Fullback24

Rifles are legal in Va, but I think it's a piss poor way of hunting them....I know several guys that have had their decoys shot with 22-250's.......I personally have had these snipers bust turkeys that I was watching and calling to.......I had an idiot shoot one in front of me, and all I needed was for it to step out from behind some brush.....and to beat all, there's nothing illegal about....only if I would have gotten hit, could I press charges..well, it's too dang late then........on another occasion, I witnessed a hunt that was interesting.....two guys got out of a vehicle at daylight.....one started blowing an owl hoot and a gobbler started to gobble(a gobbler that I had roosted the evening before), well, the other guy loaded up the old sniper rifle and started up through the woods, still fairly dark......skylined the gobbler at 100 yards or better, and dropped it........what hunters.....took alot of skill and nerves of steel to do that.

hawglips

My uncle and his buddies in SW VA like to ride around the road looking for turkeys out in the field, then popping them with their rifles. Makes one wonder what folks' concept of turkey hunting is. I guess some folks feel that turkey hunting is about seeing if you can hit them, rather than calling them in.

Its mighty dangerous though.

Hal

superstrutter

To each his own. It's not legal in La., but even if it were I wouldn't use a rifle. The best part of turkey hunting is working that longbeard into shotgun range.

Techy

Is there a hunter orange requirment for turkey hunters in the rifle areas?

I don't like the idea of rifles for turkeys, but if it is safe and legal than I can't say to much.

However, if there is no hunter orange requiement then I say ban it. I just don't think it is safe haveing people fully camoed shooting rifles on level ground.

Fullback24

Here in Va, there is no orange requirement for turkeys(fall or spring) and rifles are permitted......Another rifle story, I was standing up a ridge calling trying to locate a gobbler when I caught something shining down in a field below me......after studying it for a bit, I realized it was man with a rifle scoping me, to see what I was....I've often wondered how many times I've been scoped and didn't realize it......if you're huntin turkeys with rifles, you're wrong, I don't care whats legal and what isn't. .........I've had too many bad encounters with the snipers and luckily, I've come out unscathed everytime.....but it doesn't take but once.....I'm pretty callussed to this rifle/turkey business.

Ifly

No hunter orange in Fl. for turkey..and rifles are legal...although I've never seen anybody with a center-fire I've seen one person with .22 rim-fire and heard one .22 rim-fire shot.

gregholland

I killed 2 bearded hens a few years back with one shot from my 7.65 rifle. I shot cause I was pissed they were eating all my deer corn.

doubleA

In my opinion, that's a pretty narrow minded statement. As the saying goes......"guns dont kill people, people kill people". Funny as it only takes a few hunters doing things that areplain wrong to brand all other responsible and legalhunters "snipers". With the news last week of Vice President Cheny shooting a fellow hunter while quail hunting should we take the stand of using a shotgun for quail as wrong, maybe throwing a rock would have been safer.

With that attitude I suppose ......if your quail with a shotgun you are wrong, I dont care what's legal and what isnt......

I also dont understand the arguement of shooting a rifle on level ground for turkey as wrong, when deer hunting on the same land for deer is it not the same? Maybe I am missing something because I live in a state where 95 percent of the land is privately owned and dont have every weekend warrior that owns a gun going after the same game animal as I am.

Fullback24

yeah, I'll agree with that.......it is a narrow minded statement........but, the lawyer guy lived, luckily........what would have happened had he been shot with a 22-250?? probably wouldn't be recovering as well.

I'm not going to stir up a ruckus, but that's my opinion on the matter and I'm not going to change it.......I've dealt with too many of em bud.....it ain't fun when bullets are whizing over your head(and you can hear em), because these cats have no idea where you're at....I've heard the excuses: "I didn't know you were calling to it" "I didn't know you were there".....they see a gobbler, and they're putting the crosshairs on it......it ain't fun when you see a gobbler 35 yards away from you bounce up in the air, then a second later, hear the shot....it ain't fun when someone has got a rifle pointed at you because you sound like a turkey.....I venture to say, and I may be wrong, if you'd experience some of thisbusiness, you would probably change you position on the matter, and be against it like myself....now I may be totally wrong about that..........but, you are right about people and not the rifle....but I don't see the sport in it, and you can see a turkey further away, than you can see a man in camo head to toe setting 30 yards away from it....I just think it creates a dangerous situation.

hawglips

I'm with Fullback.

There is no place in turkey hunting for rifles.

Hal