Chris Kirby is the president of Quaker Boy Calls, produces the Mossy Oak Turkey Thugs calls and has won the World Turkey Calling Championship. As a youngster, Chris trailed along behind his dad, Dick Kirby, who started Quaker Boy Calls, when they hunted. He never remembers a spring when he wasn’t in turkey woods. From the beginning of turkey season in Florida until the end of turkey season in New York, Chris will be wearing Mossy Oak camouflage, hunting turkeys in the spring woods every day – and for sure in the mornings.
Missing a shot on a turkey can be frustrating and disheartening. As turkey hunters, we’ve all been there. You finally call in that big tom you’ve been after for days or weeks. He’s strutting and drumming coming right in to your setup. You raise your shotgun take aim and…miss. Now what? Will he come back?
The good news is, yes, there is a good chance that tom will be back. Turkeys have notoriously bad memories when it comes to being shot at But you need to be smart in your follow up approach if you want to get a second chance
Don’t Spook Him Off for Good
Your first priority after a miss should be avoiding spooking that gobbler out of the area for good. Do not continue calling aggressively or chase after him through the woods. This will only teach him that your setup is dangerous, and he’ll avoid the area.
Instead, sit tight for at least an hour after the miss. There is a chance he will circle around very quickly, especially if hens are still in the area. Gobblers have a strong drive to get back to their hens.
If you jump up and run him off, you’ve destroyed your chances for the rest of the day. But by staying put, you leave the door open for a second chance encounter.
Follow Up Carefully
After an hour or so of waiting quietly, it can be worth carefully trailing the turkey’s escape path. Look for feathers or blood that may indicate a glancing shot. But do this slowly and methodically, being ready to stop at the first sign of your gobbler.
You don’t want to stumble upon him and completely run him out of the area. Just confirm whether he is still nearby and injured or if it was a clean miss. Knowing this will help as you plan your follow up in the coming days.
Change Up Your Strategy
When you hunt that bird again, don’t just set up in the exact same spot and run the same routine. He likely will be a bit warier, so you need to change things up.
Try using different decoy setups, calling sequences, or even calling from a different position in relation to your hunting spot. Come in from a different direction in the morning if possible. These little tweaks can be enough to provide a fresh look and keep that gobbler from keying in on danger in one particular place.
Be Patient
You may not draw that gobbler back in on your next hunt, or even the next few. He survived this long by being wary, so don’t expect him to march right back in after being shot at.
It might take a while for him to come back, but there is a good chance he will. Just don’t be surprised if he comes back without ever gobbling. A few decoys can give him the confidence to come back into the field, too.
The most important things are playing the wind right, staying concealed, and being patient. With smart adjustments to your setup and strategy, there’s an excellent chance you’ll lure that boss gobbler back in for a shot at redemption.
Key Takeaways
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Sit tight after a miss to avoid spooking the gobbler too badly.
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Follow up the shot path carefully, but don’t run the bird off if he’s still nearby.
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Change up your calling, decoys, and hunting location/direction for the follow up hunts.
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Be patient. It may take multiple tries over several days or weeks to bring him back in.
Missing a shot is frustrating, but it isn’t the end of your chances with that bird. By hunting that gobbler a little smarter and more carefully, your next encounter could end with a big tom laid out in the field. Stay flexible, stay focused, and your persistence will pay off.
So How Badly Did You Spook the Turkey?
If you want to see all the blood go out of a turkey hunter’s face, watch what happens when hes going to a gobbler, but the gobbler sees him and the turkey runs off before the hunter can get a shot. Or, a gobbler is coming to the hunter’s calling and spots the hunter moving. That movement spooks the turkey and the turkey runs. The only feeling that I know of that’s worse is if you shoot at a gobbler and miss him. Now the hunter has a real problem if that’s the only gobbler he has to hunt.
The first thing you need to do is replay what’s happened in your mind and try to determine just how badly you’ve spooked that turkey. Did you drive by the place where you were planning to hunt and a wild turkey was standing by the side of the road, saw the car and the turkey ran up the hill? Were you walking the edge of the field that the turkey was coming to after he flew down, but the gobbler had roosted right on the edge of the field and spotted you before you could get into the woods? Were you riding your 4-wheeler to where you were going to park your ATV and you spooked the gobbler? Did you shoot at the turkey and miss him and he ran? Or did the turkey fly off?? Of course, the worst-case scenario is having shot at the turkey and missed. If the turkey saw you or heard you and got spooked, then frightening that gobbler by being seen isn’t nearly as bad as having shot at the turkey.
Will He Come Back?
Wild turkeys are often spooked by people who are mushroom hunting, people taking walks with their dogs, farmers going to fields to start preparing their ground for the spring or farmers driving their 4-wheelers checking on cattle. So, turkeys get spooked by people regularly, but these instances don’t really threaten a turkey. I believe that you often can take the turkey you’ve spooked that same day or later in the season.
The first thing to remember after you spook a wild turkey is wait 20 or 30 minutes before you try to hunt that turkey again. Also, plan to call softly. After noticing the direction in which the turkey ran off or flew, very quietly walk in that direction, take a stand and start calling softly and infrequently. The gobbler wanted to be where you were when you spooked him. So, after he thinks youre gone, and he hears a hen softly calling, there’s a very good chance he may come back in that direction. Remember — the gobbler has a limited number of days to breed. How fast a gobbler returns will vary, but he’ll take chances then that he won’t take if this isn’t breeding season. Don’t be surprised if you hear a gobble soon after calling.
So you spooked your Gobbler, Now what?
FAQ
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