Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting A pure miss

I got into the woods about 40 minutes before legal shooting time. This time I went back to my bottomland instead of the pine thicket. Didn't hear any gobbling until about 6AM. There was one in front of me and behind me, but they were so far away they sounded like they were in the next state. Never heard a hen. The only bird noises other than a half hour of distant gobbling were the little tweety birds flitting about. I was very subtley calling in the morning. With 15 or 20 minutes between runs.

I wasn't hunting over any decoys this time. I gave it until about 8:50 AM and I finally heard a gobble 200 or so yards to my right. I decided to simply cut loose with the calling. I let loose with very loud yelps with my diaphram and pulled out both slates and started yelping on those at the same time I was calling on my diaphram. Then I got a thunderous gobble 100 yards or so away across the swamp to my left. A minute or two later, I heard the bird fly across the swamp to my side. I turned on my GoPro. I finally saw the Tom. A big one with a swinging beard on the other side of the bottom up the hill going from let to right. I got my gun pointed over that way. Then he started running in my direction and started putting. Then he took to the air and landed in a tree about 50 feet to my right. Simultaneous to that, a deer charged in from the direction the tom came from, and I am convinced that's why he started putting and took to the air.

The tom laned on the far side of the tree. I swung my gun around. That's when he saw me. He stretched his head out from behind the trunk that was concealing the base of his neck. I drew a bead on his head and fired. He reared back that leapt out of the tree and flapped down and I heard him running when he landed with that damned deer following him.

I have no idea why the deer was charging through the woods. I was the only hunter in the area. But I am convinced the bird would have come in on the ground had it not been for that deer. And I just plain flubbed the shot. I am pretty convinced I shot over his head. His head was all I could aim at. He was so close. I think if I had a modified or a regular full choke I might have got him.

I searched the swamp banks for over an hour to see if he might have been hit and crumpled up somewhere but never found him.

Well, he beat me. But he's still alive - for now, and I'll be back.

I captured the episode on video. Enjoy my failure. (It was still a better day for me than being at work. )