OK, here goes . . .
To begin with, the birds have become non-responsive to any calling in my area, so the best bet is to pattern them, then just hope that you are in their path.
I was on the state land this morning and they were gobbling like crazy up behind the Christmas Trees. As soon as they hit the ground, they shut up. They came off their roost rather late today and I figured that they were going to hit the fields, at least I was hoping that they were and a tom was seen in the state land yesterday.
Anyway, I had a two hens and a tom hanging together closerthanthis right in front of me (15 or so yards) on the corn field and my big boy at what I believed to be 40 yards out. (When I paced it out later, it was actually 50 yards) They were crossing in front of me from my right to my left. There was no shot without compromising one of the hens at the closest tom, and when I believed it to be now or never at the big boy tom, I took at shot. Again, I had a major case of TURKEY FEVER and I totally missed. The birds scattered and ran to my left. I took off my head netting and my gloves, re-pumped my gun and came out from my cover, only to find two more toms running to my right. I never saw them, but when they got closer to the road, a car was coming and they turned and headed back in my direction. So, there we stood, deadlocked, staring at each other, again, I believed it to be 40 yards, it was again more like 50. The car was gone, we were along side the road, but my shooting distance was not toward the road, so I raised my gun, as I am standing, and took a second shot at a second bird. For a second time in a matter of minutes, I totallly missed and the birds flew away. I did not have the gun correctly aligned to my shoulder and somehow, the gun hit my arm between my elbow and my shoulder on the inside. It is going to be a really pretty shade of purple and yellow by morning.
So, lessons learned? My distance judging really stinks. They are always farther away than I think they are. Be careful after you shoot, there may be other birds lurking that you didn't know about. Make sure that darn gun is up to your shoulder correctly before shooting.
Success can not be achieved without failure and wisdom comes from experience, and boy am I having experiences this year. Gobblergetter, watch out next year buddy
I still feel pretty crapping right now though [wallmad][wallmad]
