My dumbest stunts, my journey of learning to turkey hunt -post yours

[GobbleNut]

I have done a lot of dumb stuff over the decades, but the one incident that always comes to mind for me if someone asks about the dumbest is this one:

I mentioned in another thread that it took me about ten years of "on and off" hunting spring gobblers to kill my first one by calling him in.  That would very likely have happened in my second year when I was about fourteen, as I recall,...if I had a clue as to what I was doing.

One afternoon, my dad dropped me and my brother-in-law off at the bottom of a canyon high in the mountains of New Mexico.  I had an old scratch box call that I didn't have an idea how to use, but we walked up the canyon a bit, sat down against a big pine tree, and I started scratching out what I am quite sure were the gawd-awfullest turkey noises ever uttered by mankind. 

I don't remember how long we sat there,...it's all foggy now five decades later,...but all I remember is that all of a sudden a gobble rang out so close it literally made us both jump.  In my mind now, I am pretty certain that gobbler would have died had I had the presence of mind just to be still and wait for him to appear.

In my delirium of the moment, my reaction was,..."that gobbler is so close I can just jump up and run over there and shoot him".  ...Which is exactly what I did,...except for the "shooting him" part.  I jumped up, ran in the direction of the gobble,....and never saw or heard him again. 

To this day, that gobble haunts me in my sleep!....   

[Happy]

I will also throw out that I once swung wide right and shot a gobbler 1 handed with a mossy 835 and 3.5" shells. That wasn't too bright. Not sure who bled more.

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[guesswho]

I will also throw out that I once swung wide right and shot a gobbler 1 handed with a mossy 835 and 3.5" shells. That wasn't too bright. Not sure who bled more.

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Ah, that reminded me of another mishap.   Won't go into details because I've heard a picture is worth a thousand words.  And 999 of those words I couldn't use on this forum to describe this turkey hunting mishap anyway.

[Happy]

I will also throw out that I once swung wide right and shot a gobbler 1 handed with a mossy 835 and 3.5" shells. That wasn't too bright. Not sure who bled more.

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Ah, that reminded me of another mishap.   Won't go into details because I've heard a picture is worth a thousand words.  And 999 of those words I couldn't use on this forum to describe this turkey hunting mishap anyway.

i bet that watered the eyes a bit!

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[guesswho]

And dirtied my mouth?

[Hooksfan]

I have had my share of dumb mistakes, but one of the funniest spectacles I have experienced, I was glad to just be a witness to. It was nearly 30 years ago, and a couple buddies of mine convinced a fella that had a lease in Texas that I could call some birds in for him. We worked out an arrangement that I would call him in a bird and then I would get to shoot the next. Sounded like a sweet deal for me at the time. The second morning of the hunt turned off a little cool by hill country Texas standards and the ole fella had donned some light camo coveralls.
About mid morning, he announced he had to answer a call and disappeared into the mesquite behind us. He returned a little while later and sat back down. He hadn't gotten settled in real good when he did a little wiggle and then jumped straight up and lit into a cussing tirade worthy of Olympic proportions.He walked back into the mesquite and was gone a little longer this time. When he returned, he no longer had those coveralls in his possession. I never said a word and itvwas all I could do to try to keep a straight face.
So......my advice I learned the hard way through someone else is that if you ever wear coveralls Turkey hunting Nd have to answer the call, you might wanna make sure ya leave nature in the nature instead of your coveralls!

[Cut N Run]

I was running late one morning, but had roosted a great big gobbler at my old lease the night before and wanted another crack at him.  He'd walked by me on the wrong side of a tree and rather than try a wild swing shot, I chose to sit tight, let him walk, and try him another day.  Well, this was that other day. I was working my way toward the already gobbling bird, though he flew down faster than I expected. Luck was on my side that I happened to be next to a good sized oak tree.  I floated out a couple clucks and immediately got a gobble back.  He was headed my way. Pretty soon, I caught a glimpse of a black blob passing through the underbrush to my left, and could hear him drum, so I eased the safety off.  He stepped out from behind a tree and I settled the bead under his head...CLICK!  In my haste to get there, I'd forgotten to load the gun.  The gobbler heard the sound but hadn't busted me. My hand scrambled through my vest pocket and I grabbed the first shell I felt.  I slid the action open as quietly as possible and the gobbler still wasn't on to me, but he wasn't totally relaxed either.  I chambered the round and tried to close the bolt without that familiar, loud Benelli click.  Except the bolt wouldn't close.  I was still looking at the gobbler, who by now, knew something was up, and was starting to drift off.  I struggled to close the bolt before the gobbler was gone out of range. Then, I looked down and realized that I'd accidentally loaded a round disposable lighter into the chamber instead of turkey shell.

I still carry a lighter with me by force of habit and for safety's sake (I don't smoke, though you never know when you might need to build a fire).  But, it is never a round lighter and it is always carried in an inside pocket, away from ammo.

I never did kill that bird, even though I had him inside 35 yards twice...  I hope he made plenty more just like him.

Jim

[Tunaguy]

Here's one of my dumb ones- My buddy and I had hunted one of two new properties we leased most of the morning with no luck. At 11:00(we could only hunt till 12:00) we decided to drive over to the other property. We parked on the road and walked in about 50 yards. Standing straight up I sent out a couple yelps on the pot call. Boom fifty feet away a bird gobbles! Where are the guns you might ask? You know it. Even though I  was able to crawl back to the car and retrieve my gun and get back to my partner the gobbler would answer back to our lame calls and sit tight . He finally was able to beat the 12:00 whistle. Once we stood up we saw him look at us and take off. Moral- take your gun with you and shells too.

[Tom007]

My dumbest stunt/move regarding turkey hunting was I started in 1982. I wish I started earlier in life. I promise, I will make up for that now. I try to hunt several states, everyday that I wake up.....be safe best of luck...

[saltysenior]

the dumbest move I ever made was when I started turkey hunting('75)..walking around the woods near Salem Crossroad , S.C., yelping like a jerk , I heard a gobble....headed that way and came to a 4 ac. logging deck w/ a strutting bird in the center.....also heard yelping that the tom answered , but never seen the hen....I ,of course yelped my head off , and the bird went the other way and into the woods...after a few minutes the ''Hen'' stood up from his hide......If you are on this forum and read this, I sincerely apologize 

[Hwd silvestris]

My 8 year old son at the time was having one of those seasons where you do no wrong.  They ones that only come once every 5-6 years where just in the right place at right time. He had already killed two on the first week in season on our first two hunts. We are hunting the 3rd hunt in afternoon and strike two birds.  They came strutting in and I told home which one to stay on that seemed to be the better bird.  He has always wanted to shoot 1,2 boom.  I told him No and to just shoot when ready and I would deal with what's left causeI didn't want him to rush his shot.  He shot and his flopped.  I shot and mine flopped.  We went out to look at the birds check the spurs we high fiving, hugging as this was our first and only double thus far.   I went back to the tree and was getting our stuff together and he was hollering "dad" in a whispering type voice. I look up and my bird is trotting off with a slight limp.  I couldn't shoot because my son was between me and the turkey.  So I run past my son to shoot and missed that rascal 4 times. Lil did I know his wing was broke and he was boogered up pretty good. The woods were so thick that he kept getting hung up from the wing not being able to fold up.  I was able to go put my hands on him after I emptied my gun and ran after him.   I learned to keep my gun with me at all times.  This was only 2 springs ago ?.   

[WV Flopper]

 Hunting before work when I was 18. I locked my keys in the car. When I got back to my car I reached in my pocket and they weren't there. Looked in side, there they are, in the ignition.  I needed that job! Picked up a rock and opened a window so I would not be late. Worked for free that day.

Around the same time I had a friend that hunted pretty hard. He woke up and it was getting daylight out. He grabbed his gear and out the door. We always had a spot close, so that's where he went too. He told me that he set there for what must have been two hours before he realized a super bright full moon had doped him.

He was tired after setting there, retreated back to his house and fell asleep. This time he was late when he woke up. Pretty sure he didn't even bother after that.

I always liked that second story.

[Ctrize]

In my younger days when driving twenty hours to turkey hunt was a piece of cake.I decided to leave right after work for South Dakota.Some where in the middle of the night in the middle of the Illinois I noticed a building in the middle of nowhere.I thought it was cool as it broke up the monotony of the road.While I struggled to stay awake,I glanced over to see the building lights still there and thought that has to be the longest building I have ever seen.As I stared into the darkness admiring the lights it finally hit me I was watching a train.

[FullChoke]

A buddy and I were hunting together one morning when we heard a bird gobble way off. We grabbed our stuff and took off in his direction. We finally came up on a field out in the woods and the gobbler was on the far side of it with about 8 hens who were completely ignoring him. I eventually called the whole group to us by backtalking the hens. I was sitting cross legged and my buddy had squatted next to a tree. His legs were completely numb and mine had gone to sleep. The hens came right to us with the gobbler about 40 yards behind. We waited as long as we could and both of us shot the bird at the same time. He shot again and my gun wouldn't shuck the shell. (Who knew that this would happen when you shoot a 3" shell in a 2-3/4 shotgun?) The bird was flopping in the field so I jumped up to run to him and both of my legs were not obeying what my brain was saying. I was hopping out to him when he got his feet under him and up came his head. I swapped ends on the gun, executing a classic ten-finger golf grip on the barrel, head down, back swing, left arm straight, shift weight and a perfect follow through sent his head solidly into the ground. I grabbed him by the head and he proceeded to beat the snot out of me with his wings. I hobbled back over to where my buddy still sat. As I got there, he says "Man, yer gun." Turned out that when I went all Jack Nicklaus on that bird's hard head with my 12 wood, it completely splintered the stock of that Ithaca. Now, I try to just kill them dead without having to execute a followup.

[eggshell]

A buddy and I were hunting together one morning when we heard a bird gobble way off. We grabbed our stuff and took off in his direction. We finally came up on a field out in the woods and the gobbler was on the far side of it with about 8 hens who were completely ignoring him. I eventually called the whole group to us by backtalking the hens. I was sitting cross legged and my buddy had squatted next to a tree. His legs were completely numb and mine had gone to sleep. The hens came right to us with the gobbler about 40 yards behind. We waited as long as we could and both of us shot the bird at the same time. He shot again and my gun wouldn't shuck the shell. (Who knew that this would happen when you shoot a 3" shell in a 2-3/4 shotgun?) The bird was flopping in the field so I jumped up to run to him and both of my legs were not obeying what my brain was saying. I was hopping out to him when he got his feet under him and up came his head. I swapped ends on the gun, executing a classic ten-finger golf grip on the barrel, head down, back swing, left arm straight, shift weight and a perfect follow through sent his head solidly into the ground. I grabbed him by the head and he proceeded to beat the snot out of me with his wings. I hobbled back over to where my buddy still sat. As I got there, he says "Man, yer gun." Turned out that when I went all Jack Nicklaus on that bird's hard head with my 12 wood, it completely splintered the stock of that Ithaca. Now, I try to just kill them dead without having to execute a followup.