What mistakes did y'all make

[dirt road ninja]

Now that it's over for just about all of us. I like to know how everyone screwed up this year. For me I'd have write a book, but I'll hit all my big blunders.

1. On the 3rd morning of the season I got in a calling contest with a guy on the otherside of the fence. We had a very hot bird in the middle, on my ground. I decide to shut up and sit tight and hope the bird would come my way. Well a voice inside my head said get up and move to a ridge top about 80 yards away. I didn't listen to it and a few minutes later a second bird that had not gobbled strutted out about 60 yards from where I was hiding. If I had moved I'd would have had about 15 to 20 yard shot. He stuck around just long enough to get my hopes up then went off to find the other gobbler. The voice in your head is usually right.

2. I was walking down a gravel road about 10 o'clock one morning and stopped to do some loud cutting on a diaphragm. I struck a gobble about 200 yards away. I slip down into the bottom to a small creek and hit the crow call. A bird sounds off close, I thought he was on the other side of the creek, but I could see the other side and could shoot 25 yards past the opposite side. In all my wisdom I decide to cross it instead of sitting down. Three steps later I get busted by a nice tom. That one tee'd me off. He was all alone and looking for company.

3. The last weekend in MS I found a hot bird on the roost and had him fired up once he hit the ground. He sounded like he hung up, so I decide to move just a few yards. Got busted again he was standing on the logging road heading to me. I closed my eyes, hoping he wouldn't see me, but when I opened them he was gone.

That's just the errors I made that I know costed me birds, I'm sure there are many others that I'm not aware of. I also spooked two more, but if I had that one back to do over I'd still play it the same way.

[drenalinld]

On opening morning here in AR I was hunting with my brother who has never killed a longbeard. We were backed up in a brush pile in a clear cut about 75 yards from the big timber along a creek drainage and about 125 yards from a HOTT gobbler on the roost. The bird flew down and gobbled and strutted along the edge of the big timber just out of sight for 15 or 20 minutes and then got quiet. I told him to get ready!! Somehow the bird slipped past us and a few minutes later we hear him drumming behind us!! The brush pile was about 75 yards long. He started a gobbling and drumming frenzy directly behind us for 10 or 15 minutes that was making me lose all rational thought...lol

I told my brother the gobbler was going to get bored and walk off or walk around the end of the brush pile 3 or 4 steps from his gun barrel and spook. I reasoned our best chance was to get turned around and then ease up and shoot him over the brush pile. It was high enough in the spot we were that we stood straight up and still could not see the bird. I suggested we crouch down and move a couple steps to the right where the brush pile was not as tall. We stood up high enough to see over and the bird gobbled and I had him pinpointed behind some brush at about 16-18 steps. I was looking down the barrel when his head popped up above the brush. I started a plea of "there he is, shoot him" to which I heard "where?, I can't see him"!!! This went on for several seconds before the gobblers head ducked behind the brush. The next thing we saw was a gobbler on the wing and we give him at least $20 worth of HTL without cutting a feather.

I wish I would have just let it play out. The gobbler was hot enough we could have let him walk away and called him back after a move, but I was so anxious for my brother to kill him. My brother was mad I didn't shoot him, but I could care less about that.

[decoykrvr]

Earlier this year, I was telling a novice turkey hunter that I rate my season, not by how many birds I kill, but by how many times I really screw-up and blow an opportunity to kill a bird.  This year I pulled a trick out of the "it seldom works play book, but what have you got to loose."  Several years ago I was talking with Cuz Strickland and we were discussing bumping birds while moving and the dreaded, nervous cluck, cluck, putt, putt, putt, cluck, cluck, putt, putt which signals that you've been seen and the bird is alert, nervous, and usually means "game over."  Cuz said that when he bumps a bird and it starts putting, he freezes, but immediately starts putting, clucking. and short yelping back to the bird.  As Cuz said, "It seldom works, but is worth a try".
This year, I was moving on two gobblers on the roost which had sounded off to my owling.  It took me about 20 minutes to cut off a ridge, down a hollow, and up to the ridge where they were.  I set up and called and they gobbled on the ground off the far side of the ridge where they had been roosted.  I picked up, moved, called, and they sounded like they were moving away.
I decided to move to a flat on top of the ridge and had covered about 25 yards when I got busted.  As the bird started putting and fast clucking, I could barely see a white head moving @ 60 yards away at the flat on top of the ridge.  I started clucking and putting, dropped to the ground and crawled to a large tree and pulled out a slate and started clucking and soft yelping, all the while callling on my diaphragm.  After about a minute, the intensity of the birds putts/clucks diminished and I heard a soft yelp from the ridge top.  I started cluck/purring and scratching in the leaves then shut up.  Within 3-4 minutes , I caught movement to my left and saw a bird w/ swinging beard silhouetted against the early morning sky.  When he stepped behind a tree, I moved my gun and when he stepped out, I clucked shapely to stop him then cleanly killed him at @ 38 yards.  As I got up and ran to him I could see another gobbler and at least 4 jakes.  As Cuz said, "It doesn't often work ,but when it does, It sure is sweet."

[wisconsinteacher]

I was doing some blind calling on a new piece of land and after 15 minutes my buddy said, lets move.  My feeling was to wait at least 30 minutes because it looked like a good spot.  Well 20 minutes later a tom is standing next the the tree I was next to gobbling like crazy.  We went after him but bumped him.  From that point on, I sat tight for 1 hour per location and killed a few birds this spring doing it.

[redarrow]

I called when I should have shut up. He was coming in on a string. I just had to make him gobble one more time. Two other hens heard me ,ran into the field,grabbed my gobbler and took him away from the new hussies in the pop up.

[DeWayne Knight]

Good thread!  A word I forget a lot is "PATIENCE".  Last year I spent 4 1/2 hrs and moved and reset 3 different times to kill a bird.  This year my lesson in patience was all but forgotten. 

First week of the season on public land I went to a spot where I was pretty sure a bird was roosted.  Didn't hear any gobbling on the limb so when I estimated it was flydown time I simulated a hen cackle/flydown.  After a bit I got impatient and as I rolled up on a knee to make a move, I got busted by a nice gobbler about 50 yards away that was coming in silent.

The 3rd to the last day we struck a bird and by the time we worked to him he'd gone silent.  I crawled to the edge of the field and he was out there strutting with three hens.  I was sitting with my back to the field looking over my shoulder and was turning back into the woods to direct my buddies on what to do.  I decided that the bird 80-90 yards away wouldn't see me if I slowly turned and rolled onto my stomach.  WRONG.  He didn't spook and run, but he did a 180 and walked away from us.  We killed him the next morning though...

[guesswho]

Mistake #1.  Being to shy and not asking enough questions before season.  I found myself in situations I wasn't prepared for. 

Mistake #2.  Not being prepared for situations I found myself in.

[BrowningGuy88]

The only mistake I mad this year was not closing the deal when I had the chance. I have an honest 40 yard 20 gauge with no room to spare and let three toms walk away at what turned out to be 35 steps, but I wasn't sure when they we standing there.

Another mistake some said I made was watching the show too long. I let 4 more gobblers walk past because I enjoyed watching them strut, gobble, and breed hens. I could have killed each one multiple times the respective days I called them in, but I just kept saying I will shoot him in a minute and then he would disappear behind a bush or step out of range.

All in all I had a great year. Called in 10 toms and 6 jakes. 3 of the toms took a dirt nap from my hunting partners gun. Learned a lot - the main one being you don't have to shoot everyone you call up. I left a lot of gobblers on our place and Lord's willing I will put my tags on a few of them next year.

[Grunt-N-Gobble]

#1 - Not getting to a couple spots early enough in the morning.

#2 - Not moving in on a couple gobblers soon enough.  Another hunter heard them too and moved in b4 I could.  It didn't hurt too bad, cause I never heard a shot from his location.

#3 - While using my DB Blind, I hunted along the edge of the woods and field when I SHOULD have been 50yds out into the field.  That way, I could have covered the area between me and the woods plus another 40yds out into the field.  I would have doubled my covered area.  Cost me a bird that morning.

#4 - Not exactly a mistake, but I need to work on my mouth calling more.  I'm OK ( I think ), but know I could be better.

[savduck]

I took two weekends off in the middle of the season. That was my mistake.

[dirt road ninja]

3rd mistake
Killing a blonde phase turkey and posting pictures of it on the internet with no intention of having it mounted.

If ya kill another one, post the pics. The only ones like that I'll ever see are on the internet. I don't care if your mounting him or not.

[vaturkey]

Mistake #1.  Being to shy and not asking enough questions before season.  I found myself in situations I wasn't prepared for. 

Mistake #2.  Not being prepared for situations I found myself in.

Ronnie

You should know by now that you DONT wear blaze orange in Bama during turkey season !   

[Spring Creek Calls]

#1
Jerking the trigger on a long beard in the first half hour of my first hunt in MO. Shot a real nice notch in an oak tree about 15 yards from me and the bird took off like a fighter jet up thru the trees. I did shoot a long beard about 150 yards away 3 days later.

#2
Not pulling the trigger on a long beard in KS. Thought I'd let him get a little closer, hen putted and that was that. Thank goodness it was tag #2.

#3
Deciding on opening day in MI that I did not want to shoot one of the 3 gobblers in front of me as you only get 1 tag here. Never got close to shooting one again. Got to spend some quality time with my Thermacell!

[guesswho]

Did mistake #2 have anything to do with camo flip flops?

You should know by now that you DONT wear blaze orange in Bama during turkey season !   

They should make that a rule so people won't mess up.

[earlybird]

One of the few times i used decoys the field had a small roll in it,i thought the gobbler could see them when he came across the field but he passed by at about 75yds and went back into the woods.After about a 1/2 hour i got him to come back out and he came out in the same spot and went back across the field.After he was gone i walked out to where he crossed the field and looked back to where i was sitting and as tall as i am i couldnt even see the decoys.Oh well theres always next year.