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Gatekeeper

AT Hiker

AT Hiker

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Is Turkey hunting the one sport hunting that might actually need a gatekeeper, of some sorts? Of course I'm biased, it's how I was exposed and grew up doing it. I just often have concerns, maybe even some judgements, of people who never get to experience it that way.
That experience is simply a chess game with a call, a hunter and a Turkey.


Maybe it's my age. I prefer my bourbon neat and my Turkey hunting very minimalistic and intimate.
Then again, some people grew in Western states shooting them with rifles and over feeders. Maybe we dont need a gatekeeper, lol .
 
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It is a lot like other hunting. If all you are interested in is quick success and a "grip n grin" for faceplant, then there are a lot of short cuts that can make it pretty easy.

If you want to kill some the way you are talking about, there is normally a case of paying your dues before success is common.

For me, easy has never meant much. The bigger the challenge, the more it meant in the end if I was able to get it done.

I guess different strokes for different folks.
 
I also am a bit old school when it comes to chasing thunder chickens. I only call them now. I stopped using decoys entirely. I'm not opposed to anyone else using decoys and I don't advocate for rules against it. Now baiting and use of rifles, that IMHO might be a bit too far. I'd personally rather not hunt than use bait and would prefer not to have to worry that someone may be shooting a rifle at birds when I'm in camo and in cover.
 
I grew up hunting the south Bama swamps without decoys. I tried a decoy a few times when they were legalized in Alabama, and I even did the Indian crawl/ "reaping" and killed one one time. Those who call themselves turkey hunters that can only kill them behind a fan don't know what real turkey hunting is about. It was an adrenaline rush to do the crawl, but it was honestly easy. There is nothing like having to hone your calling and woodsman skills like trying to get a gobbler within 40 yards when it's just you vs him and no other aids. Anyone can sit in a blind with decoys and kill a bird but few can do it with neither. This is coming from someone who has seen both sides and get the viewpoints of both sides. I've hunted woods/fields/bottoms/mountains/wide open out west, and people just have the belief "I have to use decoys and/or blinds to kill them cause they can see forever" which I'll say from firsthand experience..if you work to hone your craft and are persistent, it's more than possible to do so just requires a lot more work. My two cents and I know this ruffles feathers…just telling how it is…(not including disabled/elderly/young kids in the post though)
 
scn said:
It is a lot like other hunting. If all you are interested in is quick success and a "grip n grin" for faceplant, then there are a lot of short cuts that can make it pretty easy.

If you want to kill some the way you are talking about, there is normally a case of paying your dues before success is common.

For me, easy has never meant much. The bigger the challenge, the more it meant in the end if I was able to get it done.

I guess different strokes for different folks.
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I share those sentiments, it's why I've gotten deep into western backpack hunting/fishing.
I also have a goal to backpack into a certain wilderness area for a few days to hunt turkeys. A million "easier" places to hunt a Turkey, but the challenges of such a hunt is one of the reasons that make it so romantic to me. I feel like once back there I need to make it as fair chase as possible, anything else would ruin the mood for me.

Different strokes for different folks indeed.
 
I'm all for it. And, I say we make Setterman the Gatekeeper.

Gatekeeper+.gif
 
The older I have gotten the more I enjoy hunting alone. Just me and him. Like a game of chess. I even bought a 410 this year to try and show him the respect I have for him. One of my good friends who I love hunting with laughed when I told him. That's fine. I'm not trying to impress anyone, just trying to enjoy however many more chances God gives me to play the game! It's the conversation. I only shot one bird last spring, but I had many conversations with him before doing so. Yes, I'm weird, but it sure keeps life interesting!!
 
Definitely need a gatekeeper. Also, if turkey hunter recruitment is needed (and I'm not saying it is, believe me!) quality of hunter needs to be focused on, not quantity of hunters. Too many new turkey hunters are only in it for the kill pics and likes.
 
Seems like it's been implied that killing a turkey in a non-traditional way is only ever done for social media. While there is truth to that, some people are just in it for the enjoyment of killing a gobbler, frying up some turkey with their buddies, or whatever it may be. Say for example, spot and stalking is not the "traditional" way of killing a spring gobbler, but it's one of the most basic and probably oldest methods of hunting game, and it works well in the fall turkey season too. Now with that said, I would rather see certain methods like reaping restricted before seeing a bag limit decrease, if the population needs protected. Doesn't mean I think reaping is the worst thing in the world, I'd just rather see more opportunity to kill gobblers but make it a little tougher so more birds survive. That's just my opinion.

Regardless of what methods are considered right or wrong, the attitude I've seen on forums over the years does absolutely nothing to help the situation. If you u want people to hunt the way you hunt, then be a good person and maybe take someone hunting, show them how exciting it is to hunt your way.

Looking down your nose at fellow hunters with a "my way or the highway" attitude will do nothing to help. If some of the kids "killing birds for likes" saw some of the discussions posted on forums over the years, I guarantee it wouldn't change anybody's mind, in fact it would probably turn people away from traditional turkey hunting the way some of us enjoy so much.

Set a good example, be someone that new hunters can look up to. Don't try to force your ways on someone else while belittling them for hunting a different way. It's silly.
 
catman529 said:
Seems like it's been implied that killing a turkey in a non-traditional way is only ever done for social media. While there is truth to that, some people are just in it for the enjoyment of killing a gobbler, frying up some turkey with their buddies, or whatever it may be. Say for example, spot and stalking is not the "traditional" way of killing a spring gobbler, but it's one of the most basic and probably oldest methods of hunting game, and it works well in the fall turkey season too. Now with that said, I would rather see certain methods like reaping restricted before seeing a bag limit decrease, if the population needs protected. Doesn't mean I think reaping is the worst thing in the world, I'd just rather see more opportunity to kill gobblers but make it a little tougher so more birds survive. That's just my opinion.

Regardless of what methods are considered right or wrong, the attitude I've seen on forums over the years does absolutely nothing to help the situation. If you u want people to hunt the way you hunt, then be a good person and maybe take someone hunting, show them how exciting it is to hunt your way.

Looking down your nose at fellow hunters with a "my way or the highway" attitude will do nothing to help. If some of the kids "killing birds for likes" saw some of the discussions posted on forums over the years, I guarantee it wouldn't change anybody's mind, in fact it would probably turn people away from traditional turkey hunting the way some of us enjoy so much.

Set a good example, be someone that new hunters can look up to. Don't try to force your ways on someone else while belittling them for hunting a different way. It's silly.
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Wow Jonathan, I have literally watched you grow up on this forum.

That is a great post.

You have taken a lot of heat over the years on here, but I commend you for not being intimidated and always sticking up for yourself.
 
To some degree don't game laws serve this purpose? No more punt guns for waterfowl, spotlighting/killing deer at night is illegal, there's bag limits for any given critter, well-defined methods of taking game, established season length and on and on. To me, hunting regs are the State's way of serving as the gatekeeper you mention.

Fly fish for trout? Great. Zebco 33 Classic with a red/white bobber and mealworms? That works too. I don't see any unfair advantage with either of these options...not so with those mentioned above.
 
i hunt for food. that the process of hunting happens to be enjoyable to me, is an incidental bonus. with a sportsmans license and relying on public land; if i bag a couple of deer, at least one turkey and as many tree rats and fish as it takes to round out the freezer, hunting/fishing saves my family money when compared to the cost of organic meat at the grocery. with that goal in mind my focus in hunting/fishing is efficiency. i am always looking for the method/means that costs the least dollars and time within the limits of the law. if reaping or decoying increases my freezer filling efficiency - then that's the method for me. i want game laws to protect/preserve the resource and i trust the agency to make decisions toward that end.
 
I've always been my own "gatekeeper" when it comes to the way in which I hunt Wild Turkeys. As I've said before, if you did not sit down against a tree and call that turkey to within 40yrds and then kill it with a shotgun, I don't want to hear about it and will, literally, get up and walk away from you if you try to tell me about it. I don't care if your 8 or 80 either. ;)
 
uncle_loue said:
i hunt for food. hunting/fishing saves my family money when compared to the cost of organic meat at the grocery. with that goal in mind my focus in hunting/fishing is efficiency. i am always looking for the method/means that costs the least dollars and time within the limits of the law. if reaping or decoying increases my freezer filling efficiency - then that's the method for me.
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It'd be a lot cheaper then just to go buy ~4 pounds of chicken breast than to try to kill a turkey. Especially with gas and ammo prices being so high. Unless you are shooting them off your back doorstep. Just saying.
 
th88 said:
It'd be a lot cheaper then just to go buy ~4 pounds of chicken breast than to try to kill a turkey. Especially with gas and ammo prices being so high. Unless you are shooting them off your back doorstep. Just saying.
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He did mention organic so keep that in mind. Whatever organic means nowadays.
But yeah, the wild Turkey is probably not a good example to use when justifying cost.

Also, our roots of hunting are most definitely a means of acquiring food. Food is important, the world survives on things dying and being eaten. However, hunting is conservation now…which means among other things, money needs to be generated.
 
Buzzard Breath said:
I'm fine with less new hunters. What I'd like to see is a higher percentage of existing hunters giving our resources the respect they deserve. If that means less social media stars hiding behind decoys or stalking a bird that I have working a call, so be it.
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I think we would be perfectly fine with 25%, or more, less hunters. Especially if we could get the majority of non hunters (nevermind antis, they are a lost cause) on board with the premise of modern sport hunting. Sure license and tags might need to go up to offset the cost but other aspects of hunting would decrease, simple supply and demand economics.
 

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