WVDNR may be doing something right

[WV Ridge Reaper]

The reason I shot hevi shot is simple. I shot one turkey at 43 yards( estimation error and one turkey at 40 yards even. Yes I ranged him with a rangefinder before the shot. Both where with #6 federal lead loads. Maybe I pulled the shots a little I don't know. What I do know is they were not killed cleanly with the first shot. Switched to hevi shot 5's and after a few birds I realized it was way overkill for the ranges I shoot. Switched to 6's and haven't had a problem since. I have no doubt that there are a few using tss and keeping it a close range game. But I bet the majority aren't. That's purely my opinion of course. Both winchester and hevishot have done hunting a disservice promoting the ranges that they do.

Thanks for the reply...you use hevi shot for your error's in yardage,which can and is easy to do...But if myself or others use it for the same reason you do,then again why am I such the bad person here ?



Does it come down to what Marc said the access and price ? If so again why should I be looked down upon because I choose to spend my money on turkey loads and not the coolest turkey call,decoy,or camo.







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[Happy]

As stated before. My problem with the tss is what the majority do with them. Same with HTL shot. Most use it thinking how far can I shoot and not hey I have a little insurance. I would give up hevi in a heartbeat to get rid of the 60+ yard crowd. In my opinion they are killers not hunters. It's apparent you and I are very different and that's fine. If you want to be offended by my opinions then thats fine too.

[SteelerFan]

Hunters like being successful...

Getting close to game often aids in this success...

Getting close to game is often challenging...

In order to achieve the original sought after success, some hunters will find ways to make up for the lack of getting close (enough)...

Here enters the industry - bigger / stronger / faster products that will help hunters "close the gap". The more believable the sales pitch, the more marketing, the more endorsements... All equals mo' money, mo' money for the company.

If Federal or Winchester announce a new "X" ammo that promises to deliver "efficient patterns at ethical ranges!", then they've lost the appeal that is currently driving the industry and its consumers (sadly).

Turkey loads certainly aren't the only thing that is taking the hunt out of hunting these days. Ever watch one of those shows on the outdoor porn network that shows somebody shooting an elk / deer / pronghorn from 700, 800, 900+ yds away? Really? Did they hunt that animal, or just shoot it from another zip code?

I digress... Back to the OP - glad to see WV is at least asking for opinions from their target user groups.

[quavers59]

I actually saw a (reaper) dvd. I would not do that even on private land! What if a tresspasser was on that private land and saw that gobbler tail and fired quick?!!
   

[Va3toes]

If it were up to me which thankfully it isn't then we would be saying goodbye to reaping, rifles, tss shot, decoys,trail cameras and blinds.

I could get behind a few of these but there are a couple that I'd have to take a hard pass on. It would be hard to get rid of blinds for turkey hunting without also effecting deer hunters. Goes back to the "what's good for the goose is good for the gander" idea. Some land is nearly impossible to deer hunt without a blind as there are no good trees to place a stand nor is there proper concealment. I don't find sitting in a blind to be any "lazier" than sitting in a stand. Actually, I've been busted (by deer as I don't use a blind for turkeys and don't plan to) more often in a blind than in a tree. By getting rid of TSS, all tungsten based shot would have to go. If I'm not mistaken, this would eliminate Hevishot as well as the federal heavyweight. The problem therein lies that when lead shot is banned in places (and eventually nationwide) you're going to run out of options. I'm not cracking on you in any fashion as you and I have had these discussions at length on numerous occasions but by eliminating some of these things I believe it sets us up for future issues. Once they start to micro manage the slope can get slippery in a hurry.

^^^^^Agree!

[Happy]

Your right. This is the only turkey literature on the web .I have no clue. You can calm yourself down. Remember it's an opinion. If you dont like it it doesn't hurt my feelings one bit and I expect you to feel the same about mine. Moving on.

[wvmntnhick]

Your right. This is the only turkey literature on the web .I have no clue. You can calm yourself down. Remember it's an opinion. If you dont like it it doesn't hurt my feelings one bit and I expect you to feel the same about mine. Moving on.

I'm plenty calm, your the one getting flustered, because you are stating nothing more than opinion, and myself and others are stating fact. Just because you state your opinion, doesn't make you the almighty on this forum, so you should calm yourself down as well.

I truly hope you are kidding about this being the only turkey literature on the web, because that's far from the truth.


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Trust me man, he's being sarcastic about the turkey literature thing. He and I have had some in depth conversations about the differences in our opinions, thoughts and feelings about hunting and the overall hunting community. This whole argument [in my opinion (should someone actually call this an argument)] stems back to poor marketing habits. When looking at the draw to the long beards, Hevi Shot and TSS, it significantly ups the "fudge" factor. They've done a bit of a disservice to some degree as they do encourage longer shots. Let's be real (and this is coming from a guy that's used rifles for years to kill turkeys), when the Drury boys are showing shots at 70 yards with lead shells, it's not helping the argument any. I'm not implying in any fashion that this is what the majority are doing as I have no clue. I will not deny that I switched to TSS for a reason and it wasn't entirely to get denser patterns. That could have been accomplished with #9 lead. Also not saying that I intend to shoot birds at 70 yards. Even when using a rifle in the spring, the VAST majority of my kills were within more than acceptable shotgun (lead shot mind you) ranges. I'm not picking a side here as I don't feel it's necessary, just stating that opinions are what they are and everyone paints their canvas with a different brush.