Some Toms wear Kevlar

[Duckdogdad]

Shot at a bird...23 steps...he was framed by two trees...head up...looking right at me...boom...flys away unhurt...not a feather missing..not a feather on the ground. Bark inside of both trees skinned off 22-26 inches from ground. Bird was right in middle between the two trees...totally mystified. Tell me what happened because I don't know.

[aclawrence]

Dang that stinks. Especially when you don't get too many opportunities to squeeze off on one and then that happens.


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[Ihuntoldschool]

Missed him.   

It happens.  No Kevlar.
We've all missed before.
Forget about it and go kill the next one.

[runngun]

Happens to us all sooner or later. Been there did that, except I only had one tree about 6 inches round, Longbeard beside it 25 steps and thats pushing the distance. Putted one time, popped his head up, BOOM!!! And he walked out of my dreams forever. Pellets about chopped down the tree. Softball size pattern!!! And it was a heart pounding hunt as well.

If a man says that he ain't never missed a turkey, he ain't hunted enough, or killed very many, OR he's LYING to you.

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[Yoder409]

I call it "divine intervention".

I don't miss.  Only three times that I can think of in 45 years worth of spring seasons.  Two of those were brutally easy to explain.  Once I shot off a sumac tree I had an hour to look for but never saw,  Once I mis-chambered a grossly incorrect shotshell into my gun. 

And then.............. the OTHER one.   Called a longbeard and a jake right up out of a small draw in big, mature timber.  Like shooting down a fairway at Pebble Beach.  Absolutely NOTHING between the muzzle of my Super X2 and the standing bird.  36-37 yards.  Gun on my shooting stick.  My back against a centuries old oak.....heels solidly dug into the soft dirt.   Took a breath.  Squeezed like I was shooting a sandbagged rifle from a benchrest.  The gun went off.  The turkeys ran..........and KEPT running.  Not a drop of blood.  Not a cut feather.  Not NOTHING.   There was NO WAY that I missed that bird.......except I did.

To this very day, I have NO explanation.....reasonable or otherwise.....except that the Lord shielded that bird from 2 ounces of #6's at 1300 fps.   Beyond that, I got nothin'

[Sir-diealot]

First thing I would do is make sure your gun did not get bumped and mess up your aiming devise whatever that may be.

[Turkeybutt]

It happens to us all. I'll go with what Yoder said, "divine intervention".
It keeps us humble.
Shake it off, don't dwell on it, check out the gun and go get the next one!

[King Cobra]

Missed him.   

It happens.  No Kevlar.
We've all missed before.
Forget about it and go kill the next one.

X2

Happens to us all sooner or later. Been there did that, except I only had one tree about 6 inches round, Longbeard beside it 25 steps and thats pushing the distance. Putted one time, popped his head up, BOOM!!! And he walked out of my dreams forever. Pellets about chopped down the tree. Softball size pattern!!! And it was a heart pounding hunt as well.

If a man says that he ain't never missed a turkey, he ain't hunted enough, or killed very many, OR he's LYING to you.

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[TrackeySauresRex]

Missed him.   

It happens.  No Kevlar.
We've all missed before.
Forget about it and go kill the next one.

X2

Happens to us all sooner or later. Been there did that, except I only had one tree about 6 inches round, Longbeard beside it 25 steps and thats pushing the distance. Putted one time, popped his head up, BOOM!!! And he walked out of my dreams forever. Pellets about chopped down the tree. Softball size pattern!!! And it was a heart pounding hunt as well.

If a man says that he ain't never missed a turkey, he ain't hunted enough, or killed very many, OR he's LYING to you.

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Yup.. ^ what they said.

Hit the range and shoot it again for sure. Nobody wants that in a season. Last year it happened to me. Sometimes we just whiff.

[Dtrkyman]

I missed one last year, nothing between us but air, no clue how I missed but I didn't even touch him, right at 40 yards so a nice sized pattern.


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[Zobo]

Blown Pattern

[owlhoot]

Blown Pattern

Yep one small twig can do it

[austinc]

Happens to us all sooner or later. Been there did that, except I only had one tree about 6 inches round, Longbeard beside it 25 steps and thats pushing the distance. Putted one time, popped his head up, BOOM!!! And he walked out of my dreams forever. Pellets about chopped down the tree. Softball size pattern!!! And it was a heart pounding hunt as well.

If a man says that he ain't never missed a turkey, he ain't hunted enough, or killed very many, OR he's LYING to you.

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I did same thing last year! Had a bird at 25-27 yards strutting behind a 3" tree about half way between us. Had a hen about 15 yards to me 10 o clock and i'm sure he was gonna follow her, but I just got impatient, and decided I could see his head on the right side of the tree,  I should be able to kill him.  Put the dot on his head and squeezed the trigger... and I dead centered the tree and he flew off 

[Old Swamper]

Unless its 10yrds an in, nobody "misses" with a shotgun. He's taking hits some where, and anyone who does not believe that is sadly mistaken. One who truly respects them, will not take low probability shots , or shoot past 40yrds, and even if he runs or flies off seemingly unscathed, they will still make a real effort to at least spend time 'looking". Sadly, there are very few turkey "hunters" left in the ranks these days.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Easier to miss than you think. 

23 steps pattern still pretty tight. 
If he was hit at that close of range he would have been rolled , feathers flying...

We can sit here and Monday morning quarterback and diagnose until we're blue in the face.

It's a miss, that simple.  Blown pattern,  twig who really knows?

If I had to GUESS, shot sailed high over his head..

Body hit bird would have been rolled at 23 steps.