My boy is pretty upset! He was out yesterday morning and says he had one on a string. He says he had it gobbling over on the neighbors place and he could tell the bird was coming to him. He says he heard the bird and it sounded pretty close to the property line (about 100 yards away)....and BOOM! Somebody sitting on the property line apparently shot the bird! Now how much of him "having it on a string".....I don't know. I do know he was a little upset. He went out that evening and again this morning and is hearing them, but nothing cooperating thus far. I saw one out in a grass water way about noon while I was going out to do some work. Not sure if it was male or female....it didn't stick around long. I have never been turkey hunting. Don;t know much about it. I got enough bad habits/hobbies as it is!
That is probably fair play and what seems like happened may not be what happened. I did most of my turkey hunting on a military base with pretty heavy pressure. It is one thing when a guy sees you parked at a location, parks right next to you, and goes hurrying down the trail ahead of or behind you. That is just plan discourteous. However, it is not uncommon to encounter other hunters in the woods and not know they are there. Turkey hear calls that people don't. Just better hearing and a higher range. So, it could be that the bird was coming to your son and someone intentionally intercepted it as your son probably thinks, or it could be the other hunter was just setup closer to the bird and was working it. They bird may have been coming to him. He may not have even known you son was hunting or calling. If he did hear the call, he may have believed he was between the gobbler and hens.
In the early days of my turkey hunting, hunters had to stand in line to get a pass to hunt the next day. So, you got to recognize other hunters and their vehicles. I quickly learned that what one hunter thought happened in the woods was quite different from what another hunter thought happened. More often than not, conflicts were misunderstandings than actual bad behavior (not that very bad behavior did not happen from time to time). With the exception of a few individuals (eventually dealt with by the federal game wardens), bad behavior was the exception, not the rule.
I certainly understand the frustration; especially from a young hunter. But one thing a turkey hunter learns quickly is that there are thousands of things that can and will screw up a turkey hunt, from other hunters, predators, hens, other gobblers, unseen barriers, not to mention the myriad of mistakes the hunter can make. When I first started hunting spring gobbler, it was not uncommon for me to work 15-20 birds before I killed one. Patience and persistence are the key, and eventually the frustration mellows.
Thanks,
Jack
