wholelottagobble

This morning was the opener here in NC. We set-up in THE PERFECT SPOT for where a big boy was gonna fly down to considering that he landed 40 yards from us in a wide open field. Well he hadn't been on the ground honestly for a minute when my buddy missed him. It was bad, first turkey we've missed in 5 years huntin together. How long should we wait before goin after him again? Anyone ever killed a bird later that they know they missed before? One good thing is that he never heard me call once all morning except to cluck to get his head up. He did spook bad though flying at least 300 yards down into a valley below our spot. Not much experience with this, so what should we do?

dog1

wholelottagobble,

My suggestion would be to try and roost him.

I messed up on what would have been my 3rd bird, which I talked about in another post. What has happened with this bird since that terrible day, is that he has been roosting about 300 yards from where he busted me, and to make it worse, on another mans' property, and I couldn't do anything about it. I have tried everything for over 5 days and can't get him closer, he just gobbles from the same area for hours. I had made up my mind after yesterday to forget him.

I didn't go hunting this morning but waited til about 10 a.m. to go to the club, wanted to dig up some wild flowers to plant at my house. On the way in I met up with one of our members , I had told him about the bird and he tried him this morning. He told me that he believed that bird was killed by the land owner or his relatives. He was working the bird and he wouldn't budge, when a gun fired in that direction, no more gobbling.

What I think they did was roost him, because the man I was talking with said he heard a 4 wheeler on the other property before daylight and it stoped about a half mile above the bird. I fiqure they had heard me working him so much and set up on him.

That's the way it goes. If you can't roost him you might be better off to go after another one.

dog1

CallWithLegacy

Hey bud get up with me tonight and we will talk about it, see if we can work something up. I am gone to my parents to eat dinner but will be back shortly.

totoe

..Just depends,ive missed a few in my time,in there strut zone,just to have them return
as soon as the next day,if his hens stay he will be back,but may return silent,or may
trip over his beard getting to you,when it comes to courting they sometimes have
short memory,when the hens are willing to breed,but he sure is still worth hunting
that just makes more fun...

barefoot

2 questions...

1) Was he suspicious before your buddy shot? If he was, and he spooked bad, I'd leave him alone for at least a week, then hunt him from a different direction.

I took a shot a couple of weeks ago that I shouldn't have taken. The bird spooked bad and I didn't hear him the next 2 days. I went back a week later, comming at him from the back side and he nearly knocked my decoy over.

2) Did he see you move?

When I got that bird, he had a buddy with him. His buddy stuck around after the shot. I tried to wait him out so I could hunt him the next day. He busted me after a while and I don't expect to get another chance at him the rest of this season.

I had another pair come in on me a couple of years ago and I killed the lead bird. I hit him hard, but he was flopping and moving away from me, so I had to go stand on him. That spooked the other bird (he was a piebald) and I haven't seen him since.

My conclusion is that if he sees you move after a shot, he's done for a while. I'm not sure how thick the birds are in North Carolina, but I have the great fortune of hunting in Mississippi, where we have close to half a million birds. I can always go and find another one. Killing him is a different matter altogether, though.

Change locations, maybe change calls and decoys and wait a week, then try him again.

Good luck!

wholelottagobble

Barefoot, the answer to both your questions is no. The reason being is that he pitched off the roost into great gun range of about 35-40 yards. He hadn't been on the ground a minute when my buddy pulled on him. I know that several hens did see us move though because there were still a couple on the roost putting when they saw us get up and flew when we walked under their tree.

barefoot

Aahhh... The plot thickens...

Those hens will probably move and the tom will go with them. Maybe not far, but those ol' gals can get jealous and uncooperative.

What I'd try now, is to give them a little time ( a week maybe) and go at him from a different direction. He probably won't come to you because the hens will lead him off. After I know he's gone, I'd go hunt another bird AWAY from the direction they went. THEN I'd come back about 8:30 or 9:00 and see if he comes back looking for that other hen that didn't join up with him. This may take a few days of frustration on your part, but be patient. Sooner or later those hens are going to start slipping off to nest and he'll get lonesome.

It's worked for me before.

Good luck!

wholelottagobble

good news,

my buddy saw two birds back in the same spot today but didn't try and get close enough to spook them since you can't hunt on sundays.

barefoot

We'll be expecting an update...


go git 'im!

whitetailpredatorsizedoesmatter

when i was about 15 i called in three longbeards, sooting down hill i missed the strutter. hey went off flyin. i jus gave up after that the i was feedin the cattle silage, and heard them start gobbling again. so i wet after them , called them back in and didnt miss this time. i guess if their hot their hot.