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Whats the difference in 50 yards and 30 yards?

60 feet, you still called him up either way.
If you or anyone else doesn't want to shoot one that far its fine, but don't act like its not hunting to do it.

I dont care if you want to kill them all with a .410 @ 20 yards but dont bash someone else for wanting there gun to shoot ethically a little farther.

Its just how I feel but a turkeys fair game anyway and anyhow within the laws. Im there to kill them, the end. I enjoy the hunt and the time in the woods, but feel I have won when hes flopping.

To any other beliefs, if it makes you satisfied then that's all that matters.

I was hunting a 160 acre tract in OK several years ago, and it had one tree on it. About 150 acres was a wheat field, and I set up in the only possible set-up on the whole tract, unless you were gonna use a blind. I cut some limbs off the cedar tree, and make a make-shift blind, and then get seated for an afternoon hunt. I wasn't pleased with being sent to that place, but it was all I had.

Hadn't been sitting long when I heard a faint gobble. He was all the way across the wheat field, which was almost a half mile, and way into the other property. I started calling and he responded and we had a great conversation for the next 30 minutes. I finally spotted him on the hill to the north, still on the other property, but only about 300 yds away. He could see there was no hen in the field, but I managed to coax him out there anyway. He came to 80 yds, but that was it. I can't remember exactly how I tried to call him closer, but whatever it was, it didn't work. He could see there was nothing there, and finally walked away.

If he had come to 60 yds, he would have made a trip to AL, and I would have for sure claimed to have called him up.

So I take it that you only hunt whitetails with a recurve bow then and pass on them unless you get them within 40 yards? Right? After all that's how a real he-man adrenalin junkie hunts deer. LOL!

Where does this notion come from that 40 yards is the magic number? Get him to 40 yards and you called him but at 50 you didn't? So a bird that started out 400 yards away and comes 360 yards to you was called in but if he only comes 350 yards he wasn't? Who decided that? I'm betting that number was based on the maximum range shotguns would consistently kill a bird back in the day. If those guns and shells would have killed consistently at 50 yards then that would have been the universally agreed on distance. Well now shotguns can be set up to kill farther than 40 yards. I see no problem with it. If you want to limit yourself to 40, 30, or even 20 yards then great. But that's your choice and doesn't make you better than anyone.

I primarily hunt deer with a bow and obviously have to pass on them unless I get them within that range. But I don't arrogantly assert that means I'm deer hunting the "right way" and that everyone shooting them hundreds of yards away with a rifle are a bunch of unethical slobs. The way I hunt is simply my choice.

As for rifle hunting turkeys? My opposition to that would be entirely along safety lines and not some pissing match over the ethical distance to shoot a turkey. No one wears hunters orange to hunt turkeys and the sound of one gobbling bird can draw several hunters into close proximity on public land. Three guys with high powered rifles creeping in from 3 different directions and setting up within 100 yards on the same bird, each totally unaware of the other would be dangerous as hell. Maybe by the time they were in shotgun range of each other they would see each other even dressed in full camo. But how far out through the woods will a 30-06 bullet kill your @$$? A lot further than you can see.

Obviously, for some it is more about just bending the meatpole than others, for me it is about the game. I don't feel like I am there to prove myself to anybody on Monday morning around the coffee pot. If you want to outsmart a deer or turkey on their terms great. If you want to outsmart a deer or turkey over a feeder, then knock yourself out. Hunting and fishing used to be a sport, now it's all about the bragging rights. College sports have evolved with the same mindset. Just not my cup of tea. Here is a thought "just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should".

This book is a great read. It's pretty much my philosophy on turkey hunting:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/940285.The_Old_Pro_Turkey_Hunter

If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and try to get a copy. It might change the way you feel about things.

And then there is this quote from Tom Kelly's A Fork in the Road, "And finally, finally, any pity you have to spare does not need to be wasted on turkeys. They are able to make out quite comfortably with the bag of tricks they are born with."

Somewhat of a paradox since Mr. Kelly does seem to frown on "turkey murderers" with rifles and those that ambush turkeys on chufa patches.

And to the original poster - that same box of 5 shells on Sportsman's Guide are $38 + shipping. BP's price doesn't sound too bad now.

I would be hard convinced that my 870 with an Indian creek black diamond would pattern anything as good as it does with mag blends. They are worth every penny IMO. Having said that I was at Simmons the other day and they had no turkey ammo or guns and said they have no idea when their orders would come in. I have 5 mag blends but need more. Anyone seen them at any of the other stores around Birmingham?

So....what blend is recommended? What seems to work?
I saw some of them were 5-6-7 ??
If they'll pattern better than what I'm using, I'll spend the money. I'm really not interested in shooting further. I think my mind is so pre-programmed as to a distance I can kill at, that it would take years to adapt. I'm too old I guess.

I came up hunting the hard way,2 3/4 inch shells and nothing but a full choke shotgun,and back then if you could put 5 or 6 shot in a coke can at 40 yards you had a turkey killer. Now we have much better gun/shell combos that will perform way above that of the older setups,and I gladly pay for the better components,I love my hevi 13 3 1/2 #6s and Browning invector+ and I promise you my setup will kill a bird at 50 yards,but that is not the reason I have it,I have it because it's available. I took 5 birds last year 2 of them I could have killed with a slingshot,1 was about 25 yards,1 about 36 yards and my farthest was 43 which I called out of an 80 acre cut corn field,so I really didn't need the combination I have,but I am gonna have it. So here is a thought" just because you don't have to have it don't mean you shouldn't have it"

The 5,6,7 hevis are what I shoot. 2yrs ago I caught them at Simmons for $18 for a box of 5. I bought 3 boxes and have 5 left. Of the 4 birds I have killed with them, 2 of them didn't even flop. The other 2 were within 40yds and I forgot to put the dot on his neck where it is sighted in. carelessly in the heat of the moment I guess, I put the dot on their heads which put half the pattern over there head. These 2 required multiple shots. But when I've done my part the hevi 5,6,7 would be hard to beat.

Obviously, it sounds some just wants to think their way is more "traditional" or "superior" no matter what they use. Most of us all take a pictures or two and share the story including yourself. Not really about bragging rights but to share the experience with other people that enjoy the same things we do.

Ultimately in the end it doesn't matter if you shoot him from 30 or 60, its still the same hunt and the same outcome. Just because you choose not to do something doesn't mean that its not alright to do it.

Preach it. Right on!

bunch of nancys getting their panties in a wad over a question....

gotta look out for them, they seem to be everywhere these days.

My panties aint in no wad, they are on my wife. This is a discussion board. I been loading some shells, just checking in here and there.

You old codger.

What's the difference between shooting one with the rifle at 100 yds, and shooting one at 20 yds after decoying him in?

Just like deer hunting, penis measuring posts....this one is stupid too.

Best post on this thread

watch out Hal, no questions allowed amongst nancys....