Just wondering if any of you guys have had flukes such as missing gimme shots or rolling a tom over to have it get up and run off leaving scant blood and no bird????? Two years in a row I had such instances.....The first was a nice tom called into 31 paces lined the bead up and boom......bird ran off unscathed, he was framed between two 4-5" popples about 24" apart they were raked with shot!!!!! The other was a huge tom at 33 yards shot, rolled him right over he flopped a couple times stood up and ran like crazy had a little blood but never found him. Gun was a Nova with super full hastings choke, and win supremes 3.5" #5's and patterns perfect to 40 yards, both shots looked and felt good. The first bird mentioned lived for about two more months and was killed by a bobcat. Watched him daily, and ended up finding him dead with signs of a struggle and cat tracks and his breast meat partially eaten.

The first year I hunted I shot one with a 20ga. He hit the ground then jumped up about 5 feet in the air and took off!! He couldn't fly so I tried to find him but never did see him again.

I have not had a turkey get up and run off yet but I did have it happen with a pheasant this winter. I was with two other guys and one of them wounded the bird but he flew about 100 yards into some woods. I watched him fly up to a tree and then drop straight down so I knew he was hit. We went looking for him in the woods and I found him standing at the base of the tree. He took off again and I hit him at about 15 yards. He hit the ground and started to run. I hit him again and he started to flop. My hunting partners dog started my way to retreive the bird (it was flopping withing 3 feet of me) when the dog arived the bird got up again and started to fly (I had my over and under and I was out of shells). I thought about clubbing him with the gun (he was that close) but he went over my head and toward my partner. The bird was flying through some pretty heavy woods and my partner shot at him (he said he doubts if he hit him) and the bird flew about another 40 yards and fell out of the sky stone dead. With all that I figure he died of lead poisoning.

Can you use lead shot on pheasant?

My first bird (circa 1978) was knocked flat & with a load of Winchester 12GA 3" Mag #4's. He got up & ran to my left and I shot him on the run at about 40yds with a load of #2's. I learned quick & try to get them in a lot closer. We learn as we go.

Haven't had it happen yet & I hope that it doesn't start either.

If you hunt turkeys long enough, it WILL happen to you. I rolled one 4 shots in a row starting at 25 yards and out to 40 yards. I'd shoot, He'd go down HARD, roll on over and get up and start running again. Before he could get his wings up, I'd roll him again. He finally got a tree on me and flew off. I waited about a half hour and started out of the woods in the direction he flew, looking for him on the ground. The darned bird took off out of the top of a pine tree! He could barely fly, but set his wings and went across a RR track and a swamp where I couldn't follow. I hated to lose that bird, but I don't think he made it throught the night.

I had one very much like your story last year. I framed his head and he still managed to fly off. Just chalk it up to a freak hole in the pattern or none of the shot hitting him in a vital spot.

One thing about turkey hunting -- STUFF HAPPENS![&:]