Spring Turkey Season

[dekeguy]

Anyone planning to have a go at bagging a gobbler this season?

Saturday is opening day of Spring season and I have been getting my gear ready. I think I'll let the first few days go by so the over anxious types can burn off some shells and then settle down.

Anyway, I have my cammys, boots, bug spray, water bottle, gear bag, ammo belt, and my Baikal side-by-side 12 bore. Great gun; dirt cheap, super well made, really good looking, really good shooting, and less recoil than my old Remington 870 Pump. This year I figure to primarily use #4 shot and keep a couple of rounds of #2 shot for backup. I have a pop-up ground blind but I think I'll start my season by walking up some trails that have been looking very promising. If I see or hear ole Tom I'll hunker down and try calling him in.

I hope to bag three this year, smoke one for myself and donate two to Hunters for the Hungry. I think its a great program, especially this economy.
If you shoot this year I recommend that you look into Hunters for the Hungry
as there are a lot of folks who could really use some game for the table.

[dekeguy]

Don't tell me that no one else is going turkey shooting this year! When I was an undergrad we would plan for the various seasons so we could do wild game dinners and buffets. Delicious and a great way to identify prospectives.

Originally Posted by dekeguy

Anyone planning to have a go at bagging a gobbler this season?

Saturday is opening day of Spring season and I have been getting my gear ready. I think I'll let the first few days go by so the over anxious types can burn off some shells and then settle down.

Anyway, I have my cammys, boots, bug spray, water bottle, gear bag, ammo belt, and my Baikal side-by-side 12 bore. Great gun; dirt cheap, super well made, really good looking, really good shooting, and less recoil than my old Remington 870 Pump. This year I figure to primarily use #4 shot and keep a couple of rounds of #2 shot for backup. I have a pop-up ground blind but I think I'll start my season by walking up some trails that have been looking very promising. If I see or hear ole Tom I'll hunker down and try calling him in.

I hope to bag three this year, smoke one for myself and donate two to Hunters for the Hungry. I think its a great program, especially this economy.
If you shoot this year I recommend that you look into Hunters for the Hungry
as there are a lot of folks who could really use some game for the table.

[IrishLake]

I don't, but a lot of people I work with do. Should be a good spring season in Ohio, they're out EVERYWHERE here right now. I was out in the woods the other day for work and could hear them on the next ridge over.

[carnation]

I am going to bag the next group of them that lands on my front lawn and poops on it. I could send my son's Labrador out after them and they'd stare at him while munching and pooping merrily.

[naraht]

It's sort of funny, when I went off to College I was fairly anti-hunting (I spent my last two years of High School in the Republic of China, *no* private gun ownership, I believe). My freshman year there was a guy on my floor from the Maryland Eastern Shore. This guy got me researching the situation with the deer on the Eastern Shore (they have no predators other than humans (and human vehicles)). By the end of my Freshman year I was OK with certain types of hunting, specifically for North American herbivores which are in *no* danger of extinction, like deer and the wild turkey.

In my area (about 10 miles north of the northern tip of Washington, DC), we've got parks following some of the major streams of the area and the deer population may be *higher* than it was 500 years ago (no wolves or cougar in the area) and I believe that every year they have the police sharpshooters operate in some of the connected parks to bring down the population. (No private licenses). In Washington DC you've got people ranging all the way from "There should be no deer in the city, wipe them *all* out" to "It's Bambi!"

[dekeguy]

Originally Posted by naraht

It's sort of funny, when I went off to College I was fairly anti-hunting (I spent my last two years of High School in the Republic of China, *no* private gun ownership, I believe). My freshman year there was a guy on my floor from the Maryland Eastern Shore. This guy got me researching the situation with the deer on the Eastern Shore (they have no predators other than humans (and human vehicles)). By the end of my Freshman year I was OK with certain types of hunting, specifically for North American herbivores which are in *no* danger of extinction, like deer and the wild turkey.

In my area (about 10 miles north of the northern tip of Washington, DC), we've got parks following some of the major streams of the area and the deer population may be *higher* than it was 500 years ago (no wolves or cougar in the area) and I believe that every year they have the police sharpshooters operate in some of the connected parks to bring down the population. (No private licenses). In Washington DC you've got people ranging all the way from "There should be no deer in the city, wipe them *all* out" to "It's Bambi!"

Actually there are many more white tail deer in the Eastern states than there were when the first European settlers arrived. In many places the herds are too large to be supported by their natural foodstuffs and are subject to chronic wasting disease and other mamadies which condemn them to a slow and unpleasant death. State conservation departments have to cull the herds every year so that their natural habitat will support these deer. Ethical hunting is crucial for them to live a normal and natural life. The alternative is starvation and disease. Further, when the herds are culled the meat can be donated to Hunters for the Hungry to help those who honestly need a hand in putting food on the table for their families.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by dekeguy

Actually there are many more white tail deer in the Eastern states than there were when the first European settlers arrived. In many places the herds are too large to be supported by their natural foodstuffs and are subject to chronic wasting disease and other mamadies which condemn them to a slow and unpleasant death. State conservation departments have to cull the herds every year so that their natural habitat will support these deer. Ethical hunting is crucial for them to live a normal and natural life. The alternative is starvation and disease. Further, when the herds are culled the meat can be donated to Hunters for the Hungry to help those who honestly need a hand in putting food on the table for their families.

One of the comments on White Deer expansion that I've heard is that the ideal habitat for a White-tail deer is a Golf Course surrounded by a forest. Not many of those 500 years ago. Oddly enough for a site considered "liberal", the page on the species on Wikipedia is fairly pro-hunting. (or at least, the habitat would be often be better with fewer deer it in.) And the white tail deer as actually expanded its range in the last 500 years...

One of my friends hit and killed a deer while travelling on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, after verifying that she was alright, the cop asked if she wanted the deer, after she said no (and was *really* confused as to why the cop asked) the cop called a local butcher who was contracted with the county to pick up fresh road kill, butcher it and give it to the food bank/local homeless facility.

For the turkey, I think the biggest surprise to most people who aren't in areas with wild turkeys is how tough they are to hunt. The average American doesn't realize the degree to which their thanksgiving turkey has been bred and raised to be *really* oversized.

The oddest thing that I heard in regards to hunting is that at one point one of the midwestern states was considering a knife(!) season for deer. Under the standard "less power in the weapon equals longer season", I think the knife season was something like September to February.

As far as I'm concerned, if you are hunting deer successfully with a knife, forget daily/seasonal limits, the only requirement is that the Navy Seals should get your address so they can recruit you.