Someone take me to school

[Xi Bowhunter]

I have been skunked all week. I am hearing 4-5 birds gobble in the same spot every morning, but I can't get any of them to commit. I have tried everything from aggressive calling to not making a peep, decoys, no decoys, and so on. I find it hard to believe that all the gobblers I am hearing are henned up. I have changed locations, hunted mid afternoon, at dusk, and have still not seen the first tom. I am seeing hens, but no toms in sight.

One question I have is what type of calling sequence are you guys using in the mornings and throughout the day? Are you being aggressive or laying low with the calling? Are you walking around listening for a gobble or are you staying put?

I have killed several birds in my turkey hunting career, but I have been in a slump for more years than I would like to admit due to loss of hunting areas. Someone take me to school and give me some pointers to get back on track.

[turkeyhunter91]

on my last bird i was just started yelpin at about 7:15 and he started gobblein and i just kept hen yelpin and he came runnin and i filled my second tag at around 7:45.
good luck,just stick with them

[maxcam]

It sounds like to me that you are not being patient enough based on the frustration you are showing in your post.......

There are a lot of things that keep a turkey from coming to the call and it is possible that you are on some really mature and savy birds........If this is the case then I would recommend you set up an ambush near where he likes to roost if you can........

sneak in there through the back door and just wait him out.......when he shows just let out a little yelp or purr and when he raises his head, kindly remove it!

[MikeKy]

FWIW, the only gobbler that has responded to any of my calls this season headed my way after I gobbled back at him. Had a jake and breeding hen decoys out. Answered his third gobble on the roost with a gobble. Next time I heard him he was on the ground and closer. I didn't answer. Next time he gobbled he was closer but still probably 200 yards away. I yelped twice very soft. Next time I heard him he was way back past where he roosted. Cut off by a hen I think. All the other guys hunting in the same area say that the only responses they get are to very aggressive cutts. Yelps are completely ignored. Fooled with a longbeard with 5 hens for 2 hours and 45 minutes Tuesday PM. They were about 125 yards out in an open field. Had a breeding hen deke out. No matter how I called they wouldn't even look up from feeding. The longbeard left the hens 45 minutes before the hens flew up. He never strutted or gobbled or got within 30 feet of a hen the two hours I watched him. He acted just like one of the girls. I think he might have come in from that Brokeback Mountain area.

[ksp771]

XI,
When I am able to hunt alone I tend to do alot better. This season so far has been my most busy and crowded. But anyway when I get there I always get in before first light an hour before sunrise. Then calling depends on two things for me. 1-If I hear them either tree yelp or start gobbling from the trees is when I start but I almost always will not begin talking to them until they chime in on the second round. (Kinda like not swinging at the first pitch) I begin with very soft yelps anywhere 3-6-4-8 reps. #2- If I can see the ground and make out an outline of leafs and twigs on the ground then that is when I begin calling but very lightly and I still stick to the 3-6-4-8 rep yelps. Also a few clucks and whines are thrown in there as well.
I am not a pro but read a tremendous amount of books on Turkeys it is one of the most addicting sports and hunting that I have ever done. My favorite is to nail them with a bow while sitting on the ground leaned against a tree covered with leaves. I have been very fortunate.
Good luck hope this helps you.

[Huntinis4me]

That's my problem too. Been hearing a lot of gobbling, but can't get none to commit. Have tried different calls, but no luck there either. I'll keep trying.
Been enjoying some beautiful sunrises this past week.

[turk2di]

If a bird ain't on his way in 15 minutes or so, stop all calling for at least an hour. If they are gonna break & come after you shut down, it seems 2b about the 45 minute to 1 hr range. JMHO;)

[notimlmit]

Same problem with me except for the one I called opening day for my Nephew and on it I just used a slate call softly 3 yelps and he showed up quite - other than that the ones I've been after seem to go the other direction every time - did call a tom off hens this morn but he locked up 80 yards out stayed 3-5 minutes then went back - it was 9:00 and I mouth called loudly and was doing some agressive cutting but after not having his hen come to him the rest of the way he went back to a sure thing - I'm getting about ready to change over to afternoons and do ambush hunts

[Huntinis4me]

If a bird ain't on his way in 15 minutes or so, stop all calling for at least an hour. If they are gonna break & come after you shut down, it seems 2b about the 45 minute to 1 hr range. JMHO;)
Thanks for the info,..i'll give it a try

[Xi Bowhunter]

I know for certain we got cut off by some hens one morning, but I can't be sure about the other days. I think there are a lot of hens in this area.

I am going to try another approach in the morning and see what turns up. This land has just been logged so I am having a next to impossible time of walking through the woods, and I am forced to stick to the logging roads. It is also very hilly with steep bluffs and deep valleys. Makes for hard hunting also.

[Rut36]

Get in real early(5:00am) and setup 50 yards from the roost and dont make a sound. You should have another hunter one hundred yards out covering their back door.

[Scott7m]

if i were hearing 4 or 5 birds, i'd try to move on them, if you can get them to gobble when they're on the ground, put together a plan to close the distance down to a hundred yards or so....

the tom i killed this year had a buddy that kept gobbling, they were 400 yards away, i made a huge circle, staying below the tree line, finally closed the distance to about 125, started to call, here they came...

[maxcam]

A logging road with a couple of dust bowls in close proximity to one another and clear indications of wing tips dragging the ground all shout set up here and wait em out......

Also be aware that from above your silhouette stands out like a sore thumb against a clean logging road.....

[shaman]

I just got back from a week pestering the gobs. I've got one in the freezer, and I feel pretty lucky for that. This year was uncommonly hard. I had gobblers that:

1) Shut up after 5 gobbles and disappeared
2) Gobblers that never strayed far from their hens
3) Gobblers that honored every call I made, but never showed.

I tried patience, aggressive calling, no calling, and moving my set-up. Last year, during the cold spell, I bagged two like they do on TV. This year, I was hard pressed to find a gob to answer me that was on my property.

This IS the hardest game on the North American continent.

[browninggoldhunter1]

i had a tom and jake come in about thirty minutes after i made a fighting purr using a slate call wedged between my knees and a striker in each hand. i would do this for around 15 second and then make wingbeats with my hat. i did this for probably a minute and a half.

[mcdenney]

It sounds like to me that you are not being patient enough based on the frustration you are showing in your post.......

There are a lot of things that keep a turkey from coming to the call and it is possible that you are on some really mature and savy birds........If this is the case then I would recommend you set up an ambush near where he likes to roost if you can........

sneak in there through the back door and just wait him out.......when he shows just let out a little yelp or purr and when he raises his head, kindly remove it!

Good advice for the afternoon! For the morning, I would suggest getting in there in the pitch black dark without being sky-lighted and setup about 75 yards from where they like to roost. I would be like rambo here in super stealth mode! I would place a lone hen decoy and a jake somewhere they would see it if possible, sounds like an old logging road on high ground. I would make a light tree call and then wait until you hear him fly down. After that I would do a light cluck or two and maybe a purr and then go silent. If you can setup between where the hens will roost and the gobblers roost or possibly in the direction they always leave the roost area (down a logging road, etc.) then all the better. It sounds to my like in this case very little light calling is in order. More than likely it sounds to me like you are setting up too far away from a gobbler which has plenty of hens. In this case even if he gobbles more than like he will not travel a great distance to come to a hen he can not see. Your only other option is to call in the hens which can be tough. If you say the right thing to him and get close enough the gobbler will sometimes move slightly in your direction while staying within sight of his hens. Both my smoke pole gobblers this year had several hens so it can be done. Actually, I had mature gobblers within 50 yards everyday I hunted and they all had hens. That does not mean I got a good shot but if you play your cards right they can be killed. Let me know if I can help. Good luck! Also, just for the record it has been tough this year so don't be too hard on yourself, I worked my butt off in order to get what I got. The best turkey hunter I know still has not taken a bird. Go Figure!

[gobblergetter]

This may sound a little crazy but if you try them a few more times and nothing else is working; try busting the flock. Everyone seems to be talking about bunched up turkey's. Hunt them like you do a fall flock of turkey's. Bust the flock and then call them back in. I killed a double beard in 03 using this tactic. Its not an everyday practice but it may be worth a try.

[Xi Bowhunter]

I am torn between waiting until about 10am to visit the farm and try to get on a bird after he has lost his hens or show up very early and get closer to the roosted birds than I have been getting in order to get a better angle on them. Either way my hunt tomorrow will be an experiment.

[peckprice]

I have been experiencing the same thing. All of the above posts have given excellent advice. I fooled with the same bird for 3 mornings. He did the same thing every morning. He waited for his hens, then flew straight down to them. He then proceeded to stake out one of two little knobs between a low gap. I would call and he would gobble his head off and not budge one inch. I finally slipped in real early, and never made a call. I scratched in the leaves until he couldn't stand it and strutted over to get a better look. Bang, end of grudge. :eek:

[im-back]

if i were you I would get ateup to take ya, he is a turkey killing machine