[hunter7x]

You are on the last of your 4 day Mirriam's hunt in South Dakota. You have seen tons of birds but just haven't been able to seal the deal.

A long beard comes in and hangs up at 45 yards.

What do you do?

 

[Keith]

Bring out the 22-250 :rotfl: I have had this happen and it sure is aggravating. I stayed in place awhile and if no good, came back again to the area another day.

 

[huntforfunnfood]

i like the way keith thinks......however 45 yards please man tuck you happy :***: in the grass and put the sneak on 10 more yards and there in the bag heck to be honest 45 aint all that far. if i got a bird that close and can't find a way to kill it i should go home empty handed

 

[Rebel2]

Well, ive killed on at 52 yards (rangefinder) so, i would probably shoot assuming its an open shot, nothing to get in the way, not much wind etc.. if its not the perfect shot, id try the crawl, if all else fails, the turk jus deserved to live another day..

 

[r2ahunter]

If you have properly patterned your gun and you know what it can do at different yardage its then your judgement call.....myself I know at 45 yards he's dead.

 

[T- Bone]

Keep calling genrally 20 yards makes a better shot. But 45 yards would not be out of the picture for me those 3 &1/2 are deadly at that range.

 

[deep woods goat hunter]

Originally posted by huntforfunnfood
i like the way keith thinks......however 45 yards please man tuck you happy :***: in the grass and put the sneak on 10 more yards and there in the bag heck to be honest 45 aint all that far. if i got a bird that close and can't find a way to kill it i should go home empty handed

wat he said^^^^^

 

[JimH]

45 yds and open, no brush and such? it is at the very end of what i would shoot and feel comfortable with my loads of #5's. i would try to call it in or if i thought i could i would try to sneak in but if i knew neither was possible and it was clear, i would squeeze that trigger and let the rest of the world make fun of me for not getting it closer.

 

[Hatch]

I would think if a bird hangs up he normally struts back and forth gobbling, so hopefully this is the case, when he struts away I would move into a better closer position and whack him on his way back and forth! I did have a old timer tell me once to shoot directly over his head and he would come my way, I have never tried it (YET)

 

[Lefty]

I guess it depends what gun your shooting and how it shoots.

For me: :sniper:

 

[Bowpredator]

That shot would be out of my range. Would try to put a sneak on him if the terrain allowed it. Might try turning my head and calling over my shoulder to simulate the hen walking away from him. Might just shut up and wait him out. He might give in and come on in, or he might move off, giving me the chance to reposition on him.

 

[River]

I don\'t

really like long shots but that would be an easy one ! I DO shoot the 3 1/2 in shells and stopped one at 60 yrds. Took a second shot to finish him. That was a bit too far but i wanted to see how well the very tight patern would hold up. I was using an extra extra tight choke. :neuspeuter:

 

[semohuntingguy]

bam wait till he stops flopping

 

[Chad]

The only thing to do in this situation for me is nothing! Just wait and be still and quiet. Be ready to shot if he starts to go but most of the time curiosity kills the cat or the gobbler in this situation.

chad

 

[Gamegetter]

If I have a bow I wait, but by now I probably have a gun... I try to tell his body language to see if he'll get any closer. If I'm pretty sure he isn't getting any closer, I would take the shot. To me that is right at the edge of the max. distance I shoot with my gun. I prefer them to be 20-30 yards if possible, but if he hangs there and starts to turn around, I call, get him to stick his head up high and pull the trigger.

 

[Ozarks-Bowhunter]

My longest shot to date was 47 yards with 3.5 inch #5's. The turkey did not flop very long.

 

[BIG OL AL]

If he is in a field with nothing in my way, I would probably squeeze the trigger and hope for the best. I have successfully taken birds at 50+yards in the past. But I would try really hard to get him in another few yards. If it were brushy, I would try and sneak in or head him off if I knew where he was headed.
Or take another day off and sit about 20 yards from where he hung up the day before. I have snuck out many times when I had a bird that would not come to the calls and setup closer to where I seen him the next day. This has worked more times than not. As long as the bird doesn't get spooked out of the area, he will most likely be back the next day.

 

[riverbottomhunter]

45 yards means turkey breast for supper.

 

[stinkpickle]

The scenario should probably read...

"A long beard comes in and hangs up at 5 yards past the distance at which you patterned your gun."

 

[90acres]

I've taken a bird at 52 steps which correlates into about 48 yards with my short legs. Farther than I wanted to shoot, but it was my only chance, and only second bird of my career. He now hangs on my wall. I should probably shoot, but I always wait just one more minute to see if he will come in closer. Then he moves away and is gone. If I'm on an out of state hunt, last day, I take the shot.