I'll do the best I can to summarize my frustrations so my post doesn't get looked over.
Just got back from hunting in NE Iowa. These birds got me banging my head up against an oak tree! I know what your thinking... Iowa? Giving you a hard time? Yup... this season as a whole has been tough on me.
Someone explain to me what's going on here...
1) Morning roost hunts, I would get in about 80 yards, 50 on one occasion. Birds ignore my subtle tree yelps (of course, respond well to the hen they do know, further down the ridge). Then they pitch down and away from me, sometimes not even gobbling once they hit the ground. On 2 occasions I can verify they did not have Hens as I saw them pitch down and walk away.
2) I was within shotgun range of 2 toms and they just flat out ignore my call, they do not come to take a peek, no courtesy gobble, or even gobble once they've walked away.
Both birds have been within 35 yards with nothing but the ridge crest separating us. They gobble on there own, I respond and they just shut up and vanish. It's frustrating that maneuvering myself to get that close to a Tom, and he still won't even come to take a peek.
I sat there and waited about an hour today once I got on the same shelf as him and called to him at about 30 yards, only for him to vanish.
If that's too close, well I called to him throughout the morning from various distances and set ups, this last one was when I pushed it after him not breaking for about 3 hours. On average all set ups where about 80 yards, one was maybe about 120 yards over the knoll of the shelf.
What's this I hear bout a "100 yard bubble" on getting these birds to break and come take a peak? Cause that's not what I was experiencing...
I'm guessing this is a pressure thing? These birds have played the game so they know better then to even pay attention to a hen they don't know and they head straight to there "strut zone" and camp out there and let the hens show up.
They don't go and investigate because they have probably been shot at before, or have busted some hunters in the past.
Thanks... one frustrated Turkey hunting fool.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Man, some times turkeys can just be rough and humiliating. I get it, sorry to hear of your frustrations.
What type of call you running BTW?
Quote from: WV Flopper on May 03, 2023, 06:36:56 PM
Man, some times turkeys can just be rough and humiliating. I get it, sorry to hear of your frustrations.
What type of call you running BTW?
Diaphragm calls and a crystal pot call.
The diaphragms I make myself. The pot call is the Xspur from Woodhaven.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not understanding being within 30 and not toting it out.
Some of that is just turkeys being turkeys. Some of it is they're on to you.
Don't call before they fly down. Someiit works great but on average it hurts you.
My advice is get some soap and wash the stink off !!!
It's tuff but when it does happen it will make it that much more rewarding..gotta stick it out,hasn't let many of us down
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don't know if it's the weather across the country, or what. I'm hearing turkeys are being pretty quiet all over. Yes, there are exceptions, I had one. But since then, I've been pounding it and haven't heard a gobble. Warmer weather coming, hopefully their demeanor will change. Your not alone......can only keep at it, it will happen...be safe
It's been hit or miss with us this season. Some gobbling on some days then several days without hearing a gobble. Cooler temperatures than normal for us. I'd say the biggest factor is the weather. On a falling barometric pressure, I feel gobbling diminishes. On a high pressure or steady pressure it picks up.
Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk
Don't call, scratch. If your that close he hears it.
More than likely your hunting some pressured birds and they are wise and nervous from not seeing what they want to see... I would change the calls your using if you haven't already and take something entirely different that they haven't heard before... I would for SURE use a gobble slate call and make gobbler and Jake yelps, that might just seal the deal for you in them closing that last few yards.. Roger Parks makes one of the best calls for making gobbler and Jake yelps .. He did a seminar at Unicoi this year and it's on YouTube about making these gobbler / Jake yelps ...
Could be the pressure. The birds I'm hunting will straight up walk the other way if you call to them. They been hunted so hard at this point. It is really frustrating because that's the fun part. I'm not against crawling up on one and I would if I could but I haven't even been able to do that this season. Keep after them!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe try a different type yelper , perhaps a tube call or wing bone ?
Try setting up close as possible , make a fly down with a wing , and not calling , just scratch leaves is another option ,, good luck
To me... Birds on the roost are the most frustrating...
I could be wrong, but when a bird is gobbling at other hens, and not honoring my call, I feel like he probably sees me or heard me. If he turns to face away from me, I really feel like he knows I am there.
I figure if can see him, and call to him, he most likely sees me.
Maybe he saw a light coming in or heard something on the setup?
Personally, I like to set up reasonably close, but have had horrible luck if I can see birds on the limb. Personally, I do not like to be in any visual line of sight of birds on the limb.
If there are hens calling, I will always call to the hens, and not the toms...
And... I would rather be set up a bit too far, rather than a bit too close... (I could be in the minority though)
Less is more, scratch the leaves, and be patient
I feel ya bro.... :help:
A few years ago, I had a couple gobblers that would roost close to each other, almost in the same spot every morning. They would ignore my calls on the roost as well. Whichever side I'd setup, they would go the other way. They had a rhythm to their gobbles though, and when I would call, it would break the rythm....so I knew they had to be hearing it. After a couple mornings of my normal routine, I decided to give one super quiet tree yelp within 5 minutes of fly down and was committed to not calling again no matter what happened. Just like the other mornings, they did not respond, but again it broke their rhythm of gobbles, so I knew they heard it. The closest one flew down in my direction and strutted right over to me without ever gobbling.....end of story.
I find the more wary and difficult the birds are acting, the more I want to call more to get them to respond. After lots of years of trying to different things, I've found the less I call the better in most circumstances. People say that all the time and it almost sounds cliche....but the past several seasons it's been key for me. I also have found in those circumstances I want to run off to find other birds that are more cooperative, but if I just stay patient and move around less I have also been more productive.
Then there are the birds and situations that no matter what you do, it's just not going to work. And if it worked every time, it wouldn't be any fun.....might of been the case in your situation. That experience you just went through will make your next bird all the sweeter....hang in there and good luck. Perseverance kills more turkeys that about any other factor!
Quote from: WV Ridge Reaper on May 03, 2023, 07:06:55 PM
My advice is get some soap and wash the stink off !!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If ya ask me, this is correct. I've needed a turkey bad a bunch of times. You "need" a turkey right now and the natural world seems to repel that - wash it off, do a hard reset, whatever you wanna call it - just go back to why you're doing this in the first place.
Also, maybe back up off that ridge crest a little.
Quote from: toneloc on May 04, 2023, 10:11:50 AM
A few years ago, I had a couple gobblers that would roost close to each other, almost in the same spot every morning. They would ignore my calls on the roost as well. Whichever side I'd setup, they would go the other way. They had a rhythm to their gobbles though, and when I would call, it would break the rythm....so I knew they had to be hearing it. After a couple mornings of my normal routine, I decided to give one super quiet tree yelp within 5 minutes of fly down and was committed to not calling again no matter what happened. Just like the other mornings, they did not respond, but again it broke their rhythm of gobbles, so I knew they heard it. The closest one flew down in my direction and strutted right over to me without ever gobbling.....end of story.
I find the more wary and difficult the birds are acting, the more I want to call more to get them to respond. After lots of years of trying to different things, I've found the less I call the better in most circumstances. People say that all the time and it almost sounds cliche....but the past several seasons it's been key for me. I also have found in those circumstances I want to run off to find other birds that are more cooperative, but if I just stay patient and move around less I have also been more productive.
Then there are the birds and situations that no matter what you do, it's just not going to work. And if it worked every time, it wouldn't be any fun.....might of been the case in your situation. That experience you just went through will make your next bird all the sweeter....hang in there and good luck. Perseverance kills more turkeys that about any other factor!
Wise words that all of would be wise to soak up - excellent post toneloc.
Quote from: Marc on May 04, 2023, 12:02:03 AM
To me... Birds on the roost are the most frustrating...
I could be wrong, but when a bird is gobbling at other hens, and not honoring my call, I feel like he probably sees me or heard me. If he turns to face away from me, I really feel like he knows I am there.
I figure if can see him, and call to him, he most likely sees me.
Maybe he saw a light coming in or heard something on the setup?
Personally, I like to set up reasonably close, but have had horrible luck if I can see birds on the limb. Personally, I do not like to be in any visual line of sight of birds on the limb.
If there are hens calling, I will always call to the hens, and not the toms...
And... I would rather be set up a bit too far, rather than a bit too close... (I could be in the minority though)
Excellent post Marc. And along with that, Gooserbat is right. If a turkey is within 35 yards on the other side of the crest of the ridge, give him maybe one or two very soft clucks or purrs and then shut up and scratch in the leaves.
Quote from: Greg Massey on May 03, 2023, 10:11:47 PM
More than likely your hunting some pressured birds and they are wise and nervous from not seeing what they want to see... I would change the calls your using if you haven't already and take something entirely different that they haven't heard before... I would for SURE use a gobble slate call and make gobbler and Jake yelps, that might just seal the deal for you in them closing that last few yards.. Roger Parks makes one of the best calls for making gobbler and Jake yelps .. He did a seminar at Unicoi this year and it's on YouTube about making these gobbler / Jake yelps ...
I'll check that out! I will normally just do Jake yelps with my mouth call but, don't try using it with these birds. I'll check out that YouTube video!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for all the replies fellas. The turkeys pretty much played me. To put it simple... they were playing chess and I was playing checkers.
Checkers works at the start of the season before the birds have been pressured and you got 2 year olds running around. With about 2 weeks left of Iowas season, you got to step it up to Chess.
I've decided to head back to Iowa next chance I get and go out with a bang. Gonna give it my all and I'm going to play a different game, I'm going to play THERE game.
I just needed to mentally work through the frustration, but I'm ready to play there game now.
Wish me luck fellas! Going into stealth mode.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk