|
Post by Purebred Redneck on Apr 21, 2011 12:46:11 GMT -5
I thought I was going to kill one for sure - this thing was huge The day started off good with a gobble close to me. I got within about 60-70 yards but unfortunatly he flew down into the field. A couple hours pass with him standing about 75 yards away mocking me. Finally he decides to go back into the woods to check me out. He got right at 40-45 yards but he couldn't see my decoys. I saw his body but most of his head and neck was covered in brush and it was too far away to try that risky shot (I pulled that off last year but it was 1/2 that distance). He only needed to take 2 more steps and he would have been mine. Then he'd turn around and struted a bit more and came back to that same spot where I just needed a couple more steps. He monkeyed around about 5 minutes like that when he caught on that something was not right. As he was trotting away, he stopped and gave me a good clear shot at 55-60 yards. I shot and he collapsed to my suprise b/c I knew it was too far. I jumped up to run after him and in the perfect storm a tree limb got underneath my vest. Imagine tying one end of a rope to a tree, the other end to your waist, and you run So as I'm laying on the ground trying to figure out how to get out of this vest so I can go pick up my gun to shoot this bird again, I look and he's managed to get up in the air and halfway fly out of my sight. I walked around there a bit but never could kick him up.
|
|
|
Post by jimh on Apr 21, 2011 12:51:37 GMT -5
oh for Christ sake! you're the same guy that unloads 2 or 3 shoots with a pump faster than a semi auto when shooting rabbits and you didn't take a second shot before getting up?
if you hit him that well to knock him down i will bet the farm he's dead, unfortunatly they don't leave a blood trail to follow. i found one of mine i had hit like that well over 400 yrds from where i had hit him. i found him by pure dumb luck. i'm headed out tonight with my son to try my luck tomorrow and sat morning. wish us luck!
|
|
|
Post by Purebred Redneck on Apr 21, 2011 19:04:18 GMT -5
The way I learned to shoot turkeys is you shoot, pump, and get up all in 1 motion (unless you miss him entirely). I cringe when watching turkey hunts on tv where they shoot, remain seated, and congratulate eachother. When they're high5'ing, I'm turning his neck into a bag of gravel ;D The way he fell, I think there was some greenery that would have blocked another shot anyway. I'd agree that if he fell he's dead or going to be within a few days. I hit him with 6's. I don't know how 4's or 5's would have played out. Maybe it would have hit him harder but my turkey choke is not these super duper baseball size groups at 75 yards blah blah blah... I'd prefer to have 6's. I've killed 3 or 4 before that were at or slightly over 50 yards. This was probably my longest attempt. Just something I had to do on the last day of that hunt with me having to be at work in a few hours.
|
|
|
Post by Purebred Redneck on Apr 21, 2011 19:04:51 GMT -5
Good luck Bring you rain gear
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Apr 21, 2011 22:30:37 GMT -5
I swear, turkeys have 150 different ways to mess with you. . . For a bird that has a very small brain, they are tough to hunt!
|
|
bounce
Royal Member
Posts: 5,727
|
Post by bounce on Apr 22, 2011 2:32:23 GMT -5
Yeah, they always look so easy driveing down the road, but get out & step over the fence and find your all alone, with nuttun to answer your call. Maybe one could try texing?
|
|
|
Post by Jack on Apr 22, 2011 10:52:51 GMT -5
;D ;D Hey, it might work!
|
|
|
Post by jimh on Apr 24, 2011 8:08:26 GMT -5
Good luck Bring you rain gear you were spot on with that one!!! we did get some action fri near noon but i couldn't grt thr bird to come into range. however the event did make the boy's day. we had a great time and i'll go into more detail later right now i have 25 or better folks headed here for brunch in less than 2 hrs so i needs to get my apron on as i am doing omlets to order! ;D
|
|
|
Post by dovehunter on Apr 24, 2011 9:48:00 GMT -5
Red:
At least you got a shot. I went opening day (9th) and again yesterday (23rd) and didn't hear or see anything. I didn't even hear any shots off in the distance. Unfortunately it was raining both days and, at least around here, you can forget it if it's raining. The birds will come out into the open fields during the rain, but won't answer a call - even my Ol' Betsy that you gave me. Oh well, there's always next week and it looks like there shouldn't be any rain.
|
|
|
Post by Purebred Redneck on Apr 24, 2011 11:36:33 GMT -5
I just like the way the birds come in. I don't really even have to shoot. That bird sure liked the Lynch Fool Proof as he gobbled every time I called. He at first ignored the Ol Betsy and my HS glass call. So I just stuck with the Lynch until I heard him up in the woods with me. At the last minute, I set the box call down and got out Ol Betsy. The last thing I wanted to do was have the box call slide off my lap and make a wierd loud squeek ;D Once up in the woods, he really liked that slate call. Too bad I couldn't get him. I would have done a full body mount on that bird since it was the longest beard I have ever seen. It's not too often you see a beard dragging the ground
|
|
|
Post by twomoons on Apr 30, 2011 14:58:52 GMT -5
aWait till you have the right shot shoot ONCE and go pick up a dead bird. Shooting a flinter with an open choke will teach you to WAIT!
|
|
|
Post by Purebred Redneck on May 2, 2011 22:14:45 GMT -5
Well I'm off to go camping for a few days. Maybe I'll get lucky and hit a turkey with the truck. ;D I got one of those "turkey loungers" that sit real low. I can't take another couple of hours sitting on the ground. I can barely walk as it is right now with my bad back which has wrapped around into the groin area. Feels like a hernia but it's probably just a strain. I had this about 10 years ago, took forever to get feeling right again. Oh well, nothing a few beers and a fist full of muscle relaxers can't take care of
|
|
|
Post by deputydon on May 3, 2011 7:40:33 GMT -5
This should read good when you get back !!
|
|
|
Post by Purebred Redneck on May 5, 2011 20:10:24 GMT -5
This should read good when you get back !! No, not really...sorry ;D I made the 3 hour drive up North to where dad and I killed that deer last year during muzzleloader season. So this was only the 3rd time I had been on the property and was more or less just exploring. Wed morning they were gobbling pretty good but for only about an hour. I got a little bit of a late start by about 15 minutes and got too close to the one I was going after. So after screwing that up, I wanted to make the long walk to where the other birds had been gobbling. Normally when walking, I try to make a call every 100 yards. For whatever reason, I didn't (I think the place being mainly fields threw me off). And wouldn't you know it, I kicked one up right in front of me. Chances are he would have gobbled had I called within 100 yards. Thursday morning there was not jack nothing going on except 1 bird. Because I had to cover some distance, I again spooked that darn thing because it got too light. But overall, it's one of the best looking public lands I've seen for turkey hunting in this state. I kicked up a lot of hens off the nest and saw probably a dozen different gobblers 1/2 mile away. At least I know kinda what to expect next year.
|
|