Hard to take.

[wisconsinteacher]

Yesterday I called for a coworker.  This is the first time we have hunted together.  We hunted hard and at 1:30, we set up and after some hard cutting a tom hammered back.  The bird strutted up to 40 yards and was moving to the right behind some tree tops.  I said to the guy, "he is at 40 and is going to skirt us, so take a shot when it is clear."  Boom, the turkey takes off and is gone.  I watched him run a long distance.  After talking he said he has shot birds out to 40 before.  It is hard to swallow hunting hard and not being able to finish the job when one is standing at 40.  That is 2 birds that should have been shot but the hunters gun was not set up as best as it could be.  People put in so much time on scouting/hunting/calling and then do not put the time into setting up their gun.  I offered my shotgun to both hunters but they said no my gun will kill out to 40.  Well, I guess they were wrong.  Sorry to complain, but thanks OG for helping me set up a gun I feel is very good out to 40 and the tips on calling birds.  Since I joined this site, my interactions with birds has increased big time.

[AndyH]

Sometimes it just happens, if you turkey hunt long enough it's bound to happen more than once.

[Woodsman4God]

Sorry to hear it, hopefully after missing you can get them to start sighting in their rigs and make sure its good for 40 next time and explain to them why it is not if they dont understand

[Mailman]

A hunter also needs to know his weapon inside out. Then you have to shoot shoot shoot then shoot some more. Not shooting your gun is like taking a test with out studying

[wisconsinteacher]

I understand people miss.  I have missed a lot of animals, but when they have a 12ga with a full choke shooting #4 lead, I have a hard time believing they are using the best combos.  I know it happens.  I guess the good thing is that those two toms are still alive and well.  Plus my season starts in two weeks so I can chase them.

[bird]

Here is what I would like to challenge the OG members to do for now on.  Not only do I encourage you all to take friends and family afield to hunt the true master of the woods and enjoy what Mother Nature has given us.  But I would like to challenge you all to taking them to the "Range" first before taking them hunting.  Show them exactly what your hunting set up can do and check and see what their set up is capable of doing prior to hunting together.  Not only does this give you an idea of your hunting partners set up capabilities but it also lets them see exactly what your gun is capable of doing and you both just may find out some areas of concerns that need to be addressed prior to hunting together.

[wisconsinteacher]

Great point Angrybird.  Both guys I took so far that missed have been hunting for years and have shot birds.  I guess I had the understanding that when they said they could shoot out to 40, I was confident they knew they could.  I am not bashing my friends, it was just hard to see them upset after they missed.  We kept hunting but they both lost a lot of steam after that and hung their heads. 

[turkey_slayer]

Here is what I would like to challenge the OG members to do for now on.  Not only do I encourage you all to take friends and family afield to hunt the true master of the woods and enjoy what Mother Nature has given us.  But I would like to challenge you all to taking them to the "Range" first before taking them hunting.  Show them exactly what your hunting set up can do and check and see what their set up is capable of doing prior to hunting together.  Not only does this give you an idea of your hunting partners set up capabilities but it also lets them see exactly what your gun is capable of doing and you both just may find out some areas of concerns that need to be addressed prior to hunting together.

Well said. A lot of the guys I take are no where near as hardcore as we are on this forum. They are the type that always grabbed a gun and a pocket of shells and walked out the door.  When we start talking about patterning none of em even patterned their guns! With my uncle being an FFl dealer Ive been blessed to be able to shoot a pile of guns and very rarely will one have the same POA/POI plus different shells can have diff POI. With that said, I usually let them use my gun, invite them over to pattern theirs or just get the gun myself and pattern it (prefer not to but better than nothing). Theres also the ones that shoot at a turkey target, get 5-7 pellets in the head and neck and say thats good.  That leaves to big of a chance of a miss or even worse a cripple. Good post 

[chatterbox]

Here is what I would like to challenge the OG members to do for now on.  Not only do I encourage you all to take friends and family afield to hunt the true master of the woods and enjoy what Mother Nature has given us.  But I would like to challenge you all to taking them to the "Range" first before taking them hunting.  Show them exactly what your hunting set up can do and check and see what their set up is capable of doing prior to hunting together.  Not only does this give you an idea of your hunting partners set up capabilities but it also lets them see exactly what your gun is capable of doing and you both just may find out some areas of concerns that need to be addressed prior to hunting together.

Excellent advice, Al. We as hunters, must know when to shoot, and when to let him walk. Go to the range, and see what your choke and load can do at 40. If you cannot get AT LEAST 100 evenly spaced pellets in the 10" circle at 40, you must find a combo that will, or limit your shots to where you get that number. We as hunters owe it to the wild turkey to dispatch him cleanly and humanely with a well patterning shotgun.

[runngun]

Make'em shoot before they get to "shoot"!!!

[surehuntsalot]

I know all to well where ya"ll are coming from
I have a new"turkey hunter" member at my camp that so calls wants to learn how to hunt,but doesn't have a clue and and most of the time doesn't really listen(says I take it to seriously)
ya"ll are going to get a kick out of this,he shows up one morning before season opens for a scouting trip with me,I told him to bring his gun with him so we could check his pattern,he didn't have a clue to what I was talking about.
he gets his gun out and I could not believe what I saw,don't ask me how,but he had a Remington threaded Jellyhead screwed into a Mossberg 500 12ga,now mind you that it wasn't screwed all the way down to where it was suppose to be,but he was hell bent to shoot it like that with some 2-3/4" high brass #6 squirrel loads
now I know why I have gray hair

[oklahomaboy]

I know it must be frustrating, but, remember that the hunt is about more than the kill.  Its about friendship, being outdoors, seeing and calling the game and the memories you build with friends.  I'm sure he gained from the experience.  Maybe he can use more of your help and guidance.