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General Discussion => General Forum => Topic started by: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 07:44:21 PM

Title: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 07:44:21 PM
I've had great success with this, if the situation presents itself. Down here in NW FL. we can't hunt after 1:00 PM. so I track roads and look. Several times catching Gobblers and hens in the road. Bust them up, usually the old boy comes in the next morning.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: renegade19 on May 02, 2016, 09:40:04 PM
Sounds plausible
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: taylorjones20 on May 02, 2016, 10:53:37 PM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.

:welcomeOG:

:TrainWreck1:

:popcorn:
Title: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: Spurs on May 02, 2016, 11:30:56 PM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
Funniest....post....ever
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: dejake on May 03, 2016, 02:34:39 AM
Quote from: Spurs on May 02, 2016, 11:30:56 PM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
Funniest....post....ever

Nah, second funniest.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: wvmntnhick on May 03, 2016, 09:25:49 AM
Quote from: dejake on May 03, 2016, 02:34:39 AM
Quote from: Spurs on May 02, 2016, 11:30:56 PM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
Funniest....post....ever

Nah, second funniest.
What was the funniest?
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: wvmntnhick on May 03, 2016, 09:32:39 AM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
And I'm certain you should do more homework. There's a ton of hunters on here that hunt nothing but public land. I'm not one but the club I hunt may as well be public land. Actually, it can often times be worse. Public land generally restricts the use of atv's. Our club doesn't.  There's an atv trail every 100 yards or so because no one wants to do any kind of work for a bird, deer, etc. I'm not against the easy ones but it's gotten out of hand on the club for sure. I've gotten lucky enough to get access to some small chunks of ground finally but it was like pulling teeth from a crocodile to get it. And the thing is,mother birds roost on the neighboring farms. Ever tried pulling a bird across 300 yards of wide open field when they expect the source of the calling to be visible and come to them? I'll take my chances on your public land.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: chatterbox on May 03, 2016, 09:47:26 AM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
I think we've just been insulted...
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: wvmntnhick on May 03, 2016, 10:00:26 AM
Quote from: chatterbox on May 03, 2016, 09:47:26 AM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
I think we've just been insulted...
Just realized he's a new guy. Probably hasn't read others tales of woe when hunting the public lands yet. He'll adjust, I'm sure. And I'd just like to preface all of this by saying, I'm in no way bashing or getting on to the new fella. Just read my last post and realized that when reading with the wrong inflection, it could have come off kind of snarky. Wasn't the intent. Was simply pointing out that many of the members of this site hunt harder than most guys I'll ever meet. I still say that I may hunt with the hardest hunting man in existence but many here go well above and beyond the call of duty to secure a bird.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: renegade19 on May 03, 2016, 10:07:06 AM
Dang dude I thought I was agreeing with you.  I'd say well over 50% of the birds I have killed have come from the SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST.  Last time I checked, that was PUBLIC land.  Good luck down there. 
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: 101st501 on May 03, 2016, 10:29:51 AM
You mean to tell me that turkeys are on private land?  I thought they could only be found on public land!!!  All these years I have been believing a lie.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 03, 2016, 03:02:50 PM
Sorry guys, didn't mean to insult anybody. I'm new on here.
Quote from: wvmntnhick on May 03, 2016, 10:00:26 AM
Quote from: chatterbox on May 03, 2016, 09:47:26 AM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
I think we've just been insulted...
Just realized he's a new guy. Probably hasn't read others tales of woe when hunting the public lands yet. He'll adjust, I'm sure. And I'd just like to preface all of this by saying, I'm in no way bashing or getting on to the new fella. Just read my last post and realized that when reading with the wrong inflection, it could have come off kind of snarky. Wasn't the intent. Was simply pointing out that many of the members of this site hunt harder than most guys I'll ever meet. I still say that I may hunt with the hardest hunting man in existence but many here go well above and beyond the call of duty to secure a bird.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: CMBOSTC on May 03, 2016, 03:08:20 PM
That was funny! Welcome aboard, you should fit in perfectly.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: renegade19 on May 03, 2016, 11:23:24 PM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 03, 2016, 03:02:50 PM
Sorry guys, didn't mean to insult anybody. I'm new on here.
Quote from: wvmntnhick on May 03, 2016, 10:00:26 AM
Quote from: chatterbox on May 03, 2016, 09:47:26 AM
Quote from: TerryLNanny on May 02, 2016, 10:44:46 PM
Plausible doesn't cut it down here. Public hunting, you've got to do your homework. Stay in the woods, burn gas. I'm sure alot of you you hunters don't even have a clue, as you hunt leases or private property.
I think we've just been insulted...
Just realized he's a new guy. Probably hasn't read others tales of woe when hunting the public lands yet. He'll adjust, I'm sure. And I'd just like to preface all of this by saying, I'm in no way bashing or getting on to the new fella. Just read my last post and realized that when reading with the wrong inflection, it could have come off kind of snarky. Wasn't the intent. Was simply pointing out that many of the members of this site hunt harder than most guys I'll ever meet. I still say that I may hunt with the hardest hunting man in existence but many here go well above and beyond the call of duty to secure a bird.
No worries brother. :welcomeOG:
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: Double B on May 04, 2016, 06:54:08 AM
I've never killed one on private, the birds were mostly on public land when I started hunting and I like the big tracts, so still prefer it.  If you do spoook a gobbler off from his hens, why wait til morning?   I'd probably let him settle down and then try to call him in right then, if it was before your 1 o'clock quit time.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: lmbhngr on May 04, 2016, 07:01:36 AM
Wow!! I must be very fortunate. I hunt private land exclusively. Problem I'm having is its all getting leased out from under me.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: wvmntnhick on May 04, 2016, 08:28:44 AM
Quote from: lmbhngr on May 04, 2016, 07:01:36 AM
Wow!! I must be very fortunate. I hunt private land exclusively. Problem I'm having is its all getting leased out from under me.
This is happening more and more every day. People are willing to pay large chunks of money to hunt and land owners are crazy not to take it. Sure sucks but if I had ground I didn't hunt and someone offered me an insane amount of money to lease it, that's cash in hand.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: THattaway on May 04, 2016, 09:43:57 AM
Well I've been a member on here for a long time. One thing I see is that the apparent effort put forth to kill turkeys seems to vary a lot from area to area. Probably has more to do with the numbers of turkeys than anything else. You have to have turkeys to kill turkeys. If you are hunting an area with a great population it should come as no surprise to have great hunting. If you are hunting an area with a reduced population, for whatever reason, and a lot of hunting pressure on top of it then it seems you are going to hear a pile of "no gobbling" reports, woes and worst season ever reports. Like fishing a pond with no fish. Simple. I've hunted both public and private. Tough hunts can occur on both. On private you generally have the asset of knowing the hunting pressure but are limited by the property lines. On public you generally cannot always accurately predict hunting pressure or where it will show up but you generally have the asset of being able to seek out areas where property lines are not so much an issue. If you have a down year in overall turkey #s then public vs. private doesn't make so much a difference. This year around here toms were mostly sparse and folks on public land were more apt to bum rush any roosted tom they heard because it was probably the ONLY one they heard. I did call in  24 different jakes (still doing so as of last weekend) and I'd say that's a good thing.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: THattaway on May 04, 2016, 09:56:41 AM
And I've busted toms off hens. Usually waited till fly up time and quietly slipped under the hens. Sometimes it worked like a charm. The reason I waited till fly up was to try to not spook the tom so much. Just seems to me the less you screw one up the easier he will be to fool and kill.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 04, 2016, 08:30:55 PM
Quote from: Double B on May 04, 2016, 06:54:08 AM
I've never killed one on private, the birds were mostly on public land when I started hunting and I like the big tracts, so still prefer it.  If you do spoook a gobbler off from his hens, why wait til morning?   I'd probably let him settle down and then try to call him in right then, if it was before your 1 o'clock quit time.
What I was talking about is usually right before dark. If you can scatter them then it's game on. 90% I've killed several this way. Classic story, busted 2 hens off a Gobbler a couple years ago down a drain, seen the Gobbler go one way, the hen's go the other. Next morning put me 2 Hen decks out, yelped a couple times, never gobbled but there he was. Pulled the trigger, click, bad shell I guess. Eased another shell in, lights out
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: spaightlabs on May 04, 2016, 08:36:25 PM
totally classic.

Like Sex Panther....60% of the time it works every time.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 04, 2016, 10:41:18 PM
I am a turkey hunting fanatic, just like a lot of other's on here, which reflects back to my post and the story I just told. A lot of hunters would have seen them turkey's and said there goes a Gobbler and some hen's, including my uncle, been hunting turkey's 40 yrs. Killed 3. Hahaha!!  Just saying sometimes you got to make something happen.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: THattaway on May 05, 2016, 10:30:44 AM
The trick, or luck really, is to get them separated. If they go the same way, well....
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: chcltlabz on May 05, 2016, 04:02:50 PM
I've killed 2 different longbeards busting up a flock and only waiting a few minutes to start calling.  Works in the fall, works in the spring.
Title: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: VaTuRkStOmPeR on May 06, 2016, 06:06:24 AM
Quote from: spaightlabs on May 04, 2016, 08:36:25 PM
totally classic.

Like Sex Panther....60% of the time it works every time.

This is some funny chit.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.  One guy might prefer to separate em while another will gladly call in the whole flock. I'd rather scout the whole flock and make a play on them instead of running the risk of bumping the gobbler too far.

People try desperate things on public land to kill turkeys and sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't.  No tactic is written in stone. Hence my preference is to scout, observe, roost and kill instead of introduce an uncontrolled set of variables into the situation (scattering on the roost).

Interestingly enough, the VADGIF just did a telemetry study on gobblers that were bumped off the roost and the distances they relocated.  Some relocated over 1,100 yards and the average was 350.  If you're  on a large tract of public, that may not be consequential; however, if you're on some smaller public pieces or dealing with birds living in public close to private boundaries it can be extremely significant in your ability to have a huntable turkey.

And as far as public vs private hunters..... I don't care what type of ground a guy hunts; the best turkey hunters are the guys who are consistently on birds with the opportunity to experiment with different tactics and different approaches.  Give me the guy that has killed 100 turkeys from private land in the south east, mid Atlantic or north east and I'd hunt with him any day over an exclusive public land hunter who has only killed 40.  It's all about being on birds, observing their behavior, listening to their interactions, knowing where they are in their breeding cycle and hunting a lot.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: TerryLNanny on May 09, 2016, 07:37:08 PM
I'm not really interested in how far a Gobbler fly's when busted off Hens, apparently not that far,as he doesn't want to lose his hens.I have killed several this way over the years. Also it's all public hunting. All that scientific BS don't mean much to me when I've got turkey's flopping on the ground.
Title: Re: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: silvestris on May 09, 2016, 08:52:53 PM
Insofar as his technique is concerned, it can be very effective, but it can come at a cost if attempted on the same birds with regularity.  I would prefer to attempt to call a gobbler day after day until he finally succumbs.  If I find myself between a roosted gobbler and his hens and I am far enough from the gobbler, the hens are going to get scattered.  The gobbler is likely to come before the hens settle down.  However, I will only use that technique once with those birds.
Title: Busting Gobblers off hens
Post by: drenalinld on May 09, 2016, 09:50:57 PM
I have successfully spooked hens coming to a gobbler I was working and I have had them fly right over my head directly to the gobbler when I was attempting to spook them the opposite way.