Help! Desperate!

[JohnD.]

What can suddenly(or not so suddenly) cause me to miss. After years of rarely missing, I missed a couple last year and just missed two this morning. I'm nearly embarressed to even post this but I'm at wits end. Last year on the first miss I just wrote it off but the next shot was really measured and still missed. Didn't really think much about it until now when I took 2 good deliberate shots this morning and the birds walked off unfazed.
I shoot a Remington 870 3" with an IC .665 and either Hevi 6's or LB #5's. I have patterned this gun quite a lot with these two shells and it's always been very good. Before the misses started I probably hadn't missed 2-3 birds in the last 15 years up until last year. I didn't pattern my gun last year or this year but I sure would have today had I had the equipment with me. Can something be wrong with my gun? Most advice, suggestions or opinions would be welcome.

Thanks, John.

[taylorjones20]

You might need to pattern it again. You never know what could be going on down range if you haven't taken the time to shoot it at paper and see what it's doing.  Other than a pattern failure, it would be something on your end.  Maybe jerking the trigger? Lifting head up?  Plenty of possibilities. Shoot it at paper and see what happens.

[KYStalker]

Make sure endcap is tight.

[tha bugman]

Could be alot of things make sure everything is tight and send a few downrange.  I shoot mine every year before, during and after season.  I feel like that keeps me in the groove on trigger pressure, concentration and aim. 

[lowoctane]

Could be alot of things make sure everything is tight and send a few downrange.  I shoot mine every year before, during and after season.  I feel like that keeps me in the groove on trigger pressure, concentration and aim.

                X2!!!

[WNCTracker]

I missed a couple last year.

I didn't pattern my gun last year or this year.

It seems like after missing more than once last year, a day at the range was in order.  I had one start shooting off, after always being on and it took a while for me to figure out where the issue was because there were several different things that it could have been.  Start with the path of least resistance and make sure everything is clean and tightened.

[coonhunter]

Never missed a bird with my 870 with the Star-Dot and win HV #6 shot.  Put a I.C. 665 on it and started shooting longbeards and I have missed two with it and my Dad missed one all in the past 3 years!!  Easy to blame the gun though! 

[taylorjones20]

Never missed a bird with my 870 with the Star-Dot and win HV #6 shot.  Put a I.C. 665 on it and started shooting longbeards and I have missed two with it and my Dad missed one all in the past 3 years!!  Easy to blame the gun though!

The only birds I have ever missed were with the longbeards.  I guess they're just too tight for me lol

[sevetts]

I had gotten really comfortable with a gun, I had killed a bunch of birds in a row(like 12 or 13) with the same load and choke. I didn't give it much love, just kept grabbing it and killing birds. One morning last year I worked a bird for over 3 hrs and when he finally committed I proceeded to miss him 3 times. It is a really bad feeling watching a big bird WALK off after being shot at 3 times. I spend alot of time shooting guns before season but this gun was set up to shoot Nitro Mega wieght s and I was supremely confident in it and I didn't want to waste the few I had left. I took it home and it put less than 10 pellets on a big piece of cardboard. I deep cleaned it and put a different choke in and it shot great again. I would start with deep cleaning your barrel and possibly changing chokes.

[Ihuntoldschool]

Maybe your vision changed, maybe you lifted your cheek off the stock, maybe you were impatient and rushed the shot, maybe there was a sapling between you and the birds you did not see, maybe your depth perception is off and you are misjudging the range, maybe your choke is to tight for your shooting ability/and or usual shooting distance. Maybe your barrel/forend wasn't secure, maybe your choke was loose, maybe HTL type shot ruined your choke, maybe you dropped the gun and bent the barrel, maybe your sights have been knocked off, maybe your scope has a lot of parallax. Big difference between target shooting and shooting a live bird.  Turkeys move their heads a lot and quickly.  Lots of things can cause a miss; turkeys are easy to miss. 

[Longshanks]

This is a story I constantly hear from folks hunting with Longbeards and even if they have patterened the gun. There is not much margin for error with them and if you snatch the trigger or are off a few inches at closer distances the turkey will be untouched. I would make sure everything is tight and pattern by all means but opening up your pattern will put more turkeys on the ground. Calling the turkey in and gettting in good position is the toughest part of the game. The shot shouldn't be what lets you down with a shotgun. Simple is better. I went back to double beads and shooting loads that give some margin for error.

[M22]

Huntoldschool covered all the bases.I went 27 years with out a miss .missed last year and again this year at 27yrds.
Vision and to tight choke has has killed me two trees.   I Am now a humble turkey not a hero.

[Longshanks]

Huntoldschool covered all the bases.I went 27 years with out a miss .missed last year and again this year at 27yrds.
Vision and to tight choke has has killed me two trees.   I Am now a humble turkey not a hero.

Just curious, what load are you shooting? I must admit I missed a turkey with Longbeard 3" 5's at 30yds when they first came out. Guy I've been turkey hunting with for 26 years looked at me and said "you out smarted yourself with that gun didn't you?" Saw Matt Morret miss two or three  turkeys in a row the other night on a show and I know he knows what he is doing. You reach diminishing returns the tighter you go with patterns.

[coonhunter]

I agree.  I think in the heat of the moment a good even 20" is as important as at high count 10"!!! 

[Gobble!]

Misses happen but this is why I pattern my gun before every season. After a miss where I have no idea what happened I pattern again just to be sure.