I'm sure some of you out there will disagree, but I had an encounter on Saturday with another turkey hunter(used VERY loosely) that solidified that belief for me. I went out Saturday afternoon down to Skookumchuck to a spot I had bumped a hen in the past. After hiking in about 1.5 miles and checking out this spot, I headed back out. I heard a guy call from behind me down the road, so I waited on him to approach. His attire gave me a clue, but the conversation sold it. He was wearing blue jeans, black sneakers, a BDU jacket, and no hat or gloves.

We made normal chit-chat about not seeing anything. He made a comment about my gun being really big, then asked me how far I could shoot a turkey with it. I told him I had a good pattern to about 40 yards. He then showed me his turkey slayer. It was a single shot .410! Yes, I said a .410, and he was using 7 1/2 shot. He told me he felt good with his to about 40 yards also. I nearly choked. I told him that was not nearly enough gun for a turkey, and certainly not past 10-15 yards with his load. He also had some misconceptions about how to chase them. He thought he could see them in the open and either approach or head them off. He talked about them like they were oversized grouse or something.

Turns out this is his first season(imagine that). He was reading in the newspaper about turkey hunting around Skookumchuck which is just down the road from his house, and thought that it would be a good reason to get out in the woods. He said since he HAD A TAG ANYWAY, he figured what the hell.

Now I'm all for new hunters coming into the fold, but this is NOT the way to do it. He obviously has not researched anything about the animal, loads, or tactics. He didn't have any respect for the animal at all. I had to explain to him that he absolutely should not take body shots on a turkey. This was rediculous. I did my best to educate him on our walk out to the trucks without completely blasting him, but I was amazed at how little he knew about the animal he was hunting. I was just glad I ran in to him on the last day of the season rather than the first. He had been out 5 or 6 times this season, so he was a verteran. He was a friendly guy, but just didn't have a clue about turkey hunting. I don't know how the rest of you feel, but it would be worth an extra $10 or $15 to keep guys like this out of the woods. And if they would earmark some of the money for habitat development for turkeys, that would be great too.