u/yeawrongperson

Didn't drop the gun, didn't bang it on anything, I've placed it muzzle up resting against trees a few times, had the gun up in my hands most of the time...don't remember getting hung up on anything. I'm just so confused cuz I just bought this A300 Ultima KO on the 4th of May, so only a few weeks ago, took it out turkey hunting, basically took it for a walk, only a handful of times in the past month.

Is this something I'm gonna have to be worried about in the future?

So basic rundown here (yellow line is basically his “safe zone” through private, blue line is me this morning, other colored tracks are me on previous days of seeing nothing lol).

Never hunted before in my life, and unfortunately no one to talk to either. Tried deer hunting last year and learned a ton, but never got one. I did get 2 pheasants tho lol. Figured I’d give turkey hunting a shot this spring.

My buddy works at a client property (#1) and for the last 2 weeks he’s been seeing this same Tom with hens almost every morning around 8-9am. Strutting, gobbling, living the good life.

Yesterday I was nearby (it's a 1 hour drive from home) when my buddy texted me saying the bird was there. I rushed over and had about an hour and a half to hunt before he slipped north onto private. Bummer.

This morning I got there around 5:30am and he was down near property #2 just hammering gobbles. I hit him with a soft 3-4 yelp and shut up. For the next 35 minutes he gobbled nonstop and slowly worked his way toward property #1 where he normally hangs out.

At that point I’m thinking “this is it.” I sat there locked in with the gun up waiting for him to cross onto public. Never happened.

After about 35 minutes I did another soft yelp trying to get him curious. He immediately shut up, then a minute later he somehow ended up like 400 yards north near spot #3. No idea if he flew or just slipped out quietly.

Honestly thought I blew the hunt around 6:35am, but instead of leaving I kept working around the hill West while he moved through all these private backyards. Every 20-30 minutes I’d stop, set up, do a few yelps/clucks, and he’d answer back.

By spot #4 he basically stayed there gobbling until around 10am, pacing north/south through the private properties before finally shutting up around 10:30.

Over the course of almost 6 hours I probably called to him 8-9 times total. He answered almost every setup, but never committed to stepping onto public. Smart bird.

So for you experienced guys:
What would you do in this situation?

Would you keep trying to ambush his route and hope he slips onto public one morning? Any specific tactics or call sequences you’ve had success with on hung-up birds like this?

I watched a video about using drumming/purring sounds on stubborn Toms and thought about trying that next time.

Not looking for a magic step-by-step guide, just trying to learn from people who’ve been doing this longer than me.

It was kinda a bitter sweet moment for myself - sob story but it’s relevant - I was in a car accident 3 years ago, lost 90% of my dominant left hand, pointer and middle finger amputated. For 3 years now I’ve been working my ass off to get myself back to being what I call “normal”. Holding a gun, racking it, heck even just doing the buckle for my belt/seat cushion is a job now.

Never hunted in my life but primitive me felt it was a personal challenge to prove I could still be a man and survive, so I said this is a perfect time to start learning a new life skill. Last year was my first year, I’m 29 and never had anyone to take me out so everything is just learning x1000. Last year on deer season I didn’t see anything. I was thankful enough to get my first 2 pheasant solo kicking around brushes and hanging by edges.

But to finally be in the woods with something else and be this close was amazing. I ended up stalking them a bit and got about 20 ft from them before I broke a twig and they ran off before I could get my phone out again. What a rush.

Now can a turkey do that?! 🤣

Just bought my shotgun 2 days ago, using a Beretta A300 Ultima KO with a Carlson Long Beard XR .650 choke, using Winchester Long Beard XR 3” #5

Don’t mine my horrible aim on my first shot lol

Any advice or thoughts would be great!