I have 70 acres in Chatham County where I hunt and target shoot. If I go out to the land now, and target shoot, will that affect the turkeys? Or should I avoid shooting on the land until after turkey season?
I'm sure the deer and turkeys are not standing on the gun range.I live and hunt about a mile from the Cold Mountain Gun Range. Turkey or deer do not pay any attention to it.
I'm sure the deer and turkeys are not standing on the gun range.
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I stand corrected, but if I only had 75 acres to hunt turkeys on I would not do anything to convince them to leave. Prolonged pressure of any kind will push turkeys out of an area.Well, actually you would be wrong. I myself have seen 2 deer on the range while shooting was going on. One was a 4-point that walked across the burn and the other was a doe standing about 25 yards away staring at us. And yes, there was shooting going on at the time. Then there was the incident of a guy killing a deer out-of-season on the range as it walked across the shooting lanes. He tried to claim it was an accident but they didn't buy that and he was charged. I have killed both deer and turkey with the shooting range booming in the background.
I stand corrected, but if I only had 75 acres to hunt turkeys on I would not do anything to convince them to leave. Prolonged pressure of any kind will push turkeys out of an area.
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I agree. I hunted in the Ocala national forest in Florida. One particular unit had miles and miles of off road vehicle trails. There was no way to get further than a quarter mile from any trail. The wildlife heard atv's utv's and dirt bikes all day every day. They paid them no mind unless one stopped. Other places I've hunted as soon as atv's started running the turkeys shut down.I agree with that. If I only had a small place to hunt I would feel the same way. The shooting range has been here several years now and someone is usually shooting up there every day it's open. I guess the wildlife is like me and you just get accustomed to it and don't pay it any attention anymore.
I agree with this. Turkeys don't know those loud noises are gun shots. They do react negatively to human presence.And probably you walking around, setting up and taking down targets, etc ... will have more of an impact than the shooting itself.
And probably you walking around, setting up and taking down targets, etc ... will have more of an impact than the shooting itself.
The smart-aleck remark to "Does shooting affect turkeys?" is "Depends on whether you hit them".
I have 70 acres in Chatham County where I hunt and target shoot. If I go out to the land now, and target shoot, will that affect the turkeys? Or should I avoid shooting on the land until after turkey season?