Sitting between the hay bales and woodpile on the edge of a pasture yesterday morning, I realized I didn't have my turkey choke tube in! Couldn't remember if it had a skeet or modified installed, so I decided I would limit my shots to 30 yards.
About 9:30, I was getting ready to leave when a turkey gobbled around a corner. Very thick brush between us, and he was on the edge of the pasture. Ranged the open fence gate at 30 yards and called. In he came...BOOM!!
Looked like it hit him good, but he flew off. Needless to say, I was shocked! He went over a small hill into a pasture with strips of uncut areas. I looked for about an hour, back and forth, to no avail. There were a few feathers back at the gate, but no blood. Hoping he made it.
Checked tube when I got home...skeet. Sad thing is I could have moved to 10 yards from the gate because of all the thick brush along the edge of the pasture. Live and learn. Turkey tube installed last night.
This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. :TrainWreck1:
Yeah, it's :popcorn: time
Quote from: snapper1982 on April 06, 2015, 07:38:55 PM
This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. :TrainWreck1:
:agreed:
Catch and release!
I wouldnt have tried it, much less posted my results on here. ???
Could tell by the title I wasn't gonna like it......
Stuff happens sometimes. I had a friend who cleaned his gun then went out duck hunting the next day. Couldn't figure out why he was missing and crippling everything. Then he noticed he forgot to screw his choke back in after cleaning the barrel.
Quote from: snapper1982 on April 06, 2015, 07:38:55 PM
This is the very reason we pattern our guns so that we know the effective range of a load/choke combo. I would never assume my gun is good at any distance if I had not shot it to know. :TrainWreck1:
Agreed
And not to KOOL :(
Try keeping spare choke tube and wrench in the truck, add some turk loads.
Just curious and not to bash you , but how the ---- do you forget to change a choke to go turkey hunting. That just seems unbelievable to me. It's like going deer hunting and not checking you scope before going. My shots are limited year to year , and when I get them I'm going to have my ducks in a row. My equipment is always checked and rechecked. If I goof up , it will be because of something that most likely out of my control. We all make mistakes. Just learn from it and don't repeat that one. Hopefully the bird will be ok. Good luck on the rest of your season.
That sucks, but crap happens.
:popcorn: Details
Dang guys, I'm sure none of you have ever made a mistake or forgotten anything. And I'm sure all of you keep extra choke tubes in every pocket, and have patterned every possible combination. I made a mistake, realized it, and made adjustments. I didn't adjust enough.
The most sickening feeling (for me) as a hunter is to wound game and not be able to find it. I grid searched the adjoining pasture and thickets for well over an hour. IMO, that turkey survived. You may have a different opinion.
Lesson learned, don't post shortcomings on OldGobbler.com.
My Remington 870 doubles as a deer drive shotgun and turkey gun. The rifled choke makes for some accurate slugs at 50 yards and almost accompanied me to the turkey woods before something told me to check it. At that point, I switched it out for my turkey choke called "The Undertaker" which has not missed a turkey since I started using in 5+ years ago. I usually work off of a list as the hunting seasons change and add to it annually as new things develop. Having said that, some of the stuff on my list got there because I forgot to include it before needing it.
Quote from: Joe2Kool on April 06, 2015, 10:21:42 PM
Dang guys, I'm sure none of you have ever made a mistake or forgotten anything. And I'm sure all of you keep extra choke tubes in every pocket, and have patterned every possible combination. I made a mistake, realized it, and made adjustments. I didn't adjust enough.
The most sickening feeling (for me) as a hunter is to wound game and not be able to find it. I grid searched the adjoining pasture and thickets for well over an hour. IMO, that turkey survived. You may have a different opinion.
Lesson learned, don't post shortcomings on OldGobbler.com.
We've all made mistakes its just that a vast majority of us shoot our turkey guns well before the season starts to check if all is well. Im not sure I could handle just grabbing a shotgun out of the safe and going hunting without knowing how the gun is shooting.
Lesson learned, but I would still check the pattern since installing the turkey tube. Good luck.
Quote from: born2hunt on April 06, 2015, 08:41:24 PMI wouldnt have tried it, much less posted my results on here. ???
This!!! ^^^ :icon_thumright:
I definitely would not have tried it. If I made that mistake, which I can't ever see myself doing (too anal!! :lol: ), I would have gotten up and left the woods as soon as I realized. I would never have taken a 30 yard shot with a skeet choke in. Oh well, coyotes and bobcats gotta eat too.
I equate this to the bow hunters that screw on broadheads and think they will fly exactly like field points.....they then complain about bad blood trails and losing deer.
Sorry, but if you are a dedicated hunter, serious about it, you don't make mistakes like this.
best part is....he will never do it again.
I feel for you. Last year I was invited to a really nice hunting club. Drove 2 hours to get there to remember my chokes were back at home. Had a strutter at 45 yards that I couldn't do anything about.
Quote from: rjtaylor925 on April 07, 2015, 03:50:16 PM
I feel for you. Last year I was invited to a really nice hunting club. Drove 2 hours to get there to remember my chokes were back at home. Had a strutter at 45 yards that I couldn't do anything about.
I just don't understand how someone could do this ^^^.Maybe i'm just to anal about stuff but I
always go over everything multiple times..........and I usually only hunt no more than 30 minutes from home. Ive learned to keep extras of things in my truck;everything from gloves,headnets,shells,bug spray,etc. as I have a few friends who seem to forget things on occasion.
Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 07, 2015, 03:40:43 PM
Quote from: born2hunt on April 06, 2015, 08:41:24 PMI wouldnt have tried it, much less posted my results on here. ???
This!!! ^^^ :icon_thumright:
I definitely would not have tried it. If I made that mistake, which I can't ever see myself doing (too anal!! :lol: ), I would have gotten up and left the woods as soon as I realized. I would never have taken a 30 yard shot with a skeet choke in. Oh well, coyotes and bobcats gotta eat too.
Same here
Not the point, but unless a wing or leg is broken, the bird will probably survive...
As others have said, I know mistakes happen, but when it comes to your shotgun(the most important piece of equipment for turkey hunting) you check, double check and triple check
I guess what I don't understand is why your turkey choke wasn't in your shotgun and ready to go prior to turkey hunting? Even though I know what my gun does with certain loads, I still pattern a few just to make sure nothing has change every year before opening day. My gun has the right choke in it and ready to go with no guessing. Also this might help, every day I pick up my gun I reach up and make sure my choke is still tight. If you get into that habit, then you would have caught it before ever heading out.
I would ignore half of what is typed here. I love this site but many are so high on themselves. Things happen as does life. Mistakes are made and lessons are learned. How would we ever advance if we never made a boo boo? With that said I would not admit my mistakes here either. When my six year old and I hit the woods I patterned his gun with a full choke and improved cylinder. He had been practicing for some time with another gun (no kick) but the same sights. I found the improved cylinder better for his ability. We passed on a few birds and took one at 25 yards. I come to this site daily this time of year and I get bit discouraged at what some have to say. Learn and move on.
I have two shotguns designated for turkeys exclusively. No choke swapping, no load swapping, and all zeroes are checked before the season and before I hunt in each state I travel to.
To each their own but I've never found myself looking at a gun with the wrong choke in it.
I would say the mistake happened not with the forgetfulness, but in knowing and taking the shot anyway. We all made mistakes, I'm not without my regrets. As soon i had realized, i would have cursed and then called it a day. Hunting ethically is a successful hunt.
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I saw it happen to a fella who used to be in my hunt club. He got a new Beretta Extrema, put a Burris fast fire and Rhino choke on it. Got it all dialed in on a work weekend in Feb. at our club then the same afternoon some of us went out try and jump up some rabbits so he put a Imp. Cyl. in it. Come April and Turkey season he missed two gobblers the 1st week at less than 40 yds. He was beside himself so we went to shoot it and check the sight. Pattern was about 4-5 ft across at 40 yds then and only then did he notice that the gun didn't have the extended turkey choke on it, but the Imp Cyl. instead.
I've killed two with improved cylinder chokes so I know it can be done if your careful. Back in the day, all I had was one shotgun and it was used primarily for dove hunting, no screw in chokes, just a fixed improved cylinder barrel - 2 3/4 inches. I patterned it at 30 yards with a heavy load of 7.5s and knew it would pepper a turkey head with quite a few holes. I hunted wooded areas, kept my shots closer than 30 yards. My current gun doubles as a duck gun and a turkey gun, and once I looked down during a turkey hunt and realized that I had my extended modified choke in instead of the turkey choke. I had actually patterned that choke with hevi 6s so I was not worried. Killed a gobbler at 25 steps.
Quote from: darn2ten on April 07, 2015, 09:18:25 PM
I guess what I don't understand is why your turkey choke wasn't in your shotgun and ready to go prior to turkey hunting? Even though I know what my gun does with certain loads, I still pattern a few just to make sure nothing has change every year before opening day. My gun has the right choke in it and ready to go with no guessing. Also this might help, every day I pick up my gun I reach up and make sure my choke is still tight. If you get into that habit, then you would have caught it before ever heading out.
x2 :turkey2:
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on April 07, 2015, 10:18:49 PM
I have two shotguns designated for turkeys exclusively. No choke swapping, no load swapping, and all zeroes are checked before the season and before I hunt in each state I travel to.
To each their own but I've never found myself looking at a gun with the wrong choke in it.
I have three..................... all ready and waiting! Never use them for any other game.