PA spring gobbler
#21
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: PA.
Posts: 5,195

It's very easily enforecable,especially since he came right out and admitted that he stalked the turkeys.Lets see,a WCO sees someone walking toward the edge of a field and then they jump shoots two turkeys.Worse yet,if someone was working those birds and witnessed it,all they would have to do is testify and leave it up to a magistrate.I don't know who you hunt with but no one I hunt with would ever consider stalking a turkey and then shooting it.I know plenty of guys that would refuse to shoot a bird if it comes in silent.You're way out in left saying that most hunters stalk turkeys.I'm sure a certain percentage would and that's why it's illegal to do.Not only is it unsafe but it's flat out ignorant.I'm sure if you were working a bird on the edge of a field and a couple guys snuck in and shot them,you'd be posting about it on every forum.
Hearing a turkey and then moving in to set up is not stalking as long as you call the bird in.That's clearly what these guys did not do.He specifically stated that he saw them out in a field,stalked them and pushed them into his buddy.That's clearly against the law and enforceable.
Hunting by calling only.Sitting next to a strut zone or roost without calling is against the law.That one may be tough to enforce but stalking in and jump shooting them is enforeable and guys get pinched for it every year.
I didn't bash anyone.I simply stated that what he admitted to was 100% illegal.There wasn't even a gray area.
Last year my buddy Mark and I were coming out of the woods on the .last day of the season around 11:00am.We came out on a logging road and 5 jakes were standing not 20 yards away.I have no doubt that they came in silent to our calling.Still,neither of use even considered taking our guns off our shoulders.It would have been an easy shot and most likley the only people who would have known was us.
Hearing a turkey and then moving in to set up is not stalking as long as you call the bird in.That's clearly what these guys did not do.He specifically stated that he saw them out in a field,stalked them and pushed them into his buddy.That's clearly against the law and enforceable.
Hunting by calling only.Sitting next to a strut zone or roost without calling is against the law.That one may be tough to enforce but stalking in and jump shooting them is enforeable and guys get pinched for it every year.
I didn't bash anyone.I simply stated that what he admitted to was 100% illegal.There wasn't even a gray area.
Last year my buddy Mark and I were coming out of the woods on the .last day of the season around 11:00am.We came out on a logging road and 5 jakes were standing not 20 yards away.I have no doubt that they came in silent to our calling.Still,neither of use even considered taking our guns off our shoulders.It would have been an easy shot and most likley the only people who would have known was us.
sooooooooooooo,any way they can get that gobbler, THEY ARE GOING TO DO IT.
i commend you and your buddy for being a sportsman but my friend, THATS NOT REAL WORLD IN MY NECK OF WOODS.
my brother hunts on farm in lycoming county. he sits there and clucks a few calls turkeys come out and he and shoots the biggest gobbler,its that easy.nothing to it.
these FARM turkeys are farm fed in fields and grow big and fat and dumb as door nail.
our clinton turkeys are WILD TURKEYS .yet the private landowners are feeding them in all winter and starting to make them now into FARM turkeys.big fat and stupid as h.
so things are changing too.i hate it that now turkeys i hunt are all flying onto big privateland to get a big fat bowl of corn or whatever is left over from winter smorgasboard.
getting fat and stupid and being shot by hunters sitting near their 4 wheelers waiting in location that those dumbies fly into looking for big lunch.
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,262

Sproul,I hunt public property in the big woods.I don't hunt farms.So far this spring I haven't heard a single gobble,during the season or the preseason.It's the first time I've ever experienced this but I'm not going to break any laws to kill a bird.
It sounds to me like you live in the wild west.Everyone you encounter breaks the law and wants to kill every last critter out there.
It sounds to me like you live in the wild west.Everyone you encounter breaks the law and wants to kill every last critter out there.
#23
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,262

Okay - then if stopped all I need say is you did not hear my call!
And then when questioned I immediatley spit out the diaphram! at he is feet!
For once I find the this law rather ridiculous, - stalking is a method I bet many ahve used -
Does the same apply to deer hunting?
JW
And then when questioned I immediatley spit out the diaphram! at he is feet!
For once I find the this law rather ridiculous, - stalking is a method I bet many ahve used -
Does the same apply to deer hunting?
JW
I've killed dozens of turkeys in the spring.I can't remember one time when I wasn't sitting against a tree or log when I took the shot.If a guy is on his feet and moving when he shoots,he just broke the law and he'll have a tough time defending it in court.The law used to be easier to prove when orange was madatory while moving but it's still easily enforecable.
#24

Thanks for the Reg listing and the input. But I see that as a real gray area and that is just MO.
Just for the record I have yet to stand to take a shot. When I troll the first thing one does before any call is to find a place to sit down qucikly. Learned that the hard way as I got busted before I could put the call down.
As far as I know PA is the only state with that type of Law on the books. No Stalking.
I teach Hunter Education so any new state I hunt I read the Regs to fully understand what I can and can not do.
JW
Just for the record I have yet to stand to take a shot. When I troll the first thing one does before any call is to find a place to sit down qucikly. Learned that the hard way as I got busted before I could put the call down.
As far as I know PA is the only state with that type of Law on the books. No Stalking.
I teach Hunter Education so any new state I hunt I read the Regs to fully understand what I can and can not do.
JW
#25
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,262

There's no law against trolling.You can walk all you want.You can hear a bird and move into a better position to call.I move multiple times and reset up to call in most of the birds I kill.That's how most people hunt.You just have to call the bird in.What you can't do is see a bird,say out in a field,sneak up on it and shoot it like what was posted.That's clearly illegal and most people thankfully,do not hunt that way.It's also illegal to shoot a bird out of it's roost.Hunting is by calling only.That doesn't mean you can't employ woodsmanship and other tecniques.You just have to calll the bird in.
#26
Spike
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: huntingdon county,pa/4a,4b
Posts: 30

When you call,you do so from a stationary location.If you're on the move and kill a turky,you just broke the law,whether you spit out a call or not.I personally don't find the law ridiculous at all.If I'm working a bird and some pinhead decides to stalk in and mess up my hunt,it's gonna get unpleasant in a hurry.Stalking turkeys is dangerous and it's disrespectful to other hunters.
I've killed dozens of turkeys in the spring.I can't remember one time when I wasn't sitting against a tree or log when I took the shot.If a guy is on his feet and moving when he shoots,he just broke the law and he'll have a tough time defending it in court.The law used to be easier to prove when orange was madatory while moving but it's still easily enforecable.
I've killed dozens of turkeys in the spring.I can't remember one time when I wasn't sitting against a tree or log when I took the shot.If a guy is on his feet and moving when he shoots,he just broke the law and he'll have a tough time defending it in court.The law used to be easier to prove when orange was madatory while moving but it's still easily enforecable.

#27
Spike
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: huntingdon county,pa/4a,4b
Posts: 30

There's no law against trolling.You can walk all you want.You can hear a bird and move into a better position to call.I move multiple times and reset up to call in most of the birds I kill.That's how most people hunt.You just have to call the bird in.What you can't do is see a bird,say out in a field,sneak up on it and shoot it like what was posted.That's clearly illegal and most people thankfully,do not hunt that way.It's also illegal to shoot a bird out of it's roost.Hunting is by calling only.That doesn't mean you can't employ woodsmanship and other tecniques.You just have to calll the bird in.
#28
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,262

If someone ruins my hunt by committing a illegal act,you better believe there's gonna be a confrontation.I've had quite a few hunts messed up by other hunters who moved in unintentionally not knowing another hunters was working a bird.I have no problem with that.It happens.Stalking my position without any intention of setting up to call is a different story.
#29
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,262

"Moving into a better position" would be a form of stalking.Unless there is a law stating how far you must stay away from the bird when moving,it's stalking.Even though you're calling,you are still moving into the bird.I could go out there with a mouth call,walk around until I'm close enough to shoot,hurry up and sit,call a few times,let the turkey take a step,and shoot at the same time.That would be the same as "moving into a better position" just more extreme.It wouldn't be stalking since i called right??It also is hypocritical considering you could easily walk into another hunters spot without knowing,which you said would "get unpleasant" if it happened to you.
#30

What if two guys were set up working the same bird from differnet sides....unaware of each other or assuming each other were live hens. One decides to move and circle around to another side to work the bird and hopefully bring him in because his angle isn't favorable. He inadvertently spooks/ bumps the bird. The other hunter then accuses him of stalking. Who is at fault here, and was the law broken in any way? And is intention provable in court? My opinion on the mattre is that moving is a often necessary part of turkey hutning....and there is a difference between that and stalking a turkey sound, trying to walk up within range and shoot. If I belly crawl fifty yards closer then setup against a tree, and then the turkey appears in range before I can call again, was that stalking as well? I believe the law is to vague with definition and most cases would fail to prosecute unless a game warden observed the violation first hand, such as watching someone crawl across an open field and shoot a bird within sight of the road.