8yds last year.

My last three were under 15 yards. Closest was about 8 or 9 yards

I've got one bird that comes to mind from 25 or so years ago, he had to be inside of 10 yards.

However, I had the conversation just yesterday with a friend that the last few birds I've killed were 50+ though. Don't think there's anything but coincidence to it, but I'd rather split that difference to be honest. If one gets too close for comfort, I try to tell myself to hold a little lower, maybe where feathers meet skin.

We used to do a lot of Fall hunting, and we'd run into a bunch of birds to bust them up, and sometimes those goofy things would let you run TOO CLOSE! LOL

up close I always aim a bit lower, just below the top of the feathers.

About 12 yds. I hate letting them get that close, but he came in perfectly lined up behind some trees and that was the first shot I had at him. I don't like letting them get closer than 20 yds - the chance of bad things happening goes way up when they get close.

Yep, no point in risking it. I called in, what would have been my buddies first bird, and he missed it about 3' of his gun barrel.

3yds?!?

There are some on here that have shot them at 1 yd, that had to be nerve racking. 3' is really close!

I can't even imagine pointing my gun at a turkey 3ft away from the end of the barrel.

I missed a big bird inside 10yds once. I guess my closest kill was around 15-20yd range. I'm a nervous wreck when they get inside 25yds or so.

the one I shot at 5-6 FEET came from my right thru an area of small saplings, no tree big enough to hide my movement to turn the gun. So I just let him come...and he kept in a line to run over me. I figgered at a few feet I'd have time to shoot three er four times before he got out of range. I swung and fired near from the hip and centered his neck as he tried to veer off me. DRT.

I killed another Wilcox bird at maybe ten feet that came from the left side under a cut bank beside a hundred+ year old graveyard in the woods. I was standing on a grave when I saw a white spot move right beside me, his head as he looked over the bank. As he took a step his head went down, gun swung left, and as his head came back up I shot him. Took his head near off, held by a thread.


20-25 yards is a good range, any closer and I get nervous....

Killed one on Little River WMA many years ago closer than my liking but it was a crazy morning. Another set of hunters moved in on us, I couldn't get set up like I wanted & the bird came in behind a tree and didn't step out until he was right on top of me. Killed him at 7 steps.

7 yards.

I killed a one at about 5 yards when I first started hunting years ago in college. But the most memorable would have to be one that I didn't kill one time. I had a young 2 yr old get to close one time and he took a ride home with me without shots being fired. I guess he just was really hormonally challenged or couldn't figure out how that tree was making such sweet sounds. :-)

Are you saying that you called up a wild turkey and caught him with your bare hands?
Please tell the story if so!

X2

I would love to hear that as well.


A buddy of mine and I caught a wild jake one time. It would come out of the woods in the afternoons and eat with my grandmamma's tame turkeys. Then he would roost on my granddad's old flatbottom which was leaned up against a peach tree vertically. We snuck out one night about 11 pm and snatched that joker off that boat. That turkey about killed both of us but we caught it. I will have to tell that story in detail again one of these days.

I killed one by hand, but a shot was fired that didn't hit him.


I used to hunt with a double barrel muzzle loader, black powder, for turkeys. This will become important in this story. One morning I was hunting in Greene Co at Stagshead Lodge. I heard nothing on the property gobbling. Late morning as I was headed back to the lodge I heard a bird way off the property in some adjoining pastures. Stagshead was pretty thick back then and a big honeysuckle thicket ran along the property fence by the pasture.

I slipped thru the thicket and knelt at the fence. I spotted a gobbler and hens several hundred yards across the pasture. I decided to make him gobble, absolutely no hope/plan/idea of actually calling him off half dozen hens.

My gun was in my left hand, leaning against the fence. I called loudly and the bird gobbled. Cool. I hammered him again and he gobbled. On my third er fourth call a gobble blasted out, loud and close. I could see all of ten feet behind me because of the honeysuckle.

Just to my right a bird walked out of the honeysuckle thicket at maybe ten steps. To my right!!!! Gun in left hand, butt on ground, on my knees in the open!!! Damn. Bird walks behing a 2" sapling and I swing the gun up as he tries to spin..and blast one off. Remember...black powder...wet, heavy air morning...HUGE cloud of white smoke covers everything up. All I see/hear is flapping and flogging IN the honeysuckles to my right....I drop the gun and run ten er so steps and POUNCE on the thrashing bird under the honeysuckle where he got tangled in all the cloudy confusion....

I finally get a hand on his neck and twist it around maybe 575 dozen times till it breaks. Dead bird, ugly kill, but dead bird. I head for the lodge and and tell my story to three other hunters. One of em says he dosen't see any pellet holes in my bird. I had assumed I did hit it, but....

We skin the head/neck out and there are no holes in the skin/meat....complete miss by my shot. Hand only kill. It was ugly..but funny.

10 feet. Bird spooked and flew right over my head. Looked like a feather bed eexploded.

12 feet, but it wasn't a clean kill. He was walking up a road to me, but a downed tree had me completely blocked. I pointed the gun so that I could shoot him the instant he cleared the tree at 12'. I first thought I had taken his head off, but I only nicked the back of it. He flew off like a woodpecker, but was getting away. 2nd shot grazed him, 3rd shot killed him.

It was real hard on my nerves.

10 feet. Snuck in behind me and got to close. Called in my uncles first bird the next day and he cut his head OFF at 6-8 feet, real rocky in that area.