Author Topic: Would you use a rifle for turkey hunting (Read 11345 times)

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #60 on:** April 17, 2009, 02:19:16 PM »

This seems a good approach. I never owned a combo gun. But when I was a kid. The Savage was popular in .22mg. and 20 ga. and some other combos. One of my pals loved a 243/12 ga. by a out of country out fit. I guess I always prefered the challenge of hitting that small target with a single bullet.

billynwtf · « **Reply #61 on:** August 04, 2009, 02:12:11 AM »

NO! I would fight tooth and nail against using rifles.

luckydawg13 · « **Reply #62 on:** January 31, 2010, 02:51:19 PM »

the hunting part for me is to call them in pormans elk you no ill stick with my BPS 12ga IGA is a block a way

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #63 on:** February 01, 2010, 02:26:02 AM »

Why would anyone fight tooth and nail aginst it ? I shot them with both and they end up dead either way .

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #64 on:** February 01, 2010, 08:07:53 AM »

shootall, this is one I cannot figure out, how any one can consider it sporting to have a gobbler come in to close range then murder it with a swath of shot from a shotgun mostly 3 or 3.5 inch mag.ss If they really want to do something to make them proud they should try hitting one at less than 60 yards with a small caliber rifle in the heart, then they have done something.....

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #65 on:** February 01, 2010, 08:12:59 AM »

I like hunting both ways really but agree with your point . What pizzs me off is the idea that one way , their way is the only way . The turkey don't know !

dukkillr · « **Reply #66 on:** February 01, 2010, 02:25:32 PM »

If I turkey hunted with a rifle the season would be over in the first 30 minutes. I'd rather get them in tight because to me the skill of turkey hunting is calling a turkey from 100-250 yards inside of 40 yards. Sneaking within rifle range would be no real challenge in the country I hunt.

BUT, my objection to rifles in turkey season is based in safety, particularly in Missouri where dirtball road hunting is much more common. I use a tom decoy with real feathers and even though I hunt private land I would give all of that up if I knew there could be some guy taking pot shots around every tree.

If it works for Wyoming or Texas I'm more than happy for them, but I have concerns around here. Different country, different people, different culture of hunting.

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #67 on:** February 01, 2010, 03:45:36 PM »

this is what I often hear, the skill is calling not shooting..then callers need decoys, now decoys with feathers....I thought the skill was calling and shooting...

sachel.45 · « **Reply #68 on:** February 01, 2010, 04:43:41 PM »

why is it murder to shoot a turkey at close range with a shotgun but a shot through the heart with a rifle is not? id like to hunt turkey with a rifle but washington doesnt allow it and im fine with that i dont think it matters how you hunt then as long as its safe and legal

dukkillr · « **Reply #69 on:** February 01, 2010, 05:01:58 PM »

Quote from: Wyo. Coyote Hunter on February 01, 2010, 03:45:36 PM

this is what I often hear, the skill is calling not shooting..then callers need decoys, now decoys with feathers....I thought the skill was calling and shooting...

Like I said, different country, different people, different culture of hunting. I've hunted Wyoming, I can understand using rifles there. It's not the joy I get from turkey hunting, but if you do, have at it.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #70 on:** February 02, 2010, 01:31:00 AM »

In Va. we can and do use both . Most use a 22mag. or 17hrm . The bird is still called in most often . Seems it takes both skills listed .

APEX PREDATOR · « **Reply #71 on:** February 02, 2010, 11:29:26 AM »

i got a hornet plan on using 45 grain sp in it in pa

ohiosam · « **Reply #72 on:** April 06, 2010, 01:12:48 PM »

I would in a heart beat if it was legal in Ohio. I'd use my .32 cal muzzleloader.

RaySendero · « **Reply #73 on:** April 06, 2010, 02:22:44 PM »

I've shot turkeys with my deer rifles where legal. Have no problem with using a rifle, and will offer these tips for those that so choose:

1) Shoot for the base of the neck when possible not the head.
2) If must take a body shot - Do it from the front, Not from the side or rear as a CF rifle can blow a soft ball size hole as it exits!

hawkenman · « **Reply #74 on:** April 06, 2010, 04:10:28 PM »

No way, I'm 50 years old and have been hunting turkeys since the 1970's. I have been blessed and killed a turkey every opening day (this year included). Turkey hunting is an art, you have to have patience and know the game your are after. Not hitting them 100 yards away plus with some type of small caliber rifle. I work for my turkey by scouting weeks before and finally building a blind that I wil sit in for 7 to 8 hours a day. I do cheet a little by using a Mossberg 535 three and a half inch mag. that I have gotten kills at 50 yards plus. But the thrill is having a big booming goobler come within 25 yards of you due to your calling techniques, not just bcause you can see him at 100 yards

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #75 on:** April 07, 2010, 09:06:34 AM »

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #76 on:** April 07, 2010, 09:19:55 AM »

While turkey hunting is truely and art, and I have been hunting them since the 60's. there is little art in wacking one with a shotgun at 50 yards...if you are accurate enought to take him with a rifle at that distance or less, you have done something...I must laugh when I hear folks talk of calling turkey close so they can be executed with a swath of shot, what a great feat it is like shooting beer cans off of a fence post with a 12 ga., but they want something that will shoot 50 or 60 yards also...look at the Turkey Foundation...the group that started the shotgun only propoganda, they hold events to see what shotgun and shells will shoot the farthest and hold a tight pattern for "long Kills"...sounds phony to me...

gstewart44 · « **Reply #77 on:** April 07, 2010, 10:02:27 AM »

Quote from: Wyo. Coyote Hunter on April 07, 2010, 09:19:55 AM

While turkey hunting is truely and art, and I have been hunting them since the 60's. there is little art in wacking one with a shotgun at 50 yards...if you are accurate enought to take him with a rifle at that distance or less, you have done something...I must laugh when I hear folks talk of calling turkey close so they can be executed with a swath of shot, what a great feat it is like shooting beer cans off of a fence post with a 12 ga., but they want something that will shoot 50 or 60 yards also...look at the Turkey Foundation...the group that started the shotgun only propoganda, they hold events to see what shotgun and shells will shoot the farthest and hold a tight pattern for "long Kills"...sounds phony to me...

WCH- I understand your differentiation of taking turkey with a rifle vs a shotgun, but I truly believe that the "art" of turkey hunting is to be able to call the turkey within range of the shotgun while not being seen and spook the tom. I do believe that being able to shoot a turkey with a small caliber rifle bullet at over 100 yards requires much more "skill" with the firearm but loses much of the "art" of talking the bird within range.

In Florida rifles and shotguns are ok. In Georgia, only shotguns and Muzzleloader rifles are allowed. Many times I have been hunting deer or hog and have seen turkey come into rifle range out to 250 yds and could have sniped them had it been turkey season. All the while the turkeys had no clue I was watching them through a scope.

The "art" is calling the birds in close. The "skill" is being able to use your instrument to take them at a much greater range.

Just my observations.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #78 on:** April 07, 2010, 10:24:08 AM »

And some just want a wild turkey for the table careing little of others purest snob attitude.

Wyo. Coyote Hunter · « **Reply #79 on:** April 07, 2010, 10:56:25 AM »

shootall, you are quite right...if folks want to use a shotgun on turkeys, I don't really care, but I do resent the purest attitude of the Wild Turkey Foundation that their shotgun only mindset is the "correct" way and everything else wrong..They talk about the art of calling, and I agree it is an art, and an exciting one..but somehow it isn't proper to shoot a gobbler with a small bore rifle...I am not saying at 200 yards, say less than 60...it takes real skill..there can be no quick moves, the rifle has to be set when the gobbler shows, with a shotgun the pattern gives one much leeway for a shot...Also, when I look at the stuff that is coming along to help bag turkeys that can't be called, they have decoys, patterning and ambush plans, plans to hide in a field and ambush a gobbler when he is strutting for alive hen, gobbler decoys, they may be used with acall, but still plans to kill a gobbler that cannot be called...but still they look "down" on someone who uses a rifle..they remind me of fly fishing snobs...I like to fly fish also, but when I want a mess of brookies to eat, it doesnt bother me to use my fly rod and worms to catch my supper...at the same time, when I hunt turkey, I prefer a rifle, but if I just want a turkey for the table, my model 12 12 duck gun is much more deadly....

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #80 on:** April 07, 2010, 11:01:11 AM »

I hunt mostly with a shotgun and call more in than i shoot , just for fun . But like you if i want one and have a rifle that's what i use . You mean worms ain't right to use ? Guess i wouldn't want to hear what they think of jug fishing, dip nets and trot lines

gstewart44 · « **Reply #81 on:** April 07, 2010, 12:12:25 PM »

WCH - I was unaware of the position that what in the world has taken about turkey hunting.....I am not one of their members and don't know anyone that is. I have encountered the fly fishing crowd when I was a kid....they looked down on my grandpa for using baited hooks for his fish. I remember Grandpa just saying that we were going to catch more fish than the guys with the real long poles.

And we did.

I think I'll read up on the what in the world and get "enlightened"

Smoke-em · « **Reply #82 on:** April 29, 2011, 03:52:06 AM »

I've been turkey hunting for more years then I care to remember. It became apparent that I no longer needed to kill a turkey and in fact turned down a lot of nice birds. The hunt was really fooling the bird. I then decided to make it more of a sport and harder to do. I converted a Ruger 10/22 to 17hm2 and set out to take a big tom with it. I hunted for 3 years before getting the shot I wanted. It was a proud moment for me to have take this nice bird, 10 inch double beard, 1 inch plus spurs, with a gun I converted.

mspaci · « **Reply #83 on:** April 29, 2011, 07:02:52 AM »

If you want to impress me, bowhunt them. Mike

Smoke-em · « **Reply #84 on:** April 29, 2011, 11:15:45 AM »

Actually, I have done that. I bought my Mathews Q2 bow in 2000, and started hunting with it in 2001. Now, if you want to impress me, take a mature Tom at 80 yards, in full strut, with a head shot, with a .17hm2, that has a 17 caliber 17 grain bullet.
Bow hunting was quite easy compared. With that small a caliber you can only take a head shot

Todd1700 · « **Reply #85 on:** April 29, 2011, 02:07:37 PM »

If legal where you are then knock yourself out. It's none of my business. It's not legal here in Alabama and I hope it never is. First and foremost it's a safety issue. We don't wear hunters orange when turkey hunting here and the sound of a turkey gobbling can potentially draw several hunters into the same specific area on public land. Dangerous situation if all or some of them are carrying rifles and invisible to each other due to trees, brush and camo clothing.

Todd1700 · « **Reply #86 on:** April 29, 2011, 06:19:48 PM »

Quote

Now, if you want to impress me, take a mature Tom at 80 yards, in full strut, with a head shot, with a .17hm2, that has a 17 caliber 17 grain bullet.

Well first there would be no need to take head shots at turkeys with even a .17hm2 as almost any body hit would at the very least incapacitate the bird or kill it outright. And if legal I can assure you people would not limit themselves to head shots. Hitting a turkeys head at 80 yards might be a bit of a challenge but hitting his body (which most people would aim for if legal) would be little challenge at all.

Now don't get me wrong. No where is it written that hunting regulations have to be set up in a way that makes killing an animal more of a challenge. If so we would all be throwing boomerangs at ducks. BUT, on the other hand, don't blow smoke up my @$$ trying to make a case that shooting turkeys with a rifle is as much or more of a challenge than calling them up within 45 yards and killing them with a shotgun. I could just sit and watch fields every year with a rifle across my lap and kill enough turkeys to stall a D9 dozier.

sidewinder319 · « **Reply #87 on:** April 29, 2011, 07:13:35 PM »

I like my Marlin CL 25-20 lever gun. The 25-20 has a long history of turkey hunting.

huntswithdogs · « **Reply #88 on:** April 30, 2011, 07:41:04 AM »

I've killed turkeys using rifles and shotguns. I've MISSED turkeys with rifles and shotguns. Both are legal here in Va. I'm thinking about trying them with a handgun. I've have missed one or two with a bow. Them thangs can jump a string faster than a whitetail!
What I'm trying to say is, if it's legal where you hunt, so be it. It's still turkey hunting. Let's fight the ANTIs and PETAs instead of each other!/

HWD

Smoke-em · « **Reply #89 on:** April 30, 2011, 12:23:43 PM »

Now Todd....why would I want to blow smoke up your a##? I don't know you and you don't know me. You are right. the .17hm2 will kill a turkey even if shot in the body. The question is, do you get to take the bird home or does it die in the woods without you finding it.
It seems to me that its a little strange that you would talk about body shooting, when they preach head and neck shots when using a shotgun. hmmmmm.
I have blasted my share of turkey heads with a shotgun. I found that the challange to me died. If you haven't, then let me enjoy my new found challange.
Drop me a line when you have walked a mile in my shoes!