Made it to the lease today and the birds were on fire. Lots of chatter from hens and a few gobblers before dawn. I got one to come to me at fly down but he stayed about 50-55 yards out and I had a small limb in the way. We played back and forth for a while but he wouldn't come closer. Finally around 700 he found a hen and left. I sat tight, called every 15-20 minutes and he came in alone around 1030, but again wouldn't come closer than 55 yards. I got him to gobble twice before he went back into the pines. Frustrating again bc this one I thought I had him. One of the hens was pretty vocal and I got into a little vocal war with her. I'd just mimic whatever she said. She was coming closer before turning away back into the pines. So I'm 0-3 with two close calls. Both times I've been real close to sealing the deal. Frustrating is putting it lightly...
Everyone has been there. Try to think what it may be about the setup that is causing them to hang up at that distance. Several questions come to my mind: Do you have a gobbler deke out? If so, lose it and go with just a hen or no decoys at all. Are you calling to the birds all the way in? If you can see them and they are coming--DO NOT CALL. Are you staying in the same spot? Might try to put some realism in your calling by moving around.
Good luck--Hope you get him.
Hang in there, you will get him.
Are you hunting alone? If you can have someone else call and you get out about 30 yards in front of the other guy you might make it happen.
I hunting alone and only with one hen decoy. Thought about taking out the jake decoy but figured the hen would be enough. He was coming in and I did get excited and call a bit but not too much. It's hard not too when he's gobbling his mind away. Someone mentioned the more he gobbles the more he expects my "hen" to come to him. They told me to play hard to get and call very little once he's in sight. Thanks for the advice!!!
Put that jake decoy out with the hen !! :icon_thumright:
Quote from: vaturkey on March 08, 2013, 08:53:17 PM
Put that jake decoy out with the hen !! :icon_thumright:
X2...might just tick him off enough to come in.
I feel your frustration. We have all been there. One thing to keep in mind is that there is one big silver lining. I would do anything to feel your frustration right now! I still have 47 days to wait! Good luck!
Move and setup where he keeps hanging up at.
Quote from: ILIKEHEVI-13 on March 09, 2013, 07:21:38 AM
Move and setup where he keeps hanging up at.
x2. I have done this many times & it works.
If he is coming there is no reason to keep calling.
By the time he gets to your area, you've probably called so much that he knows with certainty exactly where you should be.
Back off the calling and force him to look for you.
He'll stop hanging up at 55 and come inside 40 because his curiosity will have the best of him.
Good luck!!
Welcome to turkey HUNTING...
Saw him again this morning. I was setup on the edge of the pond where he was hung up. He comes right down still a bit too far to shoot with a hen and rendezvous with a group of other hens. Got to watch him mate as well. Instead of coming back east towards me he went west with all the hens. Waited him out till 1pm and he never showed back up. I'll try again tomorrow!
Looks like you have the upper hand on the situation , your on private property and you have to worry less about interference and other hunters crowding you to about dangerous levels - im so sick of people being on top of me all the time
Keep hunting him , I would try.... if he seems unresponsive , different calls - you never know
Quote from: VaTuRkStOmPeR on March 09, 2013, 02:26:22 PM
If he is coming there is no reason to keep calling.
By the time he gets to your area, you've probably called so much that he knows with certainty exactly where you should be.
Back off the calling and force him to look for you.
He'll stop hanging up at 55 and come inside 40 because his curiosity will have the best of him.
Good luck!!
X2
My sentiments exactly.
When i come across a turkey that wont come in i go the next day and just sit quite where he hung up . i never make a sound and just wait him out .turkey you can almost pattern them if you have the right farms . with no outside interference .
and 2 the time of day you going in i am in the wood's 1.5 hrs set up before light maybe you had you light on and walked under some turkeys maybe you step on a twig and it snapped .i try to walk in grass .or i go in well before season and clear brush snags i even remove the leaves on the ground just so i am silent . just never give up on a turkey he will make that mistake . sometime let him rest for a few days them go back in with a new game plan .
good luck hope you get him ....................
I was setup today at 430am. Overkill I know but I couldn't sleep last night knowing he got me the day before. Our lease is only 4 members on 1000 acres and only 3 turkey hunt so I'm hoping no one gets him. The main issue I am having is that they roost just to the north of our feeders. So you can't be close to the feeders for ethical reasons. No sport in that. Today he flew down into one of our feeders and gobbled his head away in there but I didn't call at all and sure enough he showed up. We also have set blind locations since we are such a small lease and when there's others hunting a blind close by we can't run and gun. Club rules. The particular blind that hes close by was where I was sitting yesterday when he hung up in the pond. Too far of a shot from that blind. Opening weekend (last weekend) I heard 4 different gobbles from what we call Gobblers Knob. Yesterday and today it was only one guy gobbling. I did some walking after 1pm and found a dead gobbler by our NW fence line. Freshly killed by a bobcat or panther I'm sure. Nice 9" beard and some big hooks. Basically I'm fighting feeders, 15 hens, and 1 gobbler. Tough proposition, when he can mate all day by following those hens around. Lots of jakes as well. I seen 5 today with 2"-5" beards. We only shoot 6" and up. I'll put up a little map showing where everything is without locations obviously.
Ok heres a little picture explaining everything. You can see the set blind locations, roost locations, feeders, and the gobblers path both days. Friday was the red path. Saturday was the yellow path. Friday I was at the Blind B and today I was at "saturday setup". Last weekend I was setup at Blind C because the past few months I would watch the birds feed and move down that tree line towards Blind C. They all were in that pond in front of Blind B.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/Lease-1.png)
Some pics from yesterday. Not the best but I had the iphone camera zoomed in all the way.
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/585D2214-B99D-4791-AF3F-632BB9C2C04C-6885-000005AEB765F6C5.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/D901FB86-FBFF-49F5-9844-33FB53365AED-6885-000005AEB3D542E2.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/0B60816D-AD40-4A2B-A0CF-B61C122E47B0-6885-000005AEAE4BE2D0.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/2C03B0FB-45F5-44FE-BA96-391A9E9BA1A5-6885-000005AEBAF4A5D2.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/th_8DA0F620-D8FB-4E17-A913-57C54683BB94-6885-000005AEC5A4FF5F.jpg) (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y169/MiamiE/8DA0F620-D8FB-4E17-A913-57C54683BB94-6885-000005AEC5A4FF5F.mp4)
If you are planning on staying that long, I would make up 20-25 yards and setup again. It's a great feeling when you bust his tail when he thinks he's got you just where he wants you.
I hear ya... Saturday I had one strutting in front of me at 60 yards... he had couple hens about another 50 yards behind him... would not come any closer. That was my best chance all week. Was tempted to shoot out of frustration, but ethics got the better of me and I watched him walk away back to the hens. We have had good gobbling on the roost and maybe 20-30 minutes after fly down then they shut up for the rest of the day. I watched a group of four gobblers Saturday, no hens walk across a field about 100 yards from me. I called, had two hen decoys set out and they continued along like I wasn't even there. Didn't strut, didn't gobble... nothing. It's like they aren't ready yet. My hunt is quota so I don't have the option of going back out. Extremely frustrating to hear up to 10 different birds on the roost in different areas, watch them at a distance and not be able to work them. It's not just us. I'm hearing similar stories from everyone I talk to in this area. The only guys I know that have shot them so far were set up 50 yards from the roost and hit em right when their feet touched the ground. I don't like trying to sneak in that close and really don't like trying to bush whack a turkey. It takes the fun out of it for me. Good luck and I hope to see a pic of that bird fanned out in front of you soon.