Tactics

[shane071489]

Three turkeys gobbling their heads off responding to the call but in a field edge I'd say app. 100-125 yards away from where I'm sitting with 60 yards of woods between in total distance. The field is not on a property I can hunt and don't plan to trespass. They just went back and forth gobbling for two hours. Gobbling sometimes three times back to back. I tried different strikers, wing bone, everything I could think they just would not come down the hill to where I was.  I called very little calling back to them maybe every 15 minutes or so even though they were gobbling their heads off. A jake did come in to about 25 and gobbled after he passed. I had another turkey gobbling to the edge of the field but would not commit. This started around 8-8:30 and went on until 10-10:30. Turkeys must of gobbled 100 times. No decoys. I did kill a gobbler at same location last year. South East, Eastern turkeys.
Is there anything I could have done differently?
I've always heard the saying if they gobble late you can kill them, does that count the same if they start early and just continue gobbling until 10am or so?

[joey46]

Nope.  Can be a funny and frustrating game at times. Sit tight,watch the show and enjoy it.

[bbcoach]

Probably their strut zone where they could see a great distance.  They heard the hen multiple times and waited on her.  When she didn't show they moved on.  Go back tomorrow when they start gobbling, hit them one time with some excited cutts and a couple yelps and go completely quite from then on.  Play hard to get and see if they break.  A visual hen decoy may help but it may just make them more stubborn.  Good Luck.

[g8rvet]

I have had birds hang up on 1" deep sheet water and had birds fly across a river. Just a lot of variables. Were there hens (or could there have been) in the field you could not see?  If so, catch them on a day when the hens are not there.  Where did they roost?  On the property you have access to or further?  Stick with them if they are the best game in town.  If there is no one else hunting them, come back and check them another day if you can other birds that want to play.

[Greg Massey]

Just wasn't in the right mood and having them together might have contributed to them pushing each other in the opposite direction.  Just part of the game, keep playing and hopefully you will win... 

[Tom007]

Three turkeys gobbling their heads off responding to the call but in a field edge I'd say app. 100-125 yards away from where I'm sitting with 60 yards of woods between in total distance. The field is not on a property I can hunt and don't plan to trespass. They just went back and forth gobbling for two hours. Gobbling sometimes three times back to back. I tried different strikers, wing bone, everything I could think they just would not come down the hill to where I was.  I called very little calling back to them maybe every 15 minutes or so even though they were gobbling their heads off. A jake did come in to about 25 and gobbled after he passed. I had another turkey gobbling to the edge of the field but would not commit. This started around 8-8:30 and went on until 10-10:30. Turkeys must of gobbled 100 times. No decoys. I did kill a gobbler at same location last year. South East, Eastern turkeys.
Is there anything I could have done differently?
I've always heard the saying if they gobble late you can kill them, does that count the same if they start early and just continue gobbling until 10am or so?

If they gobble, they are killable. Can't beat yourself up when you don't close the deal. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. That's  what turkeys are all about, uncertainty. Stay the course, it will swing your way.....

[Marc]

Pulling birds from an open strutting/breeding area to the woods will be a difficult, if not impossible task.

I would try moving on them...  Call while walking (parallel or even away), while obviously staying hidden from them.  Make sure they have a good access point to go from the field to the woods.

I would walk and talk, then sit and shut up for about 20 minutes...  Last place you called from, is where you want them to be.

A hen sitting in one spot is not nearly as enticing as one moving through the woods...  You take the chance of bumping them though...

[Bowguy]

You might have tried gobbler sounds, if a gobbler yelp didn't work and it might not have a fight rattle wouldn't have hurt. That can def move em when it wasn't the plan they had in mind

[tad1]

I like bow guy and Marc ideas best.  There may be another spot they would be willing to break toward.  Or gobbling or fighting sounds could break them.  It's really hard to give them the complete silent treatment, but can be the ticket, maybe some leaf scratching.
But yes, this is all just the nature of Turkey hunting! Remember he calls the hens to him, they are probably like WtH is wrong w this hen?! I'm right here in this perfect field!

[Dougas]

I have called gobblers in with a shaker gobble and tom yelps in the spring and fall. If you have two strikers and  a slate call and a mouth call you can simulate a fight and that can work.

[ferocious calls]

Many times when they hang up or even start drifting away, hard insistent clucks bring them. Sometimes they trot in. Try it sometime when you think all is lost.

[dah]

I had exact thing last year , gobbled their heads off in the field other side of fence. Went on a good while , they finally drifted away but not far . Could see them a little later, soft calling , started all over again . Pulled out the box and hammered them . They turned straight for me , hammered again , they were closing , set box down , they drifted away , picked box back up , hammered them all the way to 30 yards and closed the deal , four birds , all gobbler,  first 410 kill. Sometimes they need more .

[Neill_Prater]

Disadvantage of field bird, difficult to call in. Advantage of field bird, if the terrain allows, you can observe the reaction to calling. Last day in Kansas last year, I was standing in a shelter belt when I saw a gobbler crossing a bare field maybe 80 yards away. I called just loud enough for him to hear me, and he gobbled, but barely broke stride. I watched him saunter across the field at an angle getting further and further away pretty much ignoring every call I made.

The field was almost a quarter mile across with a patch of woods  on the other side, property I couldn't hunt. When the bird was less than 100 yards from the other side, in desperation, I pulled out my old Quaker Boy box and cranked out the loudest cuts and yelps I could. He stopped! I immediately hit him with another round of ridiculous cuts and yelps, and he turned around and started my way!

As I was scrambling to get set up to take the shot, he dropped into a swale in the middle of the field, disappearing momentarily. When I looked up again, he was running away, 5 jakes hot on his heels. The point is, although I didn't kill the bird, I was able to see his reaction to what I was sending his way.

One issue you had was 3 gobblers. Turkeys love company, and sometimes just hanging with your buds is enough for them.

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[shane071489]

Thank you for the responses I have a bunch of new tactics to try. I am a newer hunter so all the advice helps. Trying to gobble did not cross my mind nor did waking and calling at the time. This has gave me some new questions.

1. Since I know where the turkeys are headed is there a way to hunt them better? Remember where they are headed I can't hunt. Would I slip to the spot I was set up and try to call to one of them on the limb?

2. Would I be better to just wait until say 9 am and try to call to them after they have bred the hens?

3. An important question that will be hard to ask but is there a difference in striking a gobbler at say 9-10 am that has bred hens and looking for a new one and having the gobbler gobble to my call at say 8 am and waiting on him until 9-10?
 
4. I'm trying to call little as possible in this scenario do you think I would have been better just calling one series of yelps and then just putting the call away and sitting for hours?

5. I am not a fan of decoys as I have been around others that just never used it, but if I'm sitting close to a field that I can't hunt is that be a helpful tactic put a Jake and hen out that could be seen from the field to try and lure them out or would you think I'd be just as successful setting up as close to the field as I can and just calling to the gobbler. If decoys are suggested would you do hen or hen and 1/4 strut Jake (these are the two decoys I have).
I know all of these questions have multiple answers. Thanks.

[RutnNStrutn]

Lots of variables to your scenario.
Field birds like to see something, but you're not using decoys. I would try them out. Who knows, you might bring in a satellite gobbler, or the group you're hearing... IF they come looking.
Plus, it's early season, so the group you're hearing probably has hens. I'd put a jake out with hens, it certainly can't hurt.
Vary your calling sequences.   Call loud enough to get a gobble, then shut up and let them come looking. Get aggressive with the hen talk. You might pull a boss hen with a gobbler(s) in tow.
If you can legally hunt afternoons, that would be worth a try.
Without being able to put eyes on the field, you can't know what's going on or judge their reactions to your tactics.

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