Lost one when I was in high school about 1984. I was hunting with my grandfather and was were set on a field edge at the end of an old logging road. The bird walked out of the road and strutted in to about 30 yds. I had him everything was perfect. 3" mag Remington 1100 with a full choke barrel and 3" Federal Premium #4 turkey loads. I wait until he is tail to me, raise my gun, click off the safety he drops strut, and boom! Well not so much of a boom, more of a bang. The bird was knocked off his feet but immediately jumped up and took wing. I tried for a flying shot but my gun would not fire! In fact it did not eject the hull. I pulled the bolt back and ejected a hull with considerable powder that had not burned. I walked out to where he was standing and picked up the wad which still had some buffer and shot in the cup. There were feathers and a drop or two of blood, but my turkey was gone. Why did this happen you ask?
You should talk to my mom. She had a habit of gathering up my "dirty" hunting clothes and washing them when I was at school. I guess the pant pocket with 3 shells in it was not obvious going into the washer but made enough noise in the dryer that she recovered them. What did she do with those shells you ask? Why put them on my dresser with my gloves, calls and face mask of course. When I loaded my pockets that morning, little did I know I had freshly washed shotgun shells!
After my grandfather explained to my mom never to put shells that had been in the washer back where anyone could shoot them, I also asked that she at least tell me when something like that happened. She washed other shells over the years but always told me when it happened. I did try to do a better job of cleaning out my pockets when I came in from hunting! With 23 birds I have killed and recovered that is the only bird that I believe I hit and did not recover. Clean misses that's another story!
