Well, turkey season is over, and for the first time in 10 years, I did not kill a bird, and neither did my hunting partner. We have had very good success with killing birds over the last 8 years or so, but that came to an end this season.
But, as is always the case with turkey hunting, you learn a few things. Surprisingly, I don't think I made any real strategic errors - they were much more fundamental in nature.
The most glaring, and egregious mistake was failing an Admin load - I pulled the trigger on a mature gobbler with no shell in the chamber. I'm not sure I've ever been more angry in the woods. I've been more disappointed, but never more angry at myself. Rookie mistake. I removed the shell from the chamber while switching locations, and in my hurry to get to where I knew the bird was going to go (turns out I was right), I failed to rechamber the shell. I'm the guy who has a routine and double checks his stuff. That's partly why it made me so mad. In a tough season, I used all of the knowledge gained to put myself in position for the shot and failed before I ever left the truck because of lack of attention to detail. I'm not that guy. And it won't ever happen again.
Another error I made on 2 different occasions was overestimating the woodsmanship of my hunting partner. Once in allowing him to crawl in position to cut the shot distance in half, and he kept going too far. The other was Saturday when we thought the gobbler was 125 yards over a steep hill heading the other direction. We quickly set up 20 yards below the crest, and he popped back over on our side of the hill and busted my partner as he flopped down next to me on a big oak. That sent the bird flying into the next county. This was the kind of season with fewer mature birds around where we really needed to make the most of every quality encounter, and we did not. I would have made that same move 10 out of 10 times, and I still think it was the right choice. Had we had 30 seconds more to get settled, I would have killed that bird. Just a little too slow in getting in position and a little too casual with our movements.
And last but not least... Do NOT schedule eye surgery for the middle of turkey season! Sometimes schedules don't work out perfectly, and you have to do things at inopportune times, but do not do anything to incur a physical disability during turkey season. It's short enough as it is without being sidelined for almost 2 weeks. Throw in 2 baseball schedules and some henned-up birds, and it just wasn't meant to be. Just one of those years where you can't win.
I guess one thing is constant with turkey hunting - there's always plenty of woulda-coulda-shoulda's.
But, as is always the case with turkey hunting, you learn a few things. Surprisingly, I don't think I made any real strategic errors - they were much more fundamental in nature.
The most glaring, and egregious mistake was failing an Admin load - I pulled the trigger on a mature gobbler with no shell in the chamber. I'm not sure I've ever been more angry in the woods. I've been more disappointed, but never more angry at myself. Rookie mistake. I removed the shell from the chamber while switching locations, and in my hurry to get to where I knew the bird was going to go (turns out I was right), I failed to rechamber the shell. I'm the guy who has a routine and double checks his stuff. That's partly why it made me so mad. In a tough season, I used all of the knowledge gained to put myself in position for the shot and failed before I ever left the truck because of lack of attention to detail. I'm not that guy. And it won't ever happen again.
Another error I made on 2 different occasions was overestimating the woodsmanship of my hunting partner. Once in allowing him to crawl in position to cut the shot distance in half, and he kept going too far. The other was Saturday when we thought the gobbler was 125 yards over a steep hill heading the other direction. We quickly set up 20 yards below the crest, and he popped back over on our side of the hill and busted my partner as he flopped down next to me on a big oak. That sent the bird flying into the next county. This was the kind of season with fewer mature birds around where we really needed to make the most of every quality encounter, and we did not. I would have made that same move 10 out of 10 times, and I still think it was the right choice. Had we had 30 seconds more to get settled, I would have killed that bird. Just a little too slow in getting in position and a little too casual with our movements.
And last but not least... Do NOT schedule eye surgery for the middle of turkey season! Sometimes schedules don't work out perfectly, and you have to do things at inopportune times, but do not do anything to incur a physical disability during turkey season. It's short enough as it is without being sidelined for almost 2 weeks. Throw in 2 baseball schedules and some henned-up birds, and it just wasn't meant to be. Just one of those years where you can't win.
I guess one thing is constant with turkey hunting - there's always plenty of woulda-coulda-shoulda's.
