Just over the hill...

[WNCTracker]

This has been in so many of my close call turkey stories that I can't count on my fingers and toes. They seem to hang up just over the hill so you can only see tail feathers. Maybe this isnt a problem for the  flat landers, but I'm sure it's been a fence row, rose bush, etc at one time or another. Today I took a good friend on his first turkey hunt in 15 years but we didn't have long to hunt. We got in later than expected so twilight was upon us. We headed for our spot and We heard a gobble 5
75 yards or less from the tree. I yelped twice then cackled and I herd him fly down too. He was gobbling his head off but we couldn't see him. I was behind the tree calling while my buddy was seated in front. I heard drumming and knew that gobbler had made progress and was on top of us. My buddy was nearly shaking with excitement. Then the bird stalled "just over the hill."  He was there for 10 mins gobbling and had drawn a line in the sand where he insisted his hen needed to meet halfway. I stood up behind the tree to see if I could see him. Unbelievable. 20-25 yards in full strut. I could see him but my seated buddy couldn't. Nice mature tom with a glaring white head. After 20 minutes of coaxing this guy to us all of a sudden a hen comes gliding in from accross the field to the gobbler. What!?!?  I got blocked by a greedy hen. They danced for another 10 minutes ignoring me because I guess turkeys think like most us do, a bird in hand is better than one in the bush. It was do or die, and we only had 30 mins to get back to the house. I was wearing a go pro and captured the entire event including the following:  I decided that since the bird was so close and now moving away that he should pop up ready to take the shot. On the video you can hear me say, get the gun shouldered and take the safety off, stand up and take the shot. Well he shouldered it and got up and made eye contact with the tom. He then squeezed the trigger and the bird flew away. He left the safety on!!!  Hahaha I found it amusing, having done similar things in my life but he wasn't nearly as amused. Today we settled for wild asparagus without turkey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXoajMoudE

[husker]

That's awesome!  Did you post the video?

[WNCTracker]

Fighting with my GoPro. Also, it's not rated PG as one might imagine :-)

[mgm1955]

Good story!

[Happy]

Been there. More times than I want to remember. Good story.

[WNCTracker]

That's awesome!  Did you post the video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXoajMoudE

[wvmntnhick]

Id love to have been there on that trip. Sorry he didn't have slightly better luck. Maybe next time.

[WNCTracker]

Id love to have been there on that trip. Sorry he didn't have slightly better luck. Maybe next time.

It's also one of those, "you gotta know the guy" things too.  I've laughed a lot about this.

[dejake]

You'll both remember that hunt for quite a while

[kyturkeyhunter4]

Great story

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

You have to envision the approach from the gobbler's perspective better.

Every time you call, you confirm the presence of a hen (in his mind).  Therefore, the more you call, the less uncertainty he has as to where a hen should be.  This is even more significant when calling to birds inside 100 yards because their hearing is so acute.

Choosing a set-up where the gobbler has to be inside 20 yards to shoot is not prudent, as you have essentially eliminated 50% of your weapon's effective range and most turkey are not shot inside 20 yards.  Additionally, there is no value to having the caller sitting on the same tree as the shooter; in fact, you actually decreased your chances of success by doing so.  In the scenario that unfolded, float calling, 50-60 yards behind your buddy would have significantly increased the chances of that gobbler walking into point blank range as he continued walking looking for you, 60 yards back. By float calling, you have the ability to stay mobile and make adjustments to your calling position in order to keep the shooter between you and the bird.

It isn't the birds or land that are causing the hang-up.  It's you. 
While slightly comical, the situation was more likely to fail before it ever began based on the topography, the overcalling, the absence of a decoy and the caller's choice to sit on the same tree as the shooter.  If you change one or more of the issues I pointed out, you would've likely had clean hunt where the bird was called in and successfully harvested (assuming your buddy loaded his gun). 

Hope yall are successful on your next outing!

[duxrus]

Rule #1.....unless an emergency sit-down occurs NEVER sit just below (or above) a rise. Sit on the rise to be able to see above and below. Once he approaches just shut up and let him come looking for the hen just out of sight.

Rule #2....If you can see the top of his fan well within range...stand or kneel up for the shot. Just move slowly and if you can see enough of his fan to know which direction he is facing wait until he faces away and make your move.

[WNCTracker]

You have to envision the approach from the gobbler's perspective better.

Every time you call, you confirm the presence of a hen (in his mind).  Therefore, the more you call, the less uncertainty he has as to where a hen should be.  This is even more significant when calling to birds inside 100 yards because their hearing is so acute.

Choosing a set-up where the gobbler has to be inside 20 yards to shoot is not prudent, as you have essentially eliminated 50% of your weapon's effective range and most turkey are not shot inside 20 yards.  Additionally, there is no value to having the caller sitting on the same tree as the shooter; in fact, you actually decreased your chances of success by doing so.  In the scenario that unfolded, float calling, 50-60 yards behind your buddy would have significantly increased the chances of that gobbler walking into point blank range as he continued walking looking for you, 60 yards back. By float calling, you have the ability to stay mobile and make adjustments to your calling position in order to keep the shooter between you and the bird.

It isn't the birds or land that are causing the hang-up.  It's you. 
While slightly comical, the situation was more likely to fail before it ever began based on the topography, the overcalling, the absence of a decoy and the caller's choice to sit on the same tree as the shooter.  If you change one or more of the issues I pointed out, you would've likely had clean hunt where the bird was called in and successfully harvested (assuming your buddy loaded his gun). 

Hope yall are successful on your next outing!

Life ain't perfect and neither is hunting. Would I choose to setup where I could see 100 yards, place decoys out and setup differently? Of course I would. But when you're walking in and one gobbles at 75 yards when you were headed to one 300 yards away the game changes.  Maybe I should have hung back 50 yards or so, that's good advice but 4/5 gobblers I've killed this year were at 25 yards or less so I don't think that was a factor compared to the terrain. Terrain and coverage options are what they are and that's what happened here. It was situational. The decoys stayed in the bag because the "terrain" didn't afford another option at that time. This isn't ridge and valley country and at one time or another the only thing between you and a glorious turkey bird is a hillcrest with tall clover. And if you've never had a bird hang up on the other side of a fence row or a stream then you're a Jedi.

I'm no Scot Ellis by a long shot....the hunt was edited so there wasn't an abundance of calling...about 10 mins after the hen was with him, I called to the hen, not the gobbler. Probably just another bonehead move made by a rookie  lol.

[duxrus]

You did your job getting him in easy range....Your hunting buddy mucked that up royally

[WNCTracker]

You did your job getting him in easy range....Your hunting buddy mucked that up royally