Looks like we need some new stuff so lets get started:
You come into a hunting area befor light, no gobbles so you pick a tree and sit - how long till you move on? :jackson: :jackson: :emoticon-cartoon-012:
I'll usually sit for an hr. or so calling sporadically and listening. Some morning's they just gobble later or not at all.
If they were in the area the day before they're still there- lot's of reason's (HEN'S!!!) they choose to be quiet.
I have sit all day cuz i just got off work or something u know a nap here and a nap there but mostly couple hours and then move on.
I probably don't sit at all. I would start moving ,and looking for a bird that will talk to me.
Quote from: turkey slayer on February 07, 2011, 05:27:42 PM
I probably don't sit at all. I would start moving ,and looking for a bird that will talk to me.
Thats my approach. I'll ease around until I have a visual or until one does sound off.
If I can't hear a bird or get one to respond after fly down light, I usually sit an hour. This being I am in a good area that I know turkeys use.
I have had a turkey just come walking out of the woods or down an old logging road and never make a sound. They seem to do this early in the day.
After that hour I will start moving to different areas and calling every 100 yards or so. If I don't hear a bird I will find a good spot to sit and wait for thirty minutes or so. Calling every so often. Heavy eyes have expanded these 30 minute sits to 50 minute naps before.
i don't sit at all.
if I'm on a large chunk of ground, I'm off to a different area within 20 minutes of when I expect to hear birds talking.
i tend to be very patient when I'm working turkeys but I'm VERY, VERY likely to abandon an area with no gobbling activity to head to another one.
i want to find turkeys that want to die and the best way to do that is to cover ground.
if I can't get on a gobbling bird after multiple attempts, I'll resort to cutting and running with a crow call and occassionally a turkey call.
i won't call even when cutting and running unless I'm in an area that provides a great set-up and I've already picked a tree to jump on if a gobbler cuts me off.
if I'm not in that kind of location, I just cutt and run using a crow call......
as far as waiting for birds to gobble.... it ain't my style. if they don't want to play today, i go to another farm or spot on that farm and try to find one that wants to play. you will NEVER find me camped out at a tree for an hour HOPING for something to happen during the first two hours of daylight.
Quote from: old frank on February 07, 2011, 07:24:52 PM
If I can't hear a bird or get one to respond after fly down light, I usually sit an hour. This being I am in a good area that I know turkeys use.
I have had a turkey just come walking out of the woods or down an old logging road and never make a sound. They seem to do this early in the day.
After that hour I will start moving to different areas and calling every 100 yards or so. If I don't hear a bird I will find a good spot to sit and wait for thirty minutes or so. Calling every so often. Heavy eyes have expanded these 30 minute sits to 50 minute naps before.
exactly what I would do.. even the nap part haha
Not long at all but that approach has cost me a time or two. It has paid off way more than it has cost though. Our birds are usually vocal very early here so that's why I do what I do. The only way I will wait one out for a while is if I KNOW FOR A FACT (as in watched him fly up the evening before in the exact area) a gobbler is within a small radius of me.
I'll sit an hour or so calling lightly every 10 or 15 minutes till my tail gets sore, then before I move I get a little agressive on the calling to see what happens, if nothing then I move to another spot while calling some, then sit and do it all over again, I've sit for 12 hours in 1 spot that I knew turkeys were at.
Quote from: turkey slayer on February 07, 2011, 05:27:42 PM
I probably don't sit at all. I would start moving ,and looking for a bird that will talk to me.
If the situation seems to warrant a sit, I'll sit, but I'm normally on the move looking for a responsive bird.
Usually sit tight if I know birds frequent the area. Maybe a couple hrs. If nothing responds I will go to plan B or C or keep trying to spark up a conversation with a lovestruck tom. The more land you cover the more likely you are to cross paths with that bird.
We like cover ground also- 10 to 20 minutes top unless we have a bird respond and it will work with us. Then I am very patient, once held my gun on a turkey 40 minutes waiting for them to come into range. I was mentally trying to ease my back spasms and my legs were numb :gobble:
but we got a double!!
Not long if I know they arent there.
No gobbles= No Shootum
If I know birds are there, I give it at least 1hr. If I'm in a NEW place and don't hear a gobble I want wait long...I'll be movin trying to hear a gobble, then set up.
I don't have large tracts to hunt, so I sit & sit -probably too long. Part of hunting turkey for me is watching what transpires in the woods/field. I enjoy watching the other wildlife.
If nothing happens, turkey wise, sometimes I'll move a couple of hundred yards to call from a different location. If its early and I hear birds moving through another part of the woodlot, I may move in that direction. However, I've been busted or I hear a gobble from the place I just left. Depends on my mood, I guess.
The first half of our spring season ends at noon, so a 7 hour sit is not unreasonable for me.
It all depends on what it happening. 90% of the time I slip into where I hear the hens and set up. I don't get busted very often because if I know there are birds close by, I move really slow and set up before I call. Quite often I hunt birds that are hard to hunt because they are in open fields with hens, so sometimes i have to take a less dominant bird or two to get to the boss later in the year.
Can't really answer that in a finite figure. If I feel the party is going on elsewhere I will go find the party. If I am sure I got the right address but just arrived early, I will wait on the party to get started.
I usually dont hang around too long unless I know for sure they are in the immediate area. If nothing there I will move on and try to locate some gobblers.
If I am setting up to sit because I know birds are there, I will stay for at least a couple of hours. If I am in an area that I am not sure about, running and gunning it is. Crow call or owl hoot, listen for a couple of minutes and move on.
I don't sit until I hear a bird. If that means I check 3 properties before I sit than so be it. With 5 to 7 day seasons I can't afford to sit in quiet woods.
I have became way less patient over the years. In the mornings If I havent heard or seen anything after a short period of time Im off looking for greener pastures. In the afternoons I'll wait them out if I have to. When hunting out west I dont even get out of the truck until I see a longbeard.
Quote from: Missed-Em on February 07, 2011, 05:03:47 PM
Looks like we need some new stuff so lets get started:
You come into a hunting area befor light, no gobbles so you pick a tree and sit - how long till you move on? :jackson: :jackson: :emoticon-cartoon-012:
Most of the time till about 11. If I havent heard any gobble by then I start easing back to the truck (can only hunt till noon here). I have specific spots at each place that I listen from. If there is a turkey within hearing distance and he gobbles I will hear him. I dont call or try to get 1 to shock gobble. I let them do their own thing.
long as it takes
I usually stay for a couple hours and then start checking some other fields..
A lot of times the only time they gobble is in the morning. If I don't hear anything, I'm on the move. Generally I have an alternate game plan, where to go if they aren't in Roost 1. 2 years ago only moved 200 yards to pick up 2 gobbles. That ended well.
The best 90 minutes of turkey hunting I've ever experienced came after sitting for over an hour without hearing a thing. If I had been anywhere else I would have been long gone but I only had permission to hunt the land I was on and couldn't go anywhere else... Good thing cause I wouldn't have had these boys come in. All three came in seperate to the call! Felt like I was on duck a hunt for turkeys... :z-guntootsmiley:
(http://i935.photobucket.com/albums/ad191/tgs_2010/SANY0144.jpg)
This is in CT, where three birds are legal. Ever tried carrying three 20lb. birds out? It's a good problem to have.
Awesome, and none of them Gobbled?
I'm sorry, after the intial period of silence (that period of when I would have normally left), the first bird hammered about 60 yds to my right as I was doing some soft blind call purring, but kept on gobbling goind down over a knoll into a hollow, once down there, that hollow came a live with birds. I called all three gobblers out of that same hollow over the next 90 minutes. The first two died within inches of where the other had stood, both coming in seperatly, and with the third, I had gotten into a calling battle with a hen and she came looking to fight and dragged ol' long beard #3 up with her. I'll never forget it...it was simply an amazing time in the woods.
If I'm on a new piece of land I wouldn't sit at all, I would keep moving till I got a gobble. If I know the land, I would sit for about an hour.
Last year I did a lot of running and gunning. This year I plan on sitting more.
I hunt public land, so a lot depends on pressure. i like to get away from people.
Quote from: turkey slayer on February 07, 2011, 05:27:42 PM
I probably don't sit at all. I would start moving ,and looking for a bird that will talk to me.
Thta's what I do! :icon_thumright:
Quote from: hobbes on February 07, 2011, 08:16:20 PM
Quote from: turkey slayer on February 07, 2011, 05:27:42 PM
I probably don't sit at all. I would start moving ,and looking for a bird that will talk to me.
If the situation seems to warrant a sit, I'll sit, but I'm normally on the move looking for a responsive bird.
:agreed:hobbes
I'll usually sit 2 hours or so calling every half hour or soo..
As long as it takes :toothy12:
It honestly depends on my mood that morning. If I like the area and either have a history of encounters in the area or am convinced there is a good chance of a bird coming in (even silent), I'm staying put for maybe up to 3 or 4 hours. Then there are other times I may sit 30 minutes and gone to the next spot. As you can see, I am part turkey....and try to remain as unpredictable as they are. :icon_thumright:
where i hunt i can ride my 4-wheeler to the top of a ridge and listen a daylight to see where the birds gobble ..i don't go after the first one i here i wait to i here one gobble a few times like he's trying to let the hens know where he is .then i'll go to him ,play him till he moves the other direction or is laying on the ground .heehee
It all depends how much I want to sleep ;D
i'll usually sit a couple of hours if I know the birds are there- I've killed birds that came in silent after calling every 10 minutes or so using yelps, clucks, and purrs.
I walk until I set up on a gobbling bird. When I set up and if it is right, I only sit for 5 minutes.
if i dont hear anything then i will slowly move around searching for strut areas after sun up. If still no luck i will move toward areas i know turkeys usually are during early afternoon times. If by 8-9ish still nothing i head out to get breakfast and come back after 10am. I normally cant sit longer then 45mins in one spot without hearing something. just not my cup of tea is all.
usually an hour or so and then i'll move on
It definitley depends on the amount of land you have and if you heard any gobbling before sun up, even in the distance.
I've killed more than one bird 1-2 hours after daybreak. In those instances, there was gobbling off in the distance and dead silence after flydown time. Obviously, those boys were henned up but the hen went off to nest and he came looking for the pretty girl that was calling earlier.
If you didn't hear a single gobble from the roost, then probably 1/2-1 hour max.
I will sit in the morning and wait on them in the afternoon if I know where they are going to roost. Other than that I like to move until I hear one.
I won't sit long. It's about the show, not the kill. I usually have them put to bed so I know where they are at in the morning. If you don't have the time to scout, hit your high percentage spot.