Turkey opener

[SouthernOntariosportsman]

Went out at 4;30am to set blind up, heard gobbles in tree not far away, didn't see them fly down, coyote steps out right at decoy 15yards, thought for a second, and BAM. ate a lead breakfast. Female yote. went home feeling ok since i may have saved 1 of 4 fawns from getting it, went back out for afternoon hunt, sat in blind for 2 hrs, heard gobbles that didn't move, knowing roughly where they were, headed that direction in stealth mode, sure enough there were 3 gobblers, one real beautiful tom , spitting and drumming while the other 2 toms looked on, had a split second shot, launched 3 shells at him 25 yards away, could have swore i smoked him with the first one, (might i say, only had those 3 shells on me) the big beauty just looked like it was shell shocked, gobbled and started to walk away like nothing happened, i set off to pursue him, i was at one time 10 ft from him as he started in some very thick nasty stuff, i tried to keep up in hopes to catch bare hand, and he took one turn in the thickest spots, and he disappeared, i searched up and down, ran back out to trail to see if he was running away, but nothing, Sadly after an hour search it was dark, Not sure what to make of it. was hoping for the daily double, so i could celebrate. but it didn't turn out that way. Going to walk around that spot today after the rain to see if he just crawled under some thick stuff to pass, or if i get to hunt him another day, what a crappy feeling. The big tom didn't flap its wings, looked like i hit him with first shot, the other 2 shots were close misses removing tree bark behind him. if i had 1 more shell on me , i would be bragging about a daily double. but instead my head is low and feeling crappy. back at em this afternoon. Biggest and heaviest yote I've got to date.

 

[Fish Whistler]

and the fishing ?

 

[Old Cut LongPointer]

Mmmmmmm ? It does look like he's dressed to go fishing not cammo'd up to turkey hunt . Must have an excellent blind to hide in ? Good job on the yote ! I like to believe in the "one shot, one kill" method of hunting and like you had to learn the hard way about carrying more than enough ammo. Pretty gutsy wanting to go "hand to hand" with a wounded turkey. You know they don't have those spurs just to impress the ladies right ? I might suggest buying a lot more ammo and test pattern your gun at various distances.

True story; Out with a buddy to get him his first turkey. Call in a very respectable Tom. Range approx. 20 yards. He takes careful aim and BOOM ! Bird down ! Flopped a bit then lay still. We are as giddy as school girls, high fiving and pats on the backs as we step out of our blind to go get the bird and DANG ! If the bugger doesn't jump up and start running across the field. Buddy unloads his last two shots at him but he is long gone. We check area where he first got hit but no blood but we did find the wad from the shot. We test fired his gun at same distance and found it to be shooting a foot low. Only explanation is the wad knocked out the bird.

 

[SouthernOntariosportsman]

First time it's happened, lesson learned, bring 3 extra shells. the gun is matched to choke , patterns very nice. 3.5 longbeards XR's #4. and longbeard choke in a 935 semi.. very consistent pattern , it's a very tight shot string, and may have just clipped him, or like your buddy , and dazed him with the wad. And yes i am in a great blind, i wear all black to blend in to the color inside of the blind, works perfect . jacket i threw on after the shot to get the camera, .
The ammo i use is the one shot one kill type for this matched up gun and me. usually spend more time aiming while in the blind, but on the fly, well, it's the shooter i would say. i'm stocked up for this afternoon, and will be sporting some camo. lol.. run and gun today.