Originally Posted By: GLS
Originally Posted By: Krakow Kid
Joe - Do you shoot many turkeys on the wing? I don't think I've ever met a turkey hunter who did. More power to you if you do.


I won't speak for Joe, but I suspect Joe would answer the same way that I do. I try not to shoot at flying birds. The last thing an ethical turkey hunter wants to do is to wound and not recover a turkey especially a 20 lb. spring gobbler. A wounded turkey can out fly a quail and outrun a horse over short distances. Based on my experience and others I know, unrecovered birds (probably hit) are often shot on the flush as they fly away. The south end of a turkey flying north can absorb a lot of shot and still vanish. I'll admit it's hard not to pull the trigger when one flys. I can think of several times I wished I hadn't. It is not unsporting to shoot one which is standing flat-footed and unaware within 35-40 yards or less. How can one ever miss one under those circumstances you might ask? Hunt them religiously for over 30 years and the answer will become apparent. Anyone who claims to have killed and recovered every turkey shot at has not shot at many. I have not hunted fall birds with a dog, but that might be the exception to shooting at birds flushing, especially smaller birds of the year, as the dog can often track the bird.


Been hunting turkey for about 15 years now. Shot at one in the air. Flying at me, rising and passed directly overhead quite low still (10 yards?), going to some woods from a field. Got it. If you don't have a clear shot at the head no matter if they are on the ground or in the air, don't waste your time, shot, energy.

The world cries out for such: he is needed & needed badly- the man who can carry a message to Garcia