Can a tom be called down hill/up hill? If I were set up at the bottom of a ridge and the bird was on top can I call him down? and vise versa
Possible? Yes...BUT he's less likely to come downhill if can already survey the bottom from the ridge top.
Up hill, down hill, across creeks, over a road.... if they're hot enough they will come anywhere
I prefer to get on the same level or slightly above him unless its a short ridge with a field below that they are pitching too then below. It really depends where they want to go
After hunting turkeys for over 25 years and reading countless articles about what turkeys will and won't do, my experience is this: A turkey will do what a turkey wants to do! I've seen turkeys fly 100 yards across a river, go up hill, down hill, hop on and over logs, etc. I once killed a gobbler that walked to the top of a bull dozed pile of brush, probably because it gave him a better vantage point in his search for the hen that was calling to him. Granted, given the opportunity you want to make the turkey's path to you as easy for him as possible, but you have to work with the terrain that's in front of you, so make your decoy set, call, and most important of all...have patience.
Yep, they will do what they want...
I've had them: wade a creek while gobbling, fly from 1/4+ mile and land 5 feet from decoy, two toms fly in like a pair of mallards, uphill, downhill, side hill, etc.
I will say that it seems like a decoy in sight tends to help with downhill birds...
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Hunt long enough and you're bound to see it all. However highground or level will work best in most scenarios. You will have plenty of birds "hang on the lip" of a hillside/ridge or hang up on a blowdown and look down gobbling as you call from below and come no further. Of course, a quick reposition and you're playing his game.
Absolutely. i have called them uphill and downhill many times. If you give him what he wants yo hear anythingi is possible.
I agree with the posters saying yes. In some areas, especially mountainous areas the fields are down so it's totally natural. I've called em every which way besides that, even seen em fly over fences
Yes, but most people will say uphill is easier, I think
If there hot enough, they will do backflips to you, but
I think getting on the same level as them is best
Absolutely agree, they can and will go anywhere, if THEY want to but level or above is a great place to start.
Quote from: hawk on May 05, 2015, 11:36:24 AM
Can a tom be called down hill/up hill? If I were set up at the bottom of a ridge and the bird was on top can I call him down? and vise versa
bump
In my travels birds like to come uphill... to me it boils down to security. he can (parascope) only exposing his head to look around up a hill but not down. also finding terrain features helps like flats or logging roads. I also agree a bird will come across water, fences, roads. I watched birds as a kid fly from one mountain top to the next.
Yes they do what they want, ut the up hill down hill thing is he is more likely to approach calling up hill because he can't see, he has to move up to see. My main tactic is to sit within range of the top of a rise
Calling them uphill is a lot easier downhill. They lime to keep the vantage point
We have a lot of rolling hardwood ridges here and the average bird tends to come to a call better from above his position than from below it. If he's up on top I try to get right up there with him. If he's over the crest somewhere, I'll try to work my way to a point where I can cover the crest from the back side and call from there. I rarely try to call one down hill to me if I have a choice.
Bob
Hunting the foothills, the biggest advantage I can get is to get above them... If I hear a bird gobble above me, I shut up and start working around and above his position.
I enjoyed hearing some of the explanations for such behavior on this thread...
I have seen birds cross creeks and roads... Called at a bird a few years ago, that got hit by a car trying to cross a major road (whether from me or a live hen I do not know)... Then I have seen birds that will not cross some invisible barrier, or a small depression, or whatever...
I suppose if I ever really figure it out, it will not be nearly as much fun...
Had a fellow tell me once that a gobbler won't come down a hill. I asked him if that meant that once on top of a ridge that they would spend their life there!! That being said, I like to be above if I can. If not, well its still game on!
Quote from: stinkpickle on May 05, 2015, 11:47:16 AM
Possible? Yes...BUT he's less likely to come downhill if can already survey the bottom from the ridge top.
Concur.
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I have called them uphill, downhill, threw thick brush, across dirt roads, streams and barbed wire fences. When he is ready he will come! I once called a bird downhill and he walked past me but out of range. He flew across a creek to my right. When I realized what he did I purred and clucked a few times and I watched him fly back across the creek to my side. He went for a ride in my Jeep! ;D
I have had them fly from one ridge to another, I have also had them hang up at a mud puddle. The is no guarantee what they will or won't do. I try and always set up level with or slightly above a bird if I can though.
When watching birds evade danger (whether from myself, other people, or critters), I have noticed that when birds run away, it usually uphill. If they go downhill, they generally take flight.
It could be that I have limited experience, and I am often hunting somewhat "hilly" areas, but I cannot remember ever seeing a turkey running downhill to avoid danger...
I had a gobbler fly down hill over a fence, a creek, and a thicket, all at the same time, to land in my decoys like a duck. Turkeys will do whatever turkeys want do. I hunt in the foothills of the blue ridge, and the up hill down hill dilemma has never really been an issue for me. The best thing to do is just be where he wants to go by scouting and knowing your terrain.
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My preference is to be either above or on the same level as the bird. At my friends camp I've had them fly across from one ridge and land right in front of me. It was too tricky to try and get to the next ridge over based on the birds vantage point so we set up in line with the bird. He literally flew to within 10 yards of where we were sitting. Just depends on how hot the bird is.
I have come to the conclusion after all these years, whether right or wrong, that the downhill turkey is harder for one primary reason, vision. When coming downhill, he can see much better and make you out as well as not see what he expects to see. Survey the scene before you climb a hill and then survey the scene after you have climbed the hill. You can survey much better looking downhill as opposed to looking uphill.
Some very good stuff in this thread !!!
I have noticed here in the ozarks they seem to be easier to call up hill than down but they also seem to hangup just below the crest. I read in another post a simple solution to help with this. Stand behind a tree so you can see over the lip. So simple its stupid but never dawned on me to do this. :begging:
Like most have killed birds doing about anything they want to do, but generally will set myself above or level to a bird, they seem to have a mode traveling downhill, whether it be body position/stature when moving downhill where they lean back somewhat to travel compared to uphill and lean forward, just think of your own body going up and down hills. I have some video of a bird coming down a slightly snow covered steepish hill and literally sliding down the hill coming to us, took him a bit to traverse, we killed that bird during a Learn to Hunt last year.
MK M GOBL
Agree with uphill preferred in many setups but have killed a few gobblers coming downhill to creek bottoms in thick timber. They fly down and hang out in the creek bottoms early in many areas I hunt.
I hunt ruff terrain lots of steep hills and deep hollows.
I have much better luck at calling and killing if I can get on the same level or above him.
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Quote from: Double B on March 03, 2017, 07:38:24 PM
Agree with uphill preferred in many setups but have killed a few gobblers coming downhill to creek bottoms in thick timber. They fly down and hang out in the creek bottoms early in many areas I hunt.
Yep
Quote from: Marc on March 14, 2016, 03:10:31 PM
Hunting the foothills, the biggest advantage I can get is to get above them... If I hear a bird gobble above me, I shut up and start working around and above his position.
I enjoyed hearing some of the explanations for such behavior on this thread...
I have seen birds cross creeks and roads... Called at a bird a few years ago, that got hit by a car trying to cross a major road (whether from me or a live hen I do not know)... Then I have seen birds that will not cross some invisible barrier, or a small depression, or whatever...
I suppose if I ever really figure it out, it will not be nearly as much fun... I got a jake one time, that flew over me like a duck. I've never called one downhill.They like to stay up on top, in the cliffs.
Generally, you want to get uphill from or even with a bird. If he's gobbling on the roost, he can pitch down in any direction. I like to have scouted the bird ahead of time to see if he has a general preference on where he likes to go. It's much easier to call a bird in to where he wants to be.