It's been rough...but dead strutter

[catman529]

Yesterday and today I was hunting with Fleet Fox in Williamson county chasing some boss birds.

I wasn't lying last week when I said I'm a terrible shot....we stalked a mean old tom with his hens for 3 hours on Tuesday, only for me to pull the trigger and miss him 3 times at 40 yards. I started to blame the gun at that point, which it partially was, but of course was mostly my fault again.

Today I shot paper at 20 and 40 yards. Pattern was a hair high at 40 and a little bit iffy, so I knew I'd let a bird get closer.

We found another bird today with one hen. Posted up behind a big tree hoping they'd come into range, but the tom left his girl and went uphill to an upper section of the field with a tree line in between.

Finally after the hen was out of the way, fleet fox saw where the bird was strutting behind the trees in the upper field.

we snuck up the field and crept up the cut between the tree line. I stopped and could hear him strutting. Just a few more feet through the tree line, I saw the fan. A couple more steps and I had a sapling to brace the gun against. Slowly raised it up and saw him half way out of strut.... I blasted his red head at about 15 yards.

I'm still pissed off about missing so much, but at least this bird made the day better. He's plucked, gutted and will be made into 2 wingbone calls while I will smoke the whole bird in a few days. No I'm not switching to LB or Hevi Shot, then I would just miss at closer ranges.

Bird was 22-9 with 10.5" beard and the long spur was 1 1/8 inch. He must have been a fighter

oh and wow I've never had so much blood come off a turkeys head. We stopped to take a break and I put him down, and saw that the entire back of both legs of my pants were bright red. It had even soaked through to my shorts and legs underneath. Had to stop at a creek and wash everything off, even my socks. I must have put a lot of holes in his head. Used #6 shot


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[muddyboots]

Congrats but switching shells would definitely help you. I personally would not hunt with a set up if it was iffy at 40 yards.

 

[Setterman]

Congrats man, I understand how frustrating missing can be

 

[catman529]

Congrats but switching shells would definitely help you. I personally would not hunt with a set up if it was iffy at 40 yards.

I've killed at 45 and 50 with it and won't attempt it again with those shells, but as bad as I've pulled some shots I don't see it going well if my pattern is basically a blob of shot at 20 yards.


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[catman529]

Congrats man, I understand how frustrating missing can be

thanks Setter I sometimes have to remind myself that even the turkey killing machine himself has missed 5 times in a row.

I've never liked the idea of a scope or red dot on a shotgun, but there's a chance of it happening to me sometime down the road.


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[muddyboots]

Congrats but switching shells would definitely help you. I personally would not hunt with a set up if it was iffy at 40 yards.

I've killed at 45 and 50 with it and won't attempt it again with those shells, but as bad as I've pulled some shots I don't see it going well if my pattern is basically a blob of shot at 20 yards.


Sent from the talk of tap

Man don't believe everything u hear. My wife shoots hevi shot and its bout like a basketball at 20. It won't be super tight unless u have a real tight choke.

 

[catman529]

Congrats but switching shells would definitely help you. I personally would not hunt with a set up if it was iffy at 40 yards.

I've killed at 45 and 50 with it and won't attempt it again with those shells, but as bad as I've pulled some shots I don't see it going well if my pattern is basically a blob of shot at 20 yards.


Sent from the talk of tap

Man don't believe everything u hear. My wife shoots hevi shot and its bout like a basketball at 20. It won't be super tight unless u have a real tight choke.

well I'll have to give the longbeards a try but I won't spend the money on hevi.


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[muddyboots]

I think u will like them and be pleasantly surprised that most of your shooting woes will disappear.

 

[TNTomtaker01]

You speak of not spending the money on the Hevi but with good shells and a good choke the shells are the cheapest part of it. Look at it like this I shoot nitros at 8 bucks a pop, 4 turkeys is 32 bucks that's cheap compared to what I spend on fuel! Guess what I am saying is by putting a little more money on your set up and improving it and fixing your missing problem the shells are the cheapest part of turkey hunting! Congrats on the bird!!

 

[Andy S.]

Congrats Cat, stay after'em.

 

[Acorn]

Nice bird congrats!

 

[Bucky]

Congrats buddy. I have been basically 1 time this year and sat in a down pour the whole time. Pretty neat kinda, had 3 does come to visit at about 20 yards and stayed about 10 minutes.

 

[TN Larry]

Congrats cat! Agree with muddyboots though. Give the LBs a try at least and practice some as well. Good luck and don't get down! Everybody misses one sometimes. I had to follow up on a pull myself this past wknd on a 40 yard shot with LBs. My gun shoots lights out at 40. I just made a bad shot that was on me but luckily got him after a follow up shot or three.....

 

[Bone Collector]

Congrats!

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

Are you aiming at their head or the base of their neck?

 

[Gravey]

Congrats and try the longbeards. As mentioned above even if you pay a little bit more it comes out cheaper in the end. How? Well how many birds have you missed this year? How many additional hunting trips have you made because of it? Add the cost of fuel and snacks alone for those trips and the additional money spent on shells is paid for and then some. Another way to look at it is you're paying $2 per shell now and are hellbent on not paying $5. Well three misses on one bird just cost $6 and you don't have the bird. If that $5 shell shoots much better its a nice brainer.

 

[bobo84]

Congratulations man. I missed one Monday morning and Monday evening. Ive never been so down in the turkey woods before.

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . . . .by putting a little more money on your set up and improving it and fixing your missing problem the shells are the cheapest part of turkey hunting! Congrats on the bird!!

x 2
And it's hard to put a price tag on getting the bird vs. just wasting several shells and coming home empty-handed.

Besides the shells, nothing has helped me more than going to an optical sight, which is quite possibly of more value than whatever shells you're using. It's is much harder to miss with either a red "dot" (nothing to align) or some crosshairs. I tried a variety of fiber optic rifle-style sights, and you still have 3 things to align, vs. only 2 things with an optical sight (your "dot" and the target). Optical sights are a huge advantage.

 

[Fleet Fox]

Catman is fun to hunt with. He is definitely not afraid to do some walking and be stealthy. When the birds won't come to a call, you have to go after them. Sometimes that means belly crawling through bushes, a 100 piles of cow crap and a creek to get that shot off.

 

[Fleet Fox]

. . . . . .by putting a little more money on your set up and improving it and fixing your missing problem the shells are the cheapest part of turkey hunting! Congrats on the bird!!

x 2
And it's hard to put a price tag on getting the bird vs. just wasting several shells and coming home empty-handed.

Besides the shells, nothing has helped me more than going to an optical sight, which is quite possibly of more value than whatever shells you're using. It's is much harder to miss with either a red "dot" (nothing to align) or some crosshairs. I tried a variety of fiber optic rifle-style sights, and you still have 3 things to align, vs. only 2 things with an optical sight (your "dot" and the target). Optical sights are a huge advantage.

But then you're using a shotgun with a scope, and something just doesn't feel natural about that.