Sumter outdoors columnist Dan Geddings: Unwritten rules

Mister Jim emailed me a copy of the general rules, a copy of the by-laws and a copy of the rules of the hunt. There were dozens of pages. I read over the documents very carefully. There were only a few rules relating to turkey hunting. I wasn't surprised. Most hunt clubs focus on deer hunting.

My brother Matt and I had toured the property a few days earlier with Mister Jim. We saw big hardwood swamps and tall, piney woods throughout the 3,000 acres. There were only a couple of small cutovers and a few small pine thickets. We both considered the land to be excellent wild turkey habitat. We also saw turkey tracks in the sandy roads but made no comment about the tracks.

After our tour, I told Mister Jim that we would like to join the club. We asked a few casual questions about the deer hunting, then asked if there were any turkey hunters. He thought there were a few. Our primary interest was turkey hunting, but he didn't need to know that.

A few days later, after reviewing the rules, I called Mister Jim and asked if he could put me in touch with one of the turkey hunters. I needed to know if there were any unwritten rules that we needed to know about turkey hunting on the club. His answer was, "There are no unwritten rules." I knew he just didn't know any better.

He gave me the name and number of a board member who was a turkey hunter. I called Billy Mac, and he told me that there were a few rules that were not included in the club's documents and that he would be at the club the coming Saturday morning and would be glad to answer my questions.

Most hunt club rules are written by deer hunters, and they don't know much about turkey hunting. Turkey hunters don't want rules imposed by deer hunters, so they are OK with just a few basic rules. Turkey hunters tend to govern themselves by the unwritten rules they make by mutual agreement among themselves.

Individual turkey hunters may also have their own set of unwritten rules. However, they must also honor a club's own written and unwritten turkey hunting rules. I will list some of the unwritten rules that I use and have encountered.

1. Do not discuss turkeys or turkey hunting in the company of hunters that you do not know.

2. Do not volunteer any turkey information to another turkey hunter, unless it is misleading.

3. Do not lie about turkey info, unless it is a small white lie or only slightly bending the truth.

4. Keep any scouting information to yourself. If you must share, be vague.

5. Do not give specific information about the section of land that you hunt.

6. If you find that you must talk about your successful hunts, don't give too many details.

7. You can talk to other turkey hunters about hunts at other locations or well in the past.

8. Do not shoot a jake, but if you do, make a good excuse.

9. Take any young person turkey hunting any time you can. The jake rule does not apply.

10. Always give the shot to the person you are hunting with, young or old, experienced or not.

These rules are of course nonbinding and unenforceable, but they are the rules. You may ask about the reason for secrecy and the unwillingness to share. Turkey hunters know the reason. They have spent years of hard hunting to learn things by their mistakes. Sharing knowledge with too many other hunters would give them too much advantage that they did not earn, and even worse, they may be competition on the land that you hunt.

Young hunters and first-time hunters are the exception. They can be mentored and guided until they can go on their own. Share your knowledge with them if they want to know. Turkey season will be here soon.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.