What is the single most frustrating factor?

[10Gauge]

I like the old saying...."it's better to be lucky than good!"

many days this applies to turkey hunting.....last spring on opening day I went to one of my favorite locations that I had scouted a few times in the preseason but there were two guys already there....went to "plan b" and two other trucks were there....went to "plan c" and a buddy of mine was there so it was down to my last place "plan d" and at this point it is well past fly down so I'm just screwing around thinkin the day is a bust! Walked in about a 1/4 mile out a rigde toward a power line and struck a yelp on the slate......nuttin, went nearly another 1/8 mile and i'm almost to the powerline and struck the slate again....this time 4 or 5 toms gobbled and they sounded like they were all together across the powerline! I took off running toward them, dropped down in the creek bottom where they sounded like they were....maybe a 1000 yd trek further and I got nervous thinking I had to be getting close...struck the slate one more time and they erupt again but one is close, less than 50 yards and in full strut and now headed my way! I'm on my knees in a muddy deer trail watching him make a beeline for my position...he goes behind a tree and i drop to prone and have my gun ready to fire when he gets closer....he's now in the creek bottom and I can't see him but can hear him spitting and drumming all the way....obviously no time for decoys and who needs one??? he pops up outta the creek at less than 10 yards but there is a large log between us....all i can see is the top of his fan as he struts back and forth behind the log for what seems an eternity....i reach over with my right hand and find the mud covered slate with one light stroke of the striker i purr so softly it sounds like a mouse and the big boy darts to the end of the log and peeks around for his lover! The last thing he saw was an orange flash as the copper plated lead rolled him back behind the log....he was dead at 6 yards and didn't have time to do much flopping either!!! From the time I parked until I pulled the trigger less than 30 minutes had passed......my buddy who was about a half mile up the road heard my shot but had never heard a gobble all morning! Neither of us had scouted this area but had seen birds there during deer season.......i'd rather be lucky than good!

[BARTMAN]

yea after a few hunts and screw ups I had a chance and blew it,but i have figured out you have to be a better sneaky indian than the turkey, whether you use the call or not. But just can't wait till it works like on TV hehe

[slickbricky]

Rain. Getting lost. Mosquitoes. Forgetting to put a shell in the chamber. 20 degrees in April. People who stalk "bearded hens". That's more than one, sorry.

[dblcluck]

the most frustrating thing I have found in ALL my years of turkey hunting in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Texas has been knuckleheads on both private and public lands! I can't count the number of times my opening day hunts were screwed up by guys who seem to only care about them selves....sneak into a hen yelp, shoot my decoy, try to flank a gobbler I have roosted and set up on (knowing someone is in there calling), or shooting at a gobbler 40-50 yards away only to miss him but give him a good education! Most of these events have happened on private land and from guys who don't have permission to hunt (trespassing) others have happened on public land. I've had guys on public land drive down the long winding gravel road, see my truck and pull in directly behind me and try to beat me into the woods....when there is hundreds of miles of gravel or dirt road this is simply rude behavior! There have been a couple of times that I have walked into an area that I have scouted for several days prior to the opening day hiked in and found a guy (or two) set up on a ridge I had planned to hunt and I simply leave quietly and resort to "plan b".....some of these knuckleheads don't have a "plan B". So here are a couple of tips;

1.) have a "plan b"...."plan c" and a "plan d"!!!
2.) don't be irresponsible and hunt close to a fellow hunter.
3.) don't trespass
4.) stop shooting at turkeys that are further than 20 yards!!!

With respect to the last tip, I have killed many turkeys since I began turkey hunting in the 80's and I have never shot one beyond 20 yards.....most have been at 10 yards or less and my biggest gobbler was a 26# 11 inch beard 1-1/2" spur beast taken at less than 8 yards with a 70 year old 16 ga double choked full & modified....nope I didn't fire both barrels hit him with the modified and was using #6 shot (upland game loads! My point here is you don't need a mega choked gun and 3-1/2" magnums to kill gobblers, half the fun is trying to "talk" him into that magical 10 yard distance (IMHO).

Happy Hunting and Good Luck!

10Gauge

I agree with most of what your saying except #4, but if you want to restrict yourself to 20 yards or less, nock yourself out!!!!

I have searched for many years trying to find the ultimate choke/shell to give me the BEST pattern at the fabled 40 yard marker. If you hunt birds long enough, you'll find that some gobblers don't come waltzing in to 20 yards or less. It's those birds that make you smile, since you did your homework and know your gun can take them out to that 40 yard distance every single time.