ETHICS QUESTON

[mason0366]

AS long as it was not blindfold and tied there. Bang

[savduck]

I would have killed him. Way to go.

[longspur]

those that won't come to a call are harder to kill than those that will

[davisd9]

I snuck up on both of my birds from this year.  Tell your buddies to try and sneak up on one and then let them determine whether it is bushwacking.  A deer is not difficult to sneak up on, but until this year I could not get within 65 yards of a turkey by way of stalk.  Their eyes are amazing and I would say 1/5th of the time you will get busted by them.  Congratulations on the bird.  You have good woodsmanship and that is very important in our sport.

[3.5inchpainfulldeath]

I'd have shot that bird everytime I had the chance. Without fail...Mike

my goodness... you picking out the drumming of a turkey at 40 to 50 yards while walking is enough said about that hunt.  Most hunters would have heard PUT PUT>>> and seen the vanishing manuver of that bird.  The other fact of the matter is you walked up on a bird at 40 yards and didn't spook him.   

CONGRATS>   oh and where are the pics of this bird.

[Tail Feathers]

You set out to kill a turkey and did so...legally.
Woodsmanship counts and getting that close ain't easy.
Yeh, we all want them to come in gobbling their heads off but the fact is, not all of them do.

If you'd set up and called and he had come in with nary a sound, wouldn't you have still shot him?
Enjoy your trophy and don't worry about what others may say.

[wcgobbler]

Thanks again for input.  I felt good to start with about the entire deal, especially that I could hear him drumming between 30 & 40 yards away while I was walking.
At first, I dismissed the sound as music from a car going down the nearby highway.  But, after 1 or 2 more "vrooooooms", I knew it was not music.  I immediately squatted in the road where I was, no headnet, no gloves, no call in my mouth.  It's a thousand wonders I didn't take 3 more steps and be directly in the intersection of the road I was on & the road he was on.  I was in the middle of a road...I had nowhere to hide that wasn't at least 4 steps away in any direction.  After 5-10 minutes, I thought to myself, "Well, he didn't see my squat down so maybe he won't see me stand back up."  All this time he was spitting & drumming, but I could not see him through the cluster of bullous vines.  I eased up all the way to my tip-toes & spotted him in full strut about 40 yards out.  He came out of strut, & I hammered down.  

That was possibly the most intense 10-15 minutes of my turkey hunting experiences, from the time I first heard him drumming until I shot because it was so "all of a sudden."  But, I started feeling kind of bad about it after some so-called "buddies" called me a bush-whacker.

I'm 40 years old and unfortunately didn't start turkey hunting until I was 25.  But, I realized after my first season how important hearing is to being successful at this sport.  Since that time, I wear ear-plugs if I'm doing ANYTHING that makes loud noise, and I believe it has paid off.  

I'll try to post some pictures later today.

[stinkpickle]

Hearing drumming when I least expect it has become one of my favorite adrenaline producers.   

[TrophyTracker]

You heard the Drumming before anything, so that is a skill in itself. The fact that you used your senses to start this and skill to finish it, make it legit. The bird is going to tast the same as it would if you sat down and called him in from 200yds after catching him on the roost and getting him to fly down.

Your "Buddies" are haters
Enjoy the victory.

[Spellnj3]

I would've done the same thing.

[fallhnt]

The GREEN eyes envey.Congrats on a good hunt.

[Fastcat]

You did absolutely the right thing.  When turkey hunting gets tough one thing separates the successful hunters from the unsuccessful.  That is the ability to HUNT turkeys.  That means taking all the clues the woods has to offer and knowing your quarries habits.  Also the ability to move freely and undetected in the woods.  When the going gets tough successful hunters get going. Congrats!

[wcgobbler]

Here are my 3 kills this season. 
1) The picture of me with my sunglasses on is the "alleged" bush-whacked gobbler.  9 1/4" beard, 1" & 1 1/8" spurs killed last day of season 5/1/11

2) Picture of me with the other guy is my second turkey.  9 1/2" beard,
1 1/8" & 1 1/4" spurs killed 4/28/11

3) Other pic is my first bird of this season.  9 1/2" beard , 7/8 spurs killed on 1st day of season 3/12/11

This is my first time to post pics.  Excuse me if they aren't good ones.

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[Singlebarrel]

It's called Turkey Hunting.  Tell your friends to buzz off.  They're just jealous.

AMEN! 

[tnturkeyman28]

It's called Turkey Hunting.  Tell your friends to buzz off.  They're just jealous.