Finally Got One!

Shot one this morning before school. Had a 10 1/4 inch beard, one inch spurs, and weighed in at 22 pounds. I will post pics and tell the story later tonight after school and stuff.

nice job

Well done JC!!

Congrats JC and I’m looking forward to seeing the pictures and reading the story!

Great Start to the day!

Way to go JC!

JC

Beep beep beep. My alarm went off at 4:00. I got up and couldnt decide on if i wanted to get up or wait till tomorrow. So i decided to sleep a little longer. So what felt like two minutes happened to be an hour. At 5:00 i got up and relized it was starting to get late so i threw on my “blue jeans and t-shirt” and ran out the door. I arrived at my spot at 5:15. The prior two days i seen six big toms so i knew they were in the area. I threw on my jacket and loaded my benelli with 3.5 inch federal # 4’s. Around 5:25 i heard a gooble. I had a family member tell me to try and sneak up on one in roost and shoot it but i never thought you could be quiet enough let alone it was already pretty light out. So i ran towards the gobble. Then they stopped gobbling for five or so minutes. Finally it goobles. It sounded like it was only 200 yards or so up the ridge. So i figured i would get closer to it since i figured it was already out of roost and try calling a little bit. Well as i got closer to were i thought it was, i heard it gobble again. This time only 75 to 100 yards away. So i started to get excited and sneaking through the woods. At about fifty yards i seen it, STILL IN THE TREE! So i got a few yards closer to the nearest tree and thought about trying to shoot it out of the tree. I didnt know if it would be unethical to do so or what. So as you probaly already figured out i decided to shoot. I got a good footing and leaned up againt the tree and BANG! I looked up and he was in mid air falling. Whack! he hit the ground. I was so excited i ran over there to take a look at him. At first i just thought it was a jake. Then i took a look and it was a pretty decent bird. So i tagged it and headed back to the truck. So heres a recap. I got out of the truck at 5:20 and back to it with a gobbler at 5:50. Pretty good id say. But anyways you can see in the pic when i shot i broke five of his tail feathers off. So instead of hanging him on the wall i am going to try and mount him as a decoy for upcomeing hunting seasons. Just a question to ask all of you now. Would you have shot him in the tree like that? It was completly legal and all just want to know all of your opinions and please be honest.

nice bird

and no i wouldnt shoot one out of the tree

Thanks first for being honest with us. It takes some guts to put yourself out there and ask a question of your peers like you did. These aren’t hard/fast rules, and in MN there is no rule against shooting them off of the roost. However, there are laws regarding legal shooting hours, which you were pushing. Also, many states DO have roost shooting rules, a fact which may create a moment of pause when considering such a thing.

History tells us that roost shooting is quite effective at cleaning out birds, in most areas, to near extinction. Teddy Roosevelt spoke of a fine roost shoot once in the Dakotas where they killed just over 100 birds. The stigma surrounding the extirpation of the wild turkey in most areas regarding roost shooting, IMO, is one of the primary reasons it’s looked upon so poorly.

Ethics however, are something you define for yourself; but be careful, IMO, they often end up defining you and your image as a hunter. Which ultimately reflects on all of us. I think of it as a self-progression, and a learning process.

I won’t tell you what to do, only what I’ve done, what I’d do and why. Having the opportunity to take many, many birds out of the tree, I can say that I’ve done it only once. I chased a group of Merriams all morning in Nebraska. It was the 4th day of a four-day hunt, and I was running out of time. I had the entire flock working my way, the safety was off, and the tom was at 30 yards about to step into an opening. Just then, something spooked that flock. I didn’t flinch, I was concealed, but they put up in trees all around me. I took my bird out of the tree at 10AM, and didn’t feel bad about it.

I will tell you that in turkey hunting circles, shooting one out of the tree will incite a small riot amongst most serious turkey hunters.

For me however, it’s ultimately about the hunt. Animals aren’t that hard to kill in all reality if just killing them is your only goal. Deer are easy to drive up on with a tractor, and they stand still when you shine them in the eyes with a spotlight, creating an easy shooting opportunity. While that isn’t legal, it once was. So was killing as many buffalo as you wished with a long rifle out of a train-car.

With turkeys, it’s similar. If your goal is to simply fill a tag, there are ways to do it that aren’t difficult at all. There are loopholes in laws and legal snafu’s the other way as well. In the end, it comes down to why you hunt for them, and how you feel about the end experience. You’re out there to kill a turkey, make no mistake about it. At the same time, there’s something to be said for fair-chase that goes way beyond the endgame of cutting up turkey breast.

That comes from a guy that loves to eat wild turkey.

Joel

Nice bird! You wanted opinions so I will give you mine…short and sweet! I wouldn’t shoot a turkey out of the roost only because (for me) I wouldn’t consider it “fair chase”. I get a huge rush out of having him come into my set! Also for me it’s not about the killing so much as it’s about being in the outdoors and the anticipation that “it” could happen at any moment. Thanks for being honest with us!!

Joel pretty much summed it up for me.

Dan

Legal or not, shooting one out of the tree is akin to shooting a deer in the headlights. If it had been a jake, would you have tagged it? Reads to me like you might…might not? Hope you get the replies you were looking for. As others have said, learn to HUNT them & you will find out just what it is about turkey hunting that has us all counting down the days every year!

Thanks for all the replies. I dont really regret shooting it out of the tree at all. It was completly legal. It was even during legal shooting hours, 25 or so minutes into itctually. As for it being a jake, of course i still would have tagged it. I have shot more jakes in my life then hens and toms. I have absolutly no problem with harvesting them. Not to get an agrument starting of nothing but i have hunted turkeys for six years now, spring and fall, and i have harvested turkeys everytime except one fall,and all of them were shot over decoys or a spot and stalk during the day. But anyways thanks for being honest with me and all.

shoot a turkey out of tree?
shoot a duck on the water?
shoot a pheasant on the ground?
these are all the same question. they are all legal to do in minnesota.
yes we hunt because of the thrill of the hunt, but we also hunt to harvest. (if not we would hunt with a camera)

nice job JC