How much is acceptable???

[Nimrodmar10]

If you've hunted for very long it's happened to you.  You draw a bead on a big tom and pull the trigger. Maybe he hits the ground and flops, maybe he doesn't. Maybe he flops for a few seconds then jumps up and runs. Or maybe he just launches straight up like a pheasant. The sobbering fact is that you just shot him straight in the head/neck area and the feathers fly but so does the bird. It has or will happen to all of us. My question here is how often can that happen and still be acceptable? Is once in a hundred times acceptable? How about one bird out of 50? How about 1 in 4??? That's probably closer to the truth the the first two set of odds.

What's your personal limit? At what point will you say that's too many crippled birds? What will you do to improve your odds? Or will you just say "It's no big deal. Nothing goes to waste in nature. Something will eat it."

[guesswho]

One in fifty bothers me, but it does happen from time to time.  It usually is the fault of the shooter and not the equipment.  My experience when I look back at what could have happened it usually boils down to a shot I shouldn't have taken in the first place.  To far, walking bird, brush ect. have all bit me at one time or another.

[AdamZ]

For me it depends on the hunter's attitude. If you're out there slinging lead, blastin away like a moron, this kind of question doesn't matter.
For me, though, zero is acceptable. I do not release unless I'm absolutely confident in my shot. I've missed, too. I've wounded a buck, I've missed turkeys.
I try for zero but settle for fateful misses.

[Bonjour]

I've had it happen twice. I believe it was the shot of choice at the time for both. I was using regular turkey loads which after using the new heavy shot, I will never go back. I still couldn't believe on of those instances though, I had a jake come in at 20 yards near the end of the season and he was trying to gobble, but not much was coming out. I couldn't see him at the time and couldn't figure out what the noise was until I saw him strutting behind a big downed tree. I slid the gun over and when he came into a big whole, he put his head up and I rolled him over backwards hard. Somehow, he flipped back up onto his feet and I smacked him again. This time, he almost did a back flip and landed on his back. He sat there a second and then again, somehow, flipped back up on his feet and took off running and then flying to the other side of the river. I just sat there speechless and in awe wondering how anything could have survived 2 direct hits to the head like that. I looked around on the other side for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Really gives you a bad feeling when it happens.

[mmusso]

I don't think any are "acceptable", but 1 in 100, maybe even 50 is probably realistic based on random errors in judgement, getting over-excited, or the things we just can't control. Obviously we should hunt ethically and responsibly and not try and force shots that are not "good shots" to ensure clean kills. Personal limits vary from hunter to hunter and will change depending on setups, terrain, gun/choke/loads, etc, but we have to know our limits. We all make mistakes, pull or push a shot, misjudge a distance, and we all know birds will move unexpectedly, HOWEVER, we should strive for perfection by practicing shooting, knowing how our guns pattern at various yardages, not attempting shots through the thick stuff or out of our known range, and basically waiting for good shot opportunities, and simply passing on bad or low percentage shots as much as it hurts watching that bird walk away. The most important of all is that when something does go wrong, we evaluate why it happened in order to learn from it to cut down on future recurrences, at least as best as we can control.

[GobbleNut]

I don't think any are "acceptable", but 1 in 100, maybe even 50 is probably realistic based on random errors in judgement, getting over-excited, or the things we just can't control. Obviously we should hunt ethically and responsibly and not try and force shots that are not "good shots" to ensure clean kills. Personal limits vary from hunter to hunter and will change depending on setups, terrain, gun/choke/loads, etc, but we have to know our limits. We all make mistakes, pull or push a shot, misjudge a distance, and we all know birds will move unexpectedly, HOWEVER, we should strive for perfection by practicing shooting, knowing how our guns pattern at various yardages, not attempting shots through the thick stuff or out of our known range, and basically waiting for good shot opportunities, and simply passing on bad or low percentage shots as much as it hurts watching that bird walk away. The most important of all is that when something does go wrong, we evaluate why it happened in order to learn from it to cut down on future recurrences, at least as best as we can control.

Well said!   

[BrowningGuy88]

Personally I have shot a lot of turkeys in the 16 years I have hunted them and seen quite a few more shot. I have only had 2 do that to me. One I shot 46 steps with lead number 6's 3" 2 ounce strutting and I honestly don't know what happened to that turkey. I was straining over my soulder basically to shoot him and when I recover line of sight, he was just gone, feathers everywhere and no turkey. I now only shoot strutters under 20 yards. The other was a jake I shot trotting and hit in the wing. I followed up and killed him as quick as I could pump the gun.

I have killed 9 in flight that others have shot too far. Generally first time hunters. Boom, turkey rolls, comes up flying, boom, boom, folds. I have shot them from any angle conceivable flying wounded and I always wonder will I kill him? I hate shooting flying turkeys, but I feel taking the chance on a wounded one is worth it.

I know set range boundaries with new hunters after I have patterned they're shotgun. I also have been using #4's as a back up for penetration, but bought Nitro 4X5X7's for backups this year. You just gotta learn from your mistakes.

Daman

[Tail Feathers]

One is too many.  Happened to me once.  I KNOW my equipment worked right so I obviously pulled the shot a bit.
Sickening but it happens.  If you're happy with your pattern and know your limits this should be a minimal problem.

[bowhunter84]

I don't think any are "acceptable", but 1 in 100, maybe even 50 is probably realistic based on random errors in judgement, getting over-excited, or the things we just can't control. Obviously we should hunt ethically and responsibly and not try and force shots that are not "good shots" to ensure clean kills. Personal limits vary from hunter to hunter and will change depending on setups, terrain, gun/choke/loads, etc, but we have to know our limits. We all make mistakes, pull or push a shot, misjudge a distance, and we all know birds will move unexpectedly, HOWEVER, we should strive for perfection by practicing shooting, knowing how our guns pattern at various yardages, not attempting shots through the thick stuff or out of our known range, and basically waiting for good shot opportunities, and simply passing on bad or low percentage shots as much as it hurts watching that bird walk away. The most important of all is that when something does go wrong, we evaluate why it happened in order to learn from it to cut down on future recurrences, at least as best as we can control.

very well said

[redleg06]

I don't think any are "acceptable", but 1 in 100, maybe even 50 is probably realistic based on random errors in judgement, getting over-excited, or the things we just can't control. Obviously we should hunt ethically and responsibly and not try and force shots that are not "good shots" to ensure clean kills. Personal limits vary from hunter to hunter and will change depending on setups, terrain, gun/choke/loads, etc, but we have to know our limits. We all make mistakes, pull or push a shot, misjudge a distance, and we all know birds will move unexpectedly, HOWEVER, we should strive for perfection by practicing shooting, knowing how our guns pattern at various yardages, not attempting shots through the thick stuff or out of our known range, and basically waiting for good shot opportunities, and simply passing on bad or low percentage shots as much as it hurts watching that bird walk away. The most important of all is that when something does go wrong, we evaluate why it happened in order to learn from it to cut down on future recurrences, at least as best as we can control.

Agreed.

Practice and know your shotgun before the season and try your best to stay within the limits of it AND yourself by taking quality shots.

[HogBiologist]

twice for me.  First was a twig i couldnt see.  Scope solved that issue.  Second was a bird with his head down, small target and might have been past range.  Both my fault

[hookedspur]

twice for me.  First was a twig i couldnt see.  Scope solved that issue.  Second was a bird with his head down, small target and might have been past range.  Both my fault

Twice in many years  first one was shooting to quick second loose scope mounts both MY fault not faulty equipment ,its my job to maintain all my tools !! I work very hard to insure it never happen again.

[TANK]

It happened to me yesterday evening..............and trust me, you  don't want to be around me when stuff like that happens. It doesn't matter if its a turkey, deer, hog, etc......... I shot the biggest of 2 longbeards knocking him over backwards, flopped into a treetop, and was never to be seen again. I looked for him a hour after dark with a flashlight only to find some feathers. It wasn't my equipment or me, it just happened. I have killed almost 30 turkeys and this is one of 2 that has gotten up, and gotten  away. 2 to many!

[WyoHunter]

It's happened to me once when I misjudged the range and hurried the shot. Hopefully it won't happen again! 

[mountman62]

It has happened to me a couple of times in 23 years now, all but 3 were operator malfunction, they were due to gun sight issues, the others were due to sight (mine) issues, not having my sight and my eyes on the sight & on the turkey, can't blame it on nothing else, stuff happens