Turk_man

I ask to lighten my mood after missing a huge bird that I`ve been hunting for 5 days. A perfect set-up with 3 hens on one side and 2 longbeards and 4 jakes on the other. The hens are yelping and one is even cutting. The gobblers come running and at 40 yards I give them a cluck, they stop and stick their heads up and I shoot. You`d think this big bird was in the bag, NOT. He jumps around and then stops like nothing happened, so I quickly pump the gun and shoot again. CLICK, I short pumped the gun and it didn`t feed a new round in. Now at this point all hell brakes loose with gobblers and jakes flying off in every direction. This has been a great year with more action than any one person deserves but up till this year I`ve never missed. Well I`m now humbled because this year I`ve missed twice. Our season goes out on Saturday and I`m starting to look forward to sleeping in.

huntnma

well, you aren' t the only one that was humbled.....i missed for my very time ever too this year, i just didnt see how it happened ,lol.....now i know[][:-]he was too close.....and i had a pump, next year it' s the semibut unlike with your hunt , my second shot came out hee hee giggle gigglei actually missed a jake , he flew to my decoy and looked around, by that time my longbeard stuck his head out to see what was goin' on, i knew the jake was fine , so i took the bird.........i' m tellin' ya, it was nothin short of a miracle, i know God put that bird right in front of me, i didnt even see it in the beginning when i had all th birds walk in......i wish your hunt would of ended the same......so i know what it means to miss, but not the true meaning of it......i swear i was headed for a panic attack when i missed, i was truely sick, then when i saw the gobbler right in front of me, it went away , but as soon as it was over and i got out of the woods, i puked, lol.....

bgunner

i am deeply saddened that you missed the tears are rolling down my face as i typed this ROTFLMFAO MABEY YOU SHOULD STICK TO GUIDING INSTEAD OF SHOOTING ............... did we just not have this discussion friday about missing ........... bend over pete ....... wham kick right in the butt..... , ps did i tell you about the tears comming down my cheeks. thems tears of laughter

wacker

Not me!!!

But I do have one miss to my credit in my turkey hunting career so I know the feeling.

Mailman29680

I had my first miss was this year but I scored three times so it didn' t hurt that bad.

Brampton Mike

Miss??? Heck I haven' t even had them in close enough to consider pulling the trigger yet!!!!!!! [:@] Oh well...headed out in about an hour so hopefully today is the day as time is running out!!!!!!!! [:-] Brampton Mike [8D]

totoe

..Not me,but i have twice it will make you hold a good bead next year
...............

benhuntin

This is the first year I have missed a turkey that I attempted to shoot.
Actually I forgot to load my gun. Click, pump, click, Pump, HUh, Doh.[][:' (]

TomC

[]Opening weekend in Northern New York! I found two BIG lone gobblers -moved in on them and tried a call--I could barely hear the gobble. They both came RUNNING! I was forced to take " prone" position--all the while very worried that I might miss (I have NEVER taken a gobbler from this shooting position--I need to PRACTICE shooting from this position and also shooting left handed-that' s another story)...anyway, I picked a spot that when the biggest gobbler got to I would pull the trigger (the edge of a tree shadow-about 30 yds.)...the gobbler walked in (full strut)..stuck his neck out to look and BANG!....both birds JUMPED then started running down the meadow. To my surprise--both birds slowed to a walk and started gobbling again....I made a big circle around them...set up on the edge of the woods (they were both in the woods and gobbling). I started calling and got an answer from a hen the closest gobbler gobbled loudly and started moving in closer. I yelp softly and soon I could see his head bobbing through some brush. When he stepped out, I was tracking him from a MUCH better shooting position (using my knees as a rest. I took him at a little over 20 paces. He went 27 lbs....10 3/4" beard and sported 1 1/8" spurs.

EVERY time I have missed in the past was due to IMPATIENCE more than anything else...they were ALL coming in and all I had to do was wait for a GOOD OPEN shot!

One time I thought missed a gobbler at about 30 yards...I had a good shooting position...my sight picture was PERFECT...right on the middle of his neck. I shot and was stunned to see him launch into the air and fly off ....I even waved to him and said out loud, " See ya!" I was watching him fly off when he folded up and crashed into the next field like a B-17! I jumped up, ran over and there he was. I later skinned his neck to see what kind of a shot I had made. His neck was all red and bloody. Apparently, I hit no bones to break him down and the adrenaline must have propeeled him on his last flight!

I am thinking that my loads may be part of the problem. I am shooting Federal 3 1/2" !0 ga. magnum--2 oz. of #5 shot. I used to shoot #4s....misses were clean but hits were solid and there was NO chasing involved.[&o]

lhook7

On my first hunt this season I called in three birds: a longbeard, a medium sized bird, and a jake. They came in from my left, so in order to shoot I would have had to move and risk spooking them. I decided the best option was to let them go past me and then move while their backs were to me. It worked like a charm!! After they went past the jake wandered into the woods the longbeard was at about 40 yards and the other bird was about 10 yards closer that the longbeard. They were both looking down the trail for the phantom hen and had don clue I was behind them. I took my time, put my bead on the longbeard' s head, and squeezed the trigger. I still don' t know who was more surprised, me or the longbeard!! He was trying to figure out where the loud noise had come from and I was trying to figure out why he wasn' t dead! I froze for a second and considered firing another shot at him, but I decided I must have ranged him wrong, so I took aim on the closer and smaller bird and let him have it. I was very releived when he went down.

Two good things came from this experience: First, the smaller turkey had two beards and he is the only double bearded turkey I have taken. Second, I decided to spend the extra money and try some Hevi Shot; I will never go back to lead shot after the success I had with it the remainder of the season