I have been trying to kill this gobbler for days now, and all the planets lined up yesterday and i didnt pull the trigger. 37 yards and I wanted him closer. He had 6 jakes with him, eyes were everywhere from 7 yards to 37 yards. Gobbler will not come near decoy. But I hope I found the winning game plan. I want to take him with 20 ga and I want him close. And my buddy thinks I should of just shot. So what would some of you have done? I'm only in my 3rd season but I really think its more about the challenge than just the kill. Besides nothing like a morning in the woods listening to gobbles and watching them fly down.....thank you lord
Take the shot that you want, the thats going to satisfy what you're after. Part of the enjoyment is the challenge. You've set a goal and it would be a shame to just settle for something less than what you went out to accomplish. Just my. 02
If you wanted him closer, then you made the right choice. If you want to know how I would have handled it, if I had a clear shot at that distance, I personally would have anchored him, but that's a personal choice.
The choice we make is one we have to live with. Good for you, and good luck with getting him!
If it was me, I would have shot even with a 20ga. The choice though is yours and you have to be able to live with your decision. Sounds like you made the right choice for your hunting style. Great job on an awesome morning in the woods.
My 2 cents: If you don't want to pull the trigger then don't. So far as whether you COULD have taken the shot, it depends on your set-up. My daughter shoots a Rem. 870 20 ga. with Rem. #6's in a 3 inch load and it patterns & knocks down really well out to 35 yards so this would have been REALLY iffy for her. With some of the specialty loads out there, I think that a 20 can be stretched out to 40 or so. Like you, I prefer to limit my range and even with my 12 don't feel like I can ethically make the 45 yard shot.
First off it's better to have not shot then wounding or educating him. Now with that said at 37 yards he would of had a head full of 7 shot.
Arrowslanger, you probably made the right choice on that bird if you did not have that confidence of killing him. If you had shot and missed or wounded him, you would have had a terribly bad day. Could have wound up in the emergency room LOL. One bad , sick feeling. Find out how far that killing pattern is and know you can kill him at that range and next time that confidence will be there. Also, if you will hunt him without that decoy--only you and him and your calls--you will find out what real satisfaction is when you pill the trigger on him at a whole lot less distance than that killing pattern is. Ole timer told me one time that is cheating and to this day I hate to tell him I used a decoy, so there is something to it. Not that it is wrong..done every day..just a little more satisfying if he has to get a little closer to check out that hot hen over behind that last tree. On another note, my wife passed one up last year at 15-20 yards, just could not pull the trigger on him and to this day talks about it and what an experience it was. Just be thankful for this wonderful sport the Lord has given us and there is so many ways to hunt him, get educated by him, get schooled by him, cook him, and the fellowship we experience through all of this. Hope you get him.
In my opinion..... you made the right choice..... because it was your choice! Nobody has a right to tell you differently. Congratulations!
I'd be real proud to hunt with you anytime. :icon_thumright:
As far as your buddy goes........ :goofball:
Quote from: TurkeyTom on March 23, 2013, 12:03:19 PM
In my opinion..... you made the right choice..... because it was your choice! Nobody has a right to tell you differently. Congratulations!
I'd be real proud to hunt with you anytime. :icon_thumright:
As far as your buddy goes........ :goofball:
Totally agree with this post. Good decision. Hope you get him soon!
Thanks guys.....no decoy and bird refuses to move from corner of field.....u gotta love this game
Arrowslanger, is this bird strutting, with hens or just head up...searching for you or your call. How far away and what time of day...many variables here. Sometimes nothing works...you just never know. Hope you get him. Where you at?
He is strutting.....but stays in corner of field....every morning for 2 to 3 hours....shows no interest in calls one day then next day gobbled like crazy....but stays in corner of field
Quote from: arrowslanger on March 24, 2013, 07:12:23 PM
He is strutting.....but stays in corner of field....every morning for 2 to 3 hours....shows no interest in calls one day then next day gobbled like crazy....but stays in corner of field
That's his strut zone, I would expect. More likely than not, you are gonna have to kill him there.
Good luck!
If you wanted him closer then you made the right choice. If it had been me I would've rolled him but that's just me man. It takes a lot a discipline to let one walk when you know you could've had him and I respect that. Knowing you coulda had him is rewarding enough. Congrats and hope you get him in there close. Best of luck to ya.
Quote from: Treeninja on March 23, 2013, 10:19:15 AM
First off it's better to have not shot then wounding or educating him. Now with that said at 37 yards he would of had a head full of 7 shot.
:agreed: Last years opening day something similar happened to me. It was raining like crazy and dark in the woods when the biggest gobbler of my life came to within 45yds. I watched him strut back & forth for a good 25 min & he would not come any closer no matter what I kinda sweet talk I did. I did not feel comfortable taking the shot so I let him walk. Sitting in the same spot a couple days later I used a range finder and where he was the first day was 38yds. I should have killed him & never did get another shot at him. At least I can sleep at night knowing that I did not wound that old bird. In the end, if you don't feel right about the shot let him walk. By the sounds you did just that.
Yeah, from the info you gave, I would have shot him. That being said, no one can make that decision but you, lots of other variables at play that we can't see.
My goal is to get the turkey to a point where I can make a good clean shot. Once I have done that, I have won and I then make every attempt to finish the deal and kill him. "It's more about the challenge than the kill" That's true, but the challenge is getting him into range, not killing him. Sounds like you may have had him in range, you just weren't comfortable with what your effective range is. Take some time shooting your gun to pattern it at different distances. Most 20s will kill a turkey out to 40 yds without issue.
A lot of hunters set self-imposed restrictions to how far they shoot. In an era of super full chokes, heavier-than-lead shot, and scoped shotguns, turkeys can be ethically harvested at distances pushing 70 yards. Thus, many hunters put a self-imposed handy cap of 40 or 50 yds on their shots, just to keep things exciting. If you would like to do the same for say 30 yards with your 20, I would set that limit prior to hitting the woods and make sure to be able to estimate that distance in a variety of circumstances.
In order to consistently harvest turkeys, a hunter must be able to make quick decisions on when to take a shot. Knowing how far you want to shoot is key to being able to make these decisions under pressure.
you have no one to answer to but yourself .to wait shows great hunting maturity..
Well said Garrett Trentham, when that birds appears and we have to move ever so slightly, waiting for him to give a good red noggin, clear that last little tree, look ahead for a little opening, oh no, went behind that tree...should have shot...there's another opening...you get the idea. At these moments we find out how steady our nerves are, we good as we think we are, is my yardage that I mentally marked in my mind the same as when he got to that spot..oh no...either I missed judged that distance or I just missed. Ole Tom Kelly said it the best...them mistakes we make can never be reversed and seldom do we get a second chance. Just keep on keeping on, be thankful you can go again and do battle with him, and above all when it is all over and you are sitting there thinking of a good excuse as to what the h--- happened. JUST LAUGH out loud, don't cry, its only a dumb turkey..you just got schooled. Oh what a wonderful sport! Go get tomorrow.
Congrats on your ethics ... max effective range. You don't need to keep up with the Jones ...to coin an old phrase.
I have hunted with too many people, my father included, that just want the kill; no matter what size, no matter how far.
If I were in your shoes, and I did not think that 37 yards was close enough, I would not have taken the shot. Its not always about the shot, but about ethically dispatching a turkey. As a turkey hunter, we owe the bird that much.
I think you made the right call.
Quote from: TurkeyTom on March 23, 2013, 12:03:19 PM
In my opinion..... you made the right choice..... because it was your choice! Nobody has a right to tell you differently. Congratulations!
I'd be real proud to hunt with you anytime. :icon_thumright:
As far as your buddy goes........ :goofball:
X2 :anim_25:
There is no question, I would've sent him to heaven.
The more birds you kill, the more you learn. Kill that bird and move on to others.
thanks everyone....I'm going back after him Friday morning and I will hopefully have good news...... :OGturkeyhead:
Will you set up in that corner please! Good job on trusting your judgement, Now go hang him up!
I hear ya arrowslanger, I want that gobbler in close myself. I want to smell his breath, I want to know if that sucker ate chufa or grass hopers for dinner!
I know your pain. Last year I had taken my two boys out on separate occasions. All in all we had 3 close calls but no shots were taken. Had 3 toms at more than 40 yards and he was using a 20. Then had 1 tom that wouldn't hold still after he saw us and boy couldn't shoot. Last one we had a big bird sitting on a hill gobbling his brains out at 50 and if he would have just jumped off that limb he hopped on he would have been 15 yards closer and in range. Sometimes it's the hunt and not the kill. Boys all looked at it as a success hunt and I'm proud of that.
I am headed to the corner of the field on Friday morning. I'm gonna be set up an hour before daylight.
A for effort. shoot him this time
This will be my second year of turkey hunting, but when it comes to hunting, an ethical shot is an ethical shot. To me, an ethical shot is one taken on a legal bird during a legal season using legal tactics and at a distance where the gun in question can provide for a clean kill. If your 20GA is capable of a clean kill shot at 37 yards, then take it.
It's your license, your hunt and your decision to shoot or not. You decided not to shoot which was YOUR decision. To answer whether I would have shot or not I would have shot - but that would be MY decision.
Any time a hunter doubt's a shot or desires a closer shot the right decision is definitely don't shoot.
If the bird would mean more to you if he was 10 yards closer then you made the right decision.
But if I had full confidence that my gun would produce a clean kill at that distance I would have shot him. You won the game dead bird or not. My motto is that anything inside of 40 becomes a shoot situation. Kill them the way you want to and don't worry about the way others do it.
sounds like to me you need to pattern your shotgun more. You should know what your pattern is doing at 20, 30 and even 40 yards. doing this will tell you alot, your effective range, the diamater you need to ethically kill one turkey, and build confidance in your weapon and self. there is nothing wrong with a 20 gauge, I have kill over ten with one. but like any weapon you will need to know what is does. Note: different shot and ammo perform differantly out of each gun, once you find the right recipe stay with it and keep notes.