PNW 2020..

[FEETDOWN]

I was thinking the same thing. My concern isnt the reaping, its the number of people you saw on the way to the same destination to do the same thing. Pressure is the problem in all game.

The root cause is the same, regardless of the game pursued.....

Social. Media.

[sc sportsman]

I was thinking the same thing. My concern isnt the reaping, its the number of people you saw on the way to the same destination to do the same thing. Pressure is the problem in all game.

I look forward to this post every year and am envious of the trip so this is not to bash Nitro in any way, just a thought. As a turkey hunter who, admittedly, doesn't travel to turkey hunt out of state, I share the same thoughts as SD. Reaping and male turkey decoys in general certainly give an advantage (unfair advantage IMHO) to the hunter and make up for a lack of skillset, thus more turkeys are getting killed that would normally survive. I don't have the info available to support this but it seems that there are more people pursuing the resource with more time on their hands to do so given the current remote work environment. At what point do we consider that the traveling turkey hunter who hits multiple states every year with the goal of filling all tags in each state contributes to the decline to a certain extent. Several social media accounts are currently bashing reaping and male decoys and I agree with that but the same accounts are documenting their every trip and shooting as many turkeys as they are legally allowed to shoot in every state they travel to. Is it fair to say that maybe less turkeys need to be killed, regardless of how you do it? Maybe turkeys weren't meant to be hunted every day of the season given the increase in harvest and hunters? Managing a few hundred acres in your home state provides a great benefit to the bird but does very little to the flock(s) of birds that your group of 4 kills 8 out of in a few days of hunting out west. Getting rid of fanning and reaping will save a lot of turkeys but I think some emphasis needs to be put on self restraint. The line between being an advocate for the resource and a hypocrite is getting pretty fine as we see people trying to slow the harvest by taking away a tool from some while continuing to kill as many as they can themselves with the tools they deem fit.

[PJ1012]

I was thinking the same thing. My concern isnt the reaping, its the number of people you saw on the way to the same destination to do the same thing. Pressure is the problem in all game.

The pressure wouldn't be there if you get rid of the crutches that are used to kill turkeys. The crutches have made turkey hunting popular because anyone can do it now. If they had to kill them the traditional way, they'd quit or be highly unsuccessful

[Southernduck]

The pressure wouldn't be there if you get rid of the crutches that are used to kill turkeys. The crutches have made turkey hunting popular because anyone can do it now. If they had to kill them the traditional way, they'd quit or be highly unsuccessful

I get what you are saying but the pressure is still there. Hell we have been applying that logic to killing ducks from Willtown but to my knowledge the crowds haven't slimmed. While I love seeing dead critters, silence is best. I had to learn it the hard way.

[Highstrung]

Dang right he did. I was amazed by that too. I enjoyed it. Thankee!!!!!

Yes sir

[rileydog]

Great trip, thanks for sharing.

[fowlshot]

Looks like a fun trip, I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t make me want to go kill a Turkey in some different scenery.


But it makes me scratch my head when someone who just posted pics of 10 dead turkeys say they are concerned about how others are affecting the resource.


Again, looks like y’all had an absolute blast

I agree with duck cutter.

I’m not calling Nitro out at all or anybody in particular, but the self restraint is the part that my views align with. Everybody that can buy a license and get tags has the right to go kill their legal amount of turkeys. There’s no way to regulate that unless they make some form of federal limit - good luck with that. I’m of the younger group here, social media is a large part of my generations lives, unfortunately. Everyone has to post a photo to let people know they killed a limit of wood ducks, shot a buck, or killed a turkey to show everyone else they’re “badass killers”. I stopped posting photos years ago as I refuse to be a part of what I see as detrimental to the sports we enjoy.

It’s unfortunate too because we all love getting on here and sharing photos and enjoying others success, such as this thread. I would hunt merriams out west every day if I had the opportunity to, believe that! But it wouldn’t surprise me if this thread alone has made a few people text their buddies saying “let’s go to the PNW next spring”. Just my opinion.

Nitro, great hunt, I enjoy seeing all of your pictures over the years from your trips out there.

[Duck cutter]

I really didn’t have an opinion one way or the other on fanning/reaping and I had never used that method to kill a bird.I recently learned more about how the wild turkeys social system/ hierarchy is setup (if I understand it correctly) and how killing the dominant bird can affect the breeding of that flock for the year. Given that information I don’t foresee myself using the fanning/reaping method to kill an otherwise unkillable bird.

That being said, I’m not going to use that to try to set myself apart from other groups of hunters nor am I going to belittle them for using such methods and act like they’re the problem. In my opinion, those other hunters on the plane were doing the same as you. Taking a trip with their buddies, spending hard-earned money and vacation days, enjoying life, and making memories. I really don’t blame them for trying to up their rate of success on trips such as that because let’s face it even thought the kill isn’t the most important thing it definitely makes for a more enjoyable trip.

Maybe instead of spouting poetry and self-imposed codes it’s time to make the effort to better educate other hunters instead of belittle them for their chosen methods

Nitro, don’t take that as being pointed directly toward just you, as I said before, I enjoyed the pictures. Good killing

[trkykilr]

Great trip and pictures AG. Always enjoy this post.

I think this forum and the people that visit it would all benefit from a thread discussing populations, harvest, harvest methods, etc. A lot of the threads here take someone’s trip story and turn it into a debate. I think we should have a new thread to discuss these issues. None of these issues are black and white, and most are quite complex.

[flockbuster]

Congratulations Andy. I was already jealous then my out of state retirement tour got cancelled late Wednesday afternoon so now I really hate you. Seriously though, congratulations to you and Will. I look forward to seeing this post every year.

[JABIII]

killing ducks from Willtown

[Duck cutter]

Great trip and pictures AG. Always enjoy this post.

I think this forum and the people that visit it would all benefit from a thread discussing populations, harvest, harvest methods, etc. A lot of the threads here take someone’s trip story and turn it into a debate. I think we should have a new thread to discuss these issues. None of these issues are black and white, and most are quite complex.

Get it started

[FEETDOWN]

[Southernduck]

Maybe he can make something of it.

[PharmHunter]

Strong to quite strong!

[dumbduck]

Nice work! Send a pin

[nitro5x6's]

Nice work! Send a pin

Here you go !!


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