Two Birds, One Shot

[kjnengr]

Congrats to the little man and glad no laws were broken.   

Post up pics when you can.

For those that don't want to shoot a double because of cutting your season short, would your opinion change if you hadn't shot one yet and it was the last hunt or two of the season or the trip (if you were out of state or area or something)?  When legal of course.....

Your point is a good one.  It would be interesting to see just how many of us would reconsider our position on shooting multiple birds if we were put in that scenario.

Last year my wife wanted to go to Hawaii for a vacation.  I agreed to the trip if I could do some turkey hunting while we were there.  After negotiations, it was agreed that I could go turkey hunting three mornings out of the seven day trip. 

The first morning I hunted, I called in a group of gobblers and shot one of them, planning on only killing the one bird.  Well, one of the other gobblers didn't know what had happened and, as they sometimes do, just started slowly walking away, stopping to look back at the downed bird. He would walk a bit and then stand and look.

During the couple of minutes he was doing that, I was having a debate in my mind about whether I should shoot the second bird, knowing that if I did so, it would make my wife happy because I could eliminate one of my mornings hunts (the limit was three birds and my plan was to shoot one bird a day if the opportunity arose). 

The gobbler kept easing away and finally was about 40 yards out when I decided to make my wife happy,...so I shot the second bird, too.  That is the only time in my life that I have done that, and probably never will again.  ...But my wife was delighted! ...and I scored some points for future "considerations"....

Good story Gobblenut.  I go back and forth on what I would do in that situation..... When I'm out of state, I'm usually with friends, so "my" hunt may be cut short, but I can always sit with a buddy and enjoy their hunt like it was my own. 

Also, (and I have been in this situation) when I'm down to the 2 minute warning and the buzzer is about to go off on my season, I'm not playing around hoping for a double.  The first legal/mature bird that offers an opportunity gets shot.  I would rather end up with one bird at the end of the trip/season than to push my luck and screw it up though having a chance at a double.  One bird slung over my shoulder is worth more than two in the bushes.

[g8rvet]

So weird. One of my sales reps came in this morning and told me his son killed two in one shot on youth weekend (here in NW FL!).  I asked him if he had posted on here and he told me no.  So it happened twice on youth weekend!  Pretty cool. 

[guesswho]

Congrats to the little man and glad no laws were broken.   

Post up pics when you can.

For those that don't want to shoot a double because of cutting your season short, would your opinion change if you hadn't shot one yet and it was the last hunt or two of the season or the trip (if you were out of state or area or something)?  When legal of course.....

Season dates, number of hunting days left or number of birds taken or not taken plays no part in my decision not to shoot two.   I was just brought up by turkey hunting parents who both have the one hunt one bird mentality so it's just natural for me to follow suit.  And trust me, I like killing as much as the next guy.   But I'd rather not kill any as to kill two or more at one time.   But fully understand someone feeling just the opposite.

[Cut N Run]

I've passed on a few that came in after the shot looking to kick the flopping bird's @$$ when he was down.  I've also let a few gobblers walk that had hens around too close, which would have been pointless collateral damage.  It was difficult not to shoot, but I never had a clear shot.  Better to let him walk and hope to get another crack at him than waste a hen.

It is only legal to take one gobbler a day and two gobblers in a season here in North Carolina.

That said, In 2002 or '03 I was hunting at my lease and had tagged a nice gobbler on Opening Day.  A few days later, I had set my best friend up by a creek crossing that was getting daily turkey traffic and I was sure he'd get the drop on one.  That spot didn't offer a great viewing or shooting distance, so he got up and moved about uphill about 125 yards where he could see farther.  Well, two gobblers running together crossed at that creek crossing behind him and cut up the power lines headed up towards where I was.  I had one answer my calls and he was obviously coming on.  I thought it was just a single gobbler and when he got closer, I pulled the hammer back on my old single shot.  That gobbler came up the ridge and when he got to the cleared area I settled the gun on him waiting for him to come out of strut.  I clucked once on the mouth call and blasted him when he went periscope up.  I never saw the second bird, which had crossed behind his fan and was now flopping behind the gobbler I'd shot. I ended up with almost 44 pounds worth of turkey with one shot.  I called the land owner and he tagged the second bird, which I cleaned for him. 

Not how it was supposed to happen and I was in violation of the law, but it was a 100% accidental kill.  The fact that the landowner tagged the bird made it a recorded kill in that county for the wildlife department records.  It didn't get wasted and I have become a lot more cautious before dropping the hammer ever since.

Jim

[g8rvet]

Congrats to the little man and glad no laws were broken.   

Post up pics when you can.

For those that don't want to shoot a double because of cutting your season short, would your opinion change if you hadn't shot one yet and it was the last hunt or two of the season or the trip (if you were out of state or area or something)?  When legal of course.....

Season dates, number of hunting days left or number of birds taken or not taken plays no part in my decision not to shoot two.   I was just brought up by turkey hunting parents who both have the one hunt one bird mentality so it's just natural for me to follow suit.  And trust me, I like killing as much as the next guy.   But I'd rather not kill any as to kill two or more at one time.   But fully understand someone feeling just the opposite.

I feel pretty much the same, but would like to double up one time, just to say I have done it.  I don't know, I have had opportunities, but not since it was legal.  I thought I would shoot a bearded hen, just once to say I had done it, but when one presented itself, in range, I did not.  Game time decision I reckon.  It would suck to end the season, but I have enough family and friends that are newish turkey hunters, that my season goes on with a limit reached, just no gun on the shoulder.  2 years ago I was done in 11 days and I hunted as often and had as much fun as years where I only killed one.  Just did not have to tote a gun.

[Bowguy]

This weekend I took my son on a youth hunt in NW Florida. After working some gobblers for more than an hour, he shoots a nice bird at 35 yards ( using an 870 Turkey Mag with Longbeard XR 6 Shot). As we are admiring the bird, I noticed another gobbler at the edge of the swamp. This bird had a couple of pellets in his head but that is all it took. He was 15 yards further away than the bird he was aiming for. Crazy hunt that we may never see again. Am trying to post a pic but it is apparently too large to attach.

Congrats on the bird but know you're target and beyond. Coulda been another hunter there. If anything we don't intend to shoot is in the zone of fire or behind give it a few to change

[Bowguy]

Although I don't care if someone else does it, I enjoy turkey hunting too much to use up two tags with one shot.  I am pretty much a one-bird-per-day guy.   

Agreed

[Tail Feathers]

Congrats to the young hunter.  Too bad he don't get to go back for more, but he won't  be eating tag soup for sure!
I've done that once.  Last hour of the last day of a Rio hunt in Texas, two tags left.  Three came in and were milling around looking for that hen I was pretending to be.  I put it on one and held till one of his buddies passed in front of him and lit 'em up.  A Scotch double I call that.  Saving money on shells.

[THattaway]

The only times I've ever regretted shooting two at one sitting was on all but two hunts. One was 2 miles as a crow flies back on a river bottom and uphill the whole way out. The other time was another 2 mile walk with a 21# and 24# turkey over my shoulder. In the first instance we all laid down a few times to rest on the way out. In the second instance I was seriously asking myself "why did I do that?" but was perfectly fine with it once I got to the truck. In hindsight I can see where I might have stretched out the enjoyment but with 5 tags burning a hole in my pocket back then I still think I was in high cotton.

[Sixes]

Legal here in Georgia and I've done it a couple of times