well put MOTurkeyTamer.

In Minnesota and in South Dakota, it is illegal to take a turkey from the roost.

I think there is a distinction that needs to be made between " sporting" and " ethical." Does a sleeping tom, roosted in a tree which his whole life has taught him is a " safe" place, have a sporting chance against a stealthy man with a shotgun who sneaks to within 40 yards of his location and blasts him with a load of lead? Does a strutting tom, 200 yards out in a field, on display for his harem of hens, have a sporting chance against a man with a high-powered rifle? I think not, and therefore regard those types of taking of turkeys as unsportsmanlike.

To me, ethics is what is legislated. " Sporting" is what is perceived in a more nebulous context, and typically involves terms or concepts such as fair chase. The sportsman tries to pit his skills against his game. Sportsmen don' t go fishing with large nets or dynamite, because, although it is highly successful, there is no predator-prey " game" or challenge to the fisherman' s skills that occurs when a load of dynamite stuns or kills the fish. Likewise, it is not much of a challenge to whomp a tom off the roost or drop one from 200 yards with a rifle.

As far as the question of killing a turkey en route a strut zone, etc., I think that, in those contexts, the hunter is meeting the prey on the prey' s basic terms, and thus, those activities, to me, are sporting. The turkey has wonderful vision, fantastic hearing. Although I can be accused of unsportsmanlike behavior when I try to take advantage of the turkey' s spring mating behavior/hormones, I don' t consider that unsporting, as the turkey still possesses all his wariness, and sounding like a hen is no " sure thing."

I apologize, in advance, to those of you who take offense to my view, or regard my position as insulting. I am not trying to offend, just express my opinion.

This is the one I made HuntinMa mad about last year (she didn' t know I was kidding). But I wll say that if it does it for you shoot him. It wouldn' t do it for me. A few years ago I called one in pretty close and he saw me before I could get on him, he flew up in a tree still in range so I blasted him. Didn' t make me feel good and I wouldn' t do it agan

I disagree with " ethics is what is legislated" - Laws are legislated and ethics should not be put into legislation what-so-ever.

For example... You hear a gobbler and begin to sneak up on it - in the process, you see a guy working the bird (calling, the bird responding and coming). You proceed past the guy, and set up between him and the bird he is bringing in and nail the bird. That is completely legal, but not in the least bit ethical or sporting... I think there could be cause to say ethical hunting and sporting hunting are similar, or even the same, but legislative and ethical is not.

I would not shoot a turkey off the roost.
With that said, I don' t expect anyone else go by my standards, if what they are doing is legal.
I think in the situation that Buckalley described his brother was somewhat new to turkey hunting, only taking a single jake before. I think that some people start out really wanting to just shoot a turkey but as time goes by and they are successful a few times, their attitudes and values change on what is ethical or sportmanlike.
I strongly agree that it is more fun and exciting to call in a gobbler and that should be something that we all WANT to happen every time.
As long as it' s legal and safe a turkeys life is taken, and we MUST respect that. I am not sure the turkey would choose either way... JUST MY OPINION.

WANWTF

IMHO much of the legislation (i.e., rules) in the hunting and fishing arena has little to do with effective or efficient management of the resource, but is, instead, an effort by government to impose some standard of ethical conduct upon hunters and fishermen. If not, why is it ruled unlawful (in some states) to shoot turkeys on the roost, or to shoot deer at night, or to use live ducks as decoys when hunting, or to shoot ruffed grouse within a set distance from an ATV, or to use spinning wing decoys for waterfowl hunting, or to use electronic calls for waterfowl in the fall, or to bait waterfowl, or to shoot waterfowl with a gun greater than 10 gauge, or to hunt waterfowl (in some states) from a sneak boat (i.e., in an area free from vegetation), and on and on? None of these examples (and a creative mind would undoubtedly come up with many more such examples) have anything to do with harvest management. Instead, those types of rules are simply efforts by lawmakers to impose some element of ethics upon hunters. The prohibited conduct would undoubtedly, in most instances, result in a more successful hunt for the hunter. Regulation as to how many of a species are harvested in a particular season or state can be controlled with reduced season length, reduced numbers of licenses, and/or reduced limits. Those options (reduced season lengths, licenses/limits) are not enacted because legislatures have made a determination that certain types of hunting (and fishing) activities are not ethical. That is why I contend ethics are legislated.

As for the hunter who whomps a tom from the roost, while I would not engage in that activity, myself, even if legal, and while I would not claim that such an act is sporting, I can understand a different point of view. A current " hot topic" in Minnesota is bear baiting. It is currently legal (though there is a push to ban the activity), but is it sporting? Ethical? (I don' t hunt bears. . . .)

In Minnesota we can' t hunt mourning doves, either. Does that mean all Texans (and other states where it is legal) who shoot doves are unethical or unsporting?

i dont see it ethical....its kinda easy to sneak up and blast one off the roost once you find them on the roost...but hey..to every man his own i guess..i know nobody i take hunting will do such a thing...thats like shooting a ringneck standing on the ground...sure its almost a sure kill and its challenging to get there without making it fly but it takes the fun and challenge away...if thats your method of hunting thats fine by me i will do it my way...and i would never think about shooting a beded buck...thats like shooting ducks off a pond....just my opinion though

Whether it' s ethical or unethical, legal or illegal.IMHO, I think if a person has truley experienced Turkey hunting, they do it for ONE reason. That reason is the thrill of working that old Tom. Personally , I could care less if I pull the trigger or not. Dont get me wrong here, I like sportin around, braggin about how long his beard and spurs were , just as much as the next guy-But I would rather take a kid or someone else thats never been before and call an old tom up to them, then not have anyone to share the experience with. I' ve had plenty of oppurtunities to shoot birds off the roost , maybe it was the way I was brought up but I never took those birds off the limb, I just waited and gave them a reason to fly down > Never mattered to me if I took them or not. I guess I can thank my old man for that trait ..
And Proud to have it ! COMEON

I too have had chances to blow the sh** out of a tom on the roost.

Isn' t that what it really is ?

If I offend you, sorry.