Most bizarre or unorthodox way you've killed a bird?

[coyotetrpr]

Good buddy of mine and I were hunting on my friends cattle farm when we spooked a nice gobbler. The bird ran up the hill right into a 3-sided corral. As we cested the hill imagne the shock of seeing the bird that you thought you lost. The bird eventually made its way out but by that time it was too late. First bird my friend had shot in 6 years.

[jblackburn]

I've killed many more in "untraditional" ways than I have by sitting against a tree at daylight and calling one off the limb.

Most involved some element of belly crawling (aka, the Missouri Sneak) for as shot and/or better position.

Probably the weirdest was in 2005 in central MO.  A buddy and I roosted a couple near a creek bottom, but overnight really bad weather - wind, rain, sleet, moved in.  We really had to convince ourselves to even go out, but since we knew where they were, we went anyway.

At daylight we were greeted with one half hearted gobble from about 60 yards away and then some soft tree yelping at 30 yards from a hen we did not know was there.  We sat still and quiet well after "normal" flydown, I guess the birds were not overly excited about the crappy weather.  They pitched down and wanted nothing to do with our calling.  We watched them move off and I had an idea they would go to the nearby cattle pasture bottom to feed and watch for predators.

We made our way to the edge of the woods, and sure enough there they were; two gobblers and one hen.  Between us and them was a steep hill leading up from the bottom.  We set up on the edge of the field anticipating they would walk the fence line up the hill if they were interested.

Well, turkeys being turkeys, they had their own plan.  Suddenly, one of the gobblers took off flying at us!  In a panic (ignorance, really) I shot and whiffed.  It landed in a tree about 20 yards away and my friend leveled him.  In the meantime, the other gobbler flew in and landed in the SAME spot and I rolled him out of the tree.  They were both nice 2 year old gobblers and to this day is my only double with him!  On as side note, it is perfectly legal in MO to shoot a turkey out of a tree as long as it is not where it roosted the night before.

Another memorable hunt was the first time I took a kid hunting during MO's youth season.  It started off very normal.  Two gobblers pitched down in a field and headed straight for my brand new jake mobile decoy.  Now, the hunter was 8 years old and was accompanied by his 17 year old cousin, who was my student when I was a high school Ag teacher.  The 8 year old was shooting a single shot 20 that we had patterned good to 30 yards.

The two gobblers rushed in and waylaid my decoy, I mean flat out kicked the crap out of it.  The silk tail went flying one way, the decoy the other and they kept at it.  I guess all the excitement got the better out of the hunter, he shot and I watched the wad sail over one of the birds at 20 yards.  Like 8 feet high.  Remember that single shot part . . . Well, the 17 year old had the extra shells in his pocket!  I was about 20 yards behind them watching in dismay as both gobblers went straight up in the air at the shot, landed and continued to beat my decoy! Then, I saw the 17 year old frantically digging for another shell . . . the birds still did not care!  Finally a shell was dug out of a pocket and when the break open 20 gauge was cracked one of the birds began to be VERY suspicion of all the extra activity under the cedar tree and began to move away.  As the action was slammed shut, the hunter beaded on the other bird (which was the same one that was missed) and rolled him into a pile of feathers!  If I remember correctly, this north MO bird was over 24 pounds!

[jblackburn]

Not a hunt but an odd encounter from 2007 or so.

I was in graduate school in Kentucky and went back to MO to visit after the spring semester, which was during turkey season.  I was too poor to buy the out of state tags, so I would stand outside at the inlaws house and listen to the gobbling.  My brother in law killed one the morning we had to leave, and it was a story. He shot (too far) and managed to wound one and chased it down and finished it off with a stick.

We just left their house to head back toward Lexington, when I saw a gobbler in the road.  He tried to cut left to the woods, but was blocked by a woven wire fence.  I slammed the brakes and caught him!  He was a full grown gobbler, inch spurs, 20 lbs ish and a 9 inch beard. I got in the back of the truck and we went back to show off my catch and release gobbler!  I used to raise chickens and turkeys when I was in high school, so I knew how to handle them so they don't get hurt or hurt me.  Control wings and legs and you are likely in business, they rarely peck.  I think I have pictures of this somewhere.

[Curtis-UGA]

Had a gobbler and 3 hens in the middle of a 100 acre pasture in Missouri. The wind was howling so he couldn't hear my calling (not that he was gonna leave his hens).  Gobbler went behind a blow down (only tree in the pasture) and I sprinted to it about 400 yds and shot him before he could see me.

[Blong]

 

Had a gobbler and 3 hens in the middle of a 100 acre pasture in Missouri. The wind was howling so he couldn't hear my calling (not that he was gonna leave his hens).  Gobbler went behind a blow down (only tree in the pasture) and I sprinted to it about 400 yds and shot him before he could see me.

He woulda had to have been behind it a loooong time for me to make it 400 yds!

[zelmo1]

  Last year, my hunting buddy Joe, aka the turkey whisperer, called a very very shy tom to me with the help of his little brother pushing big brother to his demise. This is not the strange part. Joe and I split up after lunch and took some other friends out. I saw 3 birds cross the tote road and put a sneak on them. They were down in the hollow below us. I put out 2 of the old featherflex hen decoys that I started hunting with and started to call. Remember that this is the exact spot where I shot one in the morning and that bird was very shy. The 3 birds started to gobble and ran in. They circled one of the decoys, brushing their chest against her. It was weird but awesome. They were average 2 year olds and I wanted to hold out for a limb hanger. I didn't even have my gun fully mounted. Then, the most aggressive of the bunch knocked her down and started to mount my decoy. I have daughters and my paternal instinct took over and I ended the perverts reign. Average bird but a good experience. We laughed all the way to the truck. Al Baker

[WildTigerTrout]

what's the most unorthodox or bizarre way you've killed  a bird?

Killed one without a blind or decoy one time.

I have NEVER killed one with a blind or decoy. I guess the way most guys hunt today that would be considered unorthodox!

[boatpaddle]

Standing up, in the middle of tapping a kidney....

[chcltlabz]

What a great thread.  Just about every one of these stories brings back memories of some hunt.  Some turkey hunts, some other hunts.

[BHMTitan]

Early in this past season, I got setup close on a couple of gobblers roosted on the side of this long ridge line.  A few light calls and they both flew out and strutted to me.  I took what looked to be the biggest.  Giving the spot a rest for a few days, I came back to hunt the other gobbler.  I hunted him a couple of times, he was much more leery; he'd gobble, come close enough for me to see him, but never close enough for a shot.

One morning he roosted at the top of the ridge, and never budged.  Giving him the silent treatment for about 30 minutes, he still had not moved.  After a while he quit gobbling.  I decided to move to the top of the ridge.  At the top, there was an old logging road than ran the length of the ridge, opening up into a big open area with high tower power lines. 

Slipping down the logging road I get to the opening where the power lines are.  I expect to see him strutting in the opening, but he is not there.  I take a few more steps and to my left I hear flopping.  I see the gobble flying out of the trees, gliding across the opening.  Too far for a shot, I just stand watching him sail across... UNTIL..... he hits the power line!  With a loud twang, I see him loop-d-loop around the powerline, having his wing snagged on the line.  He does one and a half loops, then breaks free, and tumbles to the ground.  Dead as a door nail when I get to him.

[hobbes]

Years ago my dad had a flock of poults along with mama flush from the edge of a motorcycle trail in LBL as he rode by.  One of the poults hit him square in the chest protector he was wearing.  When I rode up the bird was flopping dead in the trail.  The poult was bigger than a quail but couldn't have been flying for long.

[Deputy 14]

I had an odd one when I was younger. Had hunted the morning up until about 10 with no luck, my uncle wanted to try one more spot which is a logging road that went around a long point. So me and a friend drop him off, go to the other end of the road and park. I got out and called, nothing answers so we decide to look for some mushrooms. We walked about 50 yards from the truck and looked for a bout 10 min when my buddy looks toward the truck and I think he's having a seizure pointing and mumbling. When I look up I see a gobbler in full strut standing right beside the driver door, of course guns are in it so we watch the bird strut and he goes around to the passenger side. We run up the hill, I grab my gun, put a shell in it and my buddy walks around the back and puts on a "turkey drive". Bird runs by the truck and starts down the ridge road in front of me where I put a fine straight away shot on him. Definitely an odd hunt.

[DAk28]

On a hunting trip in Texas we got in late the night before opening day to an old ranch house in the middle of no where, I couldn't see a tree tall enough to support a bird for miles. After a short night with little sleep because a cow kept licking the bedroom window we got ready to hunt. The landowner took the other guys out in a truck to the back side of the ranch, and my dad and I set out on foot in the opposite direction. Our plan was to just walk the ranch road until daylight and hopefully hear a bird and work it. Probably a mile down the road we saw something on a telephone pole a couple hundred yards away. It was just getting daylight and the various birds started to wake up, and then a gobble came from atop the telephone pole. We both looked at each other with complete disbelief, and then scrambled to find a place to set up. I stayed out front in a little opening along the road and my dad stayed back. After a few soft calls from my dad we watched that bird lift off that pole and sore to the same little opening I was in. He only got to stand on the ground long enough for me to find him in my scope. After it was over and we made it back to ranch house the landowner said yeah where else would he roost. I guess it's common down there. all 4 of us limited out in 3 days on turkey to complete our Rio part of the grand slam.

[Deputy 14]

Then, the most aggressive of the bunch knocked her down and started to mount my decoy. I have daughters and my paternal instinct took over and I ended the perverts reign. Average bird but a good experience. We laughed all the way to the truck. Al Baker

Hahahaha. That made me pee my pants a little.

[El Pavo Grande]

Not really unorthodox, but an interesting hunt that comes to mind is one from 7 or 8 years ago.  In the brief version I was set up on a gobbler on the roost.  I had a coyote sneak in from behind me, so I spooked it off.  About 10 minutes later another cpyote came in where the first one came from.  I spooked it and it ran down into the hollow where the first one ran.  The gobbler flies down and comes in on a string, his big thick beard swinging as he closed the distance.  I cluck to stop him at about 25 steps.  Boom!!  He flies off, but lands in a tree about 40 yards down the hill.  The squirrel hunt begins...I slip down the hill and spot the gobbler about 30 feet high in the tree.  He would raise his head and peak through a fork in the tree, then lower it's head to hide.  Afraid he was about to fly off, I shot when he raised his head.  He didn't move.  Thinking he is dead I am now trying to figure out how to get him out of the tree.  About 5 minutes go by.  He hasn't moved and I have walked all around the tree.  I plan to ascend the tree when all of a sudden the gobbler pitches out and sails down into the hollow towards the direction the Coyotes had ran.  I hear him either crash or light in a tree.  I wait about 15 minutes as I listen, then ease down to look for him.  Found nothing and walk back up the hill about 30 minutes later.  But, I had not heard him fly off at any point, so I went back down into the hollow.  I found him dead, feathers and blood everywhere.  Beard was gone, one breast exposed and a large chunk out of the breast.  No pellets in breast.  No way of knowing what happened, but I wondered if he fell from the sky and one of the coyotes saw an easy meal.  I never did find any trace of the beard.