Page 58, item number 6, in the Alabama hunting and fishing digest states that it is illegal to shoot or hunt a turkey from an elevated stand. Would it give you an advantage hunting from a stand? Except for it being illegal is there any other reason(s) to not hunt from a stand? The few times that I have been turkey hunting we did a lot of moving/walking around so in most cases I do not think hunting from an elevated stand would even work very well. Just curious as to know why such a regulation was enacted.

I think it’s been that way for 40 years but I’m not sure

I know it’s illegal but I’m not sure why. I tried to kill one from an old hayloft one rainy afternoon when I was a kid. I was sitting back from the window probably 5’ or so thinking he wouldn’t have a clue I was there. That joker picked me out like a sore thumb as soon as I tried to get a bead on him. Years later a girlfriend and I fell through the floor of that hay loft while trying to do a little “deer hunting” one evening 🤣

Many rules, regulations, and laws do not make much sense. Just figured that someone might know the reason or at least have a good guess.

Just a guess, but may have something to do with the fall turkey season and deer season overlapping. Guy is in his deer stand, sees the opportunity to snipe a gobbler (in the counties that have a fall season). IDK. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

^^^^^good as any explanation

Gives you an unfair advantage

Please explain how it would give anyone an unfair advantage? Seems that it would be about the same as using a blinds but would like to know more.
Thanks.

Yeah , turkeys can't smell you good in a tree stand

Of course! I should have known that. Now I understand.......

Scentlok Turkey vest!

It’s to easier to throw the fly down decoy from 15 ft up. From the ground a man has to be a pro pitcher to launch one like it needs to be.

That rule says illegal to kill a turkey 🦃 from an elevated stand with a firearm. The way I read it, it would be legal to hunt turkeys with archery equipment from an elevated stand. Someone correct me if I’m wrong. Robinhedd

It's been a regulation for as long as I can remember, and I'm pretty old. I'd be interested to see if Troy agrees with me, but most of the old regulations came about because someone convinced Charles Kelly that it was bad for turkeys. Or maybe his own experience convinced him. Whichever happened, it was based on bad info IMO. A turkey will spot you in a second if you are in a tree; being in a tree stand is huge disadvantage. A shooting house that functions like a blind can be an advantage, but hardly anyone had a shooting house when this became a regulation and there's no advantage to it being elevated.

It used to be legal to hunt them with a handgun, but someone told him folks were killing them with scoped Contenders so he stopped that. He never allowed hunting them with dogs, never allowed hens to be killed, and stopped rifle hunting around 1970. There are advantages to having a benevolent dictator, and the no elevated stand rule was the only one he had that I thought made no sense.

Nahh..i dont care if its legal…i dont care nutn about shootin one in a treestand

Kelly allowed handgun hunting for just a couple of years. One of his biologists in Montgomery put a scope on a 22Hornet Contender and proceeded to kill 5 big pasture birds. Kelly outlawed handguns right after that.

Kelly ran the department with an iron fist, for better or worse. Mostly better. He had a rule that an employee could not guide fishing or hunting for money that included in an area that he worked. I was in Hale Co and guided a few times for Wayne Fears in Greene Co where I did not work. Kelly said no more guiding , I argued with him about and got an Ethics Complaint threat and called to Montgomery on some other made up crap. Kelly poked me in the chest hard and told me he would make up evidence and fire my asss if I kept guiding. I told him I didn't like those damn turkey hunters anyway and quit guiding. You didn't cross Kelly and keep working for him....and I liked my job.

How did you cross him when following his rule?

shooting a bird from an elevated position is a horrendously bad idea - it’ll kill em, but it’ll also embed all your pellets into their breast, making the meat inedible (unless you like high dental bills), and it wrecks the bird (tears their fan & beard all to hell & back)

I got into an argument with a GW back when handguns were legal. My argument was that if the ATF classified a 10.5" 5.56 AR15 with a pistol brace on it as a "handgun" then by the wording of the regs I could go out and shoot a turkey with one at 100 plus yards. Not that I would actually do that but he definitely said he'd write me a ticket if I did.

he'd of lost in any court....