Turkey problems

[stringstretcher]

I got out in the woods at about 5:30 this morning, heard 7 different birds gobble.  I picked the one that I could get set up on the quickest, set up and listened.  Now they started gobbleing at about 6:10.  I heard the last gobble at 6:45.  At that time, I made a set of soft yelps, and the woods shut down.  Notta, nothing.  You would think the lights had been cut out, the door closed, and the power shut of.  The birds did the same thing last year to everyone.  Goggle on and going off the roost and then just shut right up.  Any suggestions?

[pronghorn23]

Hate when that happens. I usually try to set up at a strutting zone or feeding area and wait them out.
If you can't hear them or figure out where they are I figure they will show up at a strutting or feeding area eventually.

[Tom]

I've found that when the bird shut up like that they have found hens right off the bat. But if you stick with it about 10:00 am they are again out looking for fun. They are moving but are less vocal, usually come in quiet so keep your eyes open.

[gudspelr]

I'm way out west of you, so maybe my experience isn't going to be the same...?  I've set up with a buddy before dawn right at the edge of the tree line and listened as they started gobbling in their roosts.  After waiting for flydown, they more or less shut up and like Tom said, turned out they were with hens right off the bat.  Thankfully, we were set up well and they did their strutting bit right past us as they went to their feeding areas.  Of course, it was kind of a 'pasture' like (grassy) area set between two patches of trees/woods, so it made for a nice natural alley for them to go down.  Probably would've been much tougher if we were set up surrounded by woods.

Jeremy

[KentuckyTJ]

Yep,"All henned up". Pronghorn has it right. Find a field or logging road they like to spend their afternoons in and set up your blind and wait. If its real hot they like to hang out in the shade on the edges of the fields.

May not work there with your dirt but around here all our fields are grass covered. If you don't have a lot of exposed soil get out there and scratch up some places they can dust in. I use a metal rake and get some dust boils going under the shade trees. They love them.

If you don't catch them in the afternoon, you can always set up right at their roost and catch them in the evening as they get ready to fly up.

Good luck.

[Shaun]

Yes, if they have hens they will not come after fly down. You have to wait them out. Take a book and stick it out til mid morning, hen yelp every half hour or so and they will come looking.

[wapiti792]

Sounds like my morning...I feel your pain. Our birds here are going to nest early in the day so you might catch a mid-morning rogue gobbler lookin' for company. I did yesterday and flat missed    GOOD LUCK!

[Friend]

My choice would be to set up where they want to go in the 1st place. Also, learn how to challenge the dominant hen. It is possible to get her so worked up that she pulls the gobbler right in. I have personally taken two birds this way and have had many other promising situations.

[ishiwannabe]

Yep, what they said. Go back in mid morning and try again.

[Friend]

Yours is a very familiary story. If you don't change your strategy, you are very likely to get the same thing. I stopped setting up on roosted birds many years ago. Birds roosting with hens close by, additional hunter traffic and birds, for some reason, just going in the opposite direction. Taking a bird off the roost on public ground has been 1 out 10 chance that the I will  even get close to the bird mush less a shot oppotunity. No strategy is fail proof, however doing your homework on where they want to be at certain times during the morning thru out the day can provide you with some invaluable informaton. Figuring out multiple strategies is what makes the challenge of harvesting this magnificent bird so fulfilling. I routinely walk by roosted gobbling birds because of confidence in my set-ups. I have on rare occasion hunted a roosted bird on may way to a set-up if I am confident that the birds don't arrive until later up in the morning. You may also wish to add a wingbone or a turkey trumpet to your arsenal. Don't let lack of proficiency stop you from using one. I called in eleven birds my first try and harvested one. I was horrible but the turkeys recognized it as bird and not a hunter. The trumpet call has been my go to call for the past six years.
Taking birds off the roost is a grand experience and makes great TV and video. Good luck hunting.

[bluegrassbowhunter]

Originally posted by Friend:
 I routinely walk by roosted gobbling birds because of confidence in my set-ups.

I thought I was the only one that done that & probably be doing it in the morning...  

[stringstretcher]

Went back in on the bird this morning.  Had two other gentlemen with me, on at each end of the section we were hunting....nothing.....not a sound to be heard.  Guess I have a lot of homework to do

[Stone Knife]

I got some good advice one time from one of the best turkey hunters I know, he simply said take a nap.

[Killdeer]

This is the only kind of turkey I can hunt. Keep at it, Charlie!

 

Killdeer  

[stringstretcher]

Is that one of those majic arrows?

[Killdeer]

Don't you recognize your babies?

   

Another day...
   

Killdeer  

[stringstretcher]

I sure do.  So glad they worked out for you girl.  Keep in touch.