the haunting

[FARMTOFIELD]

We all know we have that one gobbler that has haunted us all our lives lets hear about it.

mine was about 5 years ago i had roosted two one evening
and arrived the next morning and set up on the first that i thought would be more predictable. well long story short the other gobbler was the hot one. well at about 8 in the am i got in position on the second gobbler that i could see about 300 yards away in an open field it was as close as i could possibly get. i gave him a few yelps and he broke strut and came runnin about 10 yds to where he blew up again. this continued til i had the gobbler at about 80 yards wher he turned and went up a hill. i thought ambush time so i snuck up the road to the hill in a diff field where he was at. he had gobbled just a few seconds earlier so i thought i had him pinpointed to whre i could step out and shoot without a hitch. and low and behold i walk out gun drawn to the right and the sob was standing about 10 yards to my left and the rest is history

 

[easy45]

I had 3 birds that use to roost on the other side of a swamp, I went in after them several times and got within 40 yards once but it was so thick I just couldn't shoot, never did manage to get one

 

[REN]

geez you HAD to post this, i had just gotten to the point that i let it go!

Have had only one that fits the bill so far that I had multiple encounters but never closed the deal on.

Had one last year that I set up on at least 7 different days and ended up missing him 2x!!!!!

First one I watched him run off another LB out in a field but i was stuck on a fence row to where i could not see down the field to the left (the direction they ran) but the hens where still out in front of me so i just thought he would go back that direction. I ended up just getting caught up in the moment so to speak and forgot to get my gun in a shooting postion and wouldnt you know it 2 mins after i let out a jake gobble he appeared 6 YARD FROM ME but didnt see him till it was too late. Tried to pull up and shoot but just wasnt meant to be.

2 days later I had him where i wanted him and could see him coming in full strutt 80 yds out. I got low behind a tree and aimed in the direction he was coming. He goes down in a small gully 50yds out and instead of coming up right in front of me he went 30yds down the gully and came out. I was now WAY out of position and still tried to swing and shoot with no luck.

I hunted that bird the next 1.5 weeks and had him at 60-80 yds multiple times but he would either be behind me or on the wrong side or would hang up. It was so frustrating it almost consumed me. He was my last tag and ended up using that tag on a differnt bird on a buddys farm so i never did end up killing him.

 

[Hunt 365]

Mine started three years ago. Had a mountain bird that would roost over a ravine. Like clockwork, he would gobble like crazy on the roost. If you would get on one side of the ravine,and tree yelp a little, he would answer, then fly down on the OTHER side of the impassable ravine, strut in full sight, like he expected the hen to fly across to him. I got the terminal disease of chasing one bird. Finally, the fourth or fifth time I had hunted him, I learned to locate call him, then pattern him across the end of a long point he would work. The only way to cut him off was to hunt him from below the point, which I hate doing. Finally, one day, I called him to the edge of the point which was above me, and he gobbled there for 30 minutes, and wouldn't show his head. Why I called, scratched in the leaves, made any noise he would fire off. Then he went silent a minute and I saw a red and white head pop over the point. BOOM. Turkey flopping, then a huge rope-daddy flies over my head into the next county. Go up, and I had shot his silent jake running buddy. Will NEVER key in on one bird again

 

[bvoss]

I have been fortunate to kill many-a-season-wrecker. But I had the year from hell about 7 years ago and one bird in particular did not help matters at all.My grandmother called me and said that she had been hearing a bird gobble behind her house every morning for the last few days, and with only a few weeks or so left in the season I was excited to hear this. I showed up the very next morning.

Day 1: He had a couple of hens roosted with him. He hammered and I got up on the ridge with him. He gobbled good on the limb, but flew off into the bottom fields away from me. I made a big loop and got down in the bottoms as well. Long story short he ended up comming by me and I thought he was about 50 yards out so I let him pass ( i had already missed 2 birds), but he was 38 steps when I stepped it off later! Needless to say I was ticked.

Day 2: I set up in the bottoms. He gobbled, flew down on the ridge, and flew accross the creew into the field just like the day before. He was at about 60 yards and coming in good when all of a sudden the thickest fog you have ever seen fell. I could hear him drumming, but I could not see past 30 yards or so. I know he was in range, but he got by me that morning.

Day 3: I set up again and he did just like day 2 when he flew down, but he b-lined to the middle of the field and stayed there till he left.

Day 4: By now I new the exact place he was crossing the creek so I set up about 30 yards from it. That morning he did exactly what he always did, but when he stepped out in the field I was ready...except when I pulled the trigger...I missed again.

I had not missed on about 15 birds up to that point, but that year I missed 4 times total and did not even kill one bird. Still not sure why it was so bad, but I went right back to killing the limit again the very next year. Only missed a few times since then. Still not sure what happened, but I am glad that year is behind me.

 

[Lawrence]

Every time I think about Turkey hunting I remember the big Tom in a Missouri River bottom that got lucky.
I watched him go to roost and sat up about 1 hour before fly down the next morning. He was on top of a big hill over looking a huge green field. Well, I sat up facing him up hill and could see him on the limb. He pitched down and flew directly over my head and landed behind me in the field with 4 hens. Lesson learned LOL