I wonder how many turkey hunters that use boats know that it is illegal to have a loaded gun in the boat when the motor is running or to use the motor to move the boat in an attempt to cut off a gobbler that didn't respond to calling?

I'll bet the number is far less than the number of spring turkey hunters who hear a gobbler "gobble" then start to walk-stalk-move towards that sound .. which... is also technically illegal to do...

Page 35 in the digest plainly states ==

Only turkeys with visible beards are legal. Hunting by calling only--- no stalking ---

as for the code book .. right now I am having trouble finding where I left it but I'll keep looking...

well let me pretend I am you... and ask you this question...

If I am standing in the woods at day-light with my loaded shotgun and I hear a turkey gobble and head that way ... what do you call it if it is not stalking after that turkey and it's call ????????

If I hear a deer snort and head towards it with my rifle is that not stalking ???

just what do you call stalking .. especially if you hear a sound that you knew came from a game animal you were after (hunting) and went towards it ???

are you not trying to "sneak" closer to your "target" .. in my book that is stalking...

are you saying I am wrong and it is not in the code book..?

or

just to lazy to look it up yourself ???

as for the definition of stalking.. I'm sure you can find that yourself too....

I did not claim stalking spring turkeys was illegal..

I STATED IT PLAIN AND SIMPLE .... stalking turkeys in the spring is illegal.........FACT

If I am wrong == you (being such an expert on the PGC) surely can point me to where it shows me it is perfectly LEGAL to stalk turkey .....

ORIGINAL: Dr. Trout

I did not claim stalking spring turkeys was illegal..

I STATED IT PLAIN AND SIMPLE .... stalking turkeys in the spring is illegal.........FACT

If I am wrong == you (being such an expert on the PGC) surely can point me to where it shows me it is perfectly LEGAL to stalk turkey .....

When you stated it "plain and simple" you were flat out wrong,so it was nothing more than a "claim" based on your personal opinion.

There is no definition of"stalking " in the code nor is there any reference to stalking spring turkey in the code. However, the code does reference the requirements for displaying FO while moving or relocating.

This is another one of the PGC laws that dIfferent folks are going to interpret in different ways.. how a PGC WCO interprets the lAW IS WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO ME.. I COULD CARES LESS WHAT SOMEONE ELSE THINGS IS OR IS NOT STALKING... THIS FROM A SPRING PRESS RELEASE.. I'LL HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANT PART... imho

Opportunity abounds in Pennsylvania spring turkey season


From the Pennsylvania Game Commission

-- Pennsylvania turkey hunters should expect to find good opportunities afield for both the youth and regular spring season openers.

The state’s one-day youth spring gobbler season is April 23 from one-half hour before sunrise until noon. The general spring season is April 30 to May 31.

Legal hunting hours from April 30 through May 14 are one-half hour before sunrise until noon, and the remainder of the season May 16 to 31 expands to run all day, one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.


“Although all-day hunting will increase disturbance of nesting hens, the impact will be minimal because all day hours only covers the last two weeks of the season,” said Mary Jo Casalena, wild turkey biologist.

The Commission will monitor the afternoon harvest in relation to population trends and age class of gobblers to gauge the impact of all-day hunting, Casalena said.


In 2010 preliminary harvests show hunters took 44,788 bearded wild turkeys in the spring gobbler seasons—43,201 first harvests and 1,587 second harvests via the special spring gobbler license—from an estimated statewide spring population of about 360,000.


“The status of wild turkeys has improved dramatically over the past 40 years. Nationwide, the 2009 estimated population of Eastern wild turkeys was almost 5 million, and is the most abundant of the five subspecies of wild turkeys,” Casalena noted. Populations of other subspecies are Rio Grande, 1.1 million; Merriam’s, 336,000; Gould’s, 1,100. There is no population estimate available for Florida or Osceola turkeys.

Casalena expects an above-average harvest because of the abundance of three-year-old gobblers in the population, a result of excellent 2008 spring reproduction.


Hunters are reminded that it is illegal to stalk turkeys or turkey sounds in the spring gobbler season.


“Safety must be the foremost consideration of every turkey hunter,” said Keith Snyder, hunter-trapper education division chief. “If every hunter followed the state’s hunting regulations and positively identified his or her target as legal game before squeezing the trigger, we could nearly eliminate hunting-related shooting incidents during the spring gobbler season.”


While not required by law, hunters are encouraged to wear fluorescent orange when moving through the woods. Officials also recommend hunters wrap an orange alert band around a nearby tree when stationary, especially when calling and/or using decoys.

Here is part of an article on the why for no stalking turkeys or turkey sounds..

“If you’re trying to locate a gobbler, it’s best to head out at first light to listen for calls,” Casalena advised. “Now is a great time! On a still morning, a gobbler’s call often can be detected up to a half-mile away or more.”


Hunters are reminded that it is illegal to stalk turkeys or turkey sounds in the spring gobbler season. Given the wild turkey’s keen senses, it’s not a wise move anyway, but more importantly, it makes a tremendous difference for the personal safety of everyone afield. Over the years, too many hunters have been shot for game while approaching a hunter calling for turkeys, and callers have been shot in mistake for game by stalking hunters.


In 2008, eight hunters were shot – none fatally – during the spring gobbler season. One was a self-inflicted injury; another was an in-the-line-of-fire incident. In the remaining six incidents, the offender failed to properly identify his target and shot the victim in mistake for game.

I have never heard of a hunter being cited for walking toward a gobbling bird or as one may say stalking.So exactly how close do you have to be (walking towards) a bird Dr Trout to be stalking it? If it's a law there must be a distance. I drive, or walk and call for a response from a Tom. Sometimes it way off on the next ridge. I walk or drive to within a reasonable distance and then call again. Is this stalking or pursing game Dr Trout?? When is this illegal ?

    Shot lotsa Toms like most of you. Bout the only moving I do is to parallel them as though I was a hen moving around if they seem real hung up out there.. Sometimes that brings them right in.
I think some are 'fine lining' the difference between getting close enough for a setup and calling situation and walking right up to the bird itself.
We all know that trying to sneak  right up to a bird is silly cause they will see ya and -gonzo, that aside from any safety issue., and that gettting close to call and work the bird  is part of the deal.
  Its that 'new guy' or 'overexcited guy' who may try and sneak in for a shot and he's exactly the one to be scared of.
I'm sure most all of us have 'tripped over' a Tom now and again in the woods but thats by accident not intent.
   BELIEVE ME when your setup and calling and hear a noise over your shoulder and slowly turn and see some goon looking right at you 30 yards away with his gun half raised you WILL KNOW the difference.

Every place is a bit different- round here your not even supposed to call for another hunter. See a lot of shows where one guy is 'out in front' while somebody gets back a few yards and calls. NO GO here.
  Would have to think all those laws (similar everywhere) are for things that 'assist' the hunt and just sitting over decoys or in a 'likely' spot is considered OK cause there is no   device being used.

way to go bings.. I knew someone would know the difference..

If we here one try and move closer for a good setup on him. Notice I said setup and not a shot at him...

Hey bing   
    ya hear bout guys every year that just seem to loose all composure when faced with GAME no matter how much prep they put into a hunt or how much education they get.
    Read bout them shooting other guys they truly believed were a game animal and other dopy stuff- kinda like your hen decoy getting blasted during Tom season- good thing you were sitting still.
  That setup thing is exactly what I meant in my last post too. Its a proper part of the hunt.
   Its NOT uncommon for two guys unaware of each other to be 'working' the same Tom. Hen clucks are a normal thing in the woods and one can understand somebody either not hearing it or thinking that its the real deal.
Real hunters dont sneak up on the hen though.

OA-
   They did that with one specific type of hunting here. A particular hunting Organization 'pushed' it through the Legislature and everyone had to take the course for that type of hunting-experience mattered NOT.
       Guess who gets the P/R funds to teach the course. Wouldnt give that wonderful organization a thing, talk bout self interest. This kind of thing has turned into a money machine.
       Oughta make the point that both of the guys who 'stalked' me were young hunters who would have gone through the course in their recent past.   
      They just cant teach or legislate 'common sense'. Some people just simply dont belong in the woods.
      BTW- Hey- what was he result with that young guy who had just shot his second Hunter. It was all over a post here some time ago. Perhaps hasnt been resolved in court  yet.

retired guy
====


I checked my board to see if the last newspaper article I saw and posted back in January was still available ..
but it is not..

you may be able to search for something.. the guy that was killed was = Barry Groh

and I think the shooter was something Manilla ?????? not sure on that though...

Defining stocking is one for the court after the WCO has filed the charges but you are correct that it is hard to prove.
 
Many years ago when my youngest son was just getting started I had him out for spring gobblers one Saturday morning. We had hiked into an area where we knew there was a bird. The question each morning was just which of two ridges he would be roosted on. We stood in the valley between the two ridges waiting for gobbling time and as soon as he gobbled we moved toward him and set up just back from the edge of the ridge. He was already on the ground by the time we got set up.
 
I never carried a gun while my boys were hunting so I sat down and Matt sat down in front of me and leaned back against my chest where I could look over his head. I called and the gobbler started answering while working his way around the bench below us. He had come around the point and we were expecting him to pop up onto the bench any minute when we started hearing someone crow calling a few hundred yards farther out the ridge from us. I quit calling hoping the gobbler would shut up but he answered every time they crow called. I told Matt to just keep his eyes open because there was another hunter trying to figure out how to set up on the gobbler we were working.
 
The crow calling continued to get closer and the gobbler answered it every time. Then pretty soon the crow calling stopped and I could here hen yelping a  couple hundred yards or so out the ridge. The gobbler was now answering the yelping. Then Matt says, “Dad there is a hunter off to our front and coming toward us.” I had been watching toward the calling and hadn’t yet seen the guy coming toward us and the point of the ridge, and where the gobbler was just over the edge. I watched as he stalked with his head net down and gun at the ready. Take a step and stop and watch, slowly take another step and stop and watch. The guy doing the calling was about a hundred yards further away from the gobbler but I soon could see him also as he slowly came stalking with head net down and gun at port arms obviously trying to call the gobbler to him so his companion could ambush it while stalking toward it.
 
I watched them for several minutes as they stalked toward the gobbler then just before the closest one would have been within shotgun range I jumped up, threw my orange hat on and charged the closest guy. Once I had his license in hand I took off for the other hunter. It was a thirty something year old son trying to stalk and call the bird up over the edge where his fifty something year old father could kill it while using a stalk and ambush method of hunting.
 
I considered that to be stalking in the truest sense of the word and had they not pled guilty we would have found out if the court agreed with me on it being stalking. Though there perhaps isn’t a clear definition of stalking in the law it isn’t too hard to recognize it when you see it. It then becomes a matter of the WCO filing the charges and being able to articulate the facts that led to the charges before the court if they subject takes a hearing.
 R.S. Bodenhorn