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Old School/ New School/ Or your own School/ Thoughts on Turkey Hunting
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<blockquote data-quote="TheLBLman" data-source="post: 5076269" data-attributes="member: 1409"><p>I fully understand your perspective.</p><p>The way you turkey hunt, is my favorite way to turkey hunt.</p><p></p><p>But would you quit turkey hunting if your hunting was limited to say a 20-acre parcel of land?</p><p></p><p>I know, we can say <em>ANYONE</em> is free to just go hunt the same vast public forest you hunt, but most don't live on its edge like you. Most of TN's resident turkey hunters are doing most their turkey hunting on private property, and it's typically only a small acreage they can hunt.</p><p></p><p>To be clear, I'm not endorsing fanning, sniping or any other horseshit tactics (via my opinion), but when someone has a very limited acreage to hunt, it's pretty easy to just run the birds off the property via more "traditional" turkey-hunting methods.</p><p></p><p>Like you, Setterman, and many others, my preferred way of turkey hunting is much like yours, and I do it often. But if I limited my turkey hunting strictly to these "traditional" methods", I would not be able to turkey hunt half as much as I do, simply because I can't effectively hunt that way on some of the private properties I have to hunt.</p><p></p><p>To me, it often makes more sense to sometimes use a pop-up blind, staying stationary on the 20 acres, rather than walking around it, just running off the birds to areas I can't hunt.</p><p></p><p>I also admit I've come to enjoy being in a pop-up blind during a pouring rain. Also, like many other "traditional" turkey hunters who start their morning from a "listening" point, sometimes sitting right there for hours before "running" somewhere else, I've come to like placing a pop-up blind at a good "listening" point. This has nothing to do with inabilities, but everything to do with just preferring being able to sit in more comfort.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes, particularly when I'm taking someone else with me, I will use a sitting hen decoy. But that decoy is placed not to attract a distant bird, but more to get a gobblers attention <em>AFTER</em> he's under 35 yds in range. This is more for the purpose of facilitating a clean kill by a less experienced hunter than anything to do with "decoying" in a distant turkey.</p><p></p><p>Otherwise, I've found decoys as much or more liability as asset. I do oppose "fanning", and full-strut gobbler decoys (particularly on public lands) but more because of safety concerns, than any concern of their assumed effectiveness.</p><p></p><p>Put it this way, <u>most turkey hunters in TN are in fact doing most their turkey hunting on small private parcels</u>. If they were required to hunt only "your" way, you would find a lot bigger crowds on all our large-acreage public lands, and bigger crowds there would equate to more turkeys killed there by all the googans, as even a blind pig runs across a few acorns.</p><p></p><p>That would do more harm to your personal hunting than all the decoy use on private properties where you don't hunt, as most hunters killing birds using decoys, are doing so mainly on small private properties? What if a lot more of them suddenly shifted to do more of their hunting right in your backyard, albeit doing that hunting via the same methods you utilize?</p><p></p><p>In the meantime, if we don't bring on board more new young hunters, there may come a time when zero turkey hunting is allowed on our vast public lands. From a biological & wildlife management standpoint, it is really not necessary to allow turkey hunting, and when a huge majority of "users" don't want to share the public areas with those scary hunters, <u>it will be legally disallowed</u>, right where you currently hunt, just like it has on the bordering Smokey Mountain National Park.</p><p></p><p>Part of what I'm saying is we should convince others that turkey hunting is more enjoyable, a more satisfying journey, <u>when we are able</u> and choose to do it via the more "traditional" method, often referred to as "run & gun". We're not always "able", and a day will come for all of us, too, when we will either give up turkey hunting entirely, or we will choose to alter our methods.</p><p></p><p>My idea is to encourage younger folks (and other novices) to enjoy going turkey hunting, realizing most their opportunities will be wherever there are turkeys most convenient to their homes. For most, these opportunities will be on small private parcels, where traditional turkey hunting may not work so well. Meanwhile, we can preach the greater sport of traditional turkey hunting.</p><p></p><p>As my Mother often said, we can catch more flies with sugar, than with vinegar.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheLBLman, post: 5076269, member: 1409"] I fully understand your perspective. The way you turkey hunt, is my favorite way to turkey hunt. But would you quit turkey hunting if your hunting was limited to say a 20-acre parcel of land? I know, we can say [I]ANYONE[/I] is free to just go hunt the same vast public forest you hunt, but most don't live on its edge like you. Most of TN's resident turkey hunters are doing most their turkey hunting on private property, and it's typically only a small acreage they can hunt. To be clear, I'm not endorsing fanning, sniping or any other horseshit tactics (via my opinion), but when someone has a very limited acreage to hunt, it's pretty easy to just run the birds off the property via more "traditional" turkey-hunting methods. Like you, Setterman, and many others, my preferred way of turkey hunting is much like yours, and I do it often. But if I limited my turkey hunting strictly to these "traditional" methods", I would not be able to turkey hunt half as much as I do, simply because I can't effectively hunt that way on some of the private properties I have to hunt. To me, it often makes more sense to sometimes use a pop-up blind, staying stationary on the 20 acres, rather than walking around it, just running off the birds to areas I can't hunt. I also admit I've come to enjoy being in a pop-up blind during a pouring rain. Also, like many other "traditional" turkey hunters who start their morning from a "listening" point, sometimes sitting right there for hours before "running" somewhere else, I've come to like placing a pop-up blind at a good "listening" point. This has nothing to do with inabilities, but everything to do with just preferring being able to sit in more comfort. Sometimes, particularly when I'm taking someone else with me, I will use a sitting hen decoy. But that decoy is placed not to attract a distant bird, but more to get a gobblers attention [I]AFTER[/I] he's under 35 yds in range. This is more for the purpose of facilitating a clean kill by a less experienced hunter than anything to do with "decoying" in a distant turkey. Otherwise, I've found decoys as much or more liability as asset. I do oppose "fanning", and full-strut gobbler decoys (particularly on public lands) but more because of safety concerns, than any concern of their assumed effectiveness. Put it this way, [U]most turkey hunters in TN are in fact doing most their turkey hunting on small private parcels[/U]. If they were required to hunt only "your" way, you would find a lot bigger crowds on all our large-acreage public lands, and bigger crowds there would equate to more turkeys killed there by all the googans, as even a blind pig runs across a few acorns. That would do more harm to your personal hunting than all the decoy use on private properties where you don't hunt, as most hunters killing birds using decoys, are doing so mainly on small private properties? What if a lot more of them suddenly shifted to do more of their hunting right in your backyard, albeit doing that hunting via the same methods you utilize? In the meantime, if we don't bring on board more new young hunters, there may come a time when zero turkey hunting is allowed on our vast public lands. From a biological & wildlife management standpoint, it is really not necessary to allow turkey hunting, and when a huge majority of "users" don't want to share the public areas with those scary hunters, [U]it will be legally disallowed[/U], right where you currently hunt, just like it has on the bordering Smokey Mountain National Park. Part of what I'm saying is we should convince others that turkey hunting is more enjoyable, a more satisfying journey, [U]when we are able[/U] and choose to do it via the more "traditional" method, often referred to as "run & gun". We're not always "able", and a day will come for all of us, too, when we will either give up turkey hunting entirely, or we will choose to alter our methods. My idea is to encourage younger folks (and other novices) to enjoy going turkey hunting, realizing most their opportunities will be wherever there are turkeys most convenient to their homes. For most, these opportunities will be on small private parcels, where traditional turkey hunting may not work so well. Meanwhile, we can preach the greater sport of traditional turkey hunting. As my Mother often said, we can catch more flies with sugar, than with vinegar. [/QUOTE]
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