slee

I'm sure some of you out there will disagree, but I had an encounter on Saturday with another turkey hunter(used VERY loosely) that solidified that belief for me. I went out Saturday afternoon down to Skookumchuck to a spot I had bumped a hen in the past. After hiking in about 1.5 miles and checking out this spot, I headed back out. I heard a guy call from behind me down the road, so I waited on him to approach. His attire gave me a clue, but the conversation sold it. He was wearing blue jeans, black sneakers, a BDU jacket, and no hat or gloves.

We made normal chit-chat about not seeing anything. He made a comment about my gun being really big, then asked me how far I could shoot a turkey with it. I told him I had a good pattern to about 40 yards. He then showed me his turkey slayer. It was a single shot .410! Yes, I said a .410, and he was using 7 1/2 shot. He told me he felt good with his to about 40 yards also. I nearly choked. I told him that was not nearly enough gun for a turkey, and certainly not past 10-15 yards with his load. He also had some misconceptions about how to chase them. He thought he could see them in the open and either approach or head them off. He talked about them like they were oversized grouse or something.

Turns out this is his first season(imagine that). He was reading in the newspaper about turkey hunting around Skookumchuck which is just down the road from his house, and thought that it would be a good reason to get out in the woods. He said since he HAD A TAG ANYWAY, he figured what the hell.

Now I'm all for new hunters coming into the fold, but this is NOT the way to do it. He obviously has not researched anything about the animal, loads, or tactics. He didn't have any respect for the animal at all. I had to explain to him that he absolutely should not take body shots on a turkey. This was rediculous. I did my best to educate him on our walk out to the trucks without completely blasting him, but I was amazed at how little he knew about the animal he was hunting. I was just glad I ran in to him on the last day of the season rather than the first. He had been out 5 or 6 times this season, so he was a verteran. He was a friendly guy, but just didn't have a clue about turkey hunting. I don't know how the rest of you feel, but it would be worth an extra $10 or $15 to keep guys like this out of the woods. And if they would earmark some of the money for habitat development for turkeys, that would be great too.

trapper T

Man thats scary, I suppose we can all write to the WDFW and try and get them to remove the free tag? Also during the winter we can go to the Game reg meetings and express our views too... I always go to them. You get a good feel of how bad most of this State's "Hunters" are[:@][:'(]

Also maybe we can bring it up at the summer NWTF state meeting and get the Org. involved. I think we have enough Turkey hunters in state now that we don't need to entice the crowd. Don't get me wrong I, like you Slee have no problem with new people coming into hunting, but I do have a problem with ignorance when it comes to hunting. I'm no expert but I research as much as I can before embarking on a new challenge myself.

A .410? wow, and he's trying to body shoot them? Man the bird I took this year at 20 yards with Hevi shot I found one pellet that went into the breast but never made it through the bone. If that wouldn't penetrate the body no shot will...I don't think?

WAYNE1

The Washington State NWTF has fought that free tag for year's.....Look how much good that did....If it was'nt for the volunteer's in this state, I doubt's that these bird's would have ever gotten this far..But still our voice's are muffled by the Game Dept....or who ever make's up these silly reg's..[:@][:@]

trapper T

Well, maybe then we have to go it ourselves too with the state. I'm sure Wayne you've been to those WDFW public meetings, you know that some of these Morons whine about stupid crap, so If that's all the WDFW hears from then they go with it, plus they go with their own "College edjimucated" thoughts[:@]

I guess if we all scream loud enough maybe it'll pay off? That's how the system is suppose to work? I know I'll start droppin' emails and the like, most those State guys that run these public forums know me by first name, cuz they get my opinion if they want it or not[:@]

slee

I really don't understand why it wasn't removed last year. I don't think any turkey hunter would object to paying a little more to decrease the number of clueless pseudo-turkey hunters, and generate a little revenue SPECIFICALLY for improving turkey hunting. Let's face it, we have a problem here in this state. You've got people who are going out for a hunt strictly as a novelty. They read about turkey hunting in the magazine, get a tag with their small game license, and figure that'll be another excuse to get in the woods with a gun to shoot something. I know we all have our reasons why we hunt, but it is degrading the practice of "hunting". People are stacked in like firewood to the most popular places, half of whom don't know what they are doing. It is an accident waiting to happen. And I think the state feels it is just a revenue matter. As long as it is being generated, it don't matter. We need to do something.[:@]