... everyone wanted a conversation didnt they


----------



## Spotlite (Mar 24, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> I can't wait until Monday rolls around and see just how many of these folks tell us they killed there gobbler off the roost instead of a set up and call spring gobbler hunt. It's funny thinking back to years past, I've been a memeber here back way before the site crash and i swear i can't remember one turkey kill report where somebody told all of us about there turkey hunt and how they shot it off the roost and well was proud of  it to the point of posting it here, maybe i'm wrong, but  does anybody remember such a post?




I got mine ready now, I aint waiting until Saturday, two in one shot, long shot at that, probably 15 yds or more.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 24, 2006)

Chrisw said:
			
		

> I got mine ready now, I aint waiting until Saturday, two in one shot, long shot at that, probably 15 yds or more.




Big fat white turkey already tied to a limb (thats lim in SS terminology)


----------



## jcarter (Mar 24, 2006)

fulldraw74 said:
			
		

> dont forget the spotlight......


......and with someone shooting video that you can market and make some bucks.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 24, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> if i had "yuggun" in my system id want it out too. maybe thats what makes peple shoot roosted birds. all you roosting shooting heathans go get the cure. ummm...how did you get rid of your "yuggun" ?




Here ya go when i was Young'un when i was a young'in when i was a young'en.. Take ya pick, sorry i was still asleep../lol "what makes peple" "????


----------



## jcarter (Mar 24, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> Here ya go when i was Young'un when i was a young'in when i was a young'en.. Take ya pick, sorry i was still asleep../lol "what makes peple" "????


im more or less just making fun of this whole thread. people are gonna hunt they want to no matter what others say. one thing i can control is the way i hunt and the type person i  choose to hunt with. ...btw...thats a pretty nice bird in your avatar. that a florida bird, he looks big.


----------



## mkg 1023 (Mar 24, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> im more or less just making fun of this whole thread. people are gonna hunt they want to no matter what others say. one thing i can control is the way i hunt and the type person i  choose to hunt with. ...btw...thats a pretty nice bird in your avatar. that a florida bird, he looks big.



Yes, i'm done with this thread too you are 100% right and i agree.

Yes, Florida Gadsden county.I got him last year he was bout 18 pounds i think i remember him being, 10 inch beard. i killed one Wednesday that was right @ 19 pounds 11inch beard. Any bird over twenty here is grow bird for sure. i passed on him Monday @ about 50 yards he had seven jakes and two hens with him, Tuesday he was no where to be found. Wednesday i got lucky and he was roosted bout 75 yards in front of me, he never gobbled on the roost, but i did hear him fly down after some soft yelps. He came in quit as a church mouse until he got about 15 yards to my right, where i could not see. He then let out one of those heart stoppin gobbles that runs chills down  your back/lol and of course i was in the wrong position i had to let him walk all the way by me and get to my left about 35 yards strutin and drummin the whole way. When it was all said and done and he was floppin on the ground i would not of had it any other way, it was a he!! of a show he put on. Good luck to you this weekend


----------



## hawglips (Mar 24, 2006)

jcarter said:
			
		

> By their fruits you shall know them.  The problem is their religion's teachings, not a "few" radicals.





> maybe you should read the teachings of their prophet mohammed before you make a statement about their religion. because what the extremists are doing is not what he taught. islam is practiced by about 25 % of the worlds population. so if they are all against us then randy may be right. guess we will have to open a season on muslims.



If you'd like to discuss what the Prophet Mohammed taught and did, I'm loaded and ready to go.  Just say the word.  You are making a big mistake in assuming that I am ignorant about this.

What the extremists are doing is indeed following what he taught, and what he did. 

The problem is the religion, and their Koran.  Its one religion that has way too many rotten parts.  And the whole world is suffering for it.

Hal


----------



## hawglips (Mar 24, 2006)

Most things are not black and white, but some shade of gray.

But two things ARE black and white:

1) roost shooting is unethical
2) Islam is not a religion of peace

Hal


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 24, 2006)

hawglips said:
			
		

> 1) roost shooting is unethical



Only in the view of some people based on their own personal beliefs and convictions.  There are others who do not consider it unethical.


----------



## Bruz (Mar 24, 2006)

Woodswalker said:
			
		

> i don't think we should shoot turkeys unless it one day before Thanksgiving; or, its three days past the first full moon in March, unless there were 12 days of snow in December.  In that instance, they can only be shot with .22magnum rimfires unless you were born sometime after the summer solstice, which should be marked on your hunting license, with the exception of folks born before or after Feb 29, during a rainstorm.
> 
> if the turkeys have more than 2 legs, all bets are off, but if they are shot on the ground, a surcharge will be added. if shot in the air, no surcharge will be added, but all guns will be inspected, and any that are overbored will be taxed according to the amount of overbore.
> 
> Appeals, contests, and appropriate responses can and should be filed by the appropriate respondents prior to any other action associated with said Turkeys, unless TG is more than one -week away. in that case, all bets are off.



Yeah...Pretty soon there wll be arguments over:

1) Distance to ethically shoot a deer..50,100,125,150 yards

2) Scent Lok: Is it Ethical?

3) Doe Urine: How does the Doe feel?

4) Rattlin: Noise Pollution or Not?

It's getting a little nuts....If it's legal let it be. If you disagree get the law changed. That's what I'm gonna try to do.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 24, 2006)

mkg 1023 said:
			
		

> Well i would hope this being your first year you get a chance to work a bird or have somebody work him for you.


Randy was going to until he found out I was a republican.


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 24, 2006)

toridak said:
			
		

> Randy was going to until he found out I was a republican.



Not to mention unethical.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 24, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> Not to mention unethical.


          
THAT TOO!!!!!


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 24, 2006)

My birds are on roost, watched them settle in this evening.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 24, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> My birds are on roost, watched them settle in this evening.




Want me to bring my spotlight over later?


----------



## Brent (Mar 24, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> My birds are on roost, watched them settle in this evening.


I'll be right over with the Q-beam and my 22 mag.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 24, 2006)

Brent said:
			
		

> I'll be right over with the Q-beam and my 22 mag.


LOOK OUT!!!!!  BLACK PANTHER!!!!


----------



## spraggins (Mar 24, 2006)

i have been avoiding this thread, but, for pete's sake...i can't take it anymore. anyone who would shoot a gobbler out of the roost , would likewise probably shoot ducks on the water...or deer on the side of the roads.


----------



## fulldraw74 (Mar 24, 2006)

spraggins said:
			
		

> i have been avoiding this thread, but, for pete's sake...i can't take it anymore. anyone who would shoot a gobbler out of the roost , would likewise probably shoot ducks on the water...or deer on the side of the roads.


i enjoy shooting birds from the bird feeder.....


----------



## Greg Tench (Mar 24, 2006)

spraggins said:
			
		

> i have been avoiding this thread, but, for pete's sake...i can't take it anymore. anyone who would shoot a gobbler out of the roost , would likewise probably shoot ducks on the water...or deer on the side of the roads.


                                                                                                                spraggins, Dont let em get to you. Just be glad you dont hunt with or near em.


----------



## Arrowslinger (Mar 24, 2006)

I would only shoot anything when it is perfectly legal. Where the animal chooses to sit is his business.


----------



## sandhill93 (Mar 24, 2006)

what if the turkey was on the gound gobbling and as you almost got him in range he decided to fly up to a big live oak branch 30 yards in front of you and walk down it gobbling? is that on the roost. I killed one that did just that and didnt see a thing wrong with it. had a 11 inch beard.


----------



## Son (Mar 24, 2006)

*is it ethical  ?*

OK, just for you, we'll change the topic to shooting off a branch......


----------



## sandhill93 (Mar 24, 2006)

well roosting can be considered as when the turkey flies up for his nights rest. but you can never have it all figured out, i might have been flat wrong. didnt mean to bend the topic.


----------



## 243Savage (Mar 24, 2006)

Arrowslinger said:
			
		

> I would only shoot anything when it is perfectly legal. Where the animal chooses to sit is his business.



Thank you.


----------



## sandhill93 (Mar 24, 2006)

son, are you the guy in the best of the best arrowhead book? i am a collector and was just curious.


----------



## Ol' Buckmaster (Mar 24, 2006)

spraggins said:
			
		

> i have been avoiding this thread, but, for pete's sake...i can't take it anymore. anyone who would shoot a gobbler out of the roost , would likewise probably shoot ducks on the water...or deer on the side of the roads.



Not so. I would never shoot ducks on the water and someone would need a gun to my head for me to spotlight and/or shoot a deer from the road. 

20 years ago I might have felt different about roost shooting. Now I have to shooo turkeys away from my stand just to get a peaceful deer hunt in.


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 25, 2006)

243Savage said:
			
		

> My birds are on roost, watched them settle in this evening.


       
Set the alarm clock!


----------



## Brent (Mar 25, 2006)

It's opening day, I'm stuck at work, I'm pumped about this season, and by 3pm today I'd probably dust one if he was roosted on the hood of my truck!!!
Actually it would be unethical for ME to shoot a roosted bird. (i.e. one that had been in the tree all night) If I called a bird in and he should suddenly start limb hopping I'd whack him in a heart beat. I don't consider daylight limb hopping to be roosting. 
In the past I've put birds to bed exactly 1 time. Even though it was still legal shooting light I never had a thought about pulling the trigger on one as they had gone to roost for the night.


----------



## Goat (Mar 25, 2006)

Brent,

I hate it for ya man. I have been at work since 5am and i can barely sit still. It was all i could do to go to work today.


----------



## OconeeJim (Mar 25, 2006)

*Right On Toridak.......*

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I knew we were in for it!  By using the term "ethics", we can make comments about our fellows...and tell them what we don't like about their behavior.  Just as some one responded here ..."do you turkey hunt much???"....he really meant:  "you got to be kidding man....you'd really do that....you don't turkey hunt much do ya'?"  When Toridak wrote:

   "I can see how personal opinion dictates shooting a turkey off roost but who decided it was unethical? I think ethics should be taken out of a lot of these threads and personal choice inserted. This is how we get a lot of fights started on here.", I am reminded of how some people like to define "ethics" for others, when the very definition of the term requires that we as individuals determine what it ethical for us.  Someone else wrote about...."formal ethics"....NO SUCH ANIMAL FOLKS !!!! 

This thread carries the same "holier than thou" connotation that the baiting and the dogging arguments highlighted.  It may get to the point here that people will refrain from responding at all....just so they don't ruffle the feathers (now thats an appropriate phrase) of those who wait in ambush.  

With well over 200 replies in just a few days...this thread was destined for the archives.


----------



## Jokester (Mar 25, 2006)

*Personal Opinon.....*

To me, a flying turkey is fair game.........for those of y'all that  won't shoot one, just let him fly on down to me.....BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!!


----------



## Torupduck (Mar 25, 2006)

JimT2 said:
			
		

> It may get to the point here that people will refrain from responding at all....just so they don't ruffle the feathers (now thats an appropriate phrase) of those who wait in ambush.
> .


You are right on there.  Sometimes I am reluctant to voice my opinion on things here because I am afraid of starting a flood of accusations and hard feelings.  Some folks feel if your opinions differ from theirs they are unethical.  I am learning to let it go but it is difficult sometimes being labeled.  I thank you for your post.  Sometimes it is nice to hear from someone that can live and let live.


----------



## Son (Mar 25, 2006)

*On the roost*

OK, roosted two bigguns and didn't shoot 'em off the roost. But I might shoot em after they fly down tomorrow, depends on what kind of show they put on.


----------



## dutchman (Mar 15, 2007)

Roost shooting was a popular topic last year, too.


----------



## PWalls (Mar 15, 2007)

What are you stirring in that jelly jar now?


----------



## dutchman (Mar 15, 2007)

Not stirring this time. More like swirling...


----------



## PWalls (Mar 15, 2007)

A little more sugar and some lemon juice to the tea right?


----------



## dutchman (Mar 15, 2007)

PWalls said:


> A little more sugar and some lemon juice to the tea right?



Not even close...

A clear, corn based product popular in Appalachia...


----------



## PWalls (Mar 15, 2007)

dutchman said:


> Not even close...
> 
> A clear, corn based product popular in Appalachia...




Surely someone with Elrond of Rivendell as their avatar would have enough class to make that a single malt.


----------



## dutchman (Mar 15, 2007)

PWalls said:


> Surely someone with Elrond of Rivendell as their avatar would have enough class to make that a single malt.



Yes, but what would Elrod of Riverdale have?


----------



## Slayer (Mar 15, 2007)

ask Randy to type up my "turkey" story....and then ask yourself....."if I was ole Slayer, I would shoot said turkey on site".....which would include any weapon I had from a yard dart to a 155 pack howitzer!!!!!

but only that one individual turkey....the rest can go on about their business carefree


----------



## Public Land Prowler (Mar 15, 2007)

limb shooting is for people who can't stalk or call...


----------



## BOWKILL (Mar 16, 2007)

*Roooasted*

so what is harder? Calling in a Turkey, or shooting him off the roost? 
I have a buddy who chased a bird for an entire season. The bird would only gobble from the tree, PERIOD, and would only fly down when he laid eyes on a hen. He would sit on that branch for HOOOOOUUUUURRRRRSSS....my buddy finally belly crawled...through an ant pile mind you...to shoot the bird off the limb. He shot him 3 hours after fly down time. 
I recieved a really excited phone call that morning.  
Keep this in mind...a turkey is much more vulnerable on the ground than in a tree. If unethical means taking the easy road to kill a bird...shooting him out of the tree ain't it. 
It never crossed my mind to call him"unethical"...he did it the hard way in my opinion....be gentle.


----------



## Danny Estep (Mar 16, 2007)

*Awesome!*



elfiii said:


> There's only two times I'll shoot a turkey:
> 
> 1. When I'm with somebody.
> 
> ...


----------



## Danny Estep (Mar 16, 2007)

Bowkill I'm like your buddy, or so I think, of course I don't know him personally. I love to shoot a turkey that came to my calls, but, if I ever did have a bird that wouldn't work and I had the opportunity to knock him outta the tree I wouldn't think twice about pullin the trigger. He'd die! I had a hunt in TX where the bird that I had watched for two weeks refused to come across level terrain on opening day. In other words, he wouldn't get closer than 80-85 yards from my decoys. I told my buddy to stay put and I circled around and got on a hill above him. I knew the gobbler would head that way sooner or later. I got to a cow trail just in time to see him step out and I dropped him at 45 yards. Was that anymore ethical than knocking him off a limb? I doubt it, but it worked!


----------



## dognducks (Mar 16, 2007)

everbody is saying they wouldnt do it but how many of yall have done it. i harvested my first turkey flying up on the roost. he came in strutting but i couldn't get a clear shot at him then he flew up and flopped right back down. i wouldn't do it now but back then i just wanted to get some feathers and that was all i was after


----------



## Gator8em (Mar 16, 2007)

It doesnt take an LSU graduate to know that gobblers feel safer in the trees than on the ground.  If you are reasonably stealthy most of the time they will let you walk right by them in the early mornings. Your playing tag and to him the tree is base. I cannot believe there are people in this world that think shooting a turkey off the limb is justifable. If you are a limb shooter, I have no respect for you. I put you in the same catagory as spotlighters and liberals. I like Waddell, but I lost all respect for him when that Tenn. bird hit the ground. If you'll shoot a tree top Tom, then God only knows whatelse you are capable of.


----------



## Danny Estep (Mar 16, 2007)

It doesn't take a man with a HS diploma to know that shooting a turkey off a limb, which is perfectly legal, is not even close to some one that shoots a deer in the head lights. Maybe I'm wrong, wouldn't be the first time, sure won't be the last. I love how a man can get the "holier than thou" syndrome because he thinks his method of hunting or fishing is better than anothers. That is happening here and everywhere else you care to look. Take bowhunters, not all of them, but the few die-hard fanatics we have that think because I killed a deer with a shotgun ,muzzleloader, or rifle that I'm wrong and should be persecuted. I bow hunt as well. It doesn't stop there either. I happen to love to run trotlines. I also like catch fish on a rod and reel. Should I be looked down upon by folks that think the only way to catch a fish is by rod and reel? Does that make me wrong? If so, until they outlaw trotlining and firearms, and the occasional shooting of a stubborn turkey off a limb, I'll continue to do so. Whether you, or anyone else that thinks they're better than me likes it or not. Oh, and questioning whether a man that kills a turkey by legal methods will resort to something that isn't sounds alot like questioning my integrity. Mine and anyone else that has a different opinion than yourself. Thats not very nice of you sir.


----------



## LYNW_GODAWGS (Mar 17, 2007)

*Roosting Turkeys*

Turkey season opens in the morning here in NW FL.  I think if I ran into a tree of roosting turkeys, I'd probably wait until they started moving off of the tree before taking one. But, turkeys can move out pretty fast too.


----------



## LEGHORN (Mar 17, 2007)

*uncalled for*

Gator, your comments are uncalled for. Your comparisons make no sense. 
who are you not to respect Waddell? He has done more for our sport than you could ever know. 
We have countless people trying to take our sport away and you're fighting fellow hunters and putting them in a the same group as spotlighters!!
I put YOU in the same category as liberals...you're certainly helping their cause when you accuse hunters of being unethical for doing something that is absolutely legal.


----------

