morning report 4-12-14

[surehuntsalot]

Well,I had a "first" this am,got 1 possibly 2 birds in the same area to gobble this morning,after they flew down I heard some pitiful half hearted attempts at gobbling,so I figured there was a jake out there somewhere.
Well after working on the birds for about 30-45 minutes everything got real quite for about 30-35 minutes,no one turkey sound,I got my slate call and clucked one time he just about blew my hat off of my head,he was just below a drop off to my left about 25 yds from me,when his head popped  up over the log laying there,I had the gun on him and the safety off.
Dead bird right?   
Wrong,no I didn't miss,I just sat there and simply didn't shoot.
All I could see was his head and neck,could not see a beard and the bird never did strut so I didn't see a fan,so yea guys,I can't believe it myself,but I let the bird walk.
I keep telling myself there is always another chance,it was something though to set there that close  to a gobbler and watch what I could see of him.

[Eric Gregg]

At the end of the day, doing it right is what counts

[FullChoke]

Man, that's tough, but like Eric said, it was the right thing to do. Ground checking don't work. Did the flood push them to the higher grounds?

[surehuntsalot]

Man, that's tough, but like Eric said, it was the right thing to do. Ground checking don't work. Did the flood push them to the higher grounds?

I believe it might have Norman,some of them any way.

[xarcher]

Amen to letting him walk. Have done that on occasion when I can't tell for sure if he is long beard or jake.

[gophert]

Yea those Jakes are a pain.   I got one place that it covered up with jakes.  I'm trying to find a young hunter to take.