A big problem with turkey hunting is that the accidental shootings mostly occur with an experienced turkey hunter pulling the trigger. Whereas in deer hunting the shooter is of less than 3 years experience, the average shooter in a turkey-related incident has 8 or more years under his belt. The cause is that the hunter claims to have actually seen a gobbler in the direction he was firing. It is the hunter's brain playing tricks on him. Here is a story dealing with this sort of thing:
TreeRooster's Tale The short of it is that relying on the other guy to exercise proper gun safety is not the solution. You have to be defensive. In the article are some suggestions.
To update the story: I have had experiences with hunter orange and turkeys since writing it. What I can tell you is that hunter orange is highly visible to turkeys and can cause an extreme reaction. In one case, I had a flock bust at 200 yards from spotting me in a treestand with nothing but my head and shoulders showing. In another, I had a young jake spot me in the stand as he was walking underneath. It upset him so much, he jumped into the air and let out a gobble, and continued doing so as he walked away. This was a mid-October muzzleloader hunt. For all I know, this was the bird's first gobbles. It sounded as such. My point is that orange seems to really set them off.
