Worst hunting luck that was out of your control?

[Timmer]

Hi guys,

We all know luck frequently dictates your hunting success.  In some cases that is bad luck!  Last year was the worst turkey season of my career.  I'm curious of stories others may have. 

Here's mine from last year - I had back to back seasons in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  I intended to hunt the last 3 days of MN and the first 2-3 days of WI.  In MN I had temperatures in the 20's to 30's.  There was some form of rain, sleet, or snow the whole time, and SUSTAINED winds of 25-40mph.  I travel to hunt so I tried to make the best of it and hunted all day every day.  It became a personal test of fortitude as much as hunting.  Over 3 days I heard one gobble and saw one hen, the least activity I've ever had.  I was looking forward to Wisconsin as the weather was supposed to be better and the farm I hunt I have always had to myself.  On the first morning of WI when I arrived at the farm I thought I was on schedule for my usual pre-dawn start but as I was walking the field/woods edge to the middle of the property I was surprised by the degree for which I could see through the woods.  I thought I had arrived late.  When the sun came up I realized that around 200 acres of woods covered bluffs had been largely logged off.  A half hour after sunrise heavy equipment came in from several directions.  It turns out the property owner had sold out to a fracking sand mining operation and had forgotten to notify me (I had gotten permission around February).  I packed up and went home.

[Gut Pile]

buddy showed up with a crossbow........

[T-town]

Hunter interference - several times. The worst was calling a bird and some jerk slips in from the other side and shoots the bird and shot goes just over our heads. Course, it would have been worse if the shot had gone into our face.

[tippatah]

Got stationed at Fort Benning, GA. Hadn't turkey hunted in over a decade. Went and bought all the essential gear and was ready for the season opener. Roosted the birds the night prior and got set in early the next morning. At first light had em gobblin and on a B line straight toward me. Every yelp was met with a gobble and the gobbles were closer each time. It was like a TV show, everything going according to plan until about 60 yards out some douche had set up and blasted my gobbler.

[mgm1955]

Weather, then work.

[West Augusta]

Had a hot gobbler working and a utility worker / meter reader walked out the ridge between me and the gobbler to a gas well.

[catman529]

Haven't had too bad of luck yet, but a couple seasons back I was set up on a field edge about 150 yards from a creek where I thought the birds would roost.

First light a guy walked by me, I got his attention and it was an older guy who had hunted there before and didn't expect to see anyone. He went on down toward the creek, and the gobbling started a while later. By sunrise I heard a shot, followed by another shot....a little later, the guy comes back with a jake, and said that he accidentally killed 2, thought he missed 1 on the first shot, then the 2nd bird stepped out from behind a tree and he shot it, only to discover he killed two birds which isn't legal in the same day during tn spring season.

He was too afraid to carry both out and get caught, so he left one. I wasn't going to tag it because you technically can't share tags here, and I also didn't want to turn him in for a simple mistake, so I walked the other way and never even looked at the other bird. I guess it was more bad luck on his part than mine, but still spoiled my opening morning hunt.


Sent from the talk of tap

[Marc]

A number of bad-luck deals from last season:

• Took my father out (who has killed plenty of ducks but never a turkey), and had a bird coming in...  As it was just about in range, he had to get up cause he was covered in red ants.  Then had another pair coming in, and he had no idea they were coming (as he is hard of hearing), just about in range, and he stands up to stretch...
• Had a bird coming in on a different ranch, and they were preparing to cross a fence, and some horses came in and ran them off.
• Had a bird coming in on the first ranch, and someone drives up on a quad (as the bird is about 50 yards out).
• Called in Three toms and a hen on the last day, and the cattle ran in to see what was going on...  I could not get a safe shot without shooting a cow...  The cattle spooked and then the turkeys spooked, and I never had a safe shot.

[Chilly]

Hunting on a military base last year and there were a few birds gobbling across this huge valley and up the other side.  Myself and a friend were calling to them occasionally.   After about a half hour of listening to them gobble their heads off, we decided to get aggressive with our calling.  One or two kept gobbling and then silence.  We are sitting there and mind you, I have perfect hearing and my buddy does not, but, he can usually hear drumming really well for some reason and I cannot. 
Somehow,  I start hearing drumming all of a sudden this bird gobbles not 35 yards over the side of the hill.  He had flown in and went around the backside of the hill to our left.  We get ready and he starts moving to the right.  I hadn't killed a bird yet and my buddy was wanting me to shoot.  He is getting ready to clear some brush at 25 yards and in the valley below us, someone shoots twice and our bird is now airborne without us even getting a shot off.  Ooooohhhh that still pisses me off and I have nightmares about it...

[Dr Juice]

A hunter intercepted and got between me and a gobbler I was working towards me and then came a BANG!

[wvmntnhick]

Had a cattle scenario similar to the previously mentioned. Couple years ago my buddy and I were working a couple different birds coming in from two different directions. I could see a fan crest the knoll and then someone blasted across the field with a rifle. Unfortunately, as they walked out to see if they'd hit their bird, it also spooked the one at the top of the hill. Went in to hunt a spot one morning and found the whole hill side had been logged. Birds roasted there every night. It was a real shame. My favorite was the time I had a jake coming towards me early in my career. Didn't care at that point as I'd have shot anything in those days. Anyway, I was sitting along a split rail fence and a red squirrel came charging down the fence as the bird was out about 50 yards or so. The squirrel charged down the barrel and across my shoulder sending me into a tailspin. The bird decided not to hang around.

[wisconsinteacher]

A few years ago during our learn to hunt a guy was working two toms on the other side of the road.  The toms were coming and they could see them.  As the birds stepped up on the shoulder of the road, a truck came flying down the road and hit both birds about 75 yards from my buddy and the kid he was mentoring. 

[wvmntnhick]

Would like to mention a time a friend of mine was hunting. He and his buddy kept hearing a bird gobble on the other side of the road so they humped it quickly back to the truck, drove over there and got out. As they went through the gate he heard a thundering gobble. Looked over his shoulder to see a tame turkey stuck in a pin with a path beat into the grass where he was trying to find a way to get over to them.

[Cutt]

Several on my list, the worst?  Worked a bird for 3 hours, no one around for this first 3 hours. At the moment of thruth, just as I was tugging back on the bow, BOOM BOOM! Actually heard the BB's whizz over my head, beacause two idiots snuck out into the field and took about a 70-80 yard shot at the bird.

[g8rvet]

Calling in a hot tom and he is headed to me.  I can see him at times, but he is still a little ways off.  I see him heading the other way at a fast walk.  Soon after I see a red fox heading the same way (still a pretty good piece away).