I guess I'm the newest member here and I will start by saying hello . Now for my question - I am really new to turkey hunting and I need some advice on a particular gobbler that I have been after now for over a week . I know almost the exact tree he roosts in and he has been there for two weeks now . He gobbles his head off every morning until he flies down and then goes silent . He is actually roosting just across the fence on another property that I don't have permission to hunt on . It is steep ground and the fence runs the ridgeline . I have set up above , below , and around the holler on the next ridge but its always the same . He just shuts up as soon as it gets good and light . This may be a fairly common case but like I said , this is all pretty new to me so any suggestions will be much appreciated . Thanks
More than likely he has hens. Once a Tom has hens they are generally pretty tight lipped. My first approach would be to wait him out. Hens typically start leaving to lay an egg later on in the morning and your odds of catching him in a lonely state of mind are better. Can always try and call the hens in also. That's a hit or miss proposition but works enough to try it. If you can hunt all day set up on his route back to roost if you have access to the land he travels. Those are a few options I would try. Good luck.
And by the way welcome to Old Gobbler.
Do you ever see or hear him fly down? Are there hens with him? Hens nearby is usually the cause of going silent, in my experience. Sounds like he is staying on the other property? Has he ever answered a call?
If possible, find an area where the turkeys have been - look for scratchings, etc. Set up and get comfortable. You might just have to wait him out. One of these mornings, he may not have hens nearby, and he may be more than willing to come your way with a little coaxing.
:welcomeOG:
(*lol... or, what Happy said!)
Like steelersfan and happy said, you might have to just wait him out. Later in the morning he might get lonely and go looking for that hen that was playing hard to get at daylight. Or as season progresses and the hens start to incubate, he might find himself still hot and bothered but with no girlfriends. Some seemingly impossible birds turn into pushovers when that happens. And if nothing works, don't get too frustrated. Everyone of us gets beat more than what we succeed! But please, if you kill him, post the pics and the story!! And :welcomeOG:
Try to call in the hens with some scratching and purring. Maybe try a gobble call if that doesn't work. Stay with him!
Cut off his gobble with two cutts spaced 1/2 second apart then shut up.
If he heard you before he left, I agree. Sit tight. Especially if on a small piece of property. Took me a couple of years where I hunt to realize, just stay on the field if one answered me. I would leave and prospect and 2 different times when I came back to where I started, Mr Tom was there. Did it this year and only had to wait an hour for him to come back. He got a truck ride.