Well I hunted all day today trying to locate this one special tom. This bird has a thick beard that almost touches the ground. I have dreamed of putting an arrow in him. Once back to my truck the farmer who ownes the land advised me that the bird was dead. Friday afternoon two guys seen him out in the field so they puller off the road went around a bruch pile and shot him. The only nice thing was the land owner was in his tractor across the road in a field. He was talking with the police when they shot the bird. Both men did not have a license and admitted that they had been watching the tom for a couple of weeks. Good luck to all cause mine went down the drain today.
safe hunting.

Man that sucks[:@]hope they get whats coming to them

poaching a turkey = federal offense!!!

right!?

sucks for you and the bird, doesn't deserve to go out like that!!!!! keep on pluggin you'll find another limbhanger!

i don't think its a federal offense.

Thats too bad..... they will pay for what they did..... but dont give up, theres plenty of big ol' toms out there. Keep huntin' and it will pay off.

Go and getem!!!

The farmer who lets me hunt his land decided this weekend to let one other guy hunt it as well... Sunday night the guy shows up with 3 of his friends expecting to have the whole farm to himself! He saw me walking out in the field realized that he probably wasn't going to get to hunt the best spots and turned around and left. (atleast that is what I had thought) I get back to the best part of the farm to see he had used the decoys I was hunting with that morning! (I was a good guy and went to church) To make matters worse I think the guy scared all of the turkeys to timbuktoo because I went from seeing 10+ hens and gobblers a hunt to 1-2.

Most turkey hunters are law abiding fair chase sportsmen. Unfortunately, turkey hunting also brings out plenty of dumbasses. I think the only trouble those guys will face is hunting without a license and trespassing, which is a shame. BTW, turkey hunting is regulated by the states. If it were a federal bird, God knows what the fines and sentences would be. Even being a state issue, the fines are still pretty steep. Baiting for doves can cost you $100,000.00. Baiting turkeys will cost you less than a thousand. Doesn't seem fair for some reason. People are going to keep poaching because they know that they are going to get just a slap on the wrist. If they get caught by the Feds, that's a different story.

I FOUND OUT TODAY THAT THESE A_ _ HOLES WILL APPEAR IN COURT LATER IN THE WEEK. THE MORE I THOUGHT ABOUT IT THE MADDER I GOT MY SON AND I SPENT MANY HOURS GETTING UP EARLY ON WEEKENDS TO SCOUT AND PATTERN THE BIRDS. I WAS TOLD THAT OUR COUNTY JUDGE IS A BIG HUNTER SO THAT MIGHT HELP. I'M GOING TO SEE OUR COUNTY ATTORNEY TOMMORW AND SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE. THE LAND OWNER IS WILLING TO BACK ME SINCE HE SAW IT ALL FIRST HAND. I WAS TOLD THAT IF PUSHED THEY COULD PAY UP TO $ 500.00 LOST OF HUNTING RIGHTS FOR 3 TO 5 YEARS, LOSE THEIR FIREARMS AND MYBE SOME JAIL TIME. EVERYONE IS ON GUN CONTROLL WHY NOT TAKE ALL THERE GUNS CAUSE THEY DON'T WORRY ABOUT NOT HAVING A LICENSE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
WELL I GUESS I WILL JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT AND MOVE ON AS MY WIFE SAYS. MAN IT BURNS ME TO JUST THANK ABOUT IT.
SAFE HUNTING.

That's too bad, sorry about your luck. Good luck the rest of the season.