You will kill a doe, or a female dove, quail, pheasant, etc... but not a female turkey? Because of something the #1 turkey biologist said... I don't know what context he was speaking in, but in some areas overrun with turkeys I still fail to see why it's a bad idea to kill a hen. You may find this as a surprise, but I turkey hunt for meat. Calling to a gobbler is a huge thrill and a big part of the hunt, but since when does that determine if it's "turkey hunting?"
When I killed the 3 hens on a friend's property, he was wanting to thin the turkeys a bit because they were tearing up the food plots right after they were planted. Out of about 60 birds that were on the property that day, he killed 3 and I killed 3, all of which where hens, and I will let you know in future years if the longbeards just disappear because of our terrible deed.
If people on OG all frown on killing hens, well then they might not like me if I join... I consider myself a turkey hunter, which means I hunt turkeys (hens are also turkeys)... since when is turkey hunting limited to calling an ole longbeard?
I didn't just go and "shoot a hen". I called all morning, got called back at by multiple hens, had 2 in range but no clear shot, and persisted all morning until finally some hens came into range and I got lucky enough to take 3 of them. They didn't gobble or strut but I was meat hunting. I got my thanksgiving bird, and 2 extras. All that is left of them are 4 legs for making stock... I can never get enough of the meat...
Of course as I "mature as a hunter" as some would say, I will probably grow past the "killing phase" and narrow down to old, mature gobblers. That would make sense, happens to a lot of people. Unless I still want the meat as much as I do now, in which case I will keep on killin hens...
