First time for everything

[Hookhunter]

You know how you tell someone who missed "show me someone who's never missed a turkey, I'll show you someone who hasn't killed many" today I joined that group. Boy oh boy does it ever suck! I been watching 2 birds for about 3 weeks now getting a pattern and a time. This morning I hunted until 8 then rushed over to my spot sat down at 835 made a yelp with my mouth call BAM they both gobbled waited 5 minutes same thing. I put the calls away and waited here they came 45 yards starin at my decoy, guess they didn't like her because they started a diagonal line to my left, when they got to what I thought was 40 I settled the sights and squeezed. Sucker took a step about the same time. We all know how that story ends, a lonely disgruntled walk back to the truck. Oh well fun hunt think I will be takin the 12 ga from now on though. That little bit of extra yardage woulda ended this story differently....... Maybe

Justin

[turkey_slayer]

If you haven't missed you haven't shot at many! I get a kick out of the guys that say "how the heck can you miss with a shotgun"?   

[tha bugman]

Clean missing one is still better than rolling one and not finding him...unfortunately I am speaking from experience...

[West Augusta]

I missed a bunch with my 20 ga.  Since I started using my 12ga with 3.5" I don't miss much anymore.    "much" 

[mightyjoeyoung]

You know what?  I find that statment to be a little discourteous and closed minded and more than just a little self-righteous.  I just read an article in the latest issue of  PA Game and Fish Magazine, where the well known and apparently "respected" author of the article "Turning Heads" typed litterally the exact same thing.  Well.  I got some news for ya.  I have never onced missed a turkey...ever.  I have been hunting them for going on 30 years now and I am over the century mark on spring gobblers.  To make a statement like that takes some kind of balls man, I gotta tell you.  Have I been lucky so far?  Maybe.  I like to think of it more as being skilled and knowledgable and knowing where, how and more importantly when to shoot.

[guesswho]

You know how you tell someone who missed "show me someone who's never missed a turkey, I'll show you someone who hasn't killed many"

Sorry about the miss. 

My saying is "show me someone who has missed as many turkey's as I have, I'll show you someone I'd like to turkey hunt with"

[coyotetrpr]

You know what?  I find that statment to be a little discourteous and closed minded and more than just a little self-righteous.  I just read an article in the latest issue of  PA Game and Fish Magazine, where the well known and apparently "respected" author of the article "Turning Heads" typed litterally the exact same thing.  Well.  I got some news for ya.  I have never onced missed a turkey...ever.  I have been hunting them for going on 30 years now and I am over the century mark on spring gobblers.  To make a statement like that takes some kind of balls man, I gotta tell you.  Have I been lucky so far?  Maybe.  I like to think of it more as being skilled and knowledgable and knowing where, how and more importantly when to shoot.

Get off the soap box man. The guy missed and it sucks. No sense in making yourself look better at his expense. We can't all be perfect.

[mightyjoeyoung]

You know what?  I find that statment to be a little discourteous and closed minded and more than just a little self-righteous.  I just read an article in the latest issue of  PA Game and Fish Magazine, where the well known and apparently "respected" author of the article "Turning Heads" typed litterally the exact same thing.  Well.  I got some news for ya.  I have never onced missed a turkey...ever.  I have been hunting them for going on 30 years now and I am over the century mark on spring gobblers.  To make a statement like that takes some kind of balls man, I gotta tell you.  Have I been lucky so far?  Maybe.  I like to think of it more as being skilled and knowledgable and knowing where, how and more importantly when to shoot.

Get off the soap box man. The guy missed and it sucks. No sense in making yourself look better at his expense. We can't all be perfect.

Not on ANY soap box pal.  You're right!  It absolutely does suck to miss.  I've been there on many occasions when it happened.  It just hasen't happened to me.  Will it? It might, but it just hasn't happened yet.  I am also a firm believer that Murphy is sitting right over your shoulder whenever we go out in the woods so I am not above thinking it can't or wont happen to me.  He quoted something that someone said and I responded.  It wasn't directed at him or to flame him in any way.  You apparently missed that in the first 4 sentences of my post though?  I was flaming the so called expert and author that wrote the article NOT the OP.  I feel for him and I know it happens.  But for the author of the article I mentioned to say something like that is just plain rediculous. 

[Reloader]

It happens, maybe you didn't get any in him and he'll live.

Good Luck next time.

[Hookhunter]

Haha easy guys no big thing. Just thought everyone would enjoy a story that's all. However,I too take pride in knowing when to shoot and how far etc... Guess I shoulda mentioned that booger was in a wide open field lol.... That actually makes it even funnier right? Oh well plenty of time left, today is only 2nd day of my season. Look out birds here I come

Justin

[heathwesley]

Justin
       Your right that is a terrible feeling!  I hunted the same bird (became a sick obsession) last year for 17 straight morning (not exaggerating) and on the 5th or 6th day I missed him at around 40 yards.  Talk about sick.  We never killed the bird we now call "The Boston Gobbler" after the property we hunted him on.  I can also remember a few years back wading through water so deep only my head and gun stayed above water (had to pray I didnt go under) then I millitary crawled the thick grass.  I peaked my head up when I edged close to a field I knew two gobblers were in (I had gotten ahead of where they were headed).  I peaked my head up and called and they were coming.  I tried to get on my butt and akwardly took aim (not a good excuse) but you know the story I missed. bummer - The side story is I watched that bird fly into a patch of timber my brother way in.  15 minutes after that bird had been shot at he was gobbling and looking for an agressive calling hen (my brother) and he died that day.  His luck ran out!

[mightyjoeyoung]

Haha easy guys no big thing. Just thought everyone would enjoy a story that's all. However,I too take pride in knowing when to shoot and how far etc... Guess I shoulda mentioned that booger was in a wide open field lol.... That actually makes it even funnier right? Oh well plenty of time left, today is only 2nd day of my season. Look out birds here I come

Justin

Justin, sorry if you or anybody else took my post the wrong way.  I absolutley was not flaming you or trying to belittle you in any way.  The phrase you used, which is a common phrase among some hunters,  was in a very recent article in a popular hunting and fishing mag and it just plain got my hackles up to read it.  To me if you miss, oh well.  It happens, but it does not mean that you haven't hunted long enough or are inexperienced or haven't killed many birds.  The author is flat wrong in what he wrote and his statment is what i was referencing, NOT YOURS.   Again my bad if my post offended you or anyone else but I gotta call em as I see em you know?  

[heathwesley]

Your turkey hunt long enough and hard enough and your gonna miss.  Bout the time you think it aint gonna happen its gonna.  So ya I would say 99% of the time the saying about hunting and eventually missing is true.  Its actually the opposite of "self righteous".  Getting all excited about that saying might be a little self consumed though... 

[heathwesley]

The quote just means if you hunt long enough you will miss??? 

Haha easy guys no big thing. Just thought everyone would enjoy a story that's all. However,I too take pride in knowing when to shoot and how far etc... Guess I shoulda mentioned that booger was in a wide open field lol.... That actually makes it even funnier right? Oh well plenty of time left, today is only 2nd day of my season. Look out birds here I come

Justin

Justin, sorry if you or anybody else took my post the wrong way.  I absolutley was not flaming you or trying to belittle you in any way.  The phrase you used, which is a common phrase among some hunters,  was in a very recent article in a popular hunting and fishing mag and it just plain got my hackles up to read it.  To me if you miss, oh well.  It happens, but it does not mean that you haven't hunted long enough or are inexperienced or haven't killed many birds.  The author is flat wrong in what he wrote and his statment is what i was referencing, NOT YOURS.   Again my bad if my post offended you or anyone else but I gotta call em as I see em you know?  

[mightyjoeyoung]

No it means exactly what it says.  "Show me a person who hasn't missed a turkey and I'll show you someone who hasn't killed many."  That menas exactly what it says.  It means if you haven't ever missed you must be doing something wrong to not have taken too many shots at birds.  It doesn't mean "Hey, you missed.  It happens to the best of us."  The author of the article I referenced typed that EXACT STATEMENT.  It is contrite and self-rghteous.  period.  It assumes that because you've never missed a bird you must be a new, inexperienced, or just plain bad hunter, or...just the unluckiest dude in the woods when you drop the hammer.  I do not claim to be perfect.  Far from it but I have been blessed by having never missed a shot at a turkey in 30 years.  I also do not claim for one second that it can't or won't ever happen to me, but I try to do everything in my power to make sure it won't.  Does that make me better than the op?  Hell no it doesn't!  I am no better than anyone else on this forum or on this planet for that matter.  Again...been there when it happened, and trully feel for anybody that it happens to.  It just hasn't happened to me...yet???