1st Archery Turkey

[w33kender]

Many have different ideas about integrity, myself included. I get in a twist when Kirk Hammett steps on his wah pedal and the crowd goes wild like he invented fire.

That says more about me than Kirk Hammett, though. None of us are perfect or necessarily fair or kind in our assessment of others. We see the failings of others quicker than our own. I try to do better but fail more than I succeed.

[trkykilr]

makes for good content i suppose.

how many turkeys have the tfc crew taken out of the population this year?

kind of like dave owens advocating for turkey stamps, when he kills an unproportionate amount of birds every year. kind of a do as i say, not as i do situation.

congrats on the bird winchester! that avatar cracks me up everytime i see it.

We have killed a bunch. All legally and without a fan. I have 1 SC sticker left and I plan to use it tomorrow or Sunday. Then I’ll hop on a few planes and go legally kill some in other states, without crawling behind a fan. Dave kills his turkeys within the rules of the states he hunts. He hunts a lot of states. You can advocate for turkey conservation and still kill turkeys within the laws of the states that you hunt.

Michael Waddell is too good of a turkey hunter to be crawling around behind that damn contraption, as is Phillip Crawlpepper.

And yes, TFC decides what is appropriate and what is not.

[PharmHunter]

https://theangrybowhunter.com/2022/0...unting-method/

Y'all have mucked up the OP's thread terribly, but I think this blog sums up my thoughts on the fanning subject pretty well. Another thread would perhaps be a good idea for that discussion. Turkey populations are declining across the Southeast, and while the discussion leads to many contributing factors, there are some things we definitely can control. And yes the same hunters who love to hunt and shoot the wild turkey, love and want to see the bird around for their kids and their kids' kids and so on. If someone doesn't understand that, I probably can't really explain hunting and conservation to you.

Side note...I saw nothing but congrats from tfc guys on this thread.

[nitro5x6's]

I keep waiting to read about a reaper or fanner getting shot in the face....... and won't feel sad for them when they do.

It may be a short cut to victory, but some Victories need to be earned. Not given.

[BRR]

I keep waiting to read about a reaper or fanner getting shot in the face....... and won't feel sad for them when they do.

It may be a short cut to victory, but some Victories need to be earned. Not given.

Absolutely

[Highstrung]

I thought this thread was started by 2th

[LowcountryBuck]

To the OP, Congrats on a fine kill and accomplishment!

I don't think the hunting technique or method argument is a cut and dry issue specifically when it comes to conservation of the resource alone. I am personally not for fanning, or for strutter decoys per se. I've hunted over them throughout the years, to be sure, and perhaps will at some point again, either for my kids or with someone else. It doesn't define me as a hunter. I've killed a bunch of turkeys and witnessed the killing of a bunch of turkeys. Not nearly as many as most on here, but enough to have learned it's not about killing anymore. I've killed them with 20 gauge, 12 gauge, #5s, #6s, TSS, Heavyweight, etc., all types of shotgun ammo. I used to get disappointed when I hunted and didn't kill something. Now I look back and some of my most memorable and best hunts were those in which I didn't kill. I've also had hunts where I killed a nice bird that happened so fast I felt cheated. What I'm saying is there isn't a right or wrong answer when it comes to techniques and equipment and conservation. I evolved over time, as we all do.

I do agree with Mike and others on here that reaping and doing stupid things for clicks at the expense of killing a bird in decline is unsavory, especially when you have a platform to use to educate. What Michael Waddell does with that stupid reaper, or any of those fools, and there are way too many, may not make them a criminal, but it does make them an asshole. Sure, they aren't doing anything illegal. But it just degrades the whole process. Is your goal to Kill, or to hunt? Two different things.

I don't need to kill them anymore. I enjoy hunting them, immensely, and killing a few here and there. But I don't NEED to kill them like I once did. My focus now is on educating those in the hunting and landowner community that I have an opportunity to impact about habitat management, predator control, etc. and sharing data from Bret Collier or Mike Chaimberlain with others when I see an opening for a discussion about how to protect turkeys for my kids and grandkids.

I do think education and conversation is the best approach because if you take the tactic that you hold the moral high ground because "your method of killing turkeys is more acceptable than mine", it wont be well received by the crowd that you ultimately want to change or make the impact that it possibly could otherwise.

Again, hunting technique alone is not a cut and dry issue if the goal is ultimately to make changes that protect the wild turkey.

[nitro5x6's]

It is still ok for the Turkey to win a few. You will learn from it.

I'm no purist, but reversing nature and calling a Gobbler to you to a distance close enough to kill him cleanly is still the game.

[PJ1012]

It’s pretty common knowledge in the hunting business that Waddell ran off with his best friend’s wife. I don’t give a shit about him, but I wish he would stop posting videos of himself crawling around behind a fan. It is unsavory

The irony of it all is Big Ego Bill found him at a NWTF turkey calling contest if I'm not mistaken. Now he makes a living crawling around behind fan and coming up with stupid sayings like thunder chicken and cant stop the flop. Like most at Realtree, Waddell is a joke and not good for the hunting world.

[ziggy]

who's doing more damage to the resource, the guy who reaps 2-3 birds a year or the guy who is travelling and killing 15-20? reaping is stupid as fuck, but who cares what method you're using if you're only killing 1-2 a year?

turkeys are a declining resource and the days of limiting out everywhere you can, as many places as you can, should be in the rearview mirror.

we all need to be proactive in protecting this resource for us and for the future, and shooting as many turkeys as you can is objectively a detrimen to the resource. it doesn't matter where you are or where you travel.

[LowcountryBuck]

It is still ok for the Turkey to win a few. You will learn from it.

I'm no purist, but reversing nature and calling a Gobbler to you to a distance close enough to kill him cleanly is still the game.

No doubt about it, Andy. And that never gets old!

[PharmHunter]

who's doing more damage to the resource, the guy who reaps 2-3 birds a year or the guy who is travelling and killing 15-20? reaping is stupid as fuck, but who cares what method you're using if you're only killing 1-2 a year?

turkeys are a declining resource and the days of limiting out everywhere you can, as many places as you can, should be in the rearview mirror.

we all need to be proactive in protecting this resource for us and for the future, and shooting as many turkeys as you can is objectively a detrimen to the resource. it doesn't matter where you are or where you travel.

There are very few guys who travel and kill 15-20. Even among the die hards, that's just not the norm. However, the average moron in every county in every state is reaping 2 or 3, and for that reason, I'd argue those guys are doing much more damage to the resource. Talk to some folks in Nebraska and ask how their numbers are doing..

I get your point and agree with most of what you said otherwise.

[TheVisorGuy]

But does Waddell have tattoos?

I like Waddell. I like his podcast too. Don't really care what anyone else thinks, nor does he probly

[trkykilr]

But does Waddell have tattoos?

I like Waddell. I like his podcast too. Don't really care what anyone else thinks, nor does he probly

He absolutely cares what people think. They pay his bills. Listen to him cry like a bitch on his podcast when people started giving him hell about fanning.

And, I’d guess he has that stupid bone collector logo tatted all over him.

[ziggy]

There are very few guys who travel and kill 15-20. Even among the die hards, that's just not the norm. However, the average moron in every county in every state is reaping 2 or 3, and for that reason, I'd argue those guys are doing much more damage to the resource. Talk to some folks in Nebraska and ask how their numbers are doing..

I get your point and agree with most of what you said otherwise.

maybe i'm just out of the loop, but is reaping a turkey really that common? genuinely asking, as no one i know does it.

[PJ1012]

maybe i'm just out of the loop, but is reaping a turkey really that common? genuinely asking, as no one i know does it.

Go to YouTube and look up turkey hunting. It will shock you the amount of people doing it.

[ziggy]

yes...for content. but hunting videos are a small subset of the overall hunting population.

[YoungBuckTX]

maybe i'm just out of the loop, but is reaping a turkey really that common? genuinely asking, as no one i know does it.

same here. I know no one that has killed using reaping method and I know quite a few turkey killers. I tried it a few years ago on a powerline bird that pissed me off. The bird buggered on me once I broke 100. probably because it was from a bird I killed a few days earlier and not the chicken thunder brand

[trkykilr]

yes...for content. but hunting videos are a small subset of the overall hunting population.

Yes, but that is where young hunters and those trying to learn get some of their info. It allows folks that have no business killing turkeys to kill them.

[banded_mallard]

I tried a time or two to see what it was all about. I did not find it to be as easy and effective as some make it out to be. Throw a blind in the middle of the same field with 2-3 decoys and your success rate will be higher than reaping. At least in my experience.