Blowing the Suicide Birds

[GobbleNut]

Over the years, I have had encounters with a collection of gobblers that were determined to let me kill them,....If I had only managed to keep from screwing things up badly enough to let them escape their demise.  The most recent being two years ago (amazingly, I got through all of last season without one of these).

Two years ago, mid-season, I was running and gunning through some Merriam's country here in southern NM. This was probably the sixth or seventh day I had been hunting and had been unable to close the deal on a gobbler up to that point.  In fact, I hadn't even had a close encounter with a bird yet, and frankly, was a bit grumpy about the poor luck I was having finding a cooperative bird.

I had been hunting for a couple of hours, working my way off of a major ridge, down across a wide, shallow canyon, and up the next ridge.  As I reached the top of the ridge, I called off into the canyon in front of me.  A gobbler cut off my calling abruptly, sounding like he was perhaps a couple of hundred yards down the ridge in front of me. 

Thinking I had time to move forward a few yards to a scrub pine that would offer a back drop, I moved forward to the pine and started to sit down.  The whole process took less than thirty seconds, but as I sat down, the gobbler took flight about fifty yards down the ridge from me and sailed off across the canyon. 

He apparently had been sprinting up the ridge at the sound of my first call.  It was one of those situations where you just sit there and shake your head,...accompanied by some "colorful language".  He was the "suicide gobbler" that we all hope for,...and I had managed to blow it.  ...Won't be the last, I'm sure.

Anybody else managed to screw up a gimmee gobbler?...

[Rzrbac]

Absolutely!  Last year I injured my back right before turkey season and it killed me to sit.  I was fine walking but sitting was tough. I struck a bird late morning and he sounded fairly close.  I sat down on a red oak that had a big root that was very uncomfortable. Figured I had a minute or two so I picked out another red oak in front of me about 5 yards. I got up and moved forward, as I was sitting down, I heard him drumming.  Never heard him putt but needless to say I should have toughed it out for a few more minutes.

[Tail Feathers]

I hear ya!
I was hunting a wise old tom in his usual morning haunt a few years ago.  He had hens and although he was only 90 yards or so from me, completely ignored my pleading calls.  I could see him ignoring me.
I heard another tom sound off waaaaayyyy behind me, off my hunting property.  As I unsuccessfully called to the boss tom, this bird was steadily closing the distance, probably traveling 1/4 mile or more.  Pretty soon it dawned on me, "he's closing good".  Instead of turning where I was and waiting on an obviously hot and closing bird, I decided to close the distance.
I moved maybe 15 steps and he flushed less than 30 yards in front of me.
What was I thinking?!?!

[2eagles]

I called that stinker to about 20 yards. I knew he was coming and I was completely ready, gun up and pointing right at him. He stopped. Stretched his head high to the sky. A boom & a miss. First (not last) turkey I missed in my short turkey hunting career. I know I shot right over his head.

[tha bugman]

I try to stomp the suicide screw ups out of my mind...but somehow they keep haunting me...It will be years later and I think of them and start using language that a Christian man should not be saying..

[TauntoHawk]

Stuck a bird last year hunting public land in MD, late morning he gobbles high up on a ridge. A few calls and a few excited gobbles I knew he was interested but I was down in the bottom of a hollow in front of me was a wall of thicket choked deadfalls. I was 110% sure there was no way he'd come to me through that stuff and I had to get around and up on the ridge with him. So that's what I did as fast as I  could and when I got up high I had the perfect spot and knew that bird was gonna die. Made a call and I'll be damned if he wasn't down In the hollow standing where I had previously called from.... Never could catch up and make a viable play on him rest of the morning.

Also had a bird that wanted to die so bad last year I could actually do no wrong to not kill him. Guiding a vet on a wounded warrior hunt we spooked the same bird 3 times over 2hrs and still killed him. That's a longer story but he just kept coming back lol

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[C.Kimzey95]

Believe it was the first year I ever turkey hunted. Don't think I even had my own shotgun yet.  I was nestled up on a hill and it was up in the afternoon. I struck a bird up and he was literally responding to every call I made but he was a long ways off. So I sat and called and he gobbled and we went back and forth for a long time and he never budged a bit. And me not knowing any better didn't budge any either. I learned when I got back to the house my mom was watching him and he was standing inbetween my dads shop and our house the whole time. Hunted him the next morning and had him hang up on a barb wire fence and stand there and gobble at me and taunt me until I had to go to school. Thinking back this was probably the first mature gobbler that I ever had any interaction with. He looked like a tank that morning strutting behind that fence. Maybe not a suicide bird. But one I definitely should've had a better shot at.

[catman529]

My 2nd year turkey hunting, 1st year solo, 2011. I had killed my first turkey (a jake) in this one field on public land. I kept hunting the area because there was at least one tom still using the area.

So I guess it was mid-season, trees were greened up pretty good. One oak tree on the edge of the field was way taller than the rest of the trees. I heard him gobble from that tree at dawn. I set up pretty close to the tree, and thought I might have heard him fly down, but wasn't sure. I got one more gobble out of him that sounded like he was on the ground in the field. Keep in mind he wouldn't have been much more than 50 yards from me, and I was just inside the woods. So instead of set up and get ready, my rookie self tried to sneak through the bushes to get a look. Yeah I got a look, saw his big red head look at me before he turned and ran off. That one still haunts me, but I had very little experience, so it was one of the many things that taught me how to turkey hunt. I still hunt that spot occasionally, and killed a bird on opening day last year in the next field over.

[catman529]

Oh and last year I had 2 bad screw ups I can't get over....

First one I went to Lake A on Friday night, had fished but never hunted here before. I set up camp, went to sleep and got up early on Saturday and ran across the lake to the first big point, went left into the cove a little ways and tied the boat up, climbed up this point onto the main ridge line. Went through woods, thicket, and bush hogged CRP. Struck a bird that was way across a hollow on a private field that I could see on the map but not in person. Long story short, I called him across that hollow to 25 yards strutting around, spitting and drumming. I shot the bark off the hickory tree in front of me. First time ever hunting there.

Second one I went to Lake B for an extended weekend camping/fishing trip, and brought my camo and shotgun just in case. I set up camp that afternoon and got some sleep. I was gonna get up early and try to catch a topwater bite, but was sleepy and kept hitting snooze. But I could hear a gobbler across the cove, and I finally got up to get an idea where he was at. I could tell he was across the state line, but not far. (I was camped right near the state line). While deciding what to do, some bass busted shad behind my boat off the shore, so I threw a topwater and caught one quick before getting in the boat and going after the turkey. Long story short, I played with this bird and managed to call him across the state line to my side. When his head popped up over the crest, I took aim and shot, watched him fly across the next hollow and disappear. Again, the first time I had ever turkey hunted that place.

Those two still kill me to think about. Crappy shooting on my part, getting too excited, not slowing down and squeezing off a steady shot. Those will stay with me for a long time...

[wvmntnhick]

About 5 years ago I had what I thought was 4 gobblers going roughly 150-200 yards in front of me to my left and another bird gobbled off in the distance so far that I paid him no mind. I worked my way up the ridge towards the flat that the other gobblers were on and stopped to check their progress once more to see if I had time to get on the flat. Soon as I called a gobbler replied merely 50-60 yards away. Just hit the ground. It was the bird from my right. He busted me and left. Ended up killing one in the group of 4 that actually turned out to be a group of 7 but who's counting?

Same trip we were fishing on the lake and a bird gobbled but sounded about 400 yards out. He'd gobble about every 15 minutes so I'd give him some yelps periodically. Finally, it was obvious he'd decided to come our way. Had the fellas get me to shore and I jumped out of the boat gun in hand. Bird popped up over the ridge top only 15 feet away. Scared both of us I'm sure. Especially when the gun went "click" and misfired. Wasn't meant to be that day at all.

[Marc]

I was having a similar season with very little interaction...  Walking back to my car, after a long walk down a steep canyon logging road, I had a bird hammer back at me from straight up hill...

He flew down the canyon, and landed on the top of the roof of some abandoned shack (making a tremendous amount of racket doing so)  Due to the height of the shack and roof, I could clearly see that bird with his head and neck straight up.  At this point, I actually had a good shot at him, but had no idea how I would retrieve him from the roof of this shack?  He soon hopped off the shack and was right above me, the the side was about a 15 foot sheer side, and no shot was offered (and, I could not see him, even though he was probably less than 10 yards away).

The canyon wall was very steep, and came to a slope (a well-traveled area by turkeys in the past).  Thinking he would not attempt the steep terrain of that canyon wall, and absolutely certain he would take that sloping path, I dropped my turkey decoys on the ground, and set up just on the other side of a bend where I would have an excellent shot at him.

Well, that dumb*ss bird flew down that steep canyon wall and started to come from where I had just been...  I turned, and he was just around the bend...  In good range, but I could not see him.

Well, apparently he saw those decoys on the ground and they must have scarred the crap out of him, cause he immediately took off in flight as they came into his view.

[THattaway]

Anybody else managed to screw up a gimmee gobbler?...

Yes, more than I like to remember. The only upside is those don't usually sting nearly as badly as screwing up on toms that you have had to really work for and finally have in gun range. Highest of highs and lowest of lows. Closest I have found in any other sport is bowhunting.

[g8rvet]

I had a new piece of land to hunt and had listened pre season and knew where they were roosting.  It was along a main creek that split the property. So I got my young son up pretty early and headed in to a branch off the main creek, determined to get in the thick stuff before daylight.  As were heading in, with no lights, I was whispering to my son to be quiet and watch where he stepped.  It was about a 50 yard walk in to the thick stuff and I probably fussed at him about 5 times for making noise.  We get set up, quietly with plenty of time to listen to the world wake up.   

Dawn breaks and sure enough a bird gobbles, about 100 yards away, right where I thought he would be and my son was already facing his way.  This was gonna be epic.  About the time that thought finishes in my head a bird gobbles on the limb and we were darn near underneath him. Startled the poo out of both of us.  This bird puts on a show on the limb for us, but I can't call as there is nothing but air between us and him.  My son had been coached enough at this point to know you don't shoot birds on the roost and all we could do was sit and watch him pitch down. He went off to the other gobbler despite my calling as he knew darn good and well there was no hen where he had just spent the night! 

I have killed a lot of birds on that property since then and it is where my son and nephew got their first tom, but I now learned to stay back a bit from that roost, dummy.   

[Double B]

Three or four seasons ago, I set up on a hot gobbler before flydown on opening day of IN season in the Hoosier National Forest.  He flew down and responded to my calls well, double and triple gobbling.  He was on a thick rocky ridge top and we had a small holler in between.  I thought he might high side me through some pines so was keeping an eye out above me......but I was even with him and expected him to show.   I shut up and he quit gobbling but then he let out one gobble that blew me away about 30 yards downhill.  I looked, and didn't see him so I started to move my gun and adjust my feet, just as he was appearing up out of the little holler and he exploded into flight.  Bad timing!   I looked at the time, 7:15.  I ended up getting another bird that season but that one was dead, except for my screw up.   Sometimes they come in real fast!   

[Old Gobbler]

Most regretibly. ...yes...many times I've managed to snatched defeat out of the hands of victory

The stories are too numerous to count , if you turkey hunt enough your gonna have these things happen