Might be time to give up turkey hunting. Been a frustrating year was never huge into turkey hunting because of work. But have killed a few birds over the years. Well this year I have had more time to hunt determined I'm I great caller I just can't shoot. Called in 3 long beards and missed all 3. First day bird hammers on the roost hits the ground gobbles all the way in hangs up at 40 turned to leave boom flies away. Next Saturday went to one spot nothing go back to the main farm long beard with hens in the field. Got snuck around and set up worked him for a hour and half swing and a miss at 20 yards. This morning bird came on a line across the field got to 40 and started working to my right trying to cut into the pasture. Stopped him on the edge at 30 wiff. Sorry for the long post needed to vent congrats to everyone who had success this season.
Shake it off because it happens, and it happened to all of us. My eyes are not what they were at 25, everyone of my turkey guns has a Burris Fast Fire 3 mounted. Even the kids like them and we have not had a miss since installing the FF3's. You also might want to shoot the gun at paper to see if it is hitting the point of aim.
Did you pattern your gun and practice? Were you happy with the results? If so, then you just need to concentrate more on your shot. Aim like you are firing a single bullet and not a spread of pellets.
Sorry to here of your unfortunate misses, but perhaps you should think about installing a shotgun scope of sorts on your gun, I have a 1.5x5 x32 Simmons Pro Diamond shotgun scope on both my Mossy 835 and my 20 Ga 500, once you get him in the scope its lights out. Havn`t had a miss ever since.
For me it`s not all about the kill. it`s more about the thrill and heart pumping sound of that big guy answering and coming in to your most seductive call.....Good Luck.....
Put the bead just below the head. Squeeze the trigger. Dead every time. You didn't do that or your gun is shooting a foot to the left, high, right, or there are huge holes in your pattern, which I doubt. You don't need a scope. If you want one then get it. Good luck.
You have a problem, do not give up. Figure out what the problem is, could be you, could be your gun. I have seen shotguns that shoot the point of impact way off, and I have seen people who get all excited and can not shoot. Could be your eyes. You could try a scope, pattern you gun, shoot off a rest, find what the problem is.
I missed a good one last season. I think many misses are do to the fact that one’s sitting against a tree, and sometimes you’re needed to shoot at an odd angle and you’re unable to turn the trunk of your body. Sometimes you don’t get your cheek the whole way down to the stock, and this results in you shooting over top of your target.
I put a scope on the Benelli for this season and really liked the results.
The majority of the time, misses at closer ranges is due to shooting high from not having your head down. This is usually due to excitement and being nervous that the bird is going to spook. Instead of getting your head down and a solid anchor and making sure that you are looking down the entire length of the barrel with just the bead sticking up, the tendency is to focus only on the bead and shoot and it flies high.
Don’t get discouraged! You’re having success at the birds coming in, just figure out the shooting issue and you’ll be golden!
Hang in there my friend...too much enjoyment to quit. Appears you have the hunting part working well and know where the turkeys are...the part that makes many hunters struggle ...you are over the first big hurdle.... A lot of good advise above......The shooting should be the easiest part to fix....and there is a whole year to prefect it. Misses are either the equipment or the shooter no magic...and both are easy to improve.
Personally I would start with myself as I believe this is the most economical and basic approach. Most people who hunt own a 22 and 22 rounds are much cheaper and fun to shoot than turkey rounds. I would take my 22 and head to the range. The first shot would probably indicate if the shooter is flinching, jerking the trigger, not aiming through the shot or closing ones eyes. I have been guilty of all of these over time and unfortunately they can become built into to ones shooting norm just like good habits, we do not realize we are commenting these errors and are they are most difficult to fix if one is absorbing heavy recoil with every shot which limits ones ability to concentrate on perfection and firing the needed number of rounds to improve.
After I am grouping the size of a turkeys head at say 50 yds. I would shoot the 22 at a target from all the normal turkey hunting positions until I became efficient at all or determine the shots I should not take, but wait for a better shot.
Once I am sure I am shooing to the best of my ability. I would go back to the shotgun to prefect the turkey shooting issue concentrating on the shot while aiming at a clearly defined small bullseye. If the pellets are not hitting the point of aim then it is time to work on my equipment.....If adjustable sights I would make the adjustments if not I would look into sights that have adjustments and there are many that work well.....the adjustment is the key to get on target.
In the spirit of economy and to lessen the recoil I start with a few lightweight loads and make adjustments before putting in the heavier loads. I have found I need to make a bit of fine tuning to get the heavier loads to hit at the aiming point, but I am not taking a lot of unnecessary shoulder abuse to do so which can also cause one to go back to one or all of the poor habits I fixed by shooting the 22.
The other major issue for hunting misses is EXCITMENT and we all have it if we are truly enjoying the sport. I found early on in my hunting career, if I take a few deep breath breaths at the start of the excitement it calms me down and then I go through a mind check of things like: Is he the gobbler I want....is he in my sure kill range, is my intended shot safe and will not hit any other turkey with him.....keep all movements to a BARE minimum......Look for other unseen turkeys which might see you and and spook taking the gobbler with them. Study the body language is he calm, alarmed or moving away? Then I go into the carful aiming and things I perfected with the 22 concentrating on aiming though the shot and not lifting my head to see if I hit the turkey whereas, if I execute the shot as practiced they will be plenty of time to look at the turkey close up.
One does not have to use my thinking process but just having a personal pre-shot routine can taking away a lot of the jitters and increase ones chances of taking a well earned gobbler to the freezer rather than going home and just cleaning ones gun...while reliving a missed shot...it is a much better feeling and aids in a good night sleep.
Remember you have all year to fix the shooting thing so I would recommend to keep it fun and don't try to do it all in one session. I believe you can become very proficient at the moment of truth with a little fun practice....ENJOY and take pictures to share with us....
Well hey, at least your seeing and getting shots at birds and that's more than how my season went. Pretty much all I seen was other hunters tramping around the woods making to much noise with their calls.
Make a few adjustments to your shotgun and do some practicing, you'll do better next year.
i put a red dot on my 12 ga, but i dont think i really needed it. did it mostly for predators at night, now i use a rifle..LOL (predators)
i also moved up to a single shot 10 ga but the darn bird came out behind me and walked in front, stopped at 15 yards...not much of a test for a 10...lol should have seen the shockwave go thru the grass, it was awesome.
99% of the time? Really? How does one know...99%......How many misses are caused by improper or NO pre-hunt sight in with the hunting loads on paper? Is 99% assuming the shotgun is sighted to hit the point of aim with a substantial amount of pellets on the bull; whereas, if the sights are off one can be missing in any direction and not have any idea which direction unless the turkey is standing in front a big piece of cardboard with the results behind him.
If a shotgun has a heavy trigger pull and most manufactures produce them with safety first or one tends to jerk the trigger I would think they could be missing in any direction. Practice on the range is the place to improve learning to squeeze to trigger......to improve groups or patterns and decrease missing in any direction from the bull.
However, if one is not lining up the sights properly on a test proven gun and load.....they are doing something wrong and one reason can be they are not sighting through the shot.....thus possibly raising their head too soon to see if they hit the turkey. I believe this is something that can be fixed at the range long before the hunt.
Archery and bow hunters learn this in the back yard and/or 3D before taking shots at game.....Do all the basics before the hunt and shooting will improve.......or only shoot at the taller turkeys......
Yes obviously I'm assuming gun is sightened in correctly! If he's already afield hunting I assumed his gun is already patterned and knows how it shoots. So then yes most misses are over top! Cause obviously theres tons of factors that could cause a miss otherwise!!
at 76 my eyes are no where up to snuff, i went to a scope and things changed for the better and i just bought a burris fast fire 3 for light weight rem 20 ga., also invested in federal TSS # 9,s. proof is in the pudding . the petteren is at 35 yards with a .640 turkey choke, and be sure to patteren your shotgun.
As most other said, It's most likely your setup and pattern. I spent many years with the same carefree approach, mix and matching turkeys shells, etc.....and have the misses to prove it. Since becoming serious about my setup a number of years ago, my miss numbers are way down. If I do miss, it's misjudging the yardage in open old standing timber early in the season- When 60 looks like 50. Good luck and hang in there.
Next year invest in some good shells and seriously pattern your gun. Count your pellets....don't just say it looks good.
I put on the vortex red dot this year and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Put it off for a long time but it sure is nice. Also I didn’t do it on purpose but mine is shooting about 2” low. Long story short my mount is to high on my gun and I’m out of up spins for my dot. But as many say most misses are high so by putting the dot on his head in theory I shouldn’t have that problem. In theory😉
which vortex red dot. the crossfire and sparc can be mounted to your shotgun with out using the higher co-witness mount. they should have a weaver / picitinny style base
Had a few frustrating misses over the years with standard shotgun sights but since I mounted a Bushnell Trophy XLT 1.75X-4X w/circle reticle......100% success. With today's tricked out turkey guns combined with modern day turkey loads almost like shooting a rifle. My suggestion is get a scope that meets your expectations and pattern at various ranges with load you plan to hunt with.
Don't ever, ever give-up....more opportunities will surely come. Best of luck!!
Hats off to your Honesty. I feel your pain in a different way when it comes to Turkey hunting and guess what, I just ordered a new Turkey Gun.
JUST don't give up. My problem is 360 degrees from yours, but I ain't giving up. Take,s a Good Man to admit what you did.:eagerness::eagerness:
I wonder how many guys shoot super tight chokes for extra range then miss when the birds are inside 25. Witnessed that first hand 2 years ago in a wide open field.
Perhaps some do...it is quite possible. That is why I practice with a 22 on turkeys size heads at 50 yards, and aim directly at the sideways head on turkeys. If one can hit the head or come very close with a 22 they will get their gobbler.
If the shotgun has been sighted properly and one misses at any sure kill range it is not the gun, load or choke it is error on the part of the shooter which can be fixed by practice, concentration and developing good shooting habits......
Turkeys hopefully are a still target whereas, one does not have the shot string working as on a passing shot say like flying dove, duck or upland game.
A miss can be caused by the equipment or the shooter; whereas both should be addressed to get the best results.
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