When turkeys are not responding to your call, or they are not interested in you... Do you
A: move location
B: wait it out
C: try another time/day
D: try different calls
- Is it ok to use 5 different calls in one location or should you move and try a different call?
Well, as long as you're making a decent call from a decent location and he doesn't care chances are he's occupied with a hen(s). He knows you're there. Exercise patience...don't pound on him like an idiot with a plethora of calls which, to him, won't be realistic. Chances are fair to middlin' that he'll check you out later. If not, tomorrow's another day.
Take mental notes of where he is and about what he is doing then leave for a hour or so, show back up and get close to where those observations told you.
Quote from: Hawkspur on June 29, 2021, 03:05:17 PM
- Is it ok to use 5 different calls in one location or should you move and try a different call?
Both, I'll try different calls, if I have room to roam I'll keep going. Then circle back. Depends what my options are.
Maybe a different signal other than a call. I had 3 longbeards that were after some hens I was watching this year. They'd gobble in unison after every sound I made with a pot call or diaphragm call. I was watching them in the field and they went after a hen that had come out and ran back in the woods after seeing them. Of course, they stood in the middle of the field and gobbled at every turkey sound I made and never looked my way. I put the call down and started scratching leaves and making footstep sounds in the leaves and they looked right towards me and made a beeline to me so fast I really didn't have time to get the gun up. I was in such thick brush that the angle they came in was such that I couldn't or wouldn't take the shot. They can hear better than we can, so I'd try making noise in the leaves (if available) and see how that works. If they have hens with them all bets are off.
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When the gobbler knows where you are but decides not to come in but go the other way, it's a great time to take that nap to catch up on the sleep you missed last night while anticipating the hunt. I took a nice tom at 11:30 a.m. this spring when awaken from a deep sleep by nearby putts. While still somewhat groggy, I managed to switch shoulders and take him left handed at 40 yards as he was going away. I've taken several gobblers in that fashion over the years.
Quote from: Hawkspur on June 29, 2021, 03:05:17 PM
When turkeys are not responding to your call, or they are not interested in you... Do you
A: move location
B: wait it out
C: try another time/day
D: try different calls
- Is it ok to use 5 different calls in one location or should you move and try a different call?
Over the decades of doing this, I have concluded that there are two types of gobblers you will deal with when hunting that do not come to your calls. The first is the "distracted" gobbler. Those are the ones that won't come because they are distracted by something,...most of the time other turkeys, and especially hens. Often times, these are younger birds that don't have a lot of experience interacting with hunters. These birds are generally pretty willing to come to a call,...if you catch them at a time when they are not distracted. They will also generally come to a much broader spectrum of calling tactics and hunting approaches.
The second type of bird is the "suspicious" gobbler. These are usually older-age-class gobblers that have "dun rid in this rodeo" a time or two, so to speak. They have had some negative encounters with hunters, and as such are much less willing to go to turkey calling they hear but cannot see the source of. Again, generally speaking, there is a much narrower spectrum of calling and tactics that will fool them into approaching. Those tactics can certainly include the ones listed, as well as other ones mentioned throughout the OG forum.
Simply put, the trick to killing those birds is to figure out what calling and tactics to use before their "suspicions" get the best of them. That is often a very fine line to walk, and one that even the most experienced hunters fail to negotiate much more often than not. In the end, all's a guy can do is to play his best hand,...and hope that the gobbler he's playin' with doesn't have a better one! :D ;D
Probably wait it out at least 30 minutes, if he's not answering I wouldn't do much calling if any. Remember what they did, they might do the same thing the next morning. If I had the option I'd move on try to find something else then return mid-day he might have lost his hens by that point.
I think the three best options are wait it out (he knows where you are for sure and could come eventually if he wants to), circle around him and come in from the opposite side after 30/45 mins without making another call in the meantime, or after you've tried the first two, try to get as close as you possibly can without making another call. I've had all 3 work. The third one I try to do last because it's an all or nothing play, but I tend to just for it these days and if you're stealthy enough, you'd be amazed at how close you can get. You do need a little luck on your side. You kind of need to hope there's some sort of terrain feature in between you and him where you can crawl into his lap and while he may hear you crunching around, if you don't call, he'll most likely think you're a hen if you go slowly enough. Those are the ones where you step on a twig, he hammers and scares the out of you, and you just sit down
I know this is an older thread, but want to confirm what others have said about the gobbler knowing where you are, furthermore, they remember. I`ve had personal experience of talking to a bird, him going silent and moving away ( no doubt with hens ) , and coming back an hour and a half later ( a mistake on his part) . Dr. Mike Chamberlain told me that they have tracking data that confirms their unerring sense of " place " and how they are often apt to move back to where they first encountered a call after the hens he`s with leave him. Especially if hunting a relatively small property, I`ll usually stay put and wait for him. I`ve also always felt that the more you are up and moving, the greater the likelihood of screwing things up. JMHO.
move on, the worse thing is to stay in the area and call more and move more. Leave and find another gobbler, come back later day, week or later season
I'm an impatient person (I know horrible trait for a turkey hunter), I will just make a mental note of that turkey, and then go find a new one to hunt
Gobblers have two choices, and it's pretty simple really.
Come in to my calls on your own, or I'll hunt you down and shoot you in the face for not cooperating.
It depends on the context of the situation and can have quite a few variables.
There's times when waiting on a turkey to break is the best option but, as often as not, there's things you can do to put yourself in a better position to get him in range and, if not, I'm probably not going to bang my head against that wall all day.
From your original post, you say they are not responding, if you know that they are there, I would slow it way down to feeding purrs, and leaf scratching, throw in a very soft Yelp. This calling sequence would be very minimal. If you know he's there, and he's not responding, he's waiting you out. Reverse the scenario, back down the calling, and proceed with the above. Call very minimal. More leaf scratching than anything.....it's worked for me several hours later.
If you've ever read Kenny Morgan's book the one man game , he talks about gobbler personalities and patterns . "King of a 40" , "the circuit rider" and a couple others . While some of this is speculation from his point of view there is a lot of truth to these gobbler personalities when hunting easterns in hill country especially. Even though I read this book a long time ago ..... every time I encounter one of these said personalities it immediately dawns upon me of the type of bird I'm hunting. And the worst type in my opinion is the circuit rider. 1+ mile circuit that he rides every day , with various roost locations within the circuit. The reason I'm bringing this is up is .... You have a couple options based on your dilemma. You can wait it out, leave in hopes of a better setup the next day to try an intercept him before his hens do "unlikely if he's a circuit rider", or you can do your best to hang with him as he and the hens move away ..... this is the most likely scenario especially if you are in a more unknown block of woods. Chances are you can eventually change his mind at some point that day. I have actually encountered this on a bird in the morning ,and killed him late in the evening because I never left him. It's a tough thing to do. Nothing wrong with switching up calls to test the waters .... We've all been there when a gobbler decides to answer a various call you've used after unsuccessfully using other calls . Will this spook him , well it could ..... I generally do not use the same calls day after day..... but I've had more success calling as much as I wanted to verses not calling in fear . That's just a fact .....you just have to guage the situation for what it is .
There is a myriad of of situations I have had that birds do not respond to me...
Last season, I watched a lone tom casually walking a ridge above me silently... I called at him, and there was zero indication that he reacted at all to my calling? Lone bird mid-morning? I concluded he was deaf... Or... Had seen me (probably previously came in quietly without my knowing).
The areas I hunt early season, the hens tend to stay with the toms all day... Often the toms will gobble back at me, and stay put or move further way (cause the hens they are with draw them further away). My two most common strategies early in the season, are to try to upset a hen (and draw her in with the toms in tow)... Or to gobble and make a ruckus that draws the attention and curiosity of the "flock." While both strategies have worked, mostly what I do with early season henned up toms is get frustrated.
Later in the season, when the hens typically leave toms about mid-morning... I'll pay attention to where birds are early, and hopefully what direction they are going, and plan hunt hitting those birds up later in the morning.
Early or late in the season, and hunting some of the hilly (and often steep) country I do... I will often try to get around, and in front of the birds (as I find it is tougher to call a bird back from whence it came than forward), and I will generally try to get above them if possible (as I have found it easier to call them uphill than down).
Also... A lot depends on the property I am hunting... Small property, I am more apt to sit in a strategic location, and do periodic subtle calling... Larger property, I am more apt to cover some ground and find a bird that is more apt to be more responsive.