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how many will admit

ha the first time i ever went by myself i will never forget. I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING and just after sunrise i was standing in the middle of a field with a brush pile and decided to try and locate one with my box call. When i hit the call the bird gobbled less then 75 yds away. Taken back and suprised one was so close i just froze for a sec until i decided to try and get in the brush pile. Well before i could move the bird came running into the field less then 10 yds from me, stopped when he saw me and bolted....as smart as i was at the time i thought i could just sit down in the brush pile and call him back ahahahah..thats an hour of my life i will never get back.

i can count how many times i had a bird coming in gobbling only to get silent and after 45mins or so i decide to stand up and move and he is less then 30yds from me strutting and i never knew he was there.
 
REN said:
ha the first time i ever went by myself i will never forget. I had NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING and just after sunrise i was standing in the middle of a field with a brush pile and decided to try and locate one with my box call. When i hit the call the bird gobbled less then 75 yds away. Taken back and suprised one was so close i just froze for a sec until i decided to try and get in the brush pile. Well before i could move the bird came running into the field less then 10 yds from me, stopped when he saw me and bolted....as smart as i was at the time i thought i could just sit down in the brush pile and call him back ahahahah..thats an hour of my life i will never get back.

i can count how many times i had a bird coming in gobbling only to get silent and after 45mins or so i decide to stand up and move and he is less then 30yds from me strutting and i never knew he was there.
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Lol, I hate when they go silent, 9 times out 10 from my experiences, when they go silent, they are making a loop to come around from behind me and I never see them till they come around front or I hear a twig break and I slowly catch a glimpse of him
 
i had 2 toms come in last year never gobbled never yelped nothing. this was about 12:30 it was hot and i climbed a mountain to get to an open field hoping to get lucky. about 20 mins after i set there i wanted something to drink something fierce so i took my water out and i heard that good ole alarm putt and off they went. they were about 5 yards behind me man alive i felt dumb after that. i killed one of them the next morning about the same spot. i still get made fun of for that one lol
 
You guys are digging up so many bad memories for me :D !

Last year, on Catoosa. Get set up on a bird after a long walk and bulldoze through a several yr old clear-cut regrowth. It wasn't a jungle, but it was close.

When I finally pop out of it, I am less than 100 yds from him, but I dare not try to get closer. The woods were dry, and every step sounded like I was walking on Corn Flakes (and I'm not a little fellow either).

So, I make do right there. I make a few subtle calls and get a response. After a short period, I repeat and so does he. A little later, he grows impatient and gobbles and has closed the distance to 80 yds or so, I estimate. I fight the urge to call to him, and just stay silent. He goes nuts, and has a gobbling fit demanding that the hen show herself.

It is still pretty thick where I am, and there are some downed trees directly between us. But, there is pretty open area at my 10:00, so that is the way I have my gun pointed, as I figure/hope that is the way he will approach. (you see where this is going.)

Soon I hear his foot steps (I am one of the unlucky ones that cannot hear one drumming). He pops into view at 25 yds diligently searching for the hen that has been teasing him, but he is at my 1:00 position. He studies the situation for a few seconds, and then slowly starts walking toward my 12:00.

When he goes behind some of the thick stuff and I can't see his head, I just turned the barrel of the gun ever so slightly. He saw it, put on the brakes, and walked directly away from me. No putting, running, etc. He just knew that something wasn't right.

That was toward the end of the season, and I hope to meet up with him again this year.
 
I've been busted up close many times. The best one though is this story and I think Ive posted it before:

A buddy and I were hunting and actually going to video the hunt. This bird came in right off of the roost. Came to within ten steps. I was staring at him in full strut through the camera lens when my buddy pulled the trigger and the gun didnt go off. the bird took off running. We crack up about it now, but we were dang mad about it at that time. Oh yea, I forgot to hit record on the camera as well. :grin:
 
Missed one 2 ft from the end of my barrel one time! Bird came in silent and I was not able to get my head down on my gun, he walked literally 2 ft from my gun so i shot while my gun was kinda in my lap, with stock on my lower chest and missed him clean! Got him on the follow up @ 30yds!
 
i think a better question is who all have missed on shots they SHOULD have made. i think most everyone that has been turkey hunting for a while have put out some hail marry shots at some point. I have yet to miss one (i know its coming though) in range (10-30yds) and thats over 60 birds but I have missed more then my share on follow up shots and hail marry ambush type shoots when i knew the odds of even hitting it were slim to none...over time and maturity i dont take those kinda shots anymore but i guess most need to go through that phase at some point.
 
I have missed. Missed last year on my first morning at Chuck Swan, then killed a different bird an hour later. Almost more fun like that, but not really.

I rarely miss, but it does happen, and when it does it was my fault every time.
 
No need to lie.... I have missed 4 in 6 years of hunting.

(2) were shooting at a bird that busted me and was getting out of the area.

(2) were a shoot that was too far... due to the terrain, distance was misjudged and the pattern opened up too much.
 
Glad to see some of you all are humble enough to admit that you missed, maybe it will help some other people on here to have some restraint on taking unsure shots
 
Blount County Hunter said:
Glad to see some of you all are humble enough to admit that you missed, maybe it will help some other people on here to have some restraint on taking unsure shots
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Misses are just a part of hunting. Guns & Ammo have come a long way but it's ultimately the hunter that pulls the trigger.
 
not to steer this in another direction but IMO the GUNS AND AMMO COMING ALONG WAY is part of the problem IMO...when i first started hunting a shot over 40yds was just not something people did or even considered.....now it seems people are willing to take 60-70yds shots. i want them close enough for me to see their eyes blinking or the magical sound of one drumming (just nothing in the woods that beats that sound!!!)
 

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