FLYING FALL WILD TURKEYS--TOUGH OR EASY TARGETS??

[quavers59]

They should be easy and they are now, But this was not always the case. I  have missed a bunch over the top or behind due to (turkey fever) or the shakes just as I have missed Spring toms over the top for the same reason. Going through my 40+ journals, I estimate that I have shot at a good 180 or so turkeys and my take of 115 is indeed not the best average for sure!
    Switching to modified knocked those misses off and had me connecting solidly. Overhearing other pheasant hunters up here in New York over the years-- alot of these guys never hunt in the Spring and look to connect when their pheasant dogs flush up a flock early in our pheasant season. In my area of New York- my Fall Turkey Season has been moved to mid- October from October 1st when Pheasant Season opens. So pheasant hunters here(in my area) cannot shoot at flushed up turkeys for 2 weeks--or at least you hope they don't!
   My black lab--BEN flushed up turkey flocks and my sisters golden retriever--CODY did as well.Both are long gone now... I have ABBEY now- another black lab-- but with a Fall Turkey Season knocked down from 6 weeks to 2 weeks and the take slashed from 2 turkeys to just 1-- my chances will dwindle. It was fun at one time to hit one Fall turkey in the air and call another one in on another day. My Father who never took a turkey told me on a pheasant hunt in the mid-1990s-- he almost stepped on a gobbler in a field. He was so rattled that he never got a shot off when he flushed up. He must have been flattened out like a rooster pheasant!!

[1iagobblergetter]

I've never hunted turkeys with dogs only have called them to the gun spring and fall. I have read and talked to a few turkey doggers about it...my jist of it is the dogs flush them and then they are called back in to the gun. Maybe that's why your success rate isn't the best. In my opinion following up at a crippled flying Turkey is one thing,but purposely hunting them by wingshooting wouldn't be my style of hunting them. I wouldn't trust I would cleanly kill them and I enjoy calling them spring and fall to much for that. I know guys that thoroughly enjoy driving them like deer and hunting them in the fall,but that ain't my style either. Hunting behind trained dogs that flush them then calling the flushed turkeys back to the gun would be a blast and would probably surpass my going out and just plain calling them in,but I also throughly enjoy watching a good trained hunting dog do what they were bred to do...

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

I dont care if I walk up on one inadvertently while hunting and he takes flight or if I call one up and he figures out the gig is up and takes flight; he ain't getting any TSS or hevi-shot headed his way.  I don't believe in skill-less or opportunistic kills. He earned the right to gobble another day and I tip my hat to him.

[Greg Massey]

I don't carry one thing about shooting one flying..agree he get a pass from me ...hunt him another day...

[eggshell]

I agree I do not go with the intention of shooting a flying turkey. Yes I have done it, but after a miss or  wounded bird. If I shoot at a bird I assume it is hit and I will do everything reasonable in my power to recover that bird, including wing shooting. I can say in the cases I have done this that I have killed all but one that I shot at. If they don't present a good shot I don't  bust them or just shoot up the air hoping to bring a bird down. Everyone I remember shooting on the wing has rolled up in a pile dead. I will not take the shot if I don't have a clear swing on it's head and neck, if you have that in range they are not that hard as everything is exposed. I just ignore the whole bird and swing on the head like it was a little quail. However, with all that said it is not common to get that clear of a wing shot, usually your looking at their tail feathers or a high crossing shot and neither is good.

[Farmboy27]

In my younger days I killed a lot of flying turkeys in the fall. I also "missed" some that probably died later from the shot I put in them. A bird flying straight at you is relatively easy to kill because the vitals are more exposed. A crossing bird isn't bad IF you have the lead just right. A going away bird is a cripple waiting to happen. I'm not as hungry as I once was. I'll still kill a bird I just happen onto without a second thought if it gives me a good shot. Just like I'll kill a deer when I'm walking between my treestand and my truck if I get the chance. But unless its a close bird flying straight at me, I won't shoot one flying anymore. The chance of crippling it is just way to high.

[dejake]

Really?  If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.

[bbcoach]

Not a fan either.  Free pass on flying birds.  I don't want them injured and dying later.

[Farmboy27]

Really?  If you want to shoot a flying turkey, just go buy a butterball.

Around here a lot of guys that have hunted turkeys for longer then most guys on this forum don't even own a call. Up until 15 years ago or so I knew very few people who called to turkeys, but tons of guys that hunted them (in the fall). I love calling turkeys, but I'm not going to put down someone who doesn't hunt the way I like to. I do feel that you have to be very careful with your shot on a flying bird and it's not my style anymore, but I'm not going to try to take anything away from someone who does it.  We are all hunters here. This is a turkey hunting forum, not a turkey calling forum.

[nsselle]

farmboy well said. alot of folks here are so quick to throw stones. it cracks me up.

[fallhnt]

I killed maybe 6 in the Fall flying. They all crashed back to earth. All were shot with my turkey gun and choke combo.

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[Yoder409]

Back in "the day" I took a couple on the wing very cleanly.

Back then there were two very big differences.................. Number 1: #2 lead was a legal load.  When I was a kid, that's what EVERYBODY used, spring or fall.  It is very effective.  Now it is very illegal in my home state.   Number 2:  I was not a very accomplished caller 35 years ago.  When I started fall hunting, I don't even think I knew what a kee-kee was..............

Fast forward to today...................... I could care less to shoot a turkey at all as to shoot one on the wing.  If it's flying, it's gonna land somewhere and I'll call it back from there and shoot it.  But my bottom line is that it IS still legal to shoot one on the wing.......................... So (just like shooting a fall bird with a rifle) just because it doesn't interest ME, personally, does not mean that I'll tear another guy down for doing it his way..................... 

[potter]

Just being able to flush a turkey and get a close shot sounds like a lot of fun to me. Then I would wait and try to call them in.

[dejake]

There's a big difference between turkey hunting and turkey shooting.  Turkey shooting fills a tag, turkey hunting fills a need, but that's just me.

[potter]

Just being able to flush a turkey and get a close shot sounds like a lot of fun to me. Then I would wait and try to call them in.