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Went out this morning hoping to find a tom to finish my year. Got to my spot and set the decoy with plenty of time to spare before shooting light. It sure was bright though with the full moon. About 5:20 I begin to hear gobbling to my left and straight ahead of me. I sit tight and waited. The gobbling went on on and off for about half an hour but nothing coming my way. Then I hear a hen respond to my call, I call back. She didn't like that one bit so we had a conversation calling back and forth. I look to my left and there is a periscoped head of a turkey looking in my direction about 50-60 yards away through the fog. I stopped calling but my rival kept at it. The turkey near me kept coming in my direction but ignoring my decoys. It was about 40 yards away from me in an opening. I raised my gun and shot. The bird went down flopping. Woo Hoo!! Then it got up and ran away then flew away. I went after it and looking for about 30 minutes in the bush where it flew. No luck . Went back to my seat to contemplate what happened. Sat there for 15 minutes and couldn't sit any longer. I got up and picked up my stuff and went searching again. This time for about 45 minutes. Still no sign the only clue where a dozen feathers at the site of the shot. Frustrated I went back to my car ready to call it a day. On a hunch I decided to go back for one more look coming from a different angle. That was the key after about 15 minutes I saw the tail feathers. What a relief!!! It was like a great weight lifted off my shoulders. I confirmed what I thought and it was a bearded hen!! Here are a couple pics:
My father in law had a similar thing happen. He told me that the buggers fake being hit...lye down and flop around and then take off. Some sort of defence where the predator thinks it was a kill, relaxes a bit and the bird flies away. Or he just missed so bad he made this up
. Went back to my seat to contemplate what happened. Sat there for 15 minutes and couldn't sit any longer. I got up and picked up my stuff and went searching again. This time for about 45 minutes. Still no sign the only clue where a dozen feathers at the site of the shot. Frustrated I went back to my car ready to call it a day. On a hunch I decided to go back for one more look coming from a different angle. That was the key after about 15 minutes I saw the tail feathers. What a relief!!! It was like a great weight lifted off my shoulders. I confirmed what I thought and it was a bearded hen!! Here are a couple pics:
