I'd say I forfeit approximately 1 in 5 of my killing opportunities on longbeards simply because another bird (hen, jake, longbeard) is too close to the targeted bird to risk the shot. I'm sure there's a few shooters who really don't care about the collateral damage, but I'm not one of the.
Like anyone, I could have an "accident" any time, but I'm very vigilent to prevent it, and have no problem forfeiting a kill when the risk of killing something other than the targeted bird is only small (needs to be near zero). It's never zero. I remember once a hunter killing a strutting longbeard, only to discover he had killed a nesting hen in the background, which was totally invisible, just sitting on a nest. So my take is, more hunting tends to result in more collateral damage, whether that's flushing hens off nests (making them and their nests more susceptible to predation), or just outright killing a hen on the nest sometimes and never realizing it.
None of the above has not happened to me this year (yet), but I have voluntarly passed on three different longbeards for a variety of other reasons:
1) This year, the only one I've called in the way I like to hunt/kill them, simply turned away and walked right before I was about to shoot. I was trying to get a nice clean head shot, and it simply didn't work out. I eat my birds, and typically forfeit an opportunity or two annually simply because I never get that nice head shot. Can then look forward to "playing the game" again, likely with that same bird, another day. Even if someone else kills him in the meantime, my passing him still likely saves a bird, as someone else likely was hunting until they killed "a" bird.
2) I simply walked up on a longbeard strutting when I came around the corner of some heavy cover. He flew, but still provided an easy "flying" shot, just no clean head shot. That shot wasn't taken for two reasons, one being not wanting lots of pellets in the breast, the other being wanting to come back and "play the game" with him, now knowing one of his mid-day strutting zones.
3) Actually called up what appeared to be a 2-yr-old bird, although some of you might call him a "super jake". He had about a 4" beard, and I'd simply rather give such a bird another opportunity to maybe live another year. Just me, I'd have no problem with someone else shooting him, even hope they shoot him instead of one of those other two true longbeards I let walk (or should I say "fly"). Have also passed on several jakes, which I never have any desire to shoot, but don't have any issue with most hunters shooting them.
Never mind I've actually had what some would consider shooting opportunities, this spring has been one of the worst turkey seasons in my entire life. The birds have just generally not been behaving normally, mainly a lot less gobbling. Maybe this is the new normal. I hope it's just a case of my being "unlucky", which still doesn't upset me much, as have been blessed with many prior years of great luck.
My main concern now is whether TWRA is doing as good a job as they should in managing our wild turkey resource, as I do believe most long established turkey flocks across TN have been more on the decline than the increase, and any increases have mainly been where turkeys expanded their range into areas previously void of wild turkeys. High bag limits and a long turkey season do harm any spring's nesting success.
arty: Anyway when be was done he got off of her and she stood up between he and I and all I could do was watch him walk away.
