Reaping/Fanning For New Hunters- Both Young + Older/ What Do You Think?

[blackbeltbill]

 

[blackbeltbill]

This is quite the talk right now on- oldgobbler in the General Forum and the Thread is called- Closet Reapers.

  With the weekend coming up,It might be of some interest here as well. All 322 of us.

  Let's get a bunch of feedback here.

  Right now,I have 1 hour of mowing  before the killer Humidity sets in. Be back.

[Buckmaster7600]

I have no problem with reaping, but it does come with a little risk.
 

It’s amazing how stupid a turkey really is! A bird with as good of eyesight as they have run into a fan on a stick. 

[blackbeltbill]

17 minutes ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

I have no problem with reaping, but it does come with a little risk.
 

It’s amazing how stupid a turkey really is! A bird with as good of eyesight as they have run into a fan on a stick. 

Thanks for the feedback.   

Risk indeed!  With the Gobbler Decoys and Reaping/Fanning,I agree with Ken Morgan- Author of- Turkey Hunting/ A One Man Game+ before his Death- America,Wild Turkeys,+ Mongrel Dogs.

 He felt the sight of particularly the Gobbler Decoys and Fanning /Reaping leaves the Gobbler powerless. The Tom will approach and cast Safety to the wind.

   A similar  scenario is when a Fight breaks out anywhere. All Men nearby are going to intently watch the whole thing. And most will get closer to watch. Most Women- the same thing. 

 Personally, I don't think Fanning/Reaping is Safe on Public. Private- it is on the person to decide.

[Farflung]

too many idiots and trespassers even on private lands

[WNY Bowhunter]

1 hour ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

I have no problem with reaping, but it does come with a little risk.
 

It’s amazing how stupid a turkey really is! A bird with as good of eyesight as they have run into a fan on a stick. 

I agree. I've killed plenty of turkeys using a variety of methods...calling, stalking, sitting still and hunting them like deer and others by just being at the right place at the right time. In my opinion, a "turkey killer" is going to kill birds using every legal method in his repertoire. Personally, I would love to kill one using the "reaping" method. Shooting a gobbler at point blank range as he intends to beat the crap out of you seems like a super intense/exciting hunt to me. There have been numerous instances over the yrs where I could have tried it as a last ditch effort to close the distance on a hung up field bird. Unfortunately, I never carry a fan with me and hardly ever use a strutter type deke anymore. 

[Buckmaster7600]

1 hour ago, WNY Bowhunter said:

I agree. I've killed plenty of turkeys using a variety of methods...calling, stalking, sitting still and hunting them like deer and others by just being at the right place at the right time. In my opinion, a "turkey killer" is going to kill birds using every legal method in his repertoire. Personally, I would love to kill one using the "reaping" method. Shooting a gobbler at point blank range as he intends to beat the crap out of you seems like a super intense/exciting hunt to me. There have been numerous instances over the yrs where I could have tried it as a last ditch effort to close the distance on a hung up field bird. Unfortunately, I never carry a fan with me and hardly ever use a strutter type deke anymore. 

I’ve killed turkeys every way imaginable and reaping is fun, it takes the right bird or group of birds on the right day for it to work but when it does it’s a blast. It’s crazy how dumb they can be, I’ve had toms attacking the fan I was holding while I was standing up after shooting one, I’ve  crawled out behind a decoy stuck the decoy in the ground and shot them with my long bow. I highly recommend giving it a try.
 

 

[mowin]

3 hours ago, Farflung said:

too many idiots and trespassers even on private lands

Not all.   My area is surrounded by large tracks of land that others hunt. We all know each other and will not encroach on their territory.  Also, one side is bordered by the Berkshire spur. The other the kinderhook creek.  Haven't had trespassing issues in over 20yrs. 

As far as reaping, I've tried it many times. It's not as effective as the videos suggests.  It doesn't work every time, in fact, I'd say less than 20% of the time. I've had more success with groups of Jake's then with toms.