They should be easy and they are now, But this was not always the case. I have missed a bunch over the top or behind due to (turkey fever) or the shakes just as I have missed Spring toms over the top for the same reason. Going through my 40+ journals, I estimate that I have shot at a good 180 or so turkeys and my take of 115 is indeed not the best average for sure!
Switching to modified knocked those misses off and had me connecting solidly. Overhearing other pheasant hunters up here in New York over the years-- alot of these guys never hunt in the Spring and look to connect when their pheasant dogs flush up a flock early in our pheasant season. In my area of New York- my Fall Turkey Season has been moved to mid- October from October 1st when Pheasant Season opens. So pheasant hunters here(in my area) cannot shoot at flushed up turkeys for 2 weeks--or at least you hope they don't!
My black lab--BEN flushed up turkey flocks and my sisters golden retriever--CODY did as well.Both are long gone now... I have ABBEY now- another black lab-- but with a Fall Turkey Season knocked down from 6 weeks to 2 weeks and the take slashed from 2 turkeys to just 1-- my chances will dwindle. It was fun at one time to hit one Fall turkey in the air and call another one in on another day. My Father who never took a turkey told me on a pheasant hunt in the mid-1990s-- he almost stepped on a gobbler in a field. He was so rattled that he never got a shot off when he flushed up. He must have been flattened out like a rooster pheasant!!
I've never hunted turkeys with dogs only have called them to the gun spring and fall. I have read and talked to a few turkey doggers about it...my jist of it is the dogs flush them and then they are called back in to the gun. Maybe that's why your success rate isn't the best. In my opinion following up at a crippled flying Turkey is one thing,but purposely hunting them by wingshooting wouldn't be my style of hunting them. I wouldn't trust I would cleanly kill them and I enjoy calling them spring and fall to much for that. I know guys that thoroughly enjoy driving them like deer and hunting them in the fall,but that ain't my style either. Hunting behind trained dogs that flush them then calling the flushed turkeys back to the gun would be a blast and would probably surpass my going out and just plain calling them in,but I also throughly enjoy watching a good trained hunting dog do what they were bred to do...
I dont care if I walk up on one inadvertently while hunting and he takes flight or if I call one up and he figures out the gig is up and takes flight; he ain't getting any TSS or hevi-shot headed his way. I don't believe in skill-less or opportunistic kills. He earned the right to gobble another day and I tip my hat to him.
I don't carry one thing about shooting one flying..agree he get a pass from me ...hunt him another day...
I agree I do not go with the intention of shooting a flying turkey. Yes I have done it, but after a miss or wounded bird. If I shoot at a bird I assume it is hit and I will do everything reasonable in my power to recover that bird, including wing shooting. I can say in the cases I have done this that I have killed all but one that I shot at. If they don't present a good shot I don't bust them or just shoot up the air hoping to bring a bird down. Everyone I remember shooting on the wing has rolled up in a pile dead. I will not take the shot if I don't have a clear swing on it's head and neck, if you have that in range they are not that hard as everything is exposed. I just ignore the whole bird and swing on the head like it was a little quail. However, with all that said it is not common to get that clear of a wing shot, usually your looking at their tail feathers or a high crossing shot and neither is good.
In my younger days I killed a lot of flying turkeys in the fall. I also "missed" some that probably died later from the shot I put in them. A bird flying straight at you is relatively easy to kill because the vitals are more exposed. A crossing bird isn't bad IF you have the lead just right. A going away bird is a cripple waiting to happen. I'm not as hungry as I once was. I'll still kill a bird I just happen onto without a second thought if it gives me a good shot. Just like I'll kill a deer when I'm walking between my treestand and my truck if I get the chance. But unless its a close bird flying straight at me, I won't shoot one flying anymore. The chance of crippling it is just way to high.
Really? If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.
Not a fan either. Free pass on flying birds. I don't want them injured and dying later.
Quote from: dejake on June 16, 2017, 07:11:44 PM
Really? If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.
Around here a lot of guys that have hunted turkeys for longer then most guys on this forum don't even own a call. Up until 15 years ago or so I knew very few people who called to turkeys, but tons of guys that hunted them (in the fall). I love calling turkeys, but I'm not going to put down someone who doesn't hunt the way I like to. I do feel that you have to be very careful with your shot on a flying bird and it's not my style anymore, but I'm not going to try to take anything away from someone who does it. We are all hunters here. This is a turkey hunting forum, not a turkey calling forum.
farmboy well said. alot of folks here are so quick to throw stones. it cracks me up.
I killed maybe 6 in the Fall flying. They all crashed back to earth. All were shot with my turkey gun and choke combo.
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Back in "the day" I took a couple on the wing very cleanly.
Back then there were two very big differences.................. Number 1: #2 lead was a legal load. When I was a kid, that's what EVERYBODY used, spring or fall. It is very effective. Now it is very illegal in my home state. Number 2: I was not a very accomplished caller 35 years ago. When I started fall hunting, I don't even think I knew what a kee-kee was..............
Fast forward to today...................... I could care less to shoot a turkey at all as to shoot one on the wing. If it's flying, it's gonna land somewhere and I'll call it back from there and shoot it. But my bottom line is that it IS still legal to shoot one on the wing.......................... So (just like shooting a fall bird with a rifle) just because it doesn't interest ME, personally, does not mean that I'll tear another guy down for doing it his way.....................
Just being able to flush a turkey and get a close shot sounds like a lot of fun to me. Then I would wait and try to call them in.
There's a big difference between turkey hunting and turkey shooting. Turkey shooting fills a tag, turkey hunting fills a need, but that's just me.
Just being able to flush a turkey and get a close shot sounds like a lot of fun to me. Then I would wait and try to call them in.
Quote from: dejake on June 16, 2017, 07:11:44 PM
Really? If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.
Butterballs don't fly.
Quote from: stinkpickle on June 17, 2017, 10:25:24 AM
Quote from: dejake on June 16, 2017, 07:11:44 PM
Really? If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.
Butterballs don't fly.
Lol. I was thinking the same thing.
Good replys here-- respect to all. Potter is right--- shooting a flying wild turkey is alot of fun. I grew up hunting pheasants up here in the North East-- so it comes natural. Love calling them up in the Fall also. I do both. One of my fav Fall turkey hunting pics is from-- TURKEY HUNTERS DIGEST by the late Dwain Blain. He stepped out from a old shed and flushed a flock and took one down with an old black powder shotgun. He called it--Easy Pickins. I agree.
Actually, Butterballs do fly; after you tell "pull".
Quote from: dejake on June 17, 2017, 01:08:45 PM
Actually, Butterballs do fly; after you tell "pull".
That would scare the crap outta everybody else in the grocery store.
I guess one point that is worth mentioning is that young poults are wayyyyyy easier to kill than a big ole feather bound tough old gobbler. As for my fall hunting I have not shot a poult in years. I concentrate on fall gobblers first, an adult hen or a poult gobbler as my last choice.
I've run all kinds of dogs my whole life n never had the prob. Don't let my hounds trash and most of the time turkey don't hang out where bird dogs are. Chances of one hoping you pass em by it seems are small. All that being said if some some reason it happened I'd never take em. Just not for me. Obviously I'm not referring to turkey doggin. That actually looks like fun. A couple of my fav things. Turkey hunting n well trained dogs, who could beat that.
back in my younger days I have busted a few fall birds as they take flight ,,, they would do block cuts of the game lands in spring and by fall their was always small bushes with berries on them the turkey went crazy over them and in fall after leaves fell you could hear them scratching around in clear cuts ,, we would still hunt them basically get within 20 30 yrd at that range they was pretty easy knock down ,,,say what u will but was still a better time then , I would guess sitting in the middle of a field in a blind Ha
Quote from: 1iagobblergetter on June 16, 2017, 01:58:41 PM
I've never hunted turkeys with dogs only have called them to the gun spring and fall. I have read and talked to a few turkey doggers about it...my jist of it is the dogs flush them and then they are called back in to the gun. Maybe that's why your success rate isn't the best. In my opinion following up at a crippled flying Turkey is one thing,but purposely hunting them by wingshooting wouldn't be my style of hunting them. I wouldn't trust I would cleanly kill them and I enjoy calling them spring and fall to much for that. I know guys that thoroughly enjoy driving them like deer and hunting them in the fall,but that ain't my style either. Hunting behind trained dogs that flush them then calling the flushed turkeys back to the gun would be a blast and would probably surpass my going out and just plain calling them in,but I also throughly enjoy watching a good trained hunting dog do what they were bred to do...
x2 I sure enjoy watching a good dog work whether it's for pheasant or raccoons there noses amaze me.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on June 16, 2017, 02:26:56 PM
I dont care if I walk up on one inadvertently while hunting and he takes flight or if I call one up and he figures out the gig is up and takes flight; he ain't getting any TSS or hevi-shot headed his way. I don't believe in skill-less or opportunistic kills. He earned the right to gobble another day and I tip my hat to him.
:agreed:
I have no desire to shoot a turkey on the wing. If it's legal and you want to, have at it. Not thinking I could get my heavy turkey gun to swing properly, get scope on his head and then precede to rattle his noggin at 30 yards with a 15" pattern if I wanted to.
How about addressing missing 36% of birds you shot at? 115 for 180 are Stevie Wonder like #'s How many crept off to die in the woods unfound ? For someone so into turkey hunting and appreciating them so much. Put your gun on paper, different loads, different tubes and practice a bunch Think of all the turkey loads /choke tubes or dedicated turkey gun you could have bought versus the $800 book on turkey
Well, I don't agree with everything here- but respect to all.
90% of the posters on this forum don't hunt Fall turkey. So who cares what some of you think? I don't. Some states don't have Fall seasons and some states have short seasons. If a guy busts one after it flys up from under foot,congratulations. Now its family time again.
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Read some of Roger Latham's stuff, he didn't hesitate to shoot one on the wing in the fall. In his time when you called them back after the flush you tried to flush them again so they would take flight, it wasn't considered sporting if you didn't. I say hunt them how you want, just know what the chances of a cripple are and have a dog that can retrieve.
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I have killed a few flying but flushed many more that got the tip of my hat as they left the premises :camohat:
Both my Brother in laws have hunted turkeys in the past-- but no longer do due to medical conditions. Mark took many Fall turkeys on the wing. But Bill only took 1 wild turkey in his life. I am glad that his dog-CODY- a golden retriever flushed up a flock of turkeys while we were pheasant hunting. It was a station 8 high house type of shot. Down came a jenny! Again-- I am glad that he got his one and only turkey.
Used to when populations were up.
Kansas had 4 bird limit shoot same day if wanted. Low pheasant kill one day so 4of us got 16 turkey.
Jumped by Brittanys .toms ,jakes and jennie some were taken on the ground.Lots of fun with lots and lots of turkey.Shooting in the air is not that difficult , just pick your shot and shoot for eyeballs and they don't do much but fall to the ground.
One Fall day, I remember that the combine had just finished the afternoon before with harvesting corn. I gave the turkeys time to make it to the field with all the excess corn on the ground.They were close when I got to that field edge from a woodsroad. One hen that was some ways to left left of the whole group saw me. I flushed the flock and had a perfect shot at a hen as she crossed and flew in front of me. Her crop was just busting with corn. Think I made a wingbone from one of her wings that very day.
I've shot at a handful on the fly, not one has been recovered, at this stage of the game I'm not shooting at them unless they are on the ground. I'm a decent shot at the trap range, not sure what the problem is, but I've seen feathers fly enough time without a bird dropping, that I'm not interested in trying to kill them this way. My theory is two-fold: 1). Turkey choke is too tight 2). Shot is too small (you don't shoot at geese with #4-6 shot, and turkeys are even bigger). I know guys kill them on the fly, it's definitely do-able, just doesn't work out too well for me.
Not sure why turkeys should get a pass on being shot on the wing. if you are confident in your wingshooting abilities, go for it, if not....watch them fly away...., and most important of all, don't worry about how others legally hunt.
I shot one flying one morning in the spring. We had seen him while we were headed back to the truck on a rainy opening day and we knew he was likely headed to one of two places so we each hot footed to those spots. Just as I went to sit down a hen came by and spooked. The tom followed her and I missed him running at about 10 steps. He took off and I thought to myself, let him get out where it is just a simple passing goose shot and I folded him with a head and neck shot - just like goose hunting. Easy peasy. Was probably only my 3rd or 4th spring bird. He tasted fine.
I shot a flying fall Osceola with a 30-30 back in the 80s. My dad shot one with a 22Mag flying. I was not a turkey hunter then, I was a deer hunter and it was meat. Day after Thanksgiving.
Quote from: Uncle Nicky on June 26, 2017, 07:51:16 AM
I've shot at a handful on the fly, not one has been recovered, at this stage of the game I'm not shooting at them unless they are on the ground. I'm a decent shot at the trap range, not sure what the problem is, but I've seen feathers fly enough time without a bird dropping, that I'm not interested in trying to kill them this way. My theory is two-fold: 1). Turkey choke is too tight 2). Shot is too small (you don't shoot at geese with #4-6 shot, and turkeys are even bigger). I know guys kill them on the fly, it's definitely do-able, just doesn't work out too well for me.
I like that attitude. If you aren't comfortable with a shot,don't take it. As for the rest of post shoot him in the eye ball. Concentration on that eye it is your target ! Use a load of 4's , better for wing busting and you can shuck one into the chamber quitely after you get to walking . Keep your range and pass on the up the pipe shots. A lot easier shots are when you can see the eyes.
Quoteyou don't shoot at geese with #4-6 shot,
I have killed honkers with #3 steel many times. Like Owl said, you are shooting at the eye (I actually look at the bill). #4 lead would be poison on geese. But if I know we are targeting honkers, I use BB or #2 if there are ducks around.
But all you said is correct and not all turkey hunters are hard core wingshooters (I am more of a wing shooter than anything).
I grew up quail and grouse hunting with English setters and Brittany spaniels and in the fall if your bird dog flushed turkeys, those where the slowest easiest targets we had. I have personally never missed a flying turkey, but fall hunting we was always walking or standing when they flushed and wasn't crouched down against a tree in an uncomfortable position. Don't have any dogs any more, grouse or quail either so I primarily stick to the spring gobbler season now.