Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

I shouldn't tell this on myself, because there's one person on this web site that's going to make me bury my head when he reads this. May have told him about it, can't remember.

A while back, not to long ago, I worked a bird off his roost. He came striaght to me, more or less, was actually walking from my right to left in front of me. I shot, he went down, got up and started to run. He ran a few yards and turned around and ran back across in front of me, at that point I still couldn't get a clear shot, again he turns around and runs back by me. I got on him as best I could (I hunt a lot of palmetto swamp land), fired again and again he went down. He jumps back up and starts running in circles, I shoot again with my third and last shell, a complete miss.

Now I'm standing there, no more shells and an empty gun. I realize I blinded the bird with the first shot. He was like a pinball machine, he would run into a bush, tree, etc., turn around and run again, everytime, geting closer to me. I had done decided, if he gets' close enough I'm gonna swing my gun like a baseball bat, thank goodness he didn't get that close, with my luck that day, probably would have sent the stock to splinter land on some unseen tree.

He finally runs more or less in a straight line and stops when he runs into a bunch of vines. He just squats there, everytime I try to walk up behind him he tries to lift his head, I'm afraid he's going to start that running again and I might not find him.

You ever done something dumb, and look around to see if anyone saw what you did. Well I'm standing in the Georgia swamps, thinking that very thing. Anyway, I hang a piece of toilet paper in a bush, my truck is about a quarter mile away, with plenty of extra shotgun shells, so I take off. I get the truck and drive as close as I can, and you can bet the farm, when I got of the truck I had a pocket and gun full of shells. When I get to the paper he's still in the vines, but his head was down. Everytime I try moving right or left of him to get a clear head shot he would lift his head, now I'm thinking he's gonna take off. To end this ordeal, I decide to start walking straight towards him to make him lift his head high enough for a clear shot, and he did and I put an end to that hunt.

Now admit it, all of you at the start of this post thought I was the most unethical turkey hunter you ever heard of. I'm not, but I was humbled that day andfelt dumb as a box of rocks.

Moral, CARRY ENOUGH SHOTGUN SHELLS WITH YOU, YOU NEVER KNOW!

I still laugh at myself about that hunt. Oh yeah, I lost my favorite slate call that day chasing a blind turkey. I looked every where, had no idea where it could be or where I had actually been while after this turkey. I was so desperate for that call I came home, called Cabela's and had them overnight me another one, which cost me extra. Plus a buddy had one identical and didn't use it, he brought me his. Well I went back 3 days to the same tree I was sitting by when I shot this bird, and there was my call, plain as day, that blind turkey could have seen it, guess I was in a panic. My buddy wouldn't take his call back, I tried to pay him for it, he wouldn't take any money either, so now I have three copies of my favorite slate.

Y'all Have a Nice Christmas,
dog1

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

When I was 12 years old I was put in a tree stand with only four shells. We were hunting in New Jersey and at the time only buckshot was legal for deer. I learned two lessons that day, one was to carry as many shells as you can bring with you and the second was to never use buckshot for anything other than home defense. I shot him at about 35 - 40 yards away and he finally went down after the third hit. I then put my fourth and last round in the chamber and waited, about ten seconds later he got up and I hit him again and he took off running. He was finally killed by two other hunters about a quarter mile away. Since then I've only ran out of ammo once, I was charged by an angry armadillo and I emptied all ten rounds in my 10/22 at him. Luckily I wasn't physically injured, he rolled up in a heap only inches from my feet. If I only had three rounds like you the results could have been very different.:D

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

a friend of mine shot a bird a few years ago....took a long shot like a DA, got one pellet in the head/neck area....the bird freaks out, he shoots again, the bird runs into a tree, he shoots again, the bird runs into a tree again , he threw his gun down and did the flying tackle onthe bird.....turned out to be the heaviest bird taken to date where i hunt, lol...not the best way to end it , but it ended it....

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

i would say you were ethical to go back to the truck and get more shells and finish what you started.

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

If every turkey hunter had a trained dog, that'd eliminate about 160,00 gobblers every year, nationwide, that are wounded and not recovered, according to turkeydog.org
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RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Stuff happens. You did what you had to do (including going to the truck for more shells) to finish him off and not leave a wounded bird to die in the brush.

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

i think we can all agree that "ethics" varies from 1 person to another. so why post or ask questions on public forums to thousands of people asking if something is "ethical" or not when you know there is not going to be a right answer and it will probally create some sort of drama?

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Not trying to start a fight or ruffle your feathers but I can't tell if your ethical or not from your story...I commend you on recovering the bird but the ethicsquestion I have is at the beginning of the story...Why was the turkey blinded with the first shot?...Was the shot through brush?...Was the shot to far?...Did you pattern your gun before goinghunting?...Does your guns pattern hit at point of aim?...These are all questions I had running through my mind while I read your story.

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

TPhunter,

Actually, the story was true, but meant as a joke for us all to have some fun and see what can actually happen when hunting. Trust me, everything I hunt with is fine tuned from more than 30 years of turkey hunting, stuff happens. I probably jerked the the trigger, who knows, but undoubtedly shot high and only a few pellets hit him in the head.

dog1

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Thats cool...Makes more sense now.

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

There is nothing un-ethical about what you did. You made every effort to obtain your bird as quickly as possible.Its actually quite a funny story. By the way, they do make these sleeves that go over the buttstock of your shotgun the holds some EXTRA shells. Thought you might be interested in something like that!!!:D

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

My vest holds 5 shells... I'm sure yours does too;)

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Did you atleast give his seeing eye dog a treat for keeping him there so long?

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Mr. Longbeard,

I have several vest and hate all of them. I just wear my coat with shells and calls in my pockets. I, because of arthiritus, can't sit on the ground, hurts to much, so I use a modified turkey stool. I added pack straps to it and tie my home made blind to it.

Actually, I travel and hunt as lite as possible, carry 3 calls, a slate, mouth call, and a home made scratch box. I always carried only 3 shells, what the gun held legally. However, I bought and had a single shot shotgun modified last year just for turkey hunting, so will be carrying a few more shells in my pockets from now on. When I started turkey hunting all I had was a single shot 20 gauge, it had a hammer on it, I hate hammer guns, but wanted to go back to a single shot, found one with a cross bolt safety and that's what I now use.

I probably carry less into the woods turkey hunting than the average turkey hunter, same with all my hunting. Now my fishing is a different subject, probably have 25 rods and 20 poles in my crappie boat.

As stated previously, the story is very true and humorus, just wanted to have some fun on the site. I, as most hunters could tell many tales of blunder I've made in my years of hunting and fishing.

Merry Christmas to All,
dog1

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Based on the thread title...hell yeah!! Why not if he cant see me, why not eat him! ;)

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Why not try and cut his throught? Its the next logical step I guess....[:-]

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Well,

Thats a great story! Yea, you should always have 'extra' shells cause you never know...........How many times have I gone into the woods with just my three for the gun? PLENTY! Sometimes I just forget. So you shot the three that you had and that was it! if you would have had an extra 5 in your pocket, what if you would have missed/wounded anohter five times, then some yahoo on here would say you should carry 10 shells with you. Whatever. Great Great story. I just love how some folks come on for the attack as soon as someone shares a blunder or truth or a good story.

So, my question back is - now how many extra shells do you travel with in the woods? Myself I put three in the gun and have three in my pocket and I figure if I can't git-er-done with 6 then I'm going to be coming out of the woods for a while to 'cool down'.

I got an even better question for everyone...............

OK, anyone out there ever miss a turkey? C'mon, now raise your hand if you have......................

I'll go first, yep, I've missed. Gun was patterned, everythingwas just checked anddouble checked, I just, well, missed!

If there is anyone out there that hasn't missed yet, quit now while you are ahead............stay at this game long enough and it will happen.............its never a good thing, but its also something that keeps us honest and keeps us into tuning that gear as best as possible.

Merry Christmas to all!

Can't wait till spring.........mid-March right?

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

hootnscoot,

You betcha I've missed. Thought it would never happen to me but it did. Two years ago I called in a bird around 12 noon. He was a long distance from me and I thought, "This bird will never come this far", he did, never slowed coming to me. I was talking to myself, just keep coming old boy and your in the freezer. He came within 20 yards and I was so confident he was mine, I actually shot over him, couldn't believe it. I was so dumb founded I didn't even pump another shell into the chamber, he ran off.

dog1

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Yep I've missed 4 times in almost 30 years of huntin turks.3 were because I miss judged distance"my own stupidity that I'm certainly not proud of"and once was because the bird just happen to duck his head back behind a ridge just as I shot"he was lucky"!!!The down side of a miss that nobody wants to talk about is theres a definate chance you put shot into the bird :(!Thats the ugly of a so-called miss.One of the birds I missed by stretching my barrel to far,we harvested 4 days later and we found 3 of my pellets inside him.All 3 had begun to seriously fester!!Yes a "miss" will happen but we ethically have an obligation to do what we can in respect to the birdin maximizing our turkey patterns and shooting at ethical ranges.Especially with the evolution of loads firearms and todays good info!No offense at all dog1 stuff happens in the turkey woods,but a clean kill would of been better than a funny story;).....Bob...

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Well.....I am the guy whom ths story was told to in person and I have hunted with the dog! Is he ehtical?

Should not even need to ask! I can say dog1 is my friend and I would hunt with him anywhere-anytime. He is like me and we NEVER leave our ethics in the truck!

But....ya know I am starting to think the only reason he invited me to hunt down south with him and I did go.... was to feed all those 10 pound mosquitoes so they would not bite him!



OKAY....NOW TO ANSWER OTHER ??
YES I have missed 3 times in the course of 20 yrs......one I know I wounded the bird and paid a 1 yr long penance....I did with out something I dearly loved!

2. I carry - 4 for the gun and 3 extra........

But I know dog1------he musta had skeeters pesterin' the bejeebies outa him...

JW

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Thanks for the kind words JW!. Bet you're freezing your rearend off from what see on the news.

Merry Christmas,
dog1

RE: Another Ethics Question! Would you shoot a blind turkey?
 

Dog1 / JW,

JW may be freezing up there in WI but its cold down here as well. I drove to GA two days ago from WI and there is frost on the porch this morning. I'm down in Austell GA outside of Atlanta. Drove through some ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL turkey country on the way down in KY, TN and GA.

JW - throw anohter log on the fire and get busy planning the season! Any ideas for an early (in March) down south hunt?

I've got turkey on the brain something serious............

Merry Christmas to ya'll