The Time is Now!

[westgin]

Great posts by everyone!  This all brings tears to an overweight, overworked 58+ year old man.  It also reflects the lack of ethics in everything and makes me long for the older less complicated days!  Too bad only a small portion of America takes this attitude.  We all need to do more to promote this as some of all you have shown.   

[allaboutshooting]

We all need to do more to promote this as some of all you have shown.

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It appears that many worthwhile causes are begun by a few people of like mind who spread the word. It's one person telling another and as has also been shown by setting an example.

We all can do something to help and take that first step.

Thanks,
Clark

[TrackeySauresRex]

Great post,Right on everyone!
Thank you
B-Well All

[3" 870 Shell Shucker]

The Over-Bored Barrels, Custom Screw-In Chokes with Wad Catchers, HTL loads, the newer better Lead loads, and Better Sights have created a high horsepower racecar.  The general public will never limit themselves to 55 mph, when their racecar is capable of going 200 mph.  The days of "call him in as close as you can" have been replaced by "call him in close enough to shoot him".

We went from the Hawken to the modern in-line black powder rifle, and there's no going back to the Hawken.  The industry itself is always looking for ways to sell new product.  Promises of increased range and effectiveness sell product.

The ball is already rolling down hill at a great rate of speed.  Long range shooting has a lot of momentum already.  What will the next new choke or new box of shells promise to consumers?

Good luck at changing public opinion. 

[rkm456]

 As someone new to the sport, and who hunts on public land, this topic is near and dear to me. When I did my hunter safety and education course (a requirement here in Ontario) Our instructor was amazing. His biggest emphasis was placed on ethics. The 2 most important things I took away from it were "just because it's legal, doesn't mean it's ethical" and that "a hunter's actions reflect all hunters" I feel he was absolutely correct and that the sentiment of his messages are reflected in the statements of the original poster.

Did I want to burn a turkey opening day, and fill a second tag on day 2? Of course I did, but you know what? I also want to be able to hunt next year, and the year after that, and so on, and I can just stop at the grocery store and get whatever I want for the dinner table. To me there's just no reason to take a long distance shot that could leave an animal wounded, we owe them that much.

[sixbird]

Well gents...I suppose all of us have taken a long shot unintentionally. I know I have. Been mostly lucky in recovering those birds. I recall one bird in particular that got out of ethical range faster than I had realized. I shot. He flew off, landed in a tree and fell out a few minutes later. I searched and searched for that bird. Didn't find him. I had a 10 ga. with the best ammo made. I hit where I was aiming...Let me tell you, that was a sick feeling knowing I had wounded that poor devil. I went over and over that mistake that night,imagining that poor gobbler suffering...To my great relief my buddy who was hunting the same farm killed him the next day. He had pellets in his back...I do everything I can to not experience that feeling again...Have I shot over 40 since? Yep,a few times I have mistaken range and stretched it. That's a great reason to use the new ammo. It can give you that measure of forgiveness...That being said, my biggest thrill is getting a bird really close. I love to mash heads and those close shots...Man, they do something for me! That and no pellets in the meat...

[Longshanks]

Education for new hunters is essential for the sport and minimizing long shots early in folks turkey hunting careers just as was written in a previous post. That's was education does. Most avid turkey hunters have found out that long range shooting is not productive by taking a misjudged shot and losing a bird. The most important thing is to not let the snow stick with respect to unethical marketing schemes geared toward selling shells to the inexperienced promising results at 50,60,70.
   Consistently discussing the issue in the hunting community, hunting leases, hunting camps, seminars, hunting shows if you have access, will keep the issue on the forefront of people's minds. Your not going to change everyone but we can certainly make an impact in the turkey hunting community. People want to be productive in the woods so discussing a more productive way to harvest turkeys doesn't fall on deaf ears.
    We have had this discussion in the leases that I hunt in the midwest and in the south with respect to taking shots too far with muzzleloaders, bows, and turkey guns. We had to address this issue especially with muzzleloaders when companies promised 200-250 yd shots. People could hit paper with their gun in a lead sled..but we saw allot of trophy deer wounded and lost due to folks attempting these shots. The fact of the matter is everyone makes mistakes and we see game lost due to folks taking shots with a high risk of losing the animal. Talk to them in a respectful way and they listen, or if they don't and repeat the behavior...we tell them to find somewhere else to hunt. Make a stand if you care about the sport of hunting. If not...say nothing.

[trkehunr93]

AMEN!!!!  This is the reason, along with the cost, that I got off of the HTL bandwagon and went back to shooting lead loads, I found myself looking at that big piece of paper on the wall in my basement with the 10" circle and thinking "Man, I can kill one at least to 50 yards"  I thought to myself after a few years of hunting with HTL, why am I doing this?  How dead do I need these turkeys to be?  I'm taking shots well inside 40 yards, do I need to hunt with this load?  I was killing them just fine when I was shooting 2 3/4" Fed. premium magnum 6's thru a full choke (this was pre-limbsaver days, hated the recoil of 3" shells in my 500).  I always strive to be a "turkey" when I'm turkey hunting, I listen to the cadence of hens calling, their wing beats when they flydown, what they sound like when their scratching and do my best to mimic that.  That is the reason I fell in love with turkey hunting, it was the calling that hooked me.  Yeah, I love killin' them but fooling a wild animal into thinking your one them is icing on the cake for me.  I say SHAME on the "Brothers" and ALL the rest of the TV hunting community that promotes unethical "hunting".  The "Brothers" aren't the first to do this though, I remember watching one of the TV shows of one of the commercial call companies that we all see sold at Wal-Mart taking 60 yard shots at turkeys with a HTL load that alot of people on here shoot.  I really think my single shot stevens model 12 gauge will get used alot more often just as a way of keeping me in check and reminding me why I started hunting turkeys.  My