Serious ??????

Is it illegal to shot a turkey off the roost? i have not seen it in the regs or must have overlooked it but i cant find it anywhere... i have seen on the book of faces that it is and that it aint. im not interested in hunting that way but was just wondering out of curiosity

As long as it's within the 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sundown your good to go.

Had a old bird that had been hunted to hell and back for a few years , shot at a couple times . He'd fly off roost into a 60 ac field ever morning and fly back ever evening. Boys hunted him ever way they knew how . They set up in the field , run him out of the field nothing worked.

I told them I could kill him . They finally said OK Mr big shot you can hunt him last week of season.

I killed him third morning I hunted him . When he flew off the roost and cleared the tree line I shot him . Lol

I never have told them how I killed him

An old fashioned limb launch is as legal as they come

I know someone that did that one time down in Chambers County. Turkey didn’t fall out of the tree. 😁

legal, but I personally wouldn't do it

Same here.
Now if the bird has been on the ground for a while after fly down. the he decides to fly up in a tree to look for his new girlfriend within range, I'm shooting.

It is not illegal to shoot one off the limb.

"WELL, IT ORTA BEE!" is not a valid legal opinion, either.

If someone tells you that you shouldn't do it, tell them you also shoot jakes, does with fawns, spike bucks and you keep largemouth bass of all sizes to fry. Enjoy watching them spit and sputter like a wet hen.

Prob 15 years ago me and a buddy doubled one morning. 2 stutters came in and I shot one and he never saw them until I shot. The other bird freaked out and flew straight up into a tree right above my buddy. He hit the ground shortly thereafter.

Dr. B

Fair game as far as I’m concerned.

I’d have to be pretty mad at one to do that. What separates turkey hunting from all other hunting to me is the game involved, and in my opinion the game must be played.

Funny how each state is different. In FL it is illegal to shoot a Turkey off the roost.

Guess I was raised different.. Grandpa told me to never shoot 1 off the roost & he wasn't a fan of "bushwacking em" off a plot either..

I’ll go with the General

And harder to accomplish that calling one in

Right on...I love to kill them though but draw the line at shooting one in a tree...

In my opinion it’s about the same as shooting one out the window of the truck. Now I’ve been so mad at a gobbler a few years ago, I was to the point of going beg our neighbor for his .243.

Naw, I’m not shooting one out of the tree.

I’m not doing it! To much respect for the animal to do that I wana play the chess match with them

My brother went after a gobbling turkey one morning when I had to go to work and I gave him my gun and shells couldn’t find my call. I was like no way he kills it. He text me like 15 minutes later he killed it. I couldn’t believe it, then he said he shot it out of the tree. I will do it if it ever comes down to it

Those that wouldn't shoot a gobbler off the limb probably wouldn't shoot a buck in a green field I suppose. No sport in that at all.

You can’t be serious?

Dead. Can also add catching bass off beds to the no sport column. Using floats and minnows for crappie and well.

Shooting gobblers off the roost isn’t turkey hunting. No sport involved in that at all. If you sneak under one in the dark, he doesn’t have a chance.

A lot easier said than done

If your shootin em off the limb may as well tote your 30-30 and get it done right. That's not turkey hunting so no need for a shotgun

Gobbler decoy no sport. I’ve seen them dominate birds run wide open
Wanting to fight then boom

Ok, y’all have it. I’m not gonna argue the point. You either get it or you don’t.

I've been mad enough at them to run over them with my truck, but I wouldn't limb launch one.

I got this buddy is an outlaw. I mean an outlaw. Hide yo wife. Hide yo children. Etc.
He tole me I better not keep any 3-4 lb bass and put the blade to em or he’d be pissed.
Everybody got a line I guess. I dunno.

I will not shoot a gobbler off a limb.



Now ol Sally.....

😂😂😂

Turkey huntin..turkey killin...you can be a turkey killer or a turkey snob.. one kills turkeys in range... the other wants to take the turkey to dinner..winem an dinem...then slippem a roofy an stranglem in the parkin lot...im a multi generational turkey hunter..grandaddy was a killer..so was daddy..my brother is pure death personified..im the lesser threat of them all..all were and are killers..none i can think of would let a turkey get inside 40yrds an leave upright for any reason whatsoever...my grandaddy...who lived through the depression and ate mules and yardbirds...would kick a man in the taint if he didnt kill what could be easily killed...i want say i would or wouldnt launch one...all I know is one better never sit on the limb an let me get close to him...at the end of the day.. the lord gave us dominion over critters..an aint knobody got no right to judge a man for doin whats legal. Id rather callem up...but i dont throw back fish i snag accidentally...this ones for you skinny🔫🦃🌲

It’s pretty dang easy to get under one in the tree before daylight, specially in range of 12ga TSS scope so on and so forth.
It’s the game of chess that keeps me going. I’ve made it all the way up to the guy that doesn’t make a peep until he’s on the
ground.

I was on a hunt with a buddy in Marengo county - 3-4 birds gobbling - one bird had extremely unique gobble - my friend told me about it before the hunt and in thought whatever - it was an extended gobble - unbelievable- almost like he was begging

Reason I bring it up here - after working these birds for hour 1/2 r so - I hear all kinds of racket - the turkey is flying from his original roost and he lands in tree right by us. My friend asks - should I shoot him - I said heck yea you better shoot his butt - he travelled all this way to see us - you better shoot him now. He did - sounded like a 55 gallon drum hitting the creek

Awesome hunt - sometimes you see the dangdest things in the woods while hunting

Hard to explain but I never heard a turkey sound like that - caught one on a hunting show that sounded similar and I never had a gibboer fly from his roost tree and light in tree by us to find his hen. I hav seen hens fly from tree to tree looking but never seen gobbler come to hen by flying from roost tree to another and I would shoot him every time he did that - he coming to see me.

Had an old timer tell me about a gobbler like that tdog. Thought he was strutting on a ridge. When he worked around behind the ridge the bird was on, he was going from tree to tree. Never did shoot him he said.

I really don't see any difference between shooting a turkey off the limb if there are plenty of turkey's and shooting it off the ground, if there is a good clear shot dead is dead one less turkey is one less turkey. Now, if you don't have many turkeys I can see a problem with the idiot that shoots the last turkey in their woods. I am sure people that limit out and have access to turkey grounds all season long are not into it limb shooting. Of course I am no turkey fanatic either. I mean they gobble and give away their location and then you call them and act like a hen and blast their head off. How ethical is that😂.

Doing things like that is a good way to get a turkey jinx

I don’t think we have many turkey hunting snobs here, just people who appreciate the way turkey hunting is meant to be done. We never had turkey on the farm when I was a kid and I always wished we did. In 1994 the state released 13 hens and 4 Tom’s in the pasture in front of the farmhouse. We couldn’t hunt them for 5 years and had to get every adjoining landowner to agree to the same. By 2000 we had a thriving population despite little knowledge of turkey management. I guess growing up with none and later establishing them on our place made me have a deeper appreciation for the Eastern wild turkey. If you want to shoot one off his roost and it’s legal, well I guess that’s your right. I guess it does take more skill to limb launch one than it does to snipe one off a chufa patch in the afternoon out of a blind though.

Dead is dead.

I told my buddy to shoot cause to me the sucker flew to see us - that’s more impressive than if he ran and he flew a pretty good way and either way we called him in
How many people get to shoot one that travelled to see them by flying - not many

I not a promoter of off the roost shooting but to each his own. To me if he leaves his original roost and he travels to see u - he no longer in his roost - he paying a visit

With the sound of that unique gobble he had and how he travelled to see us - that one of the more unique hunts I ever been on

Had a buddy who was trying to kill a bird on his place that did the exact same thing. He was roosted on the creek and we walked about 200 yards from him and when it got daylight he gobbled. We were in a pretty good spot to call him to so we sat down and I let out a few soft calls and bam he hammered back. We sat down and the next thing I hear is wing beats and he lights in the tree I am under. My buddy is 15 yards in front of me because we anticipated him walking not flying on. I could’ve killed that bird but my buddy couldn’t so I didn’t shoot. He pitched down a couple hundred yards away and vanished. Smart old bird for sure! That bird was fair game IMO.

I wish one would fly to me right now 🤣 - ain’t even called - heard one way across line and one flew out of tree I was leaning on when I moved my head once it was daylight - sounded small - hard to move cause there likely other turkeys in area. If u wait to walk in when light u never get close and gob w hens makes it tuff

I hav let them walk when it was my best friends turn to shoot - he finally told me one day don’t ever let another one walk 😀

as Jerry Clower says, “give em a fighting chance” ... if they fly up on a limb throughout the day, they’ve had their fighting chance already ... years ago had a public land bird do this - gobble like hell on the limb 1st thing, fly down & came to my calling, just as he got there, he flew up to take a better look ... i let him go - thinking it was illegal to limb launch ... i’ve never blasted one off the limb - but if one ever does chit like that to me again, he’s going into orbit

... first, id like to say...”turkey snob” is a carbonclimberism..liscensed..trademarked..all rights reserved i aint ever kilt one out of a tree..but..i never heard nobody tell me not to.. an they knew some thangs about turkeys too. Im not gonna tell somebody to do or not to do something..there may be sacred code of honor for turkey hunters.. but i knda believe its whatever floats your boat..like i said... id rather callem up..play the game..an killem that way..but im just a poor turkey hunter..my camo doesnt match and my callings not to good..i think i really just lack the skill to be so particular..i really need to killem when they close enough to kill..bout the way i feel about it anyway. 💣🦃🌲

There are lots of things that are legal in turkey hunting that aren’t very fun.

So how we gone classify hunting deer over bait with limb launching?

Catman just posted a limb launch video on YT - some girl blasted one out of a tree in Alabama

Long as it’s legal I say go for it if that’s what you want to do, I’m certainly not trying to be uppity by opposing it just the way I feel.

I saw that and thought it was pretty awful.

Post up a link........

ahh, you aint uppity.. ise just havin a little fun.. some folks cant take a joke..its all about fun anyway..im just happy if i get to go...ive worked so much here lately i only been a couple hours one evenin..but thats ok...im thankful to the good lord to be healthy and have a good steady job...if i get to hear one gobble...well, thats just a bonus. 🤠🦃☠️

If you would shoot a roosted bird, then you and I Turkey hunt for different reasons.

Cant shoot one like that. Aint my gig. Ive been mad enough to do it but hadnt and wouldnt

somebody outta go chit on his windshield for this - he was also pressuring her to shoot a jake earlier in the video

Amen....

That catman video was a complete cluster f. Keep spooking birds until one is stupid enough to fly into a tree in shooting range. Not my cup of tea at all

ya - contrasting it w/THP, these guys did it right - in spite of the backlash over these YT public land channels/hunters, if this video is an accurate depiction of their pursuit, my hat's off to them

If there's one guy out of the THP crew that knows turkey's it's Aaron. That was a great kill. I learn quite a bit when Aaron speaks, the others are much better at deer hunting IMO and are still learning turkey. What I learned from catman is that he was going to "shoot it if you don't" in regards to that spooked turkey.

ya - i like Aaron, too - he seems to be the moral/ethical "compass" for that group, along w/the other married dude that wears glasses (can't remember his name)

Greg

Piss on him.

Sounds like somebody went turkey hunting and legally killt a turkey...hoho

That limb launchin looks like a trip...may have to give it a try..bwahahahahahahahahahahahah

Yall just jelly🤪🔫🦃🌲

Damn none of yall brought this up

Illgal to kill one from a tree stand , with a gun . but legal to kill one in a tree

I agree about Aaron. Seems to be a competent, ethical turkey hunter. But you need to remember that THP put out a video shooting a bearded hen. I personally find that as offensive as a limb launch.

FIFY ... whatever blows your hair back - limb launchin' just ain't too sportin' in my book *UNLESS* the bird does like the one did to me ... walking around to flush one up onto a limb to launch it - that's basically dove hunting

there are many things that are perfectly legal to do - but are galvanizing when they're done; reminds me of the dude who filmed himself shooting a deer right in the back of the head ... maybe it was Tom Miranda - can't recall - but he caught a lot of grief over it ... was it a legal shot? yes - turned out, IIRC, his arrow had defected at the last moment & tagged the deer right in the back of the head ... he spent a ton of time apologizing for it - but rolled the film anyway

a turkey is meant to be pursued by calling it to you; yes, we've all ambushed the aggravating, silent gobbler, but the enjoyment & essence of turkey hunting is best realized when it's done in a way it's intended to be done ... call me old fashioned & paint me a fuddy duddy - but this is what i was taught to do - i don't comb a rules/regs book to find loopholes to exploit, nor do i have a boner to kill everything so i can post a video or brag to fellow hunters

many years ago, when i hunted birds in West Texas on a lease a friend had, the gobblers roosted on the powerlines out there (the highest spot) -- it would've been child's play to blast 'em off the line, and perfectly legal, as well -- never did ... we allowed them to hit the ground before we hunted them - every single time ... it was also legal to hunt birds with a rifle in Texas, too -- never did that either ... as a young turkey hunter, i questioned my older friend's tactics, but he was an experienced & wise & successful turkey hunter -- i never had a cause to question his ethics ... thankful to him for that

just my $0.02

same as shooting a covey of quail on the ground as far as I am concerned.

Shooting a duck on the water , dove off a line ,,,, quali off the ground , turkey off the limb . I justdon't get the full enjoyment and experience out of doing that. Way

You get out of it what you want out of it I guess

There was an old timer from Texas that said shooting a turkey standing there was a sin. He’d flush them to give them a sporting chance as he called it. He’d written a book and mentioned this in the chapter on shot size. He used as large a shot as he legally could.

I knew a guy from south MS who hunted those poorly managed yaupon dominated understory piney woods who did his best to limb launch turkeys. He said if you waited until he started gobbling after daylight someone else would slip in to kill him so he would roost them in the evening and slip in under them before dark, wait until it was light enough to shoot and tote his bird out. 🤣🤣

No joke. Opening day years ago on TVA land a 5 am shot rang out. We still talk about that launch. We know who did it cause a kid fessed up that was with them.

We’ve had them shoot them off the Trace between us on Jerry’s place. We would think the other killed him til later that morning when we would meet. Road hunting the Natchez Trace was a thing I guess

an old timer i bumped into in Moundville well over 10-15 years ago now told me a funny story - said he was on a lease w/some other guys somewhere, and they'd kinda got into a tussle - so he told me he was determined to out-harvest them ... said he wore a camo shirt w/a pocket in the front where he kept his box call ... had roosted a bird - knew exactly where he was - and went in the next morning in complete darkness & sat down at the tree he *thought* was close to the bird ... as his back hit the tree, his box call went *CHIRP*, and the gobbler gobbled right above his head ... complete darkness, he said he could only halfway skyline the bird -- so he raised his gun straight up & let it eat -- **ka-BOOOOM** ... the bird knocked every limb off the tree on the way down & crashed in his lap & he was blind as a bat for a good 15 minutes from the explosion ... was in his truck & back home before 530am



he *might* have been wearing a Catman Outdoors t-shirt - not for certain ... but he was probably pulling my leg, too LOL either way, it was a story i think about every time when season rolls around ...

As a general rule, I would never limp launch a gobbler. However, there have been a few over the many years I've been turkey hunting that I have been so frustrated by I would probably have roost shot, run over or used dynamite on given the chance

No way!

I have no desire to shoot one off the roost but I have had them fly up and limb hop to me....thats a different story.

I shot one out of a tree last year for the first time. I called 2 up out of a hardwood bottom into some 10 year old long leafs that had just started getting open under them.

They stopped gobbling and snuck up on us in some wax myrtles. The first one popped out in my face at 2 yards just to the right of my gun. He flew straight up and was breaking limbs getting onto there. While he was getting up the other one stepped out in front of my buddy and he shot him.

The first one lit on a limb 40 feet up in a bare oak tree about 40 yards away and stretched out looking for his friend. When I shot him he fell end over end and sounded like a bag of sakrete hitting the ground.

They had a perfect open lane to walk up the hill to us but they came through the thicket. Like turkeys do.

I figured since I called him up to 2 yards I had earned him.

I have no desire to slip up under a gobbler and kill him while he is asleep. If I flush him of the ground, he is fair game.

You don't shoot him asleep. Gotta watch the show first. Amazing

I would never