How many of you guys will try and get close to a hen thats calling? I ask this because today for the third time this season I had a pair of morons, no I`m sorry thats insulting to morons. I had a pair of ****** sneak up on me while I was calling to a gobbler that was at least 200 yards away. Now the first thing some will ask is, why call to a bird that is that far away? The reason and the same reason that I got sooo mad today is because I had my 8 and 9 year old daughters with me. I was not soft calling this bird I was hammering him with alot of cuts and loud yelping. These guys are a reflection of what I have found in the woods every year but this year was the unbelievable. Yes it was public land but after this year me and some of the guys I hunt with are going to lobby to get this land closed to turkey hunting. We hunt private land that borders this public land and all this public land does is give these guys an excuse for tresspassing. I`ve heard I thought I was on Reforestation so many times in the last couple of years. Respect for other hunters seems to have hit an alltime low around here and if this continues I will find it hard to continue to hunt locally. Please, and this goes to old and new hunters, If you get to your favourite spot and there`s someone else there instead of walking in and wrecking both yours and his morning go somewhere else. If you hear a hen calling always assume it`s another hunter unless you can see it, and if you can`t see it don`t sneak in to get a closer look(public land). Well thats my rant, guess I got so upset because I`ve been stalked before but this is 2 years in a row that the annual kids trip has been busted by other hunter (last year was private land by tresspassers). Nothing scares me more than a 40 year old whose willing to do anything to get a bird.

...As for me,i usely make sure it is a real live hen but i move in with stelth to make sure
but most time around here if her gobbler is with her he will respond,most time i can detect
the sound of the real live hen,but i agree it is a little risky...........

I never have but to shut down the piece of land to law abiding turkey hunters because of the actions a few is wrong.

If somehow you are able to get this done,wouldn' t antihunters use what you have done to shut down hunting where they don' t want it.
Watch what you wish for.

If I believed that the majority on this piece of public land were law abiding I would have no part in this but here`s an example, a friend has permission to hunt private farm that borders this public area, opening morning after scouting his farm and roosting birds he sets up at the edge of a corn field 400 yards from public land. As day breaks the birds start gobbling on the roost. In the first hour of light he has to remove 9 different hunters that have trespassed, all with the same excuse " I thought i was on Reforestation land" to say this while standing in a corn field shows the kind of hunter this area attracts. On the same day 2 1/2 miles away we had the same thing happen. Even had a bird shot on the neighbouring farm and confronted the fellow because we know the farmer and he has a strict no hunting policy the guy stood there and tried to tell us it was his land, finally changed his mind when the farmer showed up. This farmer has no problems with hunting but he has had his farm overrun by these types for so long that he has a No Trespass rule so the law knows that everyone is tresspassing. Here in Ontario if someone is found to be tresspassing as long as they leave when asked they can`t be charged. Every year I end up at one time or another questioning just what some people will do to get a bird. If they only knew that moving in on other hunters and stalking birds that are clearly being called by someone else probably holds them back from being successful instead of helping them. This isn`t sour grapes because I don`t get any birds, my partner and I are very successful every year but only because we work real hard at it, and payed our dues when we started with a few dry years.

Maybe trying to get tresspassing laws changed is the way to go.

To have public land taken away affects all hunters.
The other public land then receives greater pressure.
Also,
any action that reduces hunter numbers will have an effect eventually.

All part of hunting.

i may of missed it, but isnt there a fence? i know the wma i work at we' re constantly checkin' and mendin' the fenceline........it' s the hunters that hunt the private land that are constantly huntin' the fenceline and whining when the public hunts begins because they want the fenceline to themselves......i know it' s different from your situation , but i think it works both ways....we as hunters need to work and stick together....it will only hurt the management that is in progress, among other things .....i dont agree with the stalkin' method because i hunt public land, but i do respect a hunter if that is how he chooses to hunt......i hang my orange(which isnt required) near my blind, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn' t, as long as the hunter identifies his target and beyond before shootin' , i' ll deal with it....it' s the dumb butts that shoot at anything that scares me....maybe the landowner can work something out with the wma and get a fence up........

I' ve had the same problem for years and it still happens. I just ended up finding new hunting areas away from the Public areas.

I know there is the same problem 400yards from my door Private land that everyone hunts because it is right beside Pulic.
But tell ya what !
If you did change hunting on the public and had it closed , then your only going to have the same problem on the private land with the same guys. This way you know where they are it is frustrating , bin there, done it ,,Bud...BT

PS and I also called in a longbeard the other day from about 500-600 yards with a Mini Boat Paddle and the guy killed it... so your right ,, ya can call them in from a long way off.....