Taking the safety off...spook a turkey?

[dzsmith]

If i can hear drumming, the safety comes off....if it dont work out I put it back on. Its that simple. Not enough opportunity anymore to lose any chance i get....The real safety is my finger and my brain. No i dont walk around with the safety off...but im not clicking it off with a turkey down the barrel....unless he somehow slipped in on me and i didnt know he was there which has happened.

[NEhomer]

I cannot imagine waiting until the last second to take the safety off.

As soon as a turkey gives me an indication he's closing distance or I suspect he may be sneaking in silent I take my safety off and rest my trigger finger on the side of the receiver.

It's a situational decision for me that may result in the safety being off for 1 minute, 5 minutes or 45 minutes.  As long as the gun is pointed in a safe direction, you're in a static position and your finger is isolated away from the trigger, there isn't a safety issue. 

To each their own, though.

Bingo, pretty much this^^^^

I'm sitting, the gun is static and pointed toward nobody and my finger is out of the trigger guard. What could possibly happen? I see no positive reason to wait until the last second.

marc relayed a couple of scenarios where guns went off but they were both dropped.
Walking, or in a blind with others always requires the safety to be on. What's more, there's never any risk of lost game. It takes .5 seconds to click the safety off while performing the 1 second it takes to shoulder. There is zero benefit to having the safety off. Turkeys sometimes sneak in quietly but nobody holds the stock to their shoulder anticipating a landing goose. The position and behavior of the hunters in each scenario are totally different.

You know what's truly silly? In my home state of MA,  I'm legally required to fasten a green hunt safely sticker on my shotgun so that it's visible sighting down the barrel. How utterly stupid.

[Turkeyman]

I've got a few guns with different safeties. Two Mossbergs (835, 930) a Rem 870 and a single shot (hammer) Stevens 301. I "ease" the safeties off on all of them...never a "click". Generally I'll ease it off when a shot is relatively imminent although I have done so a few times when a bird was right there. Never had a problem.

[Happy]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that some think a turkey has almost supernatural powers. In my experience, you can get away with a lot on a turkey provided it's done correctly. The safety doesn't come off till right before the shot on my gun. Being scared to death to move has probably saved as many turkeys as it's killed.

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[Number17]

I learned as a young boy how to silently disengage the safety on all types of guns, and in over 40 years I have never made a safety "click" while hunting. With the 870 or Weatherby....thumb on one side and index finger cushioning the other. With a mossberg...slide it with the meat of your thumb and cushion with the tip of your thumb.

If I think that gobbler is about to enter the red zone, I silently take my safety off or cock the hammer and wait for him to present a shot. I've never purposely waited until the last second to take the safety off.

[GobbleNut]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that some think a turkey has almost supernatural powers. In my experience, you can get away with a lot on a turkey provided it's done correctly. The safety doesn't come off till right before the shot on my gun. Being scared to death to move has probably saved as many turkeys as it's killed.

Agree...although there has been a time or two (or three) when I thought I could get away with something and the gobbler proved me wrong! 

As for the topic at hand, it seems to me if one knows his weapon, he will be aware of any "idiosyncrasies" associated with it, including any tendency for loud safety clicks, or loading noises, etc. and adjust his timing on doing "stuff" that might spook a gobbler accordingly. Simply stated, in this game of turkey hunting, one either learns to do things at a certain time in each encounter with a gobbler...or one will end up carrying a dead gobbler out of the woods much less often than he would otherwise.

Then again, some of us have demonstrated the tendency to be slow learners apparently...   

[TrackeySauresRex]

If they're in tight a safety click or red dot glare will both absolutely scare a gobbler, seen it happen a few times. Don't think any of those birds got away though.

I'm glad this post was revisited,I missed it the first time.
Definitely yes on the red dot glare it happened to me on more than one occasion. With the gun on my knee, in a safe direction. I've learned to keep my hand on my dot while the bird is coming in. My other hand, thumb is on the safety. However, as we like to say safety is no accident. I wait to I see him and in range to shoot.
2 MB, one 835 & one 500 20ga, top safety's. They are both easy safety's to work.
I do have a o/u 20ga Stevens  w/fiber sights. I won't even load it until I'm at the base of a tree. If I'm alone walking, I'll keep it loaded in the ready position. That has a thumb safety as well and easy to work.
A new 410 Henry was sighted in yesterday. I did have noise canceling ear muffs on. When cocking, That hammer is loud! I may consider taking that one off a little sooner.
Hunt Safe all

[CT Spur Collector]

Ha! I had a buddy of mine tell me that I'd never kill a gobbler with those yellow stripes showing on my LaCrosse rubber boots....I told him..."if that gobbler sees those yellow stripes....he's already dead"...I have 40 years worth of photos to prove it!  LOL...

[eggshell]

Being an old trap shooter I like to yell "PULLLLL" before I shoot a gobbler, that's a fine time to click the safety off. My yell hides the click.  Sorry I guess I have spent too much time in the G.O.A.T.S. thread being harassed by JeffC.....

[TrackeySauresRex]

Being an old trap shooter I like to yell "PULLLLL" before I shoot a gobbler, that's a fine time to click the safety off. My yell hides the click.  Sorry I guess I have spent too much time in the G.O.A.T.S. thread being harassed by JeffC.....

[Marc]

Being scared to death to move has probably saved as many turkeys as it's killed.

We are indoctrinated as turkey hunters to hold still at all costs...  Even at the cost of not getting the bird.

In more recent years, I am no longer afraid to make that move...  If he is in good range, and likley leaving, I WILL move the gun to him...  Even if it is a low gun.

Two seasons ago, I made a series of calls, with no response, and sat down to eat lunch...  Gun on the ground next to me, sandwich in hand (and mouth), here comes a quiet tom from behind the brush line at 20 yards...  I froze for a minute, he got nervous, and I switched my sandwhich to my gun.

But I have taken out a couple of poeple, who have let birds in good range simply walk away, cause they did not want to move on it.

[Devastator]

I never really had problem taking off,where it started was putting a redot on and moving my head over sight and trying to keep bird in  the scope

[Turkeyman]

Being scared to death to move has probably saved as many turkeys as it's killed.

We are indoctrinated as turkey hunters to hold still at all costs...  Even at the cost of not getting the bird.

In more recent years, I am no longer afraid to make that move...  If he is in good range, and likley leaving, I WILL move the gun to him...  Even if it is a low gun.

This works. If in above situation as you move your gun SLOWLY...no quick stuff...yelp on your mouth call. It confuses him and generally all he'll do is that head bobbing but not go bananas. Has led to the demise of a few.

[GobbleNut]

Being scared to death to move has probably saved as many turkeys as it's killed.

We are indoctrinated as turkey hunters to hold still at all costs...  Even at the cost of not getting the bird.

In more recent years, I am no longer afraid to make that move...  If he is in good range, and likley leaving, I WILL move the gun to him...  Even if it is a low gun.

This works. If in above situation as you move your gun SLOWLY...no quick stuff...yelp on your mouth call. It confuses him and generally all he'll do is that head bobbing but not go bananas. Has led to the demise of a few.

I have found that much of how a gobbler reacts to movement depends a lot on the individual gobbler. I have had plenty of occasions over the years when I was completely out of position when a gobbler showed up unexpectedly and had no choice but to make a move...either slow or fast...to have a chance at him.  In some of those instances, the gobbler flushed immediately. In others, they more or less just stood there while I moved the gun into position and summarily dispatched them.

I will say this, though. From my personal experience with the subspecies, the one that is least likely to stand and look and let you shoot at him is the Eastern, followed by Osceola's...at least where I have hunted them. At the other extreme are Merriam's and Goulds, which will often let you get away with significant movement...but not always...again, depends on the individual bird.  Rio's have been a crapshoot...sometimes spooking immediately, and sometimes just standing there. 

In the end, though, it seems each individual gobbler can be unpredictable as to how he is going to react to movement...so it is best to err on the cautious side with all of them. Regardless, you will very quickly be aware if the one in front of you is a "stander and looker" or a "flusher and flyer" if you make a move that they take note of...   

[eggshell]

I have found that the distance between you and them is a big factor. They have a survival reaction zone that will trigger an immediate departure. For easterns that around 20 to 25 yards. However, like Gobblennut said it varies by bird. If I am moving a gun to a bird that is getting antsy I don't hesitate or try a slow creeping move. I will smoothly move my gun in a fluid and steady way to a shooting position. Jerky and sudden is bad, a predator makes sudden attacks. A slow creeping move will just draw his attention and he'll take off before you can get a bead on him. If a make a good smooth quick move and he starts to leave I may still get a good parting shot. I have killed my share that were just getting out of dodge, but didn't react quick enough. I think some of my old grouse hunting experiences have paid off in acquiring a target fast and getting a good aim. I agree, the Merriams are most likely to stand and look at you. The Rios I have hunted seem to be a bit more spooky but not a lot. Know an old eastern with years of hunter experience will spook if you blink too much or fart too loud at 50 yards. I blew a chance at an old legend a couple years ago because I though I could get away with simply tucking down on my stock for a final bead alignment as he ws on his way in at 50-60 yards, nope he caught the slight movement and ran. Still I have had others stand and look, most 2-3 year olds.