Crying shame

[catman529]

That's what I am, I suppose I won't be any different unless I quit turkey hunting altogether. Shouldn't even be posting this, it's been a long tough day hunting and i have to vent. I don't really know what to say now I'm that pissed off at myself. I called in a flock of hens with a gobbler about 30 min before sunset, I got his head up, shot and missed. I got the freakin iron sights this year to prevent looking over the barrel, so I just made a bad shot. He ran a few steps and stopped, I shot again, I SWEAR I SAW him flopping behind the bushes, ran up there all excited and NOTHING THERE....

Circled around got on where some of the hens had flown to the trees about 15 minutes early. There he was in a tree, yes I was going to limb lift that SOB. I had to sneak closer while he putted and then I got his neck craned out and swore that was a clean shot. I wasted another shell watched the bird fly away. I ought to break my gun in half. I don't know how or why I do this to myself and I hope the critter doesn't die slowly


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[Setterman]

Don't wish ill on them for messing up.

2 years ago I missed 5 birds the first week of the season, some magnificent hunts were ruined by me not doing my job at the end and not understanding my issues with a new gun in this case. I fought through the frustration and it all ended up just fine.

Missing happens and it stings every dang time, I never get over them and just try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Be thankful for the opportunity.

See cat unlike you I won't hold a grudge and use the opportunity to bash you like you've done me the last few days. :poke:

Pick your head up, and kill the next one, the seasons just begun.

 

[ZachMarkus]

I know how you feel man, I've never had problems missing turkeys until last year, I missed 3 due to not keeping my head down on the barrel, I bought a red dot scope this year and so far I love it, it has a circle with a dot in the middle, as long as his head is in that circle I know he's dead.

 

[xdjay]

Go pattern it. I talked to a guy Mon and he found out that his gun was about a foot low when taking a shot and he blew the breast out of one.

 

[mathews338]

I feel for you, I know it hurts but you will redeem yourself. Good luck next time out!

 

[catman529]

Redeeming myself don't matter when I'm going to miss another one later this year or next year. I shot the gun with the new sight before season. Setterman I know you missed 5 times in a week but that was a gun related issue, my problem is I'm a terrible shot, same with deer, I can't keep my cool when my blood starts pumping. I owe it to the birds to not redeem myself because I injure too many, there's no way I didn't get pellets in that bird. There was another one down the hill from him I want to go back and kill but I don't need to be going back making the place worse. I swear if I didn't value my belongings I'd have thrown my gun off a bridge into the creek. If I do go back there I might have to leave my camera at home and just bush whack one and not worry about the setup. I had my full attention on aiming the gun at the bird and would like to think the video camera had nothing to do with it, but maybe it makes my nerves worse. I don't know


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[outdoors crazy]

That's always a sinking feeling for me. Just the missed opportunity and sometimes it was my fault for rushing. Happened to me during bow season I gut shot a good buck because I be vale impatient waiting for the right shot. But there will be better days. I've seen you post enough stuff to know you'll get your fair share of turkeys. Just one of those days you have to shake off


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[muddyboots]

Were the shots further than u thought?

 

[Setterman]

Redeeming myself don't matter when I'm going to miss another one later this year or next year. I shot the gun with the new sight before season. Setterman I know you missed 5 times in a week but that was a gun related issue, my problem is I'm a terrible shot, same with deer, I can't keep my cool when my blood starts pumping. I owe it to the birds to not redeem myself because I injure too many, there's no way I didn't get pellets in that bird. There was another one down the hill from him I want to go back and kill but I don't need to be going back making the place worse. I swear if I didn't value my belongings I'd have thrown my gun off a bridge into the creek. If I do go back there I might have to leave my camera at home and just bush whack one and not worry about the setup. I had my full attention on aiming the gun at the bird and would like to think the video camera had nothing to do with it, but maybe it makes my nerves worse. I don't know


Sent from the talk of tap

Yes, you will miss again. We all will.

Sadly every one of us will cripple a bird at some point.

It's the ugly side of hunting, that we all hate.

Even after lots of dead turkeys I still am juiced when it's time to lay one down. That's why we do it. What helped me was waiting just a second longer, and as the shot presents itself tell myself to stay calm and go through my checklist and kill my target.

My gun issues were I couldn't keep my head down with the steady grip stock, so I bought a Fast Fire, and so far so good. But i will miss again I'm sure

 

[PalsPal]

Get a new gun!

I bought my current 870 on a Saturday afternoon after missing that morning, yet again, with my trusty old MB 500 that I had had for many years and taken many birds with.

I'm sure it was me, but I lost confidence in it and have been pretty much "money" with the new gun. I have no idea what was causing them.

I sold the other one to help pay for the new one.

 

[Gravey]

Talk yourself through it step by step. Get your breathing down and squeeze the trigger. My first thought is you're pulling the trigger and moving the gun in the process. I lost a stud of a buck this year with a muzzleloader and am still sick so I know the feeling.

 

[megalomaniac]

I missed 3 in a row with my 3" 12g back in '97.... after the 3rd miss, I went that afternoon and bought a 10g rem sp-10. It's been the finger of God when it comes to killing turkeys, but it became even more deadly when I added a red dot to it about 10 years ago. If you aren't a natural aim with a shotgun, I'd HIGHLY recommend going to a red dot or holographic sight. It makes a world of difference.

Sorry about your disaster, and don't throw away your gun- get a red dot :)

 

[Jcalder]

Shoot and shoot often. I usually get tore up when I see an animal but when it comes down to making the shot I'm calm.


Big or small, kill em all

 

[LanceS4803]

Catman, you had a crappy morning but I had a damned good laugh at your story! (Sorry, but in my defense your writing was excellent and very descriptive.)

After a couple of misses the year before last I bought a Burris FastFire III.
Highly, highly recommend.

 

[DCOOK223]

Don't worry about the bird. My buddy killed one that had pellets in its breast that looked like they were there from the season before. The holes had healed over and scarred. So I'd bet the bird will be fine. Go get the other bird to redeem yourself. Thats what I aim to do so I cam redeem muself from my three misses yesterday

 

[Hunt 365]

I had a red dot sight a few years ago that wouldn't hold zero and missed 3 birds! It happens man. Better to get the kinks out the first week of the season, and end well

 

[fairchaser]

Reading these quotes reminds me of the times I've missed deer and even turkey's. Hunters go through cycles of confidence, over confidence then we miss. Then there is doubt and self loathing until we finally connect and start the cycle over again. The one good thing about a miss is what it teaches us besides humility is patience and better concentration. Catman, you are an imperfect human so you will make mistakes. But don't waste them. Use them to be better. If you do, it will have been well worth it. Best of luck.

 

[WORM82]

The factory rifle sights on my mossberg 835 worked fine for 5 years and then one year they got to where while walking the back sight would jar to one side or the other. I don't know if your new sights are adjustable or not but I took mine off and bought a cheap set of truglo rifle sights that aren't adjustable and my gun has been dead on ever since but I still miss every now and then just like everyone else has or will. The best way to ease your pain is to go right back in there and kill one.

 

[catman529]

What bothers me to no end is that I regularly miss turkeys, not just once in a while. 2013 spring I missed 3 times, 2014 spring missed twice, missed once in fall season and now missed 3 times this year already. That's not good record on shooting, I don't know what my problem is. I can't shoot regularly because I don't have a good place to shoot nearby. But every time I shoot a target I put a lot of pellets in the zone. I can't afford a fast fire iii and I have never wanted a sight that has a switch and takes batteries anyway. Man I hunted hard all day that makes it 100x worse. 2 pm I had two hammering their brains out right across a creek on the other bank, when they didn't fly over I backed out and hauled it to the truck and drove way around to another access and hiked over half a mile back to where the birds were and they were gone. So I went bak and forth all day trying to kill one and finally I set up on one and not only had him in but his harem of hens, they came I first, passed by me from 15 to 25 yards and I never got busted, the tom was probably 25-30 yards when I first shot at him which is well within my range. I don't know what went wrong


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[YEKRUT]

Until you have missed 4 birds before lunch on the same day you don't have a problem. #5 that day wasn't so lucky. Best way to get over it is to go kill one. It won't be the last time you miss one.

 

[Setterman]

Until you have missed 4 birds before lunch on the same day you don't have a problem. #5 that day wasn't so lucky. Best way to get over it is to go kill one. It won't be the last time you miss one.

I thought my 5 in a week was a low point, dam I'm not sure I could have drug myself off the mat to try again. I'm laughing but I promise it's not at you in any way, it's at the idea of what my attitude would have been like if that happened to me, which is entirely possible.

 

[muddyboots]

Man I must be lucky. Only ones I have ever missed is because I mis judged yardage and it was farther than I thought. I'll 2 nd a good quality red dot. Saying u can't afford it is like saying u can't afford to hunt. Just save til u have enough. Might b next but sometime when I shoot a turkey with my eotech I think man that's too easy. The one my 6 yr old killed on juvi I asked her was the shot difficult she said no daddy put the red dot on the head and pull the trigger. Lol. She's right. Also u can not believe me but I would switch to some sort of hevi shot. Dead is dead I agree but hevi shot will shine on marginal hits. Like I said just my opinion but sure don't miss many.

 

[REN]

You are going to have to find a way to concentrate on the shot better and more importantly the follow through. I had a buddy that got into a habit of looking to see if hit the ducks when he pulled the trigger and it ended up always making him shoot high and right. It's like golf you have to follow through with the shot which most people seem to forget.

I'm not going to sugar coat it, you have a very high miss rate so you really need to figure out a way to get your bad habits out and learn the correct way to shoot and then form good habits. A lot of ths comes with practice practice practice but a lot also comes with you mentally being able to focus on that prior to the shot.

Having said all that, everyone misses! I missed the same bird 2x in a 3 day period and it was all from rushing the shot and failing to use proper shooting habits in all the rush.

It will get better as long as you want it to, but your going to have to spend the time to lose the poor habits and learn good ones. Don't get down though man , it's just part of hunting


Joshua 24:15
"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."


Sent from my phone sucka

 

[Boll Weevil]

Something that helped me and doesn't cost a dime was REALLY considering aim point. "Shoot him in the head" is not nearly as precise as aim for where his wattles meet the feathers. It's soooooo easy to shoot over a bird (at least that what I've heard :) ). Put that bead on his NECK...not his head.

 

[Tennessee Lead]

Buddy I hate you had a tuff day. Don't get down on yourself. Look how many guys are behind you here and confident that you will pull it off on the next Tom.
As others have said a red dot is the cats meow. Once he commits turn it on those batteries last for ever. I screwed up letting people look at mine last week left it on 2 days. It's as bright as ever and works great for turkey hunting. Dot on his head circle is 24" at 30 yards. It boosts my confidence in my ability to kill one because I missed nearly 10 before I ever switched.


Sent from my iPhone that I ain't smart enough to use with tapatalker

 

[YEKRUT]

Until you have missed 4 birds before lunch on the same day you don't have a problem. #5 that day wasn't so lucky. Best way to get over it is to go kill one. It won't be the last time you miss one.

I thought my 5 in a week was a low point, dam I'm not sure I could have drug myself off the mat to try again. I'm laughing but I promise it's not at you in any way, it's at the idea of what my attitude would have been like if that happened to me, which is entirely possible.

It's perfectly acceptable to laugh at this now, it was the worst day ever at the time though. Even after killing one that day I was so mad I couldn't see straight. It was last year and turned out to be my best year ever, but those will always be with me..... Hadn't missed in about 50 shots and then all in one day all hell broke loose before lunch. Every time I would go to leave I would hear another and turn my sad self around and go ask for more punishment. Shot an invisible 2" sapling 3 foot from me, had one at 5 steps and just slap missed him trying to blow his head off left handed, had one duck under a limb just as I squeezed one off, and one at 40 yards in open woods that I guess I just never lined up. Somehow I scared the fifth one to death or something that day. I think I shot at every gobbler I had on that farm that day. I'm glad as hell whatever bad ju ju was going on is gone now. :) it's going to happen if you shoot at enough birds. The best thing folks can do is make sure that all of the equipment is in tip top shape and if there is an error it is on the trigger puller.

 

[muddyboots]

I'll add this. I am fanatical about my equipment. If it doesn't perforn flawlessly I really won't have it. I have a buddy who bought a new auto 5 and wanted to go shoot it. He shot a foot to left 3 times. He said here u shoot it. Guess what a foot to the left. I told him get some sights. He went and got a lead slead and yugo it strapped down and it did good. I still woukdnt have it. Anyway he used it and missed one yesterday. I guess what I'm saying is shoot your equipment until you know it is perfect and take all mechanical error out of the equation.

 

[CAW]

Don't beat yourself up so bad. I don't know you personally, but from what I do know of you through this forum, you are a dang good hunter and have certainly had your share of success. Everybody is going to miss, that's just part of the deal. If you have no confidence whatsoever, I would get out and shoot and shoot and shoot some more. My son went through this a few years ago in Kansas. He missed 4 birds in two days. Finally hit one, but hit it low and I had to belly crawl out in a field and finish it off for him. He beat himself up like you are, but when we got home, I made him shoot that gun until he was tired of shooting it. He hasn't missed one since.

Keep your head up and just know that the frustration you are feeling has been felt by the majority of hunters at one time or another. You'll work yourself out of it, I promise.

 

[catman529]

It's very possible I am anticipating the shot and flinching or pulling the shot. If I had stacks of boxes of shells and a good field to shoot in down the road, I'd shoot several times a week. But then I don't shoot poorly at paper, I don't know.... Red for might be worth saving for down the road but I can't blame not having a red dot for poor shooting.

Yekrut you must know the feeling better than anyone. Can't imagine missing 4x one morning. The thing is I could have called and killed that other one that gobbled 3 times in a row, but they all started flying up to roost, I missed the bird again, saw the other one fly off too, and then a few mins later, shooting light ended. Has to be the worst ending to a long day. I guess the exercise and a few morels were good. I'm going to delete every single video I took today. Can't even watch it, I had good footage of the jakes I called in earlier, and the hens coming in close before I missed the gobbler. I have 3 tags left maybe i can skip the video for the next bird and try to get back on track. I just hate to think that I might miss again or miss 3 times next year. Won't trust myself anymore.


Sent from the talk of tap

 

[darn2ten]

Cat, as everyone else has said...it happens. One thing you mentioned though. Maybe just leave the video camera at home for awhile. Maybe you got to much going on trying to make sure your getting both shots at once. Just you, your calls and your gun. Breath deep relax and concentrate on making the shot that really counts. After you've got a few, then break the video camera back out. Just make it as simple as you can for awhile. Hold your head up and carry on, you'll be alright.