This…worse than cheating on your wife.

Mmmm..sore subject

Anybody who hasn't missed a few, hasn't killed very many

I went several years with the bag juju and hope and pray I never have it again. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Didn't read replies but I've only killed 2....i started turkeys a few years ago n I missed a good one at 10 yards...I've only killed 2 so it hurt pretty bad

Shooting too far has been my nemesis. Like someone on here said, they can look a lot closer than they really are in a field. Don’t try to “quick draw” one that comes in from behind you either. It usually happens in the afternoon and he came in silent and you had no idea he was there until he just was.

Thanks for the info y'all, and sorry to bring up the thing we don't talk about Matt, haha. Lots of good info here though. Gobbler, I've done a lot of reading and have seen several others using much more open chokes with TSS. I don't decoy so I like the idea of having that forgiveness when they pop up right on you. What would you say the effective range is with a modified choke? Believe I may try to find an improved modified for my 870 and see how it likes the tss #9.

Over 30 years I'm sure I have done this, but I don't just quickly recall a miss on a "standing still" bird. I can remember some that I spooked, or walked up on, or tried to belly crawl, etc, and popped a shot at them moving. Setup will alleviate a lot of the risk.... I do not want the bird too close.

I killed one year before last that really put me in a bind, can't believe I didn't miss....I thought he was further away than he was, so I tried to low trot towards him down the top of the ridge. Just about the time I get to the lip, he gobbles and blows my hat off, probably 20 yards just over the nose of the ridge (frankly, I think this was a different turkey, in hindsight I think there was two of them the whole time). I literally just STOPPED and shouldered my gun, could immediately hear him walking, and then I could see his head looking at me (prob 20 steps).... I literally shot the dirt . Fortunately it killed him though.

I went years with only pulling the trigger on 1 that didn’t die. Like 20 years……Then 2 things happened. I started using “turkey” chokes and my available time to hunt dwindled. I started missing or wounding them left and right. I got in a bad funk of making stupid decisions in the heat of the moment, because I knew I wasn’t going to have many chances. Couple that with a super tight pattern and the results were bad.

Now, I’m shooting an o/u with slightly open chokes and a red dot. The only thing that still bites me occasionally is the bad decisions in the heat of the moment, because I still don’t get much time in the woods. But I’m getting better at that.

uote=benchmade47]Thanks for the info y'all, and sorry to bring up the thing we don't talk about Matt, haha. Lots of good info here though. Gobbler, I've done a lot of reading and have seen several others using much more open chokes with TSS. I don't decoy so I like the idea of having that forgiveness when they pop up right on you. What would you say the effective range is with a modified choke? Believe I may try to find an improved modified for my 870 and see how it likes the tss #9. [/quote]

Yeah my old gun had a nasty pattern at 40…I missed one at 6 yards last year because it was a rifle shot at that distance. I switched to an over under with my top barrel I use a modified with longbeard 5/6s….it’s perfect for 25/30 yards and in. The bottom I use a full and I’m comfortable out to 45 or so yards. I shot the full at 30 yards and it’s a perfect hunting pattern as well so if I were you, I’d try a full choke and see where it patterns. I use the longbeards for close shots to save money/save my tss 😂 now if it’s thick, I’ll shoot em close with my full choke tss.

more than i care to talk about. That's all i got to say about that.

1. too far
2. too close
3 divine intervention

I missed a pile of them when I first started. I can remember missing 5 back to back years. Putting a scope on my gun was a complete game changer.

Ill say this..if they are under 15yds..they gonna get body shot🙄

Several. Most have been shots at 1st bird of the season. Too excited! Most were just a tad out of range. I did miss one that flew off the roost and literally landed 10 feet in front of me. I missed him 3x. 🙄

I missed a bunch when I first started turkey hunting, which was around 1976. Most misses were due to me being impatient and not waiting on the proper shot, and not having the gun up and ready in time. I wait for the perfect shot now and rarely miss but sometimes lose the opportunity to shoot because I’m too patient.

Too tight pattern for close birds. Now I shoot an over/under. One bbl modified for closer shots and the other bbl tight for longer shots. Back up gun is an 870 that is open enough for close shots and is still good to 45 or 50 yards.

I don’t miss the ones that are too far, I just don’t hit them in the right spot. There have been a few around the 40 yard mark that I can tell he’s hit hard, just don’t get pellets in the right spot of head/neck. I’m sure some have died even after flying off. I have the hardest time making myself not shoot at a nervous bobbing head inside 20 yards. I’ve missed a chit ton of those over the last 30 years. If I would just body shoot them they wouldn’t budge, but I keep trying to take off their head

This…I literally cannot make myself body shoot one close…I’m just wired to always shoot for the head/ neck area. If I would have done the body shot route I would have killed more than half my misses. It’s a suck feeling having one so close am missing.