Team #1 Last Gobble - 2009 Champions
04-14-2010, 08:01 AM
#136
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
Day 1....
Today was my first hunt of the year. It was nice to finally get out in the woods after watching several hunters a day bring birds into the shop to be officially weighed.
I had a good place picked out, thanks to several weeks of proper scouting. This land belongs to my bosses family.
As I am putting my vest on this AM, another truck drives by (small road) and hits the brakes. I walk around the back of the truck and he rolls the window down. I turn my flashlight on to see who it is, because I don't recognise the vehical. "Who are you?" Askes an individual I have never seen before. I introduce myself and ask him the same question. He doesn't answer it, just asks another question. Long story short, I asked him directly if he had permission to hunt this property, because I was under the impression that no one else had permission to. He replied that he had been hunting it for years (notice he didn't answer my question). Then he proceeded to tell me that he has been hunting everyday and asked how me and my buddy did on Saturday. I told him this was my first hunt, and he said "Well who were those two guys over in the NE corner on Saturday?" Seems like the place is turning into public property. I have yet to call the boss and confirm things. I did finally get his name. I am sure he got permission at some point... probably years ago.. and figured he has lifetime rights since he got to hunt squrrels in 1973, maybe I'm wrong, I'll find out. He proceeded to tell me where he was going, without regards to my plans or the fact that I arrived in advance of him and drove off.
So my morning was off to a super cheerful start.
I heard two or three different birds sound off on the limb, and they were all on the other side of the swamp (funny how pressure will move them away huh?). This swamp is called a creek... but its dang near a river... and is a good 50 yards wide in most places. Had a hen and a jake come in to halitosis range then work off in the direction of the gobbler up the point a few hundred yards. At about 8 am, my backside started hurting and the two bottles of water had run their course so I got up to stretch a bit. About 845 I contemplated heading to another plot of land behind a church and trying to strike a bird when I thought I heard a hen yelp. I half expected it to be this dude doing some mid-morning prospecting down the swamp frontage path. I found myself a bit torn, but I found a smallish pine tree on the east side of a drainage ditch about 30 yards wide and took a seat. I pulled a call back out and strapped it to my leg, put the face mask on and struck a few clucks on the freak. I thought I heard an immediate yelp response, followed by what almost sounded like a half hearted gobble. The wind was blowing a bit, and I thought I might be imagining things, or perhaps that this guy was a real doufus. I gave it 5 or ten minutes and said the hell with it and let out a quick 5 note yelp on my mouth call.... GOBBBBLBLBLBLBLE. Oh snot.
I looked at my watch... 857am... I gave it a few minutes and at 901 I called again and he cut me off closer. Gun up...
Few minutes later I see a turkey coming... this turns out to be two turkeys and one is already in strut. 75 and closing through the thick pines and hollys. He works in behind a thick group of trees and I steal a chance to rake some leaves... I don't exactly like where I am sitting at, because I feel like a flamingo stuck in the yard in front of this one little pine that is half as wide as my shoulders. But I'm in position and on him and he is coming still.
He strutts down into my shooting lane and I'm hoping he is going to turn a bit and come to the rain drainage ditch (which is just the apex bottom of this little rolling hill I'm on... ain't 4 feet of elevation change) which is about 30 yards from me. He stops... goes into a hard strutt.... then lifts his head up, crosses his wings and strikes a pose.
Knowing full well that I am not hid as good as I'd liked, and also thinking that he might just be surveying for that hen since he was on the edge of cover and could see the whole bottom... I leveled the gun and shot. It was somewhere between 35 and 41 yards.
On the shot, the bird scrambled off the right and took to the air...
I was totally dumbfounded.... what the hell? I'd made a good shot, I was pretty sure the bird was close enough... about as far as I'd care to shoot, but close enough... and there his ass went away from there. Me and my bright ideas... bringing a dove gun to a turkey hunt... what was I thinking trying to kill a 20# bird with a 20 banger? Hevi-shot or not. Now I've gone and buggered one up. I refused to accept it at first... he had to be dead where he hit the ground... of course, I never saw him hit the ground.
I jogged over to where he had been standing when I shot. No feathers. No blood, no idication at all of a hit. I scanned the area and found some branches about 5 feet off the ground blown all to kindling. I went back to where I was sitting, replayed everything, switched places again.... shot went high. What the hell?
I know the gun shoots a bit to the right sometimes... not much... but a bit... but high? My last thought was face on the stock... what did I do??? Has to be the gun... I only have a bead on it afterall, and it shoots a super tight pattern..... might be time to go back to the turkey rifle?
All these thoughts were running laps around my mind....
There was no sign I'd ht the bird at all, and based on what I had seen... I was and am 100% sure I whiffed. I took the distance, and as I reported, somewhere between 35 and 41 depeding on exactly which spot he was in.
I had to go by this other place we deer hunt where we do our sighting in to shoot Katies 1100 for the weekend mountain hunt anyway. So, while I was at it, I decided to recreate the situation and see just how far off my 20 banger Beretta 391 is shooting. 40 yards... a nice control distance... leaned my back againest my tire... shot with my hands on my knees, just as I hand in the woods. And just as I suspected...
The problem is the indian... and not the arrow.
So lift your glass to lifting your head off the stock to watch yourself kill a turkey.... standing still and full erect... at a distance of 35 yards... across open ground.... in full daylight.... from a solid rest...
At least I had an encounter... I must say it did start the old adrenline pump back up.... hadn't fired it up since duck season. Sure is nice to be back in the spring woods. Took me an hour or so to get over feeling sorry for myself... afterall.... I am the only person to ever miss a turkey. Probably won't ever be another missed by anybody anyway...
I am very thankful I missed him clean. First one I've ever missed further than 15 yards... I'd like to say if I'd just carried the 835 I'd have pictures of spurs and beards instead of a picture of a target proving that I ain't as good as I once was.
Don't know what the fall out will be on this bird or with our new friend over there... but I'll be back out tmw AM.... with the turkey rifle instead of the dove gun.
I had a good place picked out, thanks to several weeks of proper scouting. This land belongs to my bosses family.
As I am putting my vest on this AM, another truck drives by (small road) and hits the brakes. I walk around the back of the truck and he rolls the window down. I turn my flashlight on to see who it is, because I don't recognise the vehical. "Who are you?" Askes an individual I have never seen before. I introduce myself and ask him the same question. He doesn't answer it, just asks another question. Long story short, I asked him directly if he had permission to hunt this property, because I was under the impression that no one else had permission to. He replied that he had been hunting it for years (notice he didn't answer my question). Then he proceeded to tell me that he has been hunting everyday and asked how me and my buddy did on Saturday. I told him this was my first hunt, and he said "Well who were those two guys over in the NE corner on Saturday?" Seems like the place is turning into public property. I have yet to call the boss and confirm things. I did finally get his name. I am sure he got permission at some point... probably years ago.. and figured he has lifetime rights since he got to hunt squrrels in 1973, maybe I'm wrong, I'll find out. He proceeded to tell me where he was going, without regards to my plans or the fact that I arrived in advance of him and drove off.
So my morning was off to a super cheerful start.
I heard two or three different birds sound off on the limb, and they were all on the other side of the swamp (funny how pressure will move them away huh?). This swamp is called a creek... but its dang near a river... and is a good 50 yards wide in most places. Had a hen and a jake come in to halitosis range then work off in the direction of the gobbler up the point a few hundred yards. At about 8 am, my backside started hurting and the two bottles of water had run their course so I got up to stretch a bit. About 845 I contemplated heading to another plot of land behind a church and trying to strike a bird when I thought I heard a hen yelp. I half expected it to be this dude doing some mid-morning prospecting down the swamp frontage path. I found myself a bit torn, but I found a smallish pine tree on the east side of a drainage ditch about 30 yards wide and took a seat. I pulled a call back out and strapped it to my leg, put the face mask on and struck a few clucks on the freak. I thought I heard an immediate yelp response, followed by what almost sounded like a half hearted gobble. The wind was blowing a bit, and I thought I might be imagining things, or perhaps that this guy was a real doufus. I gave it 5 or ten minutes and said the hell with it and let out a quick 5 note yelp on my mouth call.... GOBBBBLBLBLBLBLE. Oh snot.
I looked at my watch... 857am... I gave it a few minutes and at 901 I called again and he cut me off closer. Gun up...
Few minutes later I see a turkey coming... this turns out to be two turkeys and one is already in strut. 75 and closing through the thick pines and hollys. He works in behind a thick group of trees and I steal a chance to rake some leaves... I don't exactly like where I am sitting at, because I feel like a flamingo stuck in the yard in front of this one little pine that is half as wide as my shoulders. But I'm in position and on him and he is coming still.
He strutts down into my shooting lane and I'm hoping he is going to turn a bit and come to the rain drainage ditch (which is just the apex bottom of this little rolling hill I'm on... ain't 4 feet of elevation change) which is about 30 yards from me. He stops... goes into a hard strutt.... then lifts his head up, crosses his wings and strikes a pose.
Knowing full well that I am not hid as good as I'd liked, and also thinking that he might just be surveying for that hen since he was on the edge of cover and could see the whole bottom... I leveled the gun and shot. It was somewhere between 35 and 41 yards.
On the shot, the bird scrambled off the right and took to the air...
I was totally dumbfounded.... what the hell? I'd made a good shot, I was pretty sure the bird was close enough... about as far as I'd care to shoot, but close enough... and there his ass went away from there. Me and my bright ideas... bringing a dove gun to a turkey hunt... what was I thinking trying to kill a 20# bird with a 20 banger? Hevi-shot or not. Now I've gone and buggered one up. I refused to accept it at first... he had to be dead where he hit the ground... of course, I never saw him hit the ground.
I jogged over to where he had been standing when I shot. No feathers. No blood, no idication at all of a hit. I scanned the area and found some branches about 5 feet off the ground blown all to kindling. I went back to where I was sitting, replayed everything, switched places again.... shot went high. What the hell?
I know the gun shoots a bit to the right sometimes... not much... but a bit... but high? My last thought was face on the stock... what did I do??? Has to be the gun... I only have a bead on it afterall, and it shoots a super tight pattern..... might be time to go back to the turkey rifle?
All these thoughts were running laps around my mind....
There was no sign I'd ht the bird at all, and based on what I had seen... I was and am 100% sure I whiffed. I took the distance, and as I reported, somewhere between 35 and 41 depeding on exactly which spot he was in.
I had to go by this other place we deer hunt where we do our sighting in to shoot Katies 1100 for the weekend mountain hunt anyway. So, while I was at it, I decided to recreate the situation and see just how far off my 20 banger Beretta 391 is shooting. 40 yards... a nice control distance... leaned my back againest my tire... shot with my hands on my knees, just as I hand in the woods. And just as I suspected...
The problem is the indian... and not the arrow.
So lift your glass to lifting your head off the stock to watch yourself kill a turkey.... standing still and full erect... at a distance of 35 yards... across open ground.... in full daylight.... from a solid rest...
At least I had an encounter... I must say it did start the old adrenline pump back up.... hadn't fired it up since duck season. Sure is nice to be back in the spring woods. Took me an hour or so to get over feeling sorry for myself... afterall.... I am the only person to ever miss a turkey. Probably won't ever be another missed by anybody anyway...
I am very thankful I missed him clean. First one I've ever missed further than 15 yards... I'd like to say if I'd just carried the 835 I'd have pictures of spurs and beards instead of a picture of a target proving that I ain't as good as I once was.Don't know what the fall out will be on this bird or with our new friend over there... but I'll be back out tmw AM.... with the turkey rifle instead of the dove gun.
Last edited by SwampCollie; 04-14-2010 at 08:12 AM.
04-14-2010, 08:12 AM
#137
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 7,437
Swamper!
Great Story - and remember this K.Y.H.D.D! ----> Kepp Your Head Down Dummy!
Been there myself once or twice - I admit! That lead me to put on open fully adjustable Tru Glo sights to which when I could not see the back ramp I went to a scope....
Missing - knowing you may have hit or wounded - is not a feeling I want to experience no more! And I know you are the same......
But hey - that is how we learn.....sometimes not very pretty!
JW
Great Story - and remember this K.Y.H.D.D! ----> Kepp Your Head Down Dummy!
Been there myself once or twice - I admit! That lead me to put on open fully adjustable Tru Glo sights to which when I could not see the back ramp I went to a scope....
Missing - knowing you may have hit or wounded - is not a feeling I want to experience no more! And I know you are the same......
But hey - that is how we learn.....sometimes not very pretty!
JW
04-14-2010, 01:19 PM
#139
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
04-14-2010, 05:52 PM
#140
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Toronto Ontario Canada
Posts: 1,796
Thats alright... Only three or so of our team members in areas with open seasons so far.
It hasn't even begun so don't count celebrate yet Team 3!