school of thought

[daddylongspurs]

alright let me preface this by saying I been Turkey Hunting in the south for 28 years. Ive killed a "couple"  but this weekend my and a few other "seasoned" turkey vets. were having a conversation about how turkeys react after a miss, or when one of their buddies is shot next to him. here goes.

A. will they hang out in that area all season? or leave.
B. will they get lock jaw?
C. are they killable?

the reason i ask is I had 2 long beards infront of my buddy who is a rookie, and he airballed one at 20yds. and they flew off in every direction. so what say yal?

[bird]

I don't believe they will leave the area or even get lock jaw after one miss or even a couple.  I think it takes a little more education to achieve the lock jaw or them leaving the area.  Thus one of the reasons why I don't like to move from my shooting position to go after a dead bird until all the other birds including the hens have left the area.  No sense in educating the birds in my opinion.   So yes I think you still have some birds that you will be able to kill.  You may of changed their routine or pattern for a few days but they will still be in the area.

jmo
bird

[lmbhngr]

I shot one last year and both birds flew away. I got a fistful of feathers off the one. They both roosted in the same spot, gobbled on the limb, but when they hit the ground they got lockjaw.

[FttFttVroom!]

I hunted a bird two years ago and bumped him right as he was about to go to roost.  The next morning, I set up close to him and he didn't fly down........he flew out of there on a line for a good hundred yards or so and onto the adjoining property.

[Struttin Spurs]

Last season I shot and missed a bird I had been watching for a couple days. The next morning I took my brother out and we set up in the exact same spot. The bird was roosting in the EXACT same tree, walked the EXACT same path, and began strutting in the EXACT same area. My brother didn't miss like me. Haha I couldnt believe it. Of  course there is no proving that it was the same bird, but I would bet that it was.
The bird was just a love sick two year old though. I'm sure it depends on alot of factors. I would say we just got extremelly lucky, but never say never. It can be done.

[PANYHunter]

A and C yes.  If you miss them clean and don't jump up or move they don't know what it is and will hang around, you may be able to call them back in.  It's not the BOOM that spooks them bad its the human that looks like a bush moving around.  

[Tail Feathers]

I've seen 'em jump on their downed buddy a few times.  I took two Rios at the same spot within a few minutes last year.  The came in together and I shot the first one.  The second one started to walk off real fast but a few yelps got him right back.
He stood on his downed buddy and strutted a while, gobbling his head off.  He strutted all over and gobbled a bunch and I decided he was worthy and had given me "the show" so I shot him too.
And I've missed one that flew off and probably didn't stop till he got to another state!

[hobbes]

Yes, No, and Yes

[daddylongspurs]

Ive always said and thought that reguardless of how bad they are spooked they will still stay in the area and are killable. we just had a healty discussion about it, and wanted to see what some other opinons are.

[guesswho]

A. will they hang out in that area all season? or leave.
 
Which ever they do, it has nothing to do with one of their buddies getting shot next to him.

B. will they get lock jaw?

No more than the rest of the turkey population.  Some days they knock the bark off the trees, other days they don't say much.

C. are they killable?

All birds are killable!

[Nimrodmar10]

Most animals don't react much to the sound of a shot because the sound is so short and usually isn't repeated. I don't think they can tell where the shot comes from if you don't move. Now if you cut feathers or kick dirt on them, they're going somewhere. Maybe directly at you.

If you shoot a bird and there's another gobbler with him, a lot of times they'll do what Tail Feathers said. If the shot bird is flopping I've seen them come over and flog the downed bird, peck at their heads or even mount them and try to breed them. No loyalty to each other at all.

Now if you kill the dominant bird in the area, that's a different story. I've learned that you can go back to the exact same place the next morning and have a very good chance of killing another good bird. Most of the lesser birds are afraid to gobble when the big boy is holding court. But when the subordinate birds don't hear the boss gobbling at day break they get a little braver. They'll start sounding off and try to outdo each other. And more times than not, one of them will come to the Boss Gobblers strutting zone to lay claim to it. Be near that zone and do a little sweet talking and you'll get a whack at the #2 bird in the area. But don't tell anyone. This is a secret.

[stinkpickle]

A. will they hang out in that area all season? or leave.
 
Which ever they do, it has nothing to do with one of their buddies getting shot next to him.

B. will they get lock jaw?

No more than the rest of the turkey population.  Some days they knock the bark off the trees, other days they don't say much.

C. are they killable?

All birds are killable!

Yep.

[daddylongspurs]

well let me back up, when the shot was fired my buddy jumped up like he had a cottonmouth in his seat. then they hauled  flying in all directions.  i am pretty guilty of jumping up and going fetch a bird after the shot.

[guesswho]

well let me back up, when the shot was fired my buddy jumped up like he had a cottonmouth in his seat. then they hauled  flying in all directions.  i am pretty guilty of jumping up and going fetch a bird after the shot.

A running bush will scare them a lot more than a loud boom.   

[redleg06]

One of my hunts last season we had a group of 3 longbeards that we got on and I ended up killing one of them at about 9 a.m. We went and grabbed some lunch and checked out a couple other areas before we came back and got one of the remaining two birds about 100yds from where I blasted his buddy earlier that day.

These birds were hot and some days in the turkey woods are just better than others...

There's nothing magical about these birds....they're all killable