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Hey Guys,

What do you think is the best way to work a gobbler that you see out in a field?

Thanks

I would try setting up just off the field 30-40 yards into the woods so when he comes to the edge of the field looking for the hen that's in the woods he will be in range


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In killing field gobblers , it takes a lot of patience's most of the time, in hunting field birds you may have to spend 2 - 4 day's figuring him out and cutting the distance off between his roost area and where he comes into the field. Hen's coming to the field to feed and lot's of times that field gobbler will stay just inside the edge of the woods strutting and watching the hens , if he feels the hens are leaving he will more or less enter into the field. Field gobblers are very unpredictable, that's why it takes patience's and spending time with him so you get that shot on his red head..

X2 with Greg's info. The farm I hunt in NJ has a lot of fields, hedgerows, and of course woods. It is a hilly farm, the birds roost above a lower field. I found out through scouting that the birds always end up by 8-9 am on the upper part of the farm. I get there well before light, they will spot you walking in if it's not totally dark. I set out my hen, an Jake in a top field where they can be seen from all angles. I sit in the edge of the wood line, decoys 20 yards away. I set the Jake with his back to me, the hen in front of him a few yards away. Last 4 years, opening day the Toms  showed up between 8 and 9:30. Came right to the decoys. It's a long sit, but you get rewarded.  It's been a successful tactic. Hope this helps....be safe.

Tombo has it right BUT place the jake facing you.  Gobblers will almost always approach the jake and will approach him face on.  This will give you a great opportunity to get your gun up while he is facing away from you, especially if he is in strut.

Quote from: WAGinVA on April 24, 2020, 08:26:47 AM
Tombo has it right BUT place the jake facing you.  Gobblers will almost always approach the jake and will approach him face on.  This will give you a great opportunity to get your gun up while he is facing away from you, especially if he is in strut.

X2....Ill add I usually set up right on the field edge and use decoys. I set them out 15yds most generally and not more than 20yds. The reason I do this is so I have less of a chance of them hanging up out of range. Most of the area I hunt(private ground) has alot of small fields. Sometimes it takes alot of persistance /patience killing them and most of the time I end up getting my tag filled using this method.
I've learned from hunting the area especially early season this method works well verses run and gun and bumping birds because of the terrain and lack of foliage. Good luck..

You guys are spot on. I just face him away so it looks like they are both coming out from the wood line into the field. It doesn't matter much, cause the wind does move em a bit, spinning. Adds so realism though, all good....

Lots and lots of patience. And you can't predict which way he will go unless he's been roosting the same spot every day, and you catch him right before he goes to roost


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Thanks for all the feedback guys but what im really asking is if you drive past a field and see one in it what is the best way to play that situation.
Thanks

See above, come back the next day.....

Land mines.

Find a different one to hunt :TooFunny:

Quote from: SwampRooster17 on April 24, 2020, 05:33:25 AM
I would try setting up just off the field 30-40 yards into the woods so when he comes to the edge of the field looking for the hen that's in the woods he will be in range


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I'd try this if he was already in the field and I wanted to hunt him.

For the bird already in the field? 

Slow down.  Sit and watch for a minute.  Figure out which way he is headed.  Look for hens and which way they are headed.  Weather plays a big factor too.  If it is a rainy day, it is likely he is going to be there for a while.  If it is afternoon, he will soon be heading to roost. 

Then, once you get a feel for what he is doing, get to where you think he is intending to go and follow the excellent advice above:

"try setting up just off the field 30-40 yards into the woods so when he comes to the edge of the field looking for the hen that's in the woods he will be in range"

Great info team......

If he has hens it can be tough . If he loses all his hens he might respond to calling from a certain part of the field especially if he can't see the whole thing . I've had success with them you just have to hang with em and strike when he is willing . A lot of gobblers will respond if you can get in their comfort zone it's just figuring that out can be the hard part .

Well here's how I killed this field gobbler last week. I messed with this one several times over the 1st 10 days of the NC season.  Him and a buddy had 6-9 hens and would roost about 150 yards off of a 40-50 acre field, gobble on the tree, a little on the ground, but not respond to any of my calling.  They would use one of 3 routes to get to the field, then spend several hours out in the field before moving into the thicket on the other side where visibility is only about 20 yards or less where they would spend the rest of day working back across the field to roost in the evening.

After several failed attempts at heading them off and trying catch them going back toward the roost I could never get on the same route they were using.

After them getting by me again last Tuesday morning I decided to go after them since nothing else seem to be working. I made a 1.5 hour trek around the south side of the field through the woods and thicket to the other side.  Luckily they had not gone into the thicket yet.  I was able to slowly sneek and crawl into position to where the whole group was within 40 yards and waited until he strutted through an opening for a 32 yard shot at about 9am. I would have rather called him up gobbling and strutting but he had made me mad and he had to pay.

A's RS explained. Some Gobblers you just don't kill in one day. It's paying attention to the details when after them for several days and then putting it all together that will help you kill him.
Pretty much anyone can kill the easy ones. It's the difficult ones that sort mediocre turkey hunters from the good consistent ones.

If you can crawl out and set a decoy up without getting busted, that's your best bet. Otherwise, set up just inside the woods and try to call him in. If he has a hen(s), you might have to wait him out. If he's in the field day after day, get there early, put dekes out and wait for him to show up. Jake and strutter dekes work great in fields. I've had several gobblers leave their hens and run across a field to fight my B-Mobile with a real fan. That was the last mistake they ever made.



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