Just watched a video where the guy sat on the bird for 2 hours and I liked the "how close" thread.
I am not talking about a "deer hunt" situation, but where you heard the bird and sat down and kept contact until he finally came in. I set my record this year and he gobbled enough to let me know he was staying fairly close and I could not move because of how thin the pines were. But I knew he was there and just waited him out. When he finally broke he came right to me (under 20 yards in full strut)-like he knew a hen was there from where he roosted and finally got around to checking her out.
4 to 5 hours for sure, and on more than one occassion.
Not sure exactly but in Missouri a few years ago I sat down in the dark and started tree calling to a bird at first gobble, I would say 5:30, never moved and called on and off to him until 10-10:15, he came sneaking in at 11:15.
So 5-6hrs depending on the exact times which I really do not know.
Man here in Ms. I was on one from fisrt light, moved on him several times, he was close a few times and then a saw a school bus pass, after 3:30 so I just left him alone.
Several hourssssssss... It just depends on how he's responding and what he's telling me ...
As far as flat pinned down, maybe two hours. In instances where I'm not pinned down, I'm gonna move some, even if it's only five or ten yards. The illusion of movement and the illusion of multiple birds are two things I'm always trying to create if at all possible.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last year, I spent about 3 hours on a bird that I brought home... That is the longest I believe I ever spent on the same bird and was successful on... I did NOT sit on one spot the whole time, and repositioned several times... But I was on the same bird the whole time.
This season, I held on a bird for a bit over an hour, as he stood and gobbled at about 70 yards, moving foward literally inches at a time... Gun on the bird, face itching terribly, and a bug crawling on my neck, did not move or call for the whole time (except for the sweat trickling down my face)... Was sure he was a tom. Turned out to be a jake, but a tom eventually came to pick a fight with him, and I gratefully took advantage of the situation. Was one of the most rewarding birds I have killed (myself) in some time.
Right at 5 hours from the time I set up til I pulled the trigger.
It was one of those ones that was several hundred yards on the other side of the property line. I won't cross a property line. Gobblers, oddly enough...........will.
This year was one of the longest hunts of not my longest hunt on a bird. I harvested a bird the morning before and I heard this bird on a ridge that I usually hear one every year on (hunting club) land. So I get in position at gobbling time. He flies down with several hens and the flock is coming to me and one hen the (look out) was a good 20 yds ahead of everyone else and she picked me off. She was probably close to 10 yds from me. She didn't spook too bad she just knew something wasn't right with me. They eased back over the ridge and I set up many different times through out the day on several different ridges. I finally harvested the bird at 3:22 p.m. when I did finally harvest him I laid there and pounded 2 water bottles I had in my vest. I was so focused on the bird I had not even taken time to drink one bit of water. I was on my way out of the lease and another hunter which had heard the bird I was on that morning was coming back in that afternoon to make a hunt. I stopped to talk and I showed him the bird. 11 5/8s beard 1 1/4 spurs. He was a dandy of a gobbler. I'd rather take 3 hunts like that a year than 15 easy kills. I'll always remember that hunt
4 hours, first bird I ever shot. I didnt know any better and made a thousand mistakes. He was just hot enough not to leave and he finally gave me a shot. That 4 hour adrenaline rush is what hooked me, lol. Z
3 hours, from first gobble to flopping. Gobbled off and on the whole time. Loved it!
Many hours, many times....
I've sat for 3 or 4 hours on field birds before. Not the most fun, but hey whatever it takes.
Definitely several hours, probably 4-5+. It became a LOT easier when I switched to those gobbler lounger chairs.
what Tom007 said. many hours, many times.
I honestly couldn't tell you. I tend to lose track of time. I know when he's close and about to get in range, minutes can seem like hours. And then once the trigger is pulled, it all seems like it happened so quick, even if it was hours.
I would say two hours tops. It's probably more like an hour. If he is just ain't moving my way, then I am gonna try and figure out why. I have stuck with the same gobbler many times for 5-6 hours. But I don't hold still.
I can't recall any real marathon sessions. Maybe I get tired of waiting and move on. ;D
I may see why I don't kill more turkeys... :goofball:
Me and a friend in Ohio stayed on a gobbler from right after fly down until 11:55 (noon end there). We followed and worked him for hours. Finally they walked out onto a power line. We worked them for hours. He took care of himself, then later the hen let him breed her, and during this time he fought off 2 other gobblers.
We called to him and he would gobble, but he wouldn't leave his hen.
My friend got out my half strut jake decoy, and crammed the stake into a rotten fencepost. Then he started gobbling at the tom with a box call. He would turn and look at the jake deke, but still he wouldn't come. With time running out, the gobbler finally tired of the jake's gobbling and left the hen. He marched uphill to whip him some jake butt, and walked straight into a face full of #5's. After hours of trying to kill him, I got that gobbler with minutes to spare.
Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
Quote from: ChesterCopperpot on May 23, 2023, 11:00:23 PM
As far as flat pinned down, maybe two hours. In instances where I'm not pinned down, I'm gonna move some, even if it's only five or ten yards. The illusion of movement and the illusion of multiple birds are two things I'm always trying to create if at all possible.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This
Just about 3 hours in the George Washington NF in WV. He and a hen were roosted very close together and she flew to him. They spent about 3 hours parading back and forth on the edge of a cliff maybe covering 15 yds or so before they did the deed. She disappeared and he folded up and walked right at me. And, I shot over him. I was worn out and sore from sitting there all that time.
Hour and a half before sunrise until sunset to shoot two with a bow. Lots of 4-5hr sits.
Over 4 hours. It's tough for sure. I just remind myself turkeys aren't on my schedule so I have to exercise some patience
Quote from: ChesterCopperpot on May 23, 2023, 11:00:23 PM
As far as flat pinned down, maybe two hours. In instances where I'm not pinned down, I'm gonna move some, even if it's only five or ten yards. The illusion of movement and the illusion of multiple birds are two things I'm always trying to create if at all possible.
Quote from: Happy on May 24, 2023, 05:21:24 PM
I would say two hours tops. It's probably more like an hour. If he is just ain't moving my way, then I am gonna try and figure out why. I have stuck with the same gobbler many times for 5-6 hours. But I don't hold still.
These two pretty much sum up my outlook on working a gobbler. To expand on my personal turkey hunting philosophy a bit, I categorize turkey hunting into three different approaches. These are passive, proactive, and reactive.
Without direct confirmation that a gobbler is "interacting" with my calling, and is showing interest, I am not likely to sit "passively" in one spot and wait for him to show up at some point. I just don't fit that hunting style, and quite honestly, I do not have the patience for it, even if I wanted to,...which I don't. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't care if someone else hunts that way. It's just not how I "evolved" as a turkey hunter because I have mostly hunted where that approach was not necessary,...or more importantly, not at effective (or nearly as enjoyable) as one of the other two approaches mentioned above.
Proactive and reactive hunting actually fall into the same category, really, but the latter most times follows the first for me. Simply stated, proactive hunting means actively searching for a responsive gobbler, mostly by moving along at a pace that "fits" the place and circumstances in which I am hunting. That pace may be categorized as "creeping", or at the other extreme, "race-walking", but it definitely falls in between those two at some level,...again depending on the circumstances.
Once a gobbler has been "struck" by that proactive approach, then things become reactive. Simply stated, what I do in terms of staying in one place,...or relocating,...as well as my calling strategy,...is entirely based on what the gobbler "tells" me he expects from me, or conversely, tells me what he doesn't want from me in terms of a meeting location or a calling strategy. Everything I do is "reactive" to what he is doing.
However, over the many years/decades I have been doing this, the times I have stayed in one spot without moving for any extended period of time could probably be counted on one hand,...and even if I was missing a finger or two. ;D
The late season game is a rough one. There were quite a few sits that were extra long. When a bird would answer you once and you would say, he knows I'm here.(He didn't want to play right now)
On several occasions, after good early morning action, then it gets quiet, I've been lucky a lot between 11/12
I did a similar hunt with my nephew. The gobbler gobbled at 6:00 in the morning and I was carrying the gobbler out of the woods at 9:10 that was my best hunt I've been on for gobblers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ive sat many hours on many birds, many times. What i learned this year.....is those types of encounters are getting rare. Someone else will simply walk up to the bird. If your goal when going in the woods is to bring one out, you better get to gettin....having 4 birds across 3 states killed inside 100 yards of me this year has probably broke me permanently of playing the long game with a turkey. at least on public that is.
Had to think for awhile because I to am one to move. Move to, flank, circle or just move to another turkey.
Several years ago on the last day of season about 6 in the morning I spotted a strutter and a flock of hens. I think he had seven hens with him. I stuck with him all morning on a strip job. The whole flock finally left the strip opposite of me but returned in just a short minute or two followed by a bear. He was just feeding on grass, same as the turkeys.
That pushed the turkeys right across the strip to me and beyond. I caught up to them in a small clearing and finished the hunt.
During that morning I seen many things happen. Seen him breed a couple of the girls, seen turkeys napping, of course strutting, a bear. It was quite the eventful morning.
I want to say this happened before WV had moved the season up a week. That would have put it third week of May. They have changed season around a couple times since. Last day now is the same weekend as it was long ago.
I've had some decent sits but unless I can see or hear a bird constantly I move somewhere. This past season I started to sit longer and it pays off, birds that I usually would have left I killed because i sat and was patient. It seems like a lot of time the bird is coming but he's gonna get there when he wants to if it takes 5 minutes or 5 hours.
Got on a 22 pounder last year in TN. I struck him at daylight. I moved 4 times on him, with him getting around 100 yards each time but never committing. I finally realized that 2 of my set ups where near his strut zone. Around 12:30 pm, he came within 100 yards again toward me on this small ridge he was strutting back and forth on. I hit my crow call just to see where he was. As soon as he gobbled, I high tailed it "out of view" to the other end of the ridge. Got set up, made some very soft feeding purrs, scratched in the leaves a little, and got ready. Within 10 minutes, I saw that white head easing along and heard that familiar sound of a spit drum. Killed him at 1:30ish. It was a great hunt and a blessing to harvest an old monarch of the woods. It was a long day but one I don't think I will ever forget.
My longest interaction with a gobbler lasted nearly six hours and ended with him winning the game that day! My longest interaction that ended with him on the ground with my boot on his neck lasted right at three hours. Such is turkey hunting. My shortest successful encounter lasted about 20 minutes!
You will not find my rear against the same tree more than 60-80 minutes.
I'm going to gain ground on him, circle him, or do something to get closer and find a location more preferrable to the turkey.
In my opinion, if he hasn't come to your location within 60-80 minutes, you simply aren't where he wants to be.
I didn't stay in the same place, but maintained sound contact with the same bird for 7 hours last year. I was hunting the small farm and he was roosted on another property. He acknowledged and responded to my calls, but expected me to come to him. Property lines prevented me from getting as close as I (or he) wanted, so I moved towards a spot I'd heard him call from before. Of course, he went to where I was originally set up and stayed there for about 45 minutes. I eased back up towards the ridge, but he went around me (off the property) and went down towards the creek bottom. He stayed on the flat ledge by the creek (one of his strut zones) for over 80 minutes. I couldn't get any closer, so I backed out, crossed the creek, and went to another flat he liked to frequest (& sometimes roost). He stayed in the same spot for about 40 more minutes and wouldn't budge. So, I moved back and forth across the flat and finally dared to get as close to him as possible. I yelped on a slate and he answered 20 seconds later from my side of the creek, less than 75 yards from me. I had to hit the ground beside a big oak right along the lip of the flat. He walked up on the flat behind me less than 20 feet away. I couldn't move or swing on him because the woods were so open and he was right on top of me. He strutted & drummed behind me for another 5 minutes, then he left southwest off the flat out towards the neighbor's field. About that time, BOOM, a shot from the field and no more gobbles. I checked my watch and it was 7 hours from first gobble to shot. No doubt the neighbor heard the bird reacting to me, then got as close to the gobbler as he could, and sealed the deal when the turkey crossed onto his land. It was fun, intense, and the ending sucked bad.
Jim