TomC

Get ready for this..........

After dinner last night. I went for a drive and look for gobblers. To make a long story short, I found some birds and saw what I thought was a gobbler crossing a stonewall. It was starting to rain heavily so I went home with the thought of checking this spot this morning.
Next morning...(this Friday morning)
I had just got into the woods near the spot where I had seen the turkeys when I heard a gobble really CLOSE! I found a spot to set up my decoy when a hen starting yelping loudly (the gobbler answering of course). My set up was perfect (I was between the hen and the tom). I had just sat down by a big tree in some really open woods when I heard the hen fly down and cackling. I had a really good idea where she was off to my right (the gobbler was off to my left)....I yelped and got an immediate answer from the tom. I stayed quiet to see what would happen next....I heard the tom fly down.....I stayed quiet....within just minutes, I heard him going pffffft dmmmmm---I looked to my right and watched, the next thing I knew, he was walking right towards me fanning out and drumming.....a full fan--he was NO jake....I let him walk right by me at a distance of about 10-12 feet he was LOCKED right on my decoy--I could see his beard swinging with each step--I would have blown his head clean off at the range he was at (Iwas right in the open and didn't dare move 'til he fanned out)....I waited 'til he got up to the decoy and moved my gun slowly....I think he saw me moving because he started acting a little nervous....I waited 'til he put his head up to look and pulled the trigger...

Since it was only about 5:10 AM....at the shot, there was a big orange flash....the next thing I saw was the gobbler knocking over my decoy (I thought I hit it with some stray shot-actually the gobbler knocked it over)....and the gobbler launching straight into the air....I took a second shot at the flying tom...nothing happened.....I sat there in total disbelief...I couldn't believe it! I missed him!!!

I went over to my decoy and picked it up (no holes in it)...the gobbler knocked it over!

I went back to my van...drove around checking some other spots for about an hour trying to think what I was going to do next. I remembered last year, I missed a tom shooting from a prone position...watched him go running down a field, slowing to a walk just before he got to the end of it, disappear into the woods and start gobbling again (a real hen was in the area yelping). I sneaked down, set up on him --called him in and killed with a much more careful shot! I thought I might be able to pull it off again this morning. I drove back to the spot where I missed him...walked way around the area where I saw him fly into and started looking for him...hoping to hear a gobble. I had just crossed a mucky area and was moving into a brushy area....suddenly, I SAW him get up and start running, he launched into air again (his head was bright red, his wet beard swinging)....before I could get my gun up, he put a tree between me and him leaving me with NO chance at a good shot even though he might have been in killing range.....I he was moving kind of slow (with all the water he had picked up from the wet brush and grass, I imagined him being a little heavy....I hunted in the area I saw him fly into...but, when I checked my watch, it was 6:40 AM....I didn't have the time to try to hunt him down...I had just enough time to drive home and get ready for work.

I know what I did wrong....I didn't have a perfect sight picture!!!!!
It's a mistake that my side by side 10 ga. will NOT forgive[X(]

Have a nice day.....(really)