My turkey stand is a makeshift stand out of sticks and camo burlap covering. My first year of turkey hunting I had a nice low 20 lbs. turkey come 15 yards away from me. Unexperienced, I had a scope on my 20 ga. and looking through the scope I saw crosshairs and turkey head, but little did I know my barrel was pointed at the brace of my stand. Pulling the trigger I expected to see dead turkey, but to my surprise I had blown apart my stand. So, I stood up and fired another round at about 30 yards while he was on the run. Needless to say, no turkey. It would have been a perfect story if it would have happened like I planned. After my first day of ever turkey hunting with that happening, I thought turkey hunting would always be easy.. but I would soon learn that it's not. A couple of years later, I had another opportunity. A nice Tom came within about 30 yards. This time I put the bead on him..(scopeless). Pulled the trigger and the gun knocked me right off my bucket onto my ***. So, I did not have time to fire off another shot, when I got up and looked at what I had shot, all I found was feathers. I've tried decoys, and calls. They seem to be working, but I think I'm going to bump it up to a 12 ga. this year for a little more knock down power. I'm not sure what else I could be doing wrong. I'd love to hear some suggestions on turkey techniques, or tips. Thanks
a lot of people perfer to use pop up blinds, but i myself have never had to much luck. I personally have never had much luck with decoys either so i dont prefer them. On occasion i will use them though. Definatly bumping up to a 12 gauge will help. Make sure you are using an extra full turkey choke and turkey loads. Go out and pattern youre gun before you hit the woods so you know where it is shooting. I have never hunted out of a treestand???? Just find a nice tree and sit up back to it. ( this will also help cover up your silhoutte) You can even get out early to your property and scout. Find turkey scratches, find roost trees ( droppings on ground). Also, you could try roosting the gobblers before the next mornings hunt. These are just a few things that came to my mind. good luck this upcoming season!
Try steel shot if legal in your state. It holds a very tight pattern. But don't use it thru a turkey choke. They are to tight.
I would definately not try moving up to a 12 guage if the 20ga is kickin you around like that. Seems to me you need some advice from some of you more experienced friends and hunters as to the proper technique in handling your firearm. Not trying to be disrespectfull here , just trying to be helpful. Seems to me like other's have said that you may be using the wrong choke barrel on your gun and you probably should have an experienced person help you pick a good turkey load. Would make a hugh difference in the outcome of you trip. Good luck in the future hunts, hope ya get one.
One of the biggest mistakes new turkey hunters make is not keeping their head down on the stock. This is magnified if the gun only has a front bead. The tendency is to lift the head to see the bird, instead of the sight better. Scopes and rear sights will help with this. As stated above, you really need to pattern your gun. Some guns shoot well with many differnt loads, some do not. I have one gun that refuses to pattern well with anything other that #4 shot. Of course, that will change with the choice of choke size. Get some calls and practice. Listen to live hen recordings. I think you can find some on the NWTF. After looking the link to the NWTF, I found this page. Instead of me typing my thoughts, just read this. http://www.nwtf.org/tips_adventures/tips.php?id=13256
