What is the funniest or most frustating.....

[msbadger]

unusual thing you've encountered while Turkey hunting?

One of mine was 16 years ago I'd set up in a natural ground blind of a downed tree top....Just down hill over a ridge I heard a gobbler so I started calling ...I could just see the top of his fan as he strutted around and answered me...then I hear rustling out in front of me ..so I get the gun up and ready....out of the brush come three hens single file...I stay ready hoping a Tom is behind them..but I still see the fan of bird over ridge...well those hens walked straight to me and one at a time looked in the barrel of my gun and walked away...It took every thing I had to keep the gun from shaking and keep my breathing under control...
The thought crossed my mind that the son of gun sent his hens up here just to razz me...for they walked straight to him and the fan disappeared as he walked away with them...lol

[Cut N Run]

About 10 years ago, I had a gobbler finally come in to my calling after taking his sweet time about getting there. Trouble is that he was behind my tree, like right behind my tree. I could hear his wingtips loudly dragging the ground as he strutted. I could feel his spitting & drumming in my chest...that close. I didn't move for rear of spooking him and I waited a pretty long while for him to move away before I tried to coax him back with some calls. He double gobbled right back to my yelps and his third gobble was definitely closer than the double, so I knew he was coming back. About that time, a hen came up from the creek bottom in front of me, walked towards him, & lead him away. It was aggravating that I did the hen's job for her and she didn't have the courtesy of dragging that gobbler past in front of me in range. At least they made some more turkeys for the future.

Jim

[onpoint]

The first time I hunted in Georgia, I drove into a place the landowner had given me directions to, got out and immediately heard a gobble in a creek bottom very close to me. It was getting close to flydown time so laid my gear down and belly crawled out to set up a hen deke. After setting up I did a flydown cackle on the diaphragm and belly crawled back to get my gear (which included my camoed shotgun). I couldn't locate it because I was afraid I'd be "skylighted" in the quickly approaching dawn if I stood up. In the faint light, I couldn't locate any of my equipment(gun included) That old gob flew down within 10 yds. of me and I had to watch him casually stroll by. He had to be laughing for the next week I learned that day the hard way one of the most steadfast rules of turkey hunting. Always take your gun with you!!!!

[bamabirdbuster13]

this year when i called in a boss field gobbler on land that was super pressured and smart to calling. i got as close to him as possible by crawling 200 yards thru a maze of briars,creeks,and vines at 4:30 am. had no decoys and when he reached 30 yards i pulled the trigger only to hit a dead primer and my gun racked another shell under. the bird heard this walked to 15 yrds and gobbled in my face for 3 minutes straight while i sat frozen.. only to have him spook when it tried for the other shell.. what a show but the uttermost frustrating thing thats ever happened.

[kygobbler]

While I was watching the gobblers the other day I noticed that one of them had gotten in the breeding position and was going to town. I got my binoculars up to get a closer look at the turkey porn and noticed there was no hen. I guess since his strutting wasnt working he wanted to show the girls what he could do.

[Limb Hanger]

I was hunting in central New York with a couple of friends, just filled my second tag, and was done for the year. My buddies asked me along on the next mornings hunt. We were on a ridge early, heard some gobbles and set up. The morning broke, all went quiet. A distant gobble sent my buddies into a frenzy, they took off on a line to strike that bird. Not being as fleet a foot, I stayed put with the decoys and was going to take a nap.

About 15 minutes after they left to persue the gobbler, a hen filtered through the decoys; and about 5 minutes after that 2 long beards came in silently and kicked the snot out of jake decoy. It was something to watch. After the birds knocked over the jake, a strutting competion ensued for the attention of the hen decoy. After a bit they lost interest and walked past me, one bird was in arms reach! I could only smile and watch. My buddies came back empty handed...

[Fan Club]

this probably qualifies as funny and frustrating...


Years ago on our Missouri lease, I was hunting with my friend Ron. I hit a hot gobbler with an aluminum pot, but he was across the back pasture and off the property. After putting out a jake and a hen decoy, we got into a large brush and woodpile, the only available cover in the pasture before reaching the back fence.

The Tom was hot, answering every call, and getting closer, but taking his time as they often do. I heard a commotion behind us and when I looked about 20 of the farmer's dairy cattle had peeled off from the distant herd, crossed the creek and were closing in on our position. The gobbler was nearing the fence but the cows got there first. They circled the woodpile looking for us as they had obviously spotted us earlier crossing the pasture and then setting up. We refused to move and give up our position so they then shifted their attention to our decoys. The cows completely circled the dekes staying about 10 yards away from them, they may have been the first decoys the cattle had ever seen. Finally a small calf got enough nerve to approach the decoys and started licking the back of the hen. When the calf pushed down too hard on the hen, the stake came up through the back of the soft foam. The calf then began scratching the bottom of it's chin on the top of the decoy stake while it slowing closed it's eyes and began drooling.

Ron and I couldn't contain ourselves anymore and we both busted out laughing. Some of the adult cattle then came over to the woodpile and peered in at us from about 5 feet away. There wasn't much hunting going on at that point so we just stood up and started talking to the cows, telling them that they didn't make very good hosts, or turkey hunters for that matter, and that they owed us a decoy. Lost in the shuffle was the hot gobbler whom had shut up by then. We never did see him, but if he reached the fence I'm sure he wondered what in the hell was going on at the convention in the pasture, with cows licking turkeys, and people in the woodpile talking to the cows!

[1Morgan]

Frustrating...
Birds coming in silently behind you after being in a set-up for an hour, deciding to move, hearing something behind you, looking to see them 15 steps away, looking at you then putting away...

[shaman]

Back when Mooseboy was first going out with me, he had a bad habit of falling asleep. Sleeping in a treestand or blind wasn't a huge problem in itself. It was the snoring.

I realized the other day that the big stick I had kept at the Honey Hole for years to poke Mooseboy had finally and completely rotted away. For over a decade, it had two purposes. I could move it around in the leaves and it would sound like hens feeding. I could also pick it up an poke Mooseboy awake. I had to keep a stick like that at every venue we hunted.

The first time I ever took him to the blind with me, was back the first year I got the farm. I'd taken a record-book turkey a few days earlier, and we went out and sat in this elaborate blind a poacher had sat up on the back of the property. It was a long, narrow thing made of cedar boughs piled about 3 feet high all around. Mooseboy and I each had a tree for our backs. The sun came up. Mooseboy fell asleep and started to snore. The snoring was so loud, a flock of hens came over and stuck their heads in the blind to see what was making the noise. Mooseboy slept through the whole thing.

I can remember taking him out to a prime location later on. We got set up. Mooseboy fell asleep, and a big gobbler flopped down and came right over to us. I couldn't get a shot, but spent about 30 minutes trying. The gob was right behind a bush. Mooseboy could have seen him strutting at 10 feet, even if I couldn't get a shot. Finally he shnorked loudly and scratched his nose and the gobbler took off like a scalded cat. Mooseboy missed everything.

Finally after he got to be 12 or so, I figured out that a little coffee wasn't going to stunt his growth. By then he was already getting to be my size and showed no signs of letting up. I fixed him up with his first cup of joe and the problem went away.

[onpoint]

Fan's story about the cattle jogged my memory. One of my favorite hunt sites in KS is a cattle ranch where the birds come to peck the corn out the Black Angus bull patties. I set up a jake deke there near one of the birds favorite loafing spots. It was real windy that day and had to put sticks either side of the deke to get movement, but not have it looking like a spinning weather vane. A group of bulls meandered over to check things out. One the younger ones came over to check out the deke and, as luck would have it, the wind gusted and busted loose one of the makeshift stakes. Well, the tail of the deke whipped around in the gale and whacked the bull on the nose as he was tryin' to get a sniff of his new-found bird friend. I never knew that 1500 lbs. of Black Angus steak could get all 4 feet off the ground at the same time, spin around in mid-air, a set a new world record in the 100 meters as soon as his hooves allowed him traction!!!! I laugh at that one every time this brain picks it out of the file in the ol' noggin.