Horrible feeling

Today started off great except for the snow and wind. Lots of gobbling but lots of hens chirping back. That kept us busy for a good two hours then things went quite. Took a break at my cousins place that backs into the turkey woods to warm up and have a coffee. We decided to tough it out and give it another hour. 10 mins in a hen pops out then another then another, after five hens came out, two tight lipped toms followed behind. They could care less about my decoys and followed those five ladies as fast as they could. One stopped which gave me enough time to raise the crossbow and let an arrow fly. The Tom takes it hard and falls over and starts flapping. Then he gets up and fly's over to the neighbouring property and crashes down and starts flapping again. Im running over to grab him and he does the same thing and runs off. After obtaining permission from the neighbour to look for the bird, three guys looked for this turkey in some thick swamp (the last place I had eyes on him) for two hours but could only find pools of blood. We didn't find the bird and I feel like crap that this has happened. I wanted to post this because people tend to not share there faults or don't think it can happen to them but it sure does. At least this was an experience for me and my cousin to learn more about distances and proves how tough this bird can be. I practice a lot at different rages and felt a clear 30 yard shot would have been fine but going forward I'm sticking to 20 yards and under. sorry for the long rant just needed to vent a bit.

Tough thing to have happen, but I think many hunters will have experienced this type of shot over the years of hunting.
Mine was a young 6-point buck a few years ago in the bush on the family farm - a 20 yard heart shot at him standing broadside with my crossbow, and a new mechanical Rage broadhead. I spend 3 hours hunting for him in a bush I had hunted for 50 years, and never found him. 3 weeks later I found his remains lying in a weedy low area I had walked thru 3 times!! Threw the rest of those broadheads in the garbage!!

Tough lesson to learn. We’ve all been there.

Thats a tough one Tom.
Hey, stuff happens thats out of your control.
Like Genec says, sometimes, unfortunately, you just can’t find them, deer or turkey.
By the sounds of it you were well within your range though.
If it were me i don’t think i would change anything i was doing.
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and go at it again.

When I hunted turks with my crossbow I used magnus bullhead broadheads. When you connect it's good night! If you miss the bird will live another day. I use a shotgun now... ;)

Never understood the whole bow thing for turkeys. Why not use a gun???unless its sunday in certain areas, or a no discharge.

I've taken a handful of birds with my compound and everything went as planned until what looked like a perfect shot and the Tom flopped off into the bush and I didn't find him until a week later. since that point all archery kills on turkey have been with decap heads. you either lop their heads off or clean miss. i've even shot a coyote in the neck with a decap broadhead and it was probably the most graphic kill I've witnessed

sorry about the shot, try not to feel too bad about it... perhaps shoot a few coyotes, trap a few racoons, nest predators when you can (where legal) it really helps those hens lay eggs and perhaps will make you feel better about the shot..

I know from your posts you are a passionate turkey hunter, get back out there and get that next Tom! best of luck to you this season!

No discharge where my cousin is. Other wise I wouldn’t be in this position. Lol

Thanks for all the support everyone

Great story and understand why you feel bad but that's hunting, as much as we don't like losing an animal, it happens.
I have watched several video's on shot placement on turkeys with bow or crossbow and they have a very small kill zone with regards to broadside shots. As mentioned head/neck shots are a guaranty kill but a real small target

I have felt your pain. If you found pools of blood, I bet if you put a dog on the scent you will find that bird, and maybe it has been cool enough?

I have unfortunately had to do this a couple times. Each time we couldn’t find the bird, but within a few minutes the dog did, and it was always holed up in some nasty tight hiding spot you would never see it or find it in. Follow that dogs nose!

I had the same thing on my first archery bird, now I only shoot for the neck/head.

Thanks Tom for sharing your unfortunate experience and I share your pain as I too lost a bird over ten years ago (He was "stunned and flapping", and my gun jammed only to see him fly off...). I have seen a few other birds lost where the (mostly first time), hunters have taken marginal shots (a moving bird, through bush or at too great a distance), and never once have we recovered any of these wounded birds.
I've been pursuing turkeys since 1999 and have a true passion for the "king of gamebirds" and especially enjoy helping others out. I have always shot my turkey shotguns prior to every season with the same ammunition that I started with 23 years ago which is Kent - "Diamond Kote" 3" with #5 shot. I keep my shots to 45 yards or less with the sweet spot being 35 yards. I use a red dot scope which really helps focus the bead on the top of the chest and it has proved to be very lethal. Having said this, every gun is different and one has to practice, a lot, with their shotgun to determine what brand and shot shell configuration works best for them (in my opinion, turkey targets are a must and are relatively inexpensive...).
I'm in the Ottawa area for the next week or so and if anyone would like to go on a hunt, I would be delighted to join you. I have all the necessary calls, decoys, targets, shells and my own transportation and am very flexible on timing. I am not trying to solicit your favorite hunting spots as I know these are sacred but just offering my free expertise to anyone who might want to take advantage of it... Wishing you all a safe (most important!!), and fruitful hunting season in your pursuit of these magnificent birds!! Thank you,
Turkey Fanatic

That sucks hard Tom, so sorry to hear you couldn't locate the bird, hit that hard and still lots of life....? Believable....I've had birds rise from the dead after getting blasted with a shotgun and we've had to put more into them to finish them.... Stay after them...

Unfortunately don’t have have a dog and Wish I new someone with one. The last place I found blood was close to a swamp. So who knows?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Turkey Fanatic

Thanks Tom for sharing your unfortunate experience and I share your pain as I too lost a bird over ten years ago (He was "stunned and flapping", and my gun jammed only to see him fly off...). I have seen a few other birds lost where the (mostly first time), hunters have taken marginal shots (a moving bird, through bush or at too great a distance), and never once have we recovered any of these wounded birds.
I've been pursuing turkeys since 1999 and have a true passion for the "king of gamebirds" and especially enjoy helping others out. I have always shot my turkey shotguns prior to every season with the same ammunition that I started with 23 years ago which is Kent - "Diamond Kote" 3" with #5 shot. I keep my shots to 45 yards or less with the sweet spot being 35 yards. I use a red dot scope which really helps focus the bead on the top of the chest and it has proved to be very lethal. Having said this, every gun is different and one has to practice, a lot, with their shotgun to determine what brand and shot shell configuration works best for them (in my opinion, turkey targets are a must and are relatively inexpensive...).
I'm in the Ottawa area for the next week or so and if anyone would like to go on a hunt, I would be delighted to join you. I have all the necessary calls, decoys, targets, shells and my own transportation and am very flexible on timing. I am not trying to solicit your favorite hunting spots as I know these are sacred but just offering my free expertise to anyone who might want to take advantage of it... Wishing you all a safe (most important!!), and fruitful hunting season in your pursuit of these magnificent birds!! Thank you,
Turkey Fanatic

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I wish I had my gun, I wouldn’t be posting my unfortunate situation. I was using a crossbow