I was out squirrel hunting with a Ruger .22 with a scope (I don't know much about it, it actually belongs to my father and I borrowed it for the day) and as I was crossing a road a turkey was crossing in the same direction about 40-50 feet away just as calmly as it could.

I tried to stalk it down but I was making too much noise in the woods and it got spooked and flew into a thicket then disappeared.

Darn ethics! (...or laws whatever)

Were you in a car or walking? If you are walking even along the road I think it's legal to shoot at game or am I completley wrong on that one?

it may be legal to kill game while walking along a road, but the game must be in season first. also, rifles are illegal and unethical to take turkey hunting. too easy to get a turkey with a rifle. you can generally just walk within rifle range of a turkey without them flying off.

It's illegal to shoot from the road, over a road, or relatively at a road here, unless something has changed since my hunter education class many years ago. Also, if I remember correctly you're supposed to have your gun unloaded if you cross or are walking down a public road, which I was breaking that rule...oops...

And I was on foot.

Imagine how I felt the other day when 6 gobblers crossed my property , 4 of them with beards dragging the ground , and I couldn't even touch them . Our Fall turkey season had already ended several days before . There's also a grey phase hen that haunts the woods next door , if she had come within range I would've been sorely tempted but wouldn't have shot at her either .

On sunday I walked to the base of my tree stand with my bow for a deer hunt, before climbing I saw movement 20yrds away - turkeys.
I didn't want to panick them so I stood still as they filed away one by one (they heard/saw me and were moving off). After about 30 birds had passed I said screw this, I can't wait anymore and climbed up, by the time I got up there were still a dozen milling around within bow range - talk about disipline! I have never seen this many birds in one place before, but we don't have a fall hunt [:@]