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learning the hard way...

catman529

catman529

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So this morning I set up at the edge of a field, the same field where I killed my jake last weekend. I was near a tree almost twice as tall as the other trees. Thought I heard a gobble, so I set up near the edge of the woods facing parallel to the field in case a bird came from the woods.

Well I thought I heard one fly down but wasn't sure. Ot too much later, I heard a gobble close by...then again.

I looked through the bushes and saw a longeard standing in the field. I started to shuffle towards a better position so I could call and get s hot through the bushes.

Unfortunately I was too eager, and while the bushes may have prevented a clear shot, they didn't sop the bird from seeing me and running off.

Needless to say I could have shot a longbeard and been out of the woods before 7am but instead sat for hours watching hens feeding.
 
I too have been there and done that. At least yr seeing and hearing birds. Hang in there. Patience is everything!
 
Yup I will be back by that tree next time I get the chance to get in the woods. Still bugs me to no end how stupid a mistake it was but I guess that's the kind of thing you just have to learn from experience.
 
Trust me, I have been chasing these rascals for 20 yrs, and I make mistakes every year. And to beat it all sometimes they are the same ones. That is what makes this game so fun.

Hang in there and welcome to this great and frustrating endeavor that will most likely run through your veins the rest of your life.

Btw your learning curve is about 3-4 yrs ahead of
most.
 
catman529 said:
Yup I will be back by that tree next time I get the chance to get in the woods. Still bugs me to no end how stupid a mistake it was but I guess that's the kind of thing you just have to learn from experience.
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Welcome to the world of turkey huntin :D
 
yep them sorta things happens. I've made my share of them too and any turkey hunter out there has. We live and learn in them turkey woods.
 
I'm still learning after 20 years, thats what makes it so much fun. To kill one in your first year on Public land by yourself is a great accomplishment!
 
thanks all, just had to vent... Funny I had crows walk in to about 6 yards without seeing me and they supposedly have even better vision. But that was after I had already decided to sit still as a rock and just watch for birds. The hens never busted me while I sat at that field edge and I even got the gun up and ready in case a gobbler came in after them. Of course that didn't happen but it seems to be a strut zone so I'll be out by that old huge tree again at sunrise and hope there is a longbeard in there again. Funny I accidentally got within 75 yards or so of a roosting bird wihtout spooking him off the limb.
 
go_okfishin said:
I'm still learning after 20 years, thats what makes it so much fun. To kill one in your first year on Public land by yourself is a great accomplishment!
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true
 
I have done the same thing...hunter impatience saves more turkeys than anything else.

Here is one thing I have learned...If you hear a tom gobble close and he seems to be coming closer, if you can get set up to where you CAN'T see him, like over the lip of a ridge, for instance, that is a GOOD thing. The closer they can get without seeing that "hen" that is doing the calling the more likely you are to pop him.

General rule of thumb, if you can see the gobbler, don't make a move, because they can dang sure see you.

As I said, I have made the same mistake, more than once!
 
Goshen valley boy, yeah I could see him through the bushes and that was my mistake.... I didn't follow my own rule of thumb which is if you can't see them, they can see you (because I often bump them before seeing them). I had to change position because there were too many bushes in the way to allow for a clear shot. He was about 60 or 70 yards to my right in the field and I saw his head go up when I started to move.
 

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