What do you do?
 

Ok how many of you once you shot your bird jump up and run to get it or take your time and walk out and get it. Me Im off my butt and running to get it. But of course if the legs are a sleep its a little harder to move...

RE: What do you do?
 

Man afteri kill a bird i sprint to it. It fact the bird i killed last spring i was in a blind and the zipper got stuck on the door so i tried to climb out the window. Didn't work too well though.

RE: What do you do?
 

This one of my personal safety issues Arrow...I agree getting to your bird in a hurry "wise move"but I dont like the idea of running with a loaded gun though,especially with legs that are stiff and asleep,plus I question how many forget to put that safety back on with all the excitement at hand.Not directed at you Arrow but just a safety heads-up spend time with your turkey thumper and shoot at quality ethical ranges and in most all cases there will be no need to run...:D...

RE: What do you do?
 

depends...if i can see it well and its barely floppin, i aint runnin. ive fell alot more than once in the woods..i dont need to be running with the adrenalin higher than a crackheads and a loaded gun in my hands...

after last years expirience though, i will make sure i got that empty out and am locked and loaded and gun pointed on the bird...kinda like clearing a house lol...

last year i made a horrible shot. jerked the trigger and the hevi shot 6s absolutely clobered the bird in the wing butt. shattered the wing hard. when i fired, i watched it fall like a deer and never flop...i KNEW something was up...ive never saw that. it fell sideways..it was wierd. i THOUGHT i racked another shell in...i had the empty in my pocket actually...i get 10yds away and see him lift his head and take off...pulled up CLICK! BAD SHELL!! rerack!! cycled the action hard and by that time he was 40yds down the hill...head was up laying on a log...put the bead on his head and fired. dead bird...i was right on his head and it was fully extended..no way he made it from there. calmed down, reloaded my shotgun and walked down the steep hillside slowly...got down there...no bird!!! feather trail the whole way down there...blood all over the log and could clearly see my pattern nailed him there...hmmm....creek was not even 100yds down the hill..could see down to it easy and no bird...some blood went right..so i zig zaged the hillside for about 300yds looking for the bird...nothing..down to the creek..i walked the creek bottom between the creeek and hillside back to where i last saw him...nothing...did the same thing to the left..nothing. came back...nothing..walked up to where i shot him, gathered my calls and gear i left behind..i wasnt giving up...trying to piece the clues together...walked a straight line from where he was at the 2nd shot and got to the creek...not a big creek, but i didnt think a wounded turkey was crossing it...standing there thinking and looking around and i about died when he poked his head out of a brushpile across the creek...soak and wet, busted wing....very much alive, but it would been a mess to shoot him again...set the gun down and waded the creek and grabbed his head and we wrestled...i won...

still dont want to run through the woods with a loaded gun, but i dont know what to do after an expirience like that....

incase you are questioning my story, heres a couple pics..

notice the blown up wing and how he is SOAKED....and yes, he was about half naked....



now notice the beautiful blue spring sky?? definently wasnt raining that day!! bad pic...tried using the self timer..



had no idea i shot him in the wing...and had no idea i short pumped the gun, i have a problem with that and my 870 and i dont know why...maybe i need to replace the spring...i think the previous owner used it as a home defense gun or something...it had no plug in it, which is very odd...could left it loaded for as long as he owned it and killed the spring...or maybe my arms are just short...going to replace the spring now that im thinking about it though...

RE: What do you do?
 

I never run to my bird. Just a brisk walk.

RE: What do you do?
 

i dont run, i go at a fast walk, last year it got me a bird well i was walking for my mom's. My mom shot a jake and i was walking to it and i get 30+/- yards away from the bird when i see another turkey walk up and look at the dead one, who was still flopping, i saw a 3'' beard on this second turkeysoupmy gun went, and i had myself two birds to carry back to the truck

RE: What do you do?
 

I always get excited when i get a kill and run right out there!!

RE: What do you do?
 

I usually get up and move towards my bird as fast as I can. I do keep a couple yards between the bird and I until I know for sure he is completely dead. Seen too many pics of guys where they got spurred in the hand and had to go get stitches...I try to avoid that:).

RE: What do you do?
 

It's according to whether or not I have multiple birds in my set.

If I have several.....I surely don't want to bugger that spot up by running out there to retrieve my bird. I have always tried to let things settle down and let the birds move off on their own before getting out there.

RE: What do you do?
 

Excellent point Bobgobble and I wish more would heed that.

I had a bud of mine run to a brid I dumped and if I needed a second shot I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE IT! Tried to point that out to him......

What I do after I have shot a bird is keep the gun in the birds direction! If for some dumb reason - all I did was wound that bird.....I am ready to take the second. If the bird flops to where I can't see him - I will at least move to where I can and again be ready.

I see no reason to run and as BobGobble informed you - I bet more than one of you are running with a loaded gun in the heat of excitement.

JW

RE: What do you do?
 

I pretty much do the same thing that JW! does. I never run towards a bird. Most of the time I hunt fields and can easily see what is going on with the bird after my first shot, so I can follow up with a second shot if needed.
To tell you the truth, with me anyways, once you pull the trigger and the bird is down,it's kind of a bummer because the hunt is now over.

RE: What do you do?
 

It depends on the set up. A lot of times my brothers, father and i will hunt in tandem and if their are a couple gobblers we usually try for a double. This all depends on the reaction of the bird that got shot, if it is a bang flop we stay put, but if the shot appears the slightest bit questionable we don't worry about the double and get someone stepping on that bird asap...one in the hand is worth two in the bush as they say.

As for short stroking the 870, i don't know about any spring being worn out it is possible. It could be you are just going a little too easy on her, 870s are rugged and i was taught that you should slam that action back as hard as you can and forward as hard as you can, they can take it. To be honest i never consciously remember working the action in any hunting situation, it's always after the fact that i look down and see i have a round in the chamber that i realize i did it, i guess in the heat of the moment i'm too focused on the animal and my hands just go to auto pilot

RE: What do you do?
 

I'm a runner...

RE: What do you do?
 

I think that the jumpin' up and running thing was from back in the day when the load and guns had a hard time knocking them down. It was kind of necessary.

I enjoy the casual stroll up to the bird. I take my time to savour what just happend.

RE: What do you do?
 

There's no running here. Eject the shell, assess the situation, if immediate 2nd shot is not needed, safety the firearm and intently move to the bird. Being ready to take a second shot should the need arise.

RE: What do you do?
 

After reading some of these posts, I think I'm going to change my ways! I am a runner. I usually don't cycle the action on my 870 after the shot, I just put the gun down and get to the bird and step on its neck.Last year though, TWO, not just one, but TWO of my longbeards took off after the shot! I've been kicking myself in the head since last May about it. Had I chambered another round and kept on the bird, the outcome might have been different.

RE: What do you do?
 

It isnt the running with the gun that bothers me. Most people who hunt turkeys for very long will one time or another need to run with a loaded shotgun for various reasons. To reposition, or make a quick move on a gobbler, or tryto work around in front of were a bird may be going. When making a move like this even though you are running you areconcentrating on what you are doing, you are probably trying to be quiet, and watching where you step, and your finger is probably not on the trigger. But if you are running after a shot the addrenaline is flowing prettyhard and youonly have one thing on your mind, the bird.You are focused on one thing which can sometimes be a recipe for desaster. I aggree with JW and some of the others who said it is better to stay seated. If a second shot is needed you will probably be able to get aimed at the bird quicker if you are not getting up and aiming at the same time. My advise would be always act as if the bird could get up and run at any minute. Do notever asume the bird is dead. If you stay seated and prepare for the secondshot you will pobably be alot calmerand make a bettershot than if you try to jump up and run.

RE: What do you do?
 

I killed one this spring and I ran to it and found my saftey off after about 10 min. of excitement (and I had a shell in the chamber).You just have to be careful.

RE: What do you do?
 

After I shoot a bird, I stay seated and immediately start calling again, usually an assembly call on a diaphram. I don't want to spook the rest of the birds anymore than the shot, as I may want to hunt them from this set-up again that season. The jakes and two year olds may not get educated, but those old longbeards catch on real quick.

RE: What do you do?
 

I make sure my safety is on before I go after my bird. Its just a reaction of mine that I have always done...

RE: What do you do?
 

i put the safety on, and get up and bolt!!

RE: What do you do?
 

Well don't git me wrong I was a runner at one time too and let me tell ya sad but safe story.

Shot a bird with my side by side 10 ga black powder. In my excitement to get this big ole Tom and he had a huge beard - I tripped on the limb he tried to hide under which made me tumble with still a loaded hammer type black powder shotgun. AND I had moved the branch enough that this Tom got up and flew into a cedar swamp to which I never found him - NEVER!

I was jsut sick and felt so stupid I quit doing something I loved for a whole year as penance. AND I almost quit turkey hunting right there and then. Not that I fell - it was I wounded game - that should have been inthe bag. I looked for hours and looked for several days there after.

I had the chance to stop and whack that bird with the other barrel and it would have been end of story. But I was taught to get my hand or boot on the neck of that bird and that what I was doing until I tangled my feet in the branch that the bird was trying to hide under.

I admit - I was STOOPID and then I must admit I wasVERY LUCKYnot to really hurt myself. Hammer guns even on safe - ARE STILL HALF COCKED!!

So think about it - always

Safe Hunting is NO ACCIDENT! ...............None...

JW

RE: What do you do?
 

I get up and run over to it. I get get pretty excited when i shoot an old turkey

RE: What do you do?
 

Very good point JW......Flyboy trust me your not the only individual who has done this.I learned the hardway in my younger days rushing up to a bird,just about throwin my gun on the ground to grab a kickin bird only to have a spur go right through the web of my hand!!!Had a fella that just couldn't wait last year for me to unzip the blind,so he decided to go out the window,tripping and falling as he wenttearing the blind into....[:-]....Bottomline is it just isn't safe and in my opinion nowadays is uneccassary if we are taking shots we should be.Honestly in almost 30 years of turkey hunting I can think of only about 4 birds that got up or I missed.The biggestgobbler in the world just aint worth something that haunts a man the rest of his life!!!!No your pattern and shoot within your limits all and droppin the hammer will be one of the easier aspects of the hunt....;)....

RE: What do you do?
 

First thing I remember the movement thing so I try to stay stil until I see what is happening. If the birds head is downI'll get right over to it and step on its head and neck if its still flopping around until it stops. If its head is up I'm most likely going for second shot (from where I was). I use a single shot so usually (but not always) don't have another round in the chamber.

RE: What do you do?
 

Must be a Hoosier thang Arrow [8D]me to!!

RE: What do you do?
 

One of the reasons I use a Remington 870!!!I feel much safer with this gun if I forget to put the safty back on...

I brought this subject up last spring and kinda got attacked for saying that I liked a pump over a semi for this very reason

MT

RE: What do you do?
 

I agree with you. If I don't rack the slide, it ain't gonna fire regardless of the position of the safety. I know thats enough for some to flame me about, but I know whether or not I've chambered a shell for a follow-up shot with a pump action gun.

RE: What do you do?
 

I still get excited every time I shoot a turkey but Idon't run out after it