Turkey hunting is one of the most intense field events a hunter can 
participate in. If done ethically, he and a wild creature establish communication and each tries to out-beguile the other. Both have strong personal motivations. One ultimately strives to slake strong hormonal urges to insure the continuation of its species. The other is driven by primitive genetics connected with predatorial ancestors. The roots of both fade into the beginning of time.
In ancient times, people guarded hunting grounds jealously. North America’s Tribal conflicts, European Royal gaming-grounds and the modern world’s protected coastal waters were and are controlled to protect food sources for human predation.
Today, land owners control access to private lands while state and Federal public lands are open to all. The crush of too many people vying for too little space demands diplomacy and awareness from all sharing space in the outdoors.
In historical times, if you got shot, you knew the punishment was intentional. Inhabitants of that time weighed trespass against certain needs. The risks to one’s scalp were well known when venturing beyond certain borders.
Today, those risks may be just as significant for ill-informed turkey hunters that have little or no knowledge or perception of the danger into which they insert themselves. Some choosing to ignore these priorities in years past are no longer with us. Their names fill a list under the official statistical data listed as: “Victims Mistaken For Game.”
While modern deer hunters drastically reduced hunter accidents by
wearing “hunter orange,” turkey hunters resist adapting that color to their camo ensembles because of that creature’s sharper eyes. In fact, major mercantile industries now manufacture camouflage clothing primarily for turkey and archery hunters.
While archery hunting equipment has certain built-in hunter safe-guards, turkey hunting is primarily done with firearms. These hunters, striving to blend and disappear into their surroundings, duplicate calls and conversation of a wild creature that is pursued by ever-growing numbers of participants in the field.
Sometimes, all that subterfuge attracts another hunter seeking the same quarry that each imitates. Awareness of possible danger must constantly live in the minds of both if each hunter is to avoid tragedy.
That there are more and more people afield today, inserts a question of landowner ethics in modern turkey hunts. Missouri has a trespass law not limited by a lack of established fences. If you trespass without permission on private land, you are subject to prosecution in a Missouri courtroom. When confronted by unfenced land, the burden is on the hunter to know his position within legal permissive property lines. The law guarantees landowner privacy under all circumstances – fenced or not.
While wildlife in the State of Missouri belongs to the public-at-large, taxpaying landowners control access to their ground. A major part of any hunt involves building landowner relations that permits hunters access to practice their sport. Any other attitude may label them criminals and sentenced accordingly.
Sneaking up on wild turkeys (for any reason - including trespass), is a dangerous practice. This technique has racked up more “Victim Mistaken For Game” accidents than any other.
The safest method for filling turkey tags is to approach within a hundred yards of a gobbling tom. Then set up to call him within thirty yards for the shot. Any other procedure (with the numbers of hunters in the woods today) risks that somebody else (a grieving wife maybe?)may collect your insurance policy.
If using a decoy, display it a minimum of 20-yards distant from the hunter’s chosen position. The head or tail of the decoy should face directly away or head on to the hunter.
This reduces the sectional overall view of the decoy on a direct line of fire towards the hunter. Placed properly, the decoy’s broadside displays prominently in directions not compromising a positioned hunter with an incoming hunter’s line of fire.
Hunter orange does not disturb turkeys unless it is in motion. While hunters cannot remain motionless when wearing it, certain compromises readily accommodate the use of it.
The MDC recommends to always wear hunter orange when moving through the woods during turkey season. A hunter orange stocking cap and vest easily stuffs in pockets when taking a stand. Products on the market today include reversible caps and vests that have hunter orange on one side and camouflage on the other.
A band of hunter orange also should encircle the tree above the hunter’s head when setting up to call to a gobbler.
Improper distribution of camouflage on hunters under certain circumstances is more dangerous than if wearing regular clothing. A camouflage shirt and blue jeans may give the appearance of a turkey to an excited and eager to shoot intruding hunter when viewed from certain angles in brush. The situation becomes even more dangerous if you have a red bandanna peeking out of a back jeans’ pocket.
Red, white and blue colors paint a mating gobbler’s head. Viewing any of these tints through brush with eyes washed with “hunter’s adrenalin” invites a “Victim Mistaken for Game” accident.
Defensive turkey hunters eliminate shiny cheeks (camo face mask), shiny gunstocks (camo slip-on gun cover), white tee shirts (camo), colored socks (green or camo), colored handkerchiefs/bandannas (camo) and even insures hiding boots (camo) and boot soles from exposure.
All the above are documented to have caused, on random occasions, “Victim Mistaken for Game” accidents. Barring the use of hunter orange over clothing, hands, face and feet must be covered with camouflage to render the situation as safe as possible.
After downing a bird, wrap it in a hunter orange vest to transport it from the woods. There are also hunter orange mesh bags to accomplish this chore.
If another hunter slips in on your setup, DO NOT WAVE OR WHISTLE TO STOP HIM. DO shout, yell or scream to alert him to a human presence. The objective is to startle him/her from focusing on a supposed wild turkey to recognizing immediately that they potentially stalk one of their own.
Defensive turkey hunting insures that one will avoid the risk of tragedy and continue to enjoy future longbeard hunts.