I've hunted for over 30 years, but I never really got into turkey hunting until last year. I killed my first turkey then. And, I killed my second this past sunday. I didn't get to hunt on Sat. (opening day) due to my daughter's B'day. But, I met my dad on Sun morning after about 1 1/2 hrs sleep and we drove over to some public land. I had 3 gobbling on the roost, but they and their hens went the opposite direction after they flew down. Later in the day, I called up some hens, but not much more action. My dad and I had agreed to head back toward the truck and meet around 4pm. So, I started walking that way, occasionally stopping to call. I got almost to the truck, and decided I was done. I put my calls in my pocket, took off my mask and gloves, and started to walk the remaining 200 yards to the truck. About 20 yards further, two gobblers flushed from beside the logging road. I instinctively shouldered my gun and shot as the trailing bird flew through the trees. I'm not sure who was more surprised, me or the turkey, but within 4 seconds of seeing him, he was flopping on the ground.
Not exactly a classic hunt, but as someone fairly new to the turkey game, I'll take it.
21.6lbs
7/8" spurs
10.5" beard
(http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/eminart/Hunting/2015%20Turkeys/Turkey_zpsvy77eaip.jpg)
Congrats......
Congrats
Congrats!!
Nice and congrats, I love to see them come strutting and gobbling, but that is just me.
A win is a win. Nice job!
thats a crazy way to get one on teh ground but id take it too!
Congrats!
:smiley-char092:
Congrats
Unconventional, but it's still a mark in the "w" column. Congrats!!!
Nothing wrong with that! Good shootin!
congrats on your flying turkey
Good bird, congrats
Congratulations! I'd take that any day of the week.
doesn't have to always be a story book hunt...congrats :icon_thumright:
Way to go
Thanks guys! I'd definitely rather have called him up, gobbling all the way, but I was happy to carry him out of the woods. Five minutes earlier I thought I was going home empty-handed. And he'll taste the same either way. There's a breast marinating as I type this.
Sometimes you got to take what you can get, nice bird
Good stuff! Congrats!
That will work, congrats!
Nice!! Congrats
congrats!
Congrats !
Congrats
Nice.
Wing shots count too. We all like them playing along while we play their game but sometimes it works out differently. Congrats on the bird. And congrats on getting to spend time in the woods with your dad.
Congrats. As a new turkey hunter there were two lessons that should have been taken away, at minimum.
1) the hunt for turkeys is never over until your in the truck ( and sometimes not even then) so always keep your Camo on
2) never walk in the middle of the road
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Ill be the guy that speaks up and says what a few others here are thinking.
The essence of a kill is not just in a harvest but how the harvest is achieved. Crawling on a bird takes time and gives fair advantage to a bird. Calling one up takes skill in knowing how and when to call. It also takes skill to get the bird killed once his keen eyes are in range screening heavily for any movement.
Walking out and shooting a fleeing bird is a disgrace to the grand bird and I hate to hear of one being harvested in such a manner.
Just my .02 cents.
:gobble: :alien: Not "Classic" but effective. Congrats.
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on March 20, 2015, 02:21:26 AM
Ill be the guy that speaks up and says what a few others here are thinking.
The essence of a kill is not just in a harvest but how the harvest is achieved. Crawling on a bird takes time and gives fair advantage to a bird. Calling one up takes skill in knowing how and when to call. It also takes skill to get the bird killed once his keen eyes are in range screening heavily for any movement.
Walking out and shooting a fleeing bird is a disgrace to the grand bird and I hate to hear of one being harvested in such a manner.
Just my .02 cents.
probably better off a just not posting. Don't knock a guy on legally killing a bird. Stick to your holier than thou methods and well congratulate you just the same...
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on March 20, 2015, 02:21:26 AM
Ill be the guy that speaks up and says what a few others here are thinking.
The essence of a kill is not just in a harvest but how the harvest is achieved. Crawling on a bird takes time and gives fair advantage to a bird. Calling one up takes skill in knowing how and when to call. It also takes skill to get the bird killed once his keen eyes are in range screening heavily for any movement.
Walking out and shooting a fleeing bird is a disgrace to the grand bird and I hate to hear of one being harvested in such a manner.
Just my .02 cents.
Meh.
I understand what you're saying, and appreciate your opinion, but I think it being a "disgrace" to the bird is a bit overboard. As I said, it's certainly not how I would have preferred the hunt to have gone. But, I don't think the turkey cares either way. As a bowhunter, and a falconer, I'm all for "fair chase". If it were easy or common to go out, walk up on a turkey, and shoot it, I'd agree with you. But, I think this is probably much more rare than sitting down and calling one up. Yes, it was sheer luck, but I don't see it as taking advantage of the bird. If I sat down in a spot, before hearing or seeing a turkey, and one happened to walk up before I'd called, I'd shoot that one too.
The idea of how a turkey hunt should go is something that modern hunters have made up. And, while I like it, it's not a rule anywhere except in our heads. There is no mystical force in the universe called The Right Way to Kill a Turkey. It just boils down to our own idea of what is challenging or acceptable. And, I'm ok with taking what luck brings me right now. That may change after I kill a few dozen, but for now, I'm ok with it.
Way to get it done and congrats on a great bird.
Quote from: omegafoo on March 20, 2015, 07:40:36 AM
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on March 20, 2015, 02:21:26 AM
Ill be the guy that speaks up and says what a few others here are thinking.
The essence of a kill is not just in a harvest but how the harvest is achieved. Crawling on a bird takes time and gives fair advantage to a bird. Calling one up takes skill in knowing how and when to call. It also takes skill to get the bird killed once his keen eyes are in range screening heavily for any movement.
Walking out and shooting a fleeing bird is a disgrace to the grand bird and I hate to hear of one being harvested in such a manner.
Just my .02 cents.
probably better off a just not posting. Don't knock a guy on legally killing a bird. Stick to your holier than thou methods and well congratulate you just the same...
I could careless about seeking Internet congratulations for a harvested bird but in the off chance that I get drunk and post one from this spring's obituary list on old gobbler please keep your congratulations to yourself ;-)
Legal and right aren't mutually assuring...
In Florida you can't shoot a turkey within 100 yards of bait but you can bait away to manipulate turkey patterns and hunt accordingly.
Total b-u-l-l-s-h-i-t.
In Virginia you can shoot turkeys in spring or fall with a rifle.
What a disgrace.
Shooting a fleeing turkey because you happened to walk up on one isn't quite on par with that but no one I hunt with would ever think of wing shooting a spooked turkey... They'd be thinking about where he went and how in 45 minutes he'd start missing his buddy and be quite susceptible to some gobbler yelps or a gobble tube.
I just ain't that hungry and want the kill to mean something. To each their own.
Nice shot!
Congratulations on a nice bird and the fine shooting