My first miss

[trackerbucky]

Work has taken me far from home in Pennsylvania.  This past week I came back to help take care of my mother who had a pacemaker implanted on Monday. My Dad is 95 and Mom is 84.  Dad was quite the hunter in his day, but he no longer hunts turkey as he can't take the recoil of even a 20 gauge.  They still live on their own in the house I was raised in just down the road from our farm.  My brother lives near by, so that helps a lot. 

Anyway opening day in Pa was yesterday and my brother suggested that Mom was doing well enough that we could go out in the morning for an hour and try to get a long beard. Mom is really doing well and insisted that we go out.  Since I had my Pa license from when I was here in deer season we were all set. Unfortunately Friday evening he called and said he had to pick up his daughter from the prom at 2:00 AM and wouldn't be going.  I gave him some ribbing about being a pansy and said I'd  have to shoot his gobbler. I took my Dad's Mossberg 535.  I checked the choke and it had the flush fit factory choke, but it said turkey extra full, so I figured it would be OK. I looked for turkey loads and Dad had 3" 2Oz. #6 Activ that he said he used.

Neither one of us had scouted the farm this year, so I went out blind except for my knowledge of the farm.  I walked down into the field and listened.  Lo and behold I hear a gobble on the corner of our property. I walked down and hit the crow call and he gobbled again.  The woods were very open so I didn't get real close.  Probably 200 to 250 yards and I set up.  I had taken my dad's decoy.  It was in pretty bad shape with most of the paint gone from it.  I like to use a decoy, so I figured it was better than nothing (turns out I was wrong about that) and I set it up on an logging road.

He gobbled on the roost for at least 20 minutes.  I was sure he would call in another hunter since people hunt on the adjoining property. I gave one tree call, which I'm not sure he even heard because of the distance. Finally I heard him on the ground and I gave some yelps and he hit me right back. I called very sparingly and he kept gobbling but he wouldn't move my way.  I gave him a series of cutts and he cut me off.  The next time he gobbled he was definitely closer. I waited 3 minutes by my watch and yelped again and he gobbled right back closer.  I waited five minutes by my watch and I was getting ready to call again when I saw him coming through the woods about 80 yards.  He was just a bit off to my left, but coming right in.  I like to stay stock still until the gobbler gets right into 20 yards or so. By raising my gun painfully slowly I can almost always get on him and put the hammer down.  If he does happen to notice me, I have always been able to smoothly mount my gun and get him. SO I stayed stock still and watched him slowly come in.  He got to about 30 yards and was searching for the "hen".  Then I saw him look right at the decoy and his entire posture changed.  His head went back down and he turned and started to walk back the way he came. Thinking back I'm sure that he saw that decoy and did NOT like what he saw. I got my gun up while he was behind some trees and he turned to the left and walked along behind an old top left from when the timber was cut several years ago.  I figured he was right at 40 yards give or take.  His head was up and I aimed and shot.  He disappeared from sight and I was sure I got him, then I saw him rise up and fly away.   There was no way to even take a reasonable follow up shot. I'm sick thinking that I might have wounded him.

I paced it off and the range was 38 yards.  I'm a forester and pace all the time, so I'm pretty confident in the range.  Since just his head and neck was sticking up I hope that I missed him clean. That is the first turkey that I ever shot at that I did not kill.  I've had to shoot twice to kill one two times, but I never had one get away before.

I have to get back to work and I'm flying back home today, so I won't have a chance to get back out in Pa to see if he's back there gobbling.  My brother will try to get out this week, so he'll let me know what he hears. 

Anyway, thanks for listening to my tale of woe. I wish I had had time to pattern that gun before I hunted. In the heat of the moment I estimated that he was in range, and he certainly would have been for my BPS (197 in 10" with Magblends and 205 with Longbeards).  From now on I refuse to hunt with a gun that I haven't patterned myself or that I haven't seen the pattern for.  

[SinGin]

Nice story but welcome to the Miss club

[ncturkey]

I second that too. Welcome to the miss club. A least you got a good reason.

[DirtNap647]

it prob. wont be your last

[Spring_Woods]

If you stick with it long enough, it won't be your last!

[Snoodsniper]

If you stick with it long enough, it won't be your last!

x2

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[budtripp]

If it makes you feel any better I missed 2 last season alone.  1 with gun 1 with my bow.  I always get madder about missing a turkey than I ever do missing a deer. Made up for it this season though with 2 birds with 2 shots.

[trackerbucky]

My turkey hunting has been in Pa and Maine, where the limit on gobblers until recently was one per year, so I know I've had way fewer chances (and shot WAY fewer turkeys) than many of you on here.  In no way did I mean to imply that I was a crack shot or anything.  I was just looking for a place to vent.  I get limited chances to hunt, so it really hurt when I missed a chance (AND, more often, when I screw up on a bird).

Thanks for letting me vent about it.  I still have the rest of the Maine season (until the end of the month), so I'll try to redeem myself.

I have to admire anyone who hunts turkeys with a bow, whether they miss or not.

[surehuntsalot]

It won't be your last if you continue to turkey hunt

[Tail Feathers]

Misses happen.  Hard to imagine it shooting a scattergun but I can assure they do.
If he flew off and your only target was the head and neck, he probably did not take a lethal hit.  Maybe you can extract some vengeance on him next spring.
Good luck in Maine!

[guesswho]

It's not a miss, it's a warning shot.  And your supposed to shake your fist at them and tell them to never come back.  Then if they do you kill them. 

I fired two warning shot's in Ky a couple week ago on the same day, the third was a kill shot because he refused to leave.

[tomstopper]

It's not a miss, it's a warning shot.  And your supposed to shake your fist at them and tell them to never come back.  Then if they do you kill them. 

I fired two warning shot's in Ky a couple week ago on the same day, the third was a kill shot because he refused to leave.

Now that is a different way to look at it......

[WillH]

Yeah I fired a couple "warning shots" opening weekend this year... It happens... 

[WildTigerTrout]

I joined the Miss or Warning Shot Club for the first time this year, ever. I knew I would have to join at some point in time. Hey, if you have hunted turkeys for any length of time and never missed one you have not hunted them much. I did get redemption and bagged a good bird later the same day and with one good shot. I went from the low of lows to the high of highs in a short time span! Turkey hunting is like that, I guess that's why I love it so much!

[trackerbucky]

Thanks for the encouragement.  I got back on track with a couple of Maine birds last week and Monday.  Takes a little bit of the sting out of that miss.