hunting pressure

[shooter458]

i`am posting this thread because i`am curious about hunting pressure in other areas of the country.i`ve been hunting spring birds here in central penna.since 1974 and back then i would hunt the whole season and only see one or two other hunters.now the first couple of weeks here its like our opener for deer.last year i had two things happen to me that were firsts.on opening morning four hunters were driving some pines with two other hunters posted for a shot needless to say i left.the next day it was raining very hard at 5.00 am and left the house a little later got to gate on the state game lands i planned to hunt and could not belive my eyes . a grown man and young boy sitting in their car pulled up to the gate with a hen decoy on the other side of the gate the kicker was they were in the car with a loaded shotgun. calling out  the car window. i know turkey hunting is going through the roof and thats great for the sport but i sure miss the old days some mornings    

[Fan Club]

Shooter-

Those are a couple of extreme circumstances, to be sure.

Although an organized turkey drive seems ridiculous, totally unsafe and unproductive, turkeys can be persuaded to go in a certain direction. Years ago I was hunting with my friend and his son. We saw a gobbler in a pasture heading down a creek edge toward the intersection of two country roads and came up with a plan. We dropped the kid off over a hill and he skirted through some timber to the creek bottom. I took the truck and headed for the intersection. I turned right and went to the top of the hill and turned around...then I waited a couple of minutes. Then I went back down the hill and turned left, returning to where I had started...and waited a couple of minutes. I repeated this pattern about three times. Sure enough, the gobbler decided there was too much traffic, or human presence, reversed direction and headed back down the creek the way he came. My friend's son shot the gobbler where the creek entered the woodlot. This was all on private property, of course, where we had permission to hunt.

Just as in deer hunting, there are lots of Ya-hoos in the woods especially on Public land. You can head off the tomfoolery and a lot of the pressure by finding some private ground to hunt.

Jeff

[silvestris]

shooter458, insofar as the increased hunting pressure is concerned, you can send a letter of thanks to Rob Keck in care of the NWTF.  Oh, wait a minute, Keck is gone.  I don't know who to send the letter of thanks to.