i am not talking about roosted turkeys that you locate in the morning, that is just wrong. i flushed a group of turkeys in the field and a big hen flew 20 foot up in an oak, i drew, counted coup and let down, just not right in my eyes. now hunting with a stick and string is hard enough and turkeys are a whole different set of problems. i ask you, if you had a shot (safe, no people/houses) at a turkey, in your range, in a tree would you take the shot, i am curious.
Assuming legal I would. I'd also shoot a cougar or a bear in a tree. I treat my favorite critter, squirrels with such prejudice on a regular basis.
i think it is legal, i will have to check on that!
Turkey are sharp animals. Getting within bow range of one, even in a tree is difficult. Almost all turkeys I have encountered blew out of the tree asap. Any turkey with a bow is a trophy. Being in a tree doesn't make it any less challenging. If you are hunting and bust them up and one trees, I would say go for it.
I will give one caveat though. If you are heading out in the dark to a roost and shooting at turkeys under cover of darkness. First of all it isn't legal shooting light and also seems wrong.
Whats the difference between on the ground at 8 yards or in a tree at 10.
Grinch not much! i hunted them with muzzleloader for so long that i guess it is just instinctive to pass on a bird in a tree.
Ken, I think the poll results speak volumes.
Ken just seems to me the harder shot would be in the tree,on the ground they are in the open,don't know if it's legal,just my pennies worth.
Sure I would. If its legal its all hunting to me. I think of that as an animal slipping up, and that is usually how we get them, when they slip up.
If a big 11 point walks up to me at 5 yards looking the other way, it is much like a turkey flying into a tree. Thats my cue to fill my freezer.
yes it is legal, would have been a nice bird for Thanksgiving.....
In SC, it is legal to shoot birds in the tree from 30minutes after sunrise, to 30minutes before sunset.
Illinois law
It is unlawful to shoot a wild turkey while it is
in a tree before 7 a.m.
That said, just because they are sitting still in a tree, doesn't make it easy.
Illegal in KY.
Are you nuts....why didn't you drop the string....How many chances do you get at a turkey let alone one sitting........I have to have a talk with you :readit: This sport is challenging enough with out over thinking it!
I wouldn't, not because it isn't ethical, just because I would probably miss and never find my arrow. :biglaugh:
no
turkeys on the roost are not legal in any state I've lived in...With a trad bow I would have no problem doing it if it were legal.
Provided it is legal and you are sure your arrow won't go astray I don't have a problem with it.
As has been said if it is legal I would have dropped the string on that bird. I would not shoot one off a roost but if one was dumb enough to fly in a nearby tree after I spooked him I would consider it fair game.
If the law says that its legal then the state presumes you'll make the right choice based on your own set of ethics. I think the only thing that would have made me stop is consideration for what happens to the arrow if I miss?
No, not only illegal here in RI, but how would you know if another hunter wasn't in the immediate area if they were in full camo?
In SC, it is legal to shoot birds in the tree from 30minutes after sunrise, to 30minutes before sunset.
I wouldn't.I like calling them in the spring,that's 99% of the fun to me.But if it's legal and you want a turkey take the shot.If you're stalking them I don't see much difference between them on the ground or in a tree,ya still gotta put a good sneak on to get in range.
Unless I were starving in the wilderness, I wouldn't take the shot. Just for the record, I won't shoot doves off the power lines either. Nor ducks on the water. Nor deer at a feeder. Nor a bear with his nose in a doughnut pile. Nor wolves from an airplane.
I don't care that it's legal or that someone else sees nothing wrong with it. I just won't do it.
What it comes down to is the difference between "sport hunting" and subsistence hunting. I recognize that I'm a sport hunter and I have to abide by my own rules. My personal code of "fair chase" is all that matters to me. :readit:
Subsistence hunting is different. If I were in dire circumstances and foraged for survival, I'd shoot or snare or club to death any nourishment that I needed to keep going. Hen turkey sitting in a tree? Ring the dinner bell! :)
Mike
QuoteOriginally posted by jjwaldman:
I wouldn't, not because it isn't ethical, just because I would probably miss and never find my arrow. :biglaugh:
Same here.
QuoteOriginally posted by Gila Mike:
My personal code of "fair chase" is all that matters to me.
Great post! this part sums it up.^
I went on a baited bear hunt once with a few of my buddies and I got a bear.They all went back the next year but I didn't go. The hunt just didn't sit right with me.I even ended up giving the bear rug away.I've got no problem with anyone else doing it,but it's just not for me.
I'm with most the others, may be even a little more of a challenge than pluggin one ten feet out of a pop up blind.
I'd have no moral dilemma about the altitude of the bird! But...
I'd want a fluflu and a nice backdrop & be practically positive of no other person in range.
And, though I would never have given it any thought before, NOW I have to find out about the legality in NY...
I really don't see anything wrong with it and I shoot squirrels like that anyway.
That said, I wouldn't have taken the shot. I just like things to happen on my terms. Even jumping a deer walking in or out of my stand (legal shooting hours) I pass on with my bow in hand. I just want to put in the effort and have it happen my way not by some fluke.
My exception to that rule is coyotes. I don't hesitate to shoot them anytime.
If one likes turkey breast and aint up to a trip to Kroger he might ought to loose an arra!
Only on the wing!
Only on the wing for me.
If the circumstances were safe and legal, yes I would shoot.
Ken. . as you described it. . . I woulda shot (if legal). Out west you get shots like that all the time at grouse. They fly up to a tree to escape a coyote or fox (or us).
Chuck
Not 100% sure, but don't think itis legal where I hunt. Never thought about it but don't think i would try a tree shot.
Bisch
Never had a problem shooting 'em on the ground (I'm about 2,000 feet above sea level) don't figure there's an issue shootin one at 2020 feet either.
I dont think a turkey feels any better about being shot on the ground than if he or she is up a tree. You made your choice, no blessings needed. :dunno:
I didn't vote in the poll, because I guess I don't look at it as ethical, but more as fair chase. I personally would not shoot a turkey in a tree. I have had the opportunity once before and passed and it was after morning flydown and I was bowhunting deer in the fall, but had a fall turkey tag in my pocket. I have also seen ducks on the water and pheasants in trees and past of them as well when hunting. Now I would not have a problem with another hunter taking those shots if legal, but for me, I don't feel right about taking the shot. Maybe that is my ethics, but I never really considered it that way. It wouldn't offend me if someone else took that shot, so I wouldn't consider it against my ethics. My daughter and I talked about this while hunting. In fact she was in the stand with me the day I was deer hunting and a turkey was startled by something and flew up and landed in a tree about 20 yards from us. She asked me if I was going to shoot it and I said no. She asked why and all I could say is, it didn't seem fair to me. I said it is like playing tag and the tree is the turkey's free base. If they are there they are safe. May not make sense and you may not agree with it, but I wouldn't proudly tell the story of how I shot a turkey out of a tree and if I can't be proud of my kills, then I shouldn't make them. But I could be very happy for another hunter who took an animal legally and proudly told their story, regardless of how I would have handled their specific circumstance.
Yeap, if one can get under neath a roosted Turkey close enough for a bow shot, you have mad skills! :clapper: :clapper:
Yep, been known to take a other critters out of trees too.
With my luck it would die in the tree and I'd have to cut it down to get it.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
Not 100% sure, but don't think itis legal where I hunt. Never thought about it but don't think i would try a tree shot.
Bisch
It's not legal in TX if they're roosting according to the outdoor annual.
To answer the OP...If a turkey happens to fly in a tree in the middle of the day, I'd shoot.
I have a love/hate relationship with turkeys, mostly hate. I have had more turkey tag soup than any other. Believe me, if one lands ANYWHERE that I can legally take a shot, you bet your sweet bippy I will shoot!
How is it standing in a tree any different from it standing on the ground? Why is it unsporting to shooting a sitting dove, but never shoot a flying turkey? Its considered unsporting, and illegal to bait dove, and turkey, but in alot of places fine to bait deer and bear?
Walt them other critters you shoot out of trees sure would have no problem taking a turkey out of a tree! i always love you stories!