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Turkey reaping, anyone?

Most fun hunt I've ever had. Tom had saw me twice so he wasn't about to come in to me. Busted out a real turkey fan glued to a plastic turkey decoy stake and started crawling right towards him behind the fan held upright. All I could see because of terrain and grass was the top of his fan. He was originally looking directly away from me but as soon as he saw my fan, he came out of strut and ran straight to me. Shot him at 5 steps. No chance I ever kill him any other way!

Time and place for every move. Its the one and only time I've tried it because its the only time I've been in that situation.
Same done it 3 times very similar circumstances. Private land, shotgun only, wide open field using terrain to get fan visible.
 
I hunt SE WI, you wont be around long with all those City folks driving in from Milwaukee and Madison crawling around in the middle of a field looking like a Turkey.
I’m not worried about folks from Madison. If I dressed like a turkey they’d probably try to feed me and run interference to keep hunters away from me.
 
I just don’t see how it’s any different than other decoying methods. Waterfowl is ok, but turkeys dekes or reaping is unethical..... I can’t make the correlation. I much prefer big rolling timber & woods hunting but I don’t think field turkeys are less sporting. I put shooting off the roost up there along the lines of poaching.
 
Fortunately this tactic is illegal in MI. It's right up there with shooting a roosted bird out of the tree.
I can sympathize with your position. That’s why I asked about the ethics of it. But so far, no one has made a reasonable case of why it should be an illegal method other than it will get you shot. Is there an argument from ethical or conservation grounds to be made? I ask with genuine curiosity.
 
I don’t see how it’s any different than decoying anything else. Take advantage of a Toms need to be dominant. No different than buck decoy during the rut


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I can sympathize with your position. That’s why I asked about the ethics of it. But so far, no one has made a reasonable case of why it should be an illegal method other than it will get you shot. Is there an argument from ethical or conservation grounds to be made? I ask with genuine curiosity.
Btw I’m right there with you, curios to hear a good opposing position ( outside of safety)
 
I don’t see how it’s any different than decoying anything else. Take advantage of a Toms need to be dominant. No different than buck decoy during the rut


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My thoughts exactly.
 
This is just the turkey version argument of trad vs compound vs xbows. "Purists" in each arena want to impose their will on others without solid statistics to support their views. Strictly for reaping, where are the increased numbers of accidents of accidents as a result of reaping? Where are the numbers to show more harvests as a result of reaping?

Let's just simplify everything and change to single US wide game laws with the exact same season dates and tags and you can only hunt in a loin cloth, no other clothes or shoes, kill your quarry by throwing a rock, and not be able to carry any gear other than said rock. Then we shutdown this site, all the hunting videos, and life will be pure again!
 
This is just the turkey version argument of trad vs compound vs xbows. "Purists" in each arena want to impose their will on others without solid statistics to support their views. Strictly for reaping, where are the increased numbers of accidents of accidents as a result of reaping? Where are the numbers to show more harvests as a result of reaping?

Let's just simplify everything and change to single US wide game laws with the exact same season dates and tags and you can only hunt in a loin cloth, no other clothes or shoes, kill your quarry by throwing a rock, and not be able to carry any gear other than said rock. Then we shutdown this site, all the hunting videos, and life will be pure again!

Would you wear Antlers and brown during Gun Deer season? Just curious, cause i sure wouldn't regardless of statistics cause i dont want to be one. Though i seriously doubt anyone is keeping statistics on turkey hunters shot reaping vs turkey hunters shot that were not reaping.

Btw, im no purist. I only turkey hunt to kill time until Bowhunting opens back up. It just seems unwise to look like the quarry people are out to kill. I mean, in WI several years ago a guy shot a woman off her horse thinking he was shooting at a deer. There are some real pieces of work out there.
 
Would you wear Antlers and brown during Gun Deer season? Just curious, cause i sure wouldn't regardless of statistics cause i dont want to be one. Though i seriously doubt anyone is keeping statistics on turkey hunters shot reaping vs turkey hunters shot that were not reaping.

Btw, im no purist. I only turkey hunt to kill time until Bowhunting opens back up. It just seems unwise to look like the quarry people are out to kill. I mean, in WI several years ago a guy shot a woman off her horse thinking he was shooting at a deer. There are some real pieces of work out there.
What few statistics available show that the accident rate has not increased since reaping has become popular, so their is no correlation to ban it other than opinions that it will lead to more accidents. Using that same logic, they should ban all elevated hunting options because someone might fall.

That's an apples to oranges comparison for turkeys and deer. The only comparison would be in states like VA, that allow rifles for turkey hunting. Would I use a fan there - no. Will I use it in SD and NE in a few weeks on the prairie, absolutely. I'm not a fan of decoys and don't actually use them, but up there, it works and you have more odds of seeing game than people, so I bought one for the trip.
 
What few statistics available show that the accident rate has not increased since reaping has become popular, so their is no correlation to ban it other than opinions that it will lead to more accidents. Using that same logic, they should ban all elevated hunting options because someone might fall.

That's an apples to oranges comparison for turkeys and deer. The only comparison would be in states like VA, that allow rifles for turkey hunting. Would I use a fan there - no. Will I use it in SD and NE in a few weeks on the prairie, absolutely. I'm not a fan of decoys and don't actually use them, but up there, it works and you have more odds of seeing game than people, so I bought one for the trip.

Meh, they require blaze orange to rifle hunt.
 
I’m thinking of trying to reap a turkey this year. I have several places I can hunt where I often see turkeys on the neighboring property, but it’s hard to call a bird across a wide open field.

Curious to hear your thoughts and experience with turkey reaping. Specifically, have you found it to be effective? If it’s as effective as YouTube would have me believe, is it ethical? Finally, any cheap decoy recommendations? Don’t want to drop $125 if a $40 decoy will have the same effect.
Mojo Scoot-n-Shoot. Period. $80.00
 
Anyone ever had a negative reaction from reaping? Like the turkey tucked tail and ran. I have one lined up for our opener tomorrow that seems primed to reap.
 
Anyone ever had a negative reaction from reaping? Like the turkey tucked tail and ran. I have one lined up for our opener tomorrow that seems primed to reap.

Why would you go all in on the first day? Like anything, it has its place.
 
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