Oh the pain of being out smarted

[g8rvet]

He just out "randomed" you.  Dang turkeys.  What makes it so fun and so frustrating. He'll zig when he should zag and take a truck ride with you.

[sasquatch1]

Could you have just switch the gun and shot lefty? Reddots can make it about 1000x easier to switch shoot

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I could have but that wasn't the problem, when I moved to catch him when he popped out again it seemed as if he never did come out but when in reality he did and I just wasn't able to see him anymore and was still concentrating on where "I thought" he was or should be. But in reality he slipped through and was way farther to my right at this point and while trying to find him where he no longer was he busted me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TauntoHawk]

Could you have just switch the gun and shot lefty? Reddots can make it about 1000x easier to switch shoot

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I could have but that wasn't the problem, when I moved to catch him when he popped out again it seemed as if he never did come out but when in reality he did and I just wasn't able to see him anymore and was still concentrating on where "I thought" he was or should be. But in reality he slipped through and was way farther to my right at this point and while trying to find him where he no longer was he busted me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah that stinks, hate when they give you the slip in close.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

In the situation you described I see some very evident tactical mistakes that might have changed the nature of the encounter ( although it's hard to say not being there).

200 yards is a lot of ground between you and the turkey.  In that situation, you can almost always make a call or several to let the bird pinpoint your position and then sneak 40-60 yards closer in his direction.  By doing so, you eliminate the hang-up. 

Additionally, calling to a bird at 50 yards is most often a serious tactical mistake.  When you call to him that close, you reveal your precise position and give him a strong advantage.  Whereas if you don't call to the bird when he's at 50 and it's been 10-15 minutes since you last called, he can't be certain exactly where you're at. Often times he'll walk around looking which will get him killed or he may walk by you without a successful shot opportunity.  The point is, if he doesn't know you're there and he walks by without a shot opportunity, he's still a huntable bird.  He hasn't been spooked,bumped and is uneducated despite being called up.  But you calling to him made that set-up your only hope.  Essentially, you eliminated any possibility of a plan B or plan C when you disclosed your position.

Making quality at strategic decisions based on tactical assessments will increase your success dramatically.

[sasquatch1]

In the situation you described I see some very evident tactical mistakes that might have changed the nature of the encounter ( although it's hard to say not being there).

200 yards is a lot of ground between you and the turkey.  In that situation, you can almost always make a call or several to let the bird pinpoint your position and then sneak 40-60 yards closer in his direction.  By doing so, you eliminate the hang-up. 

Additionally, calling to a bird at 50 yards is most often a serious tactical mistake.  When you call to him that close, you reveal your precise position and give him a strong advantage.  Whereas if you don't call to the bird when he's at 50 and it's been 10-15 minutes since you last called, he can't be certain exactly where you're at. Often times he'll walk around looking which will get him killed or he may walk by you without a successful shot opportunity.  The point is, if he doesn't know you're there and he walks by without a shot opportunity, he's still a huntable bird.  He hasn't been spooked,bumped and is uneducated despite being called up.  But you calling to him made that set-up your only hope.  Essentially, you eliminated any possibility of a plan B or plan C when you disclosed your position.

Making quality at strategic decisions based on tactical assessments will increase your success dramatically.

Oh I agree I may not have done everything exactly perfect, but it was good enough to get him to 25-30 yds I just messed up on trying to make the shot. Where he ended up circling it was thick and I just lost sight of him and got busted while "searching" for him Where I though he should be.

As for moving closer I may have been able to buy as wide open as the woods were I felt it was too risky. Big virgin hardwoods that get burned every few years type of open. It was why I decided to setup behind the deadfall vs in front of it, to make him search for where the sound was coming from.

As for the purring n clucking lightly when he was around 50 yes I agree and was very hesitant but he gobbled several times without budging and I also feared he would lose interest or become nervous and move off. I fig 6 one way half a dozen the other but it was definitely in my head weather I should or shouldn't.

And the only thing that I should do at times I agree is be more passive for another attempt at them but being the heavily hunted public land I'm hunting I usually opt to either kill him or blow him out because those "next times" never seem to work for me unless I have more immediate days following to hunt but a lot of times as this time I was heading home for a few days and he weekend was coming when I absolutely know others will be in that stretch of woods. Hopefully the bad weather keeps him quiet till I can get back Monday of not il burn leather to find another one hopefully.

If you have any other tips or so knowing more of the story I am all ears as goes for anyone willing to point any mistakes out. I haven't been at this super long and consider myself still learning.

The attached pic is of the blow down I setup behind. I'm almost at the top of it which I was hoping he would work around but he ended up going to the right along the trunk which ends near the creek bank which has a lot of scattered cane that I lost him in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Farmboy27]

In the situation you described I see some very evident tactical mistakes that might have changed the nature of the encounter ( although it's hard to say not being there).

200 yards is a lot of ground between you and the turkey.  In that situation, you can almost always make a call or several to let the bird pinpoint your position and then sneak 40-60 yards closer in his direction.  By doing so, you eliminate the hang-up. 

Additionally, calling to a bird at 50 yards is most often a serious tactical mistake.  When you call to him that close, you reveal your precise position and give him a strong advantage.  Whereas if you don't call to the bird when he's at 50 and it's been 10-15 minutes since you last called, he can't be certain exactly where you're at. Often times he'll walk around looking which will get him killed or he may walk by you without a successful shot opportunity.  The point is, if he doesn't know you're there and he walks by without a shot opportunity, he's still a huntable bird.  He hasn't been spooked,bumped and is uneducated despite being called up.  But you calling to him made that set-up your only hope.  Essentially, you eliminated any possibility of a plan B or plan C when you disclosed your position.

Making quality at strategic decisions based on tactical assessments will increase your success dramatically.

Everyone always has an easy answer to why a bird got away after the fact.  But how many of us have the easy answer on how to kill the bird while the hunt is underway?!  Its easy to call out someones "mistakes" because they didn't kill the bird.  But sasquatch had he bird into 30 yards, so really how many mistakes did he make?  He got the bird in range which is the name of the game.  If you think that he made mistakes doing that, then you would think that I'm a bumbling fool a lot of times!  And with an unpredictable opponent like a wild turkey, if you can make "quality strategic decisions based on tactical assessments" all the time then you belong in the CIA, FBI, or navy seals!!

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I definitely wasn't being critical of ya, Sasquatch.  Just trying to throw out some perspective for you.  I also figure with a lot of the newbies who seem to be active in the forum, tactical perspective is something that would be valuable for them to begin considering and this situation is a good illustration of the analytical activities that should be ongoing as a hunter is considering set-up and calling strategies.

I also understand why you chose to call to him at 50 considering it was public land but like I said, when you reveal your position and the bird is that close, you've just limited your options.  Hope you get him next week!

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

In the situation you described I see some very evident tactical mistakes that might have changed the nature of the encounter ( although it's hard to say not being there).

200 yards is a lot of ground between you and the turkey.  In that situation, you can almost always make a call or several to let the bird pinpoint your position and then sneak 40-60 yards closer in his direction.  By doing so, you eliminate the hang-up. 

Additionally, calling to a bird at 50 yards is most often a serious tactical mistake.  When you call to him that close, you reveal your precise position and give him a strong advantage.  Whereas if you don't call to the bird when he's at 50 and it's been 10-15 minutes since you last called, he can't be certain exactly where you're at. Often times he'll walk around looking which will get him killed or he may walk by you without a successful shot opportunity.  The point is, if he doesn't know you're there and he walks by without a shot opportunity, he's still a huntable bird.  He hasn't been spooked,bumped and is uneducated despite being called up.  But you calling to him made that set-up your only hope.  Essentially, you eliminated any possibility of a plan B or plan C when you disclosed your position.

Making quality at strategic decisions based on tactical assessments will increase your success dramatically.

Everyone always has an easy answer to why a bird got away after the fact.  But how many of us have the easy answer on how to kill the bird while the hunt is underway?!  Its easy to call out someones "mistakes" because they didn't kill the bird.  But sasquatch had he bird into 30 yards, so really how many mistakes did he make?  He got the bird in range which is the name of the game.  If you think that he made mistakes doing that, then you would think that I'm a bumbling fool a lot of times!  And with an unpredictable opponent like a wild turkey, if you can make "quality strategic decisions based on tactical assessments" all the time then you belong in the CIA, FBI, or navy seals!!

The guys who watch 10-20 birds die a season engage in that type of thought and it's the difference between turkey stories vs dead birds.

It's not hard to call a turkey inside 40 yards. The difference between the hunter who calls up turkeys and the one who consistently calls them up and kills/guides them lies in the nuances.  If you're not thinking like that, you should be.

[Farmboy27]

In the situation you described I see some very evident tactical mistakes that might have changed the nature of the encounter ( although it's hard to say not being there).

200 yards is a lot of ground between you and the turkey.  In that situation, you can almost always make a call or several to let the bird pinpoint your position and then sneak 40-60 yards closer in his direction.  By doing so, you eliminate the hang-up. 

Additionally, calling to a bird at 50 yards is most often a serious tactical mistake.  When you call to him that close, you reveal your precise position and give him a strong advantage.  Whereas if you don't call to the bird when he's at 50 and it's been 10-15 minutes since you last called, he can't be certain exactly where you're at. Often times he'll walk around looking which will get him killed or he may walk by you without a successful shot opportunity.  The point is, if he doesn't know you're there and he walks by without a shot opportunity, he's still a huntable bird.  He hasn't been spooked,bumped and is uneducated despite being called up.  But you calling to him made that set-up your only hope.  Essentially, you eliminated any possibility of a plan B or plan C when you disclosed your position.

Making quality at strategic decisions based on tactical assessments will increase your success dramatically.

Everyone always has an easy answer to why a bird got away after the fact.  But how many of us have the easy answer on how to kill the bird while the hunt is underway?!  Its easy to call out someones "mistakes" because they didn't kill the bird.  But sasquatch had he bird into 30 yards, so really how many mistakes did he make?  He got the bird in range which is the name of the game.  If you think that he made mistakes doing that, then you would think that I'm a bumbling fool a lot of times!  And with an unpredictable opponent like a wild turkey, if you can make "quality strategic decisions based on tactical assessments" all the time then you belong in the CIA, FBI, or navy seals!!

The guys who watch 10-20 birds die a season engage in that type of thought and it's the difference between turkey stories vs dead birds.

It's not hard to call a turkey inside 40 yards. The difference between the hunter who calls up turkeys and the one who consistently calls them up and kills/guides them lies in the nuances.  If you're not thinking like that, you should be.

Wow, not hard to call one into 40 yards.  Little full of ourselves aren't we?!  Don't know where your hunting but if it ever becomes easy to get them to 40 yards then I'll quit.  And in my best year ever I killed 24 birds (spring and fall), so yes I have seen 10-20 birds die in a season.  Yes, the devil is always in the details but the details always change in this game.  And you also mentioned guiding.  I've never been on a guided/ outfitted hunt yet that the birds weren't  10 times easier than the birds that many of us deal with normally.  Sasquatch didn't ask for a critique of his hunt.  He was relating what happened on his hunt, being beat by a gobbler.  The same thing that's gonna happen to a pile of us this spring.  I'm sure it wont happen to you because of your tactical super ninja thinking, but the rest of us may have to deal with it.  And I for one can't wait!

[silvestris]

Sasquatch1, perhaps you did everything right, while he did everything righter.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

It will happen most certainly happen to me. 

The difference between me and you is that I critique every aspect of every hunt.  When we kill we ask what did we did right, what we could've done better and when we don't kill we're even more critical to ascertain if there was a flagrant error that took place.  That's tactical thinking and it facilitates higher call-in/ kill ratios because you learn to assess situations with a more comprehensive understanding and anticipate the curve balls a bird can throw at you.

I could careless if you think finishing and killing turkeys is luck. I'm not naive enough to think I won't get hoo-doo-Ed by several birds this spring.  It absolutely will happen and that's hunting.  But the truth is consistently killing birds and guiding other people to birds is all about your minimizing mistakes and allowing the bird to make them.

You can think I'm arrogant but I never labeled myself to be infallible or immune to mistakes.  I made a couple comments about the potential fallibility of the thought processes employed and you turn this into a pissing contest.  There were a lot of comments in the thread about what happened to Sasquatch just being bad luck or a turkey being a turkey but no one pointed out that there were at least potentially some questionable choices made that could've changed the outcome of that set-up.  There's also always the chance that he did everything perfectly and there wasn't going to be a chance to kill the bird but not asking "what could I have done differently" will deprive a hunter of learning opportunities.

[sasquatch1]

Yeah hind sight is always easier. LOL

sasquatch1 I think you had a great hunt and did a lot right. I like the comment by silvestris that the gobbler did righter. 

Like you I also call with birds fairly close but that have stalled in their approach. There are times to stay quiet and times to make subtle calls IMO. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. Drawing on my past experience and going with what feels right at the time is what I rely on.

One thing I might add is to not be too focused on where you "think" a gobbler is. Sure you want to be paying attention to where you last heard/saw the gobbler. But you also need to be aware of the surrounding area. Not saying to move the head around looking, but I move my eyes and pay attention with my ears to other areas than where I last saw the gobbler. This is not only for the gobbler that I am working, but other players can come onto a scene and possibly bust you if their presence is not known. Jakes, silent toms or even hens can show up unannounced.

I still get "too focused" at times but it something I try to avoid. Its an easy trap to fall into, especially when a gobbler is so close.

Yes I agree and it got me bit. I just would have sworn when he went behind a little tree and patch of brush there was no way he would come out the other side in a way that wouldn't allow me to see him. When he went behind it I turned a bit to shoot him when he popped out and I think he heard or saw that movement and went into sneak mode because I never saw nor heard him after that until he spooked from 30 ft to the right of where I was staring waiting for him to appear. But as said he was righter! lol

[sasquatch1]

I definitely wasn't being critical of ya, Sasquatch.  Just trying to throw out some perspective for you.  I also figure with a lot of the newbies who seem to be active in the forum, tactical perspective is something that would be valuable for them to begin considering and this situation is a good illustration of the analytical activities that should be ongoing as a hunter is considering set-up and calling strategies.

I also understand why you chose to call to him at 50 considering it was public land but like I said, when you reveal your position and the bird is that close, you've just limited your options.  Hope you get him next week!

No offense taken, weather I agree or disagree with criticism I am willing to listen and think about it. Believe me I critique all my right and wrongs and shouldas and wouldnta

[marshboy]

To the OP, I enjoyed your post...it felt like I was right there with you.
This is good stuff to us Northern boys with seasons that are still a month away.
I hope I read a post of your success soon!
Greg

[ncturkey]

Good story. You will get him next time.