Where to set up on an old one

[Uncle Tom]

Was mowing with tractor yesterday on a field overgrown with pines....probably 20 feet tall and pines straw covering ground . This field is about 7 acres and borders a cow pasture. Was mowing a one half acre right in the middle of this pine thicket...fescue  and broom straw. My intention was to back up in these pines and watch this fescue patch. Well, as I was turning around on the south end ( 1.30 in afternoon) I see this big gobbler coming from edge of the pines that borders this pasture, he was not in pasture but on pines side, heading into the thick woods at end of the field. He was probably 50 yards from where I was mowing the fescue and now am thinking I need to set up not watching this small half acre fescue but set up where the pines meet the edge of the pasture. I figure he was in there checking if any hens in this pasture, early in the afternoon at 1.30 approx. I believe he was a bird have hunted a couple years, old bird and hangs out in this area all season and only see him always at a distance. Never have been this close to him. What you guys say as where to set up on opening day April 9?

[guesswho]

Best advice I can give you is give it a lot of thought.  Think for days on all the scenarios, strategies etc.    Pick that perfect spot where you have determined he will show.  Go to that spot opening morning, then proceed walking any direction another hundred yards or so and sit down.   Chances are good you will be closer to where he shows than if you had sat at the spot you put so much thought into.    Wish I had a better answer for you, but that's the best strategy I've been able to come up with during my 55 years of hunting them.

[Uncle Tom]

guesswho, I have had good fortune sitting a distance from where I want him to wind up and just sit and no calling at least for the first days or more. I believe that an older bird picks on your calls real quick, and I like to give him the chance to make the first mistake. I am going back in there next week late in the day and maby get a better feel for it. Thanks man.

[GobbleNut]

It would seem to me that a gobbler that has been loyal to an area as small as the one you describe would be easily patternable, as well as being easy to find out where he is roosting.  My strategy would be to establish if this gobbler is roosting in the area and where he is most likely to go when he flies down.  If he is coming onto your property later in the day and is not roosting there, I would still do my best to locate where he is roosting so I would have an idea of where he is coming from and tailor my set-ups based on that. (I would also be hoping that someone else didn't kill him!)

In addition, I would not necessarily assume it is the same gobbler.  Initially, at least, I would hunt him just like I do any other gobbler.  That is, roost him, get in tight to the roost and set-up in the direction he goes (if you have taken the time to pattern him), and then try to call him in off of the roost, or perhaps a little later in the day.  You should be able to tell within a morning or two if this is indeed a call-shy old bird (or not) by the way he responds to your first few calling set-ups. 

If it is the same gobbler you have hunted and he has learned to avoid turkey calling from hens he can't see, you should be able to resort to a bushwhacking set-up on that size of an area just by hunting him a few days, taking note of what he does, and then just set up in a likely spot and wait him out.  If you are willing to resort to the bushwhacking tactic, the key is not to booger him out of his regular routine by getting impatient and spooking him badly enough so that he abandons the area. 

As it is now, you have plenty of time to confirm his roosting and movement patterns.  If you do that and play your cards correctly, in my opinion that is a "dead gobbler walking" . 

[Uncle Tom]

This area I am hunting is parallel to a long stretch of wood like couple hundred yards wide that is a swamp. When it rains you can't even walk thru it.I just feel like I am going to just get in there before light and prepare to stay all day...see what happens.I know him real well and he over 21-22 lbs dragging a rope. Saw him last year after season had ended in this pasture while sitting in my truck and huge bird....probably biggest have ever seen so he may be over this stated weight. When you see birds that weigh 18 lbs or little less, then you see birds that 20 or little better, well this bird makes a 20 pounder look small, know what I mean. He only one on this property I have ever seen this large, so I know him when I see him. He old for sure.

[Marc]

It would seem to me that a gobbler that has been loyal to an area as small as the one you describe would be easily patternable, as well as being easy to find out where he is roosting. 

My strategy would be to establish if this gobbler is roosting in the area and where he is most likely to go when he flies down.  If he is coming onto your property later in the day and is not roosting there, I would still do my best to locate where he is roosting so I would have an idea of where he is coming from and tailor my set-ups based on that. (I would also be hoping that someone else didn't kill him!)

Good advice right there...

If you can get out before the season and unobtrusively observe him (and other birds), set up according to what you see...

If you cannot get out before the hunt, but you get a couple days in a row to hunt, use the first day as a scout day, and observe unobtrusively (i.e. little to no calling), and if you happen to set up in a good spot or if he gives you a go, that take advantage of that...  If not, that first hunt day will tell you were/when to set up for him tomorrow...

For example, in the morning, he might fly down and stay on the south end of the field, come back in the later morning and hang out on the northeast end...  You go out next morning and set up on the south end...  He comes just wide of you, and once he is gone, you station yourself on the northeast end.... BANG!

Hunting a particular bird can be very exciting, and extremely frustrating...  Often to be successful, you pass on other good birds/opportunities...  For me "that bird" often comes "almost in range," often just skirtting me, or stopping short.  It is always a surprise and heart-pounder when he finally presents himself in range...

When I finally do make the shot, it is a moment to savor...  Once down and dispatched, I will generally pick a nice spot in the sun, and set up for a photo, and just relax, let my heart stop pounding, stop and listen to and watch some of the other wildlife, and enjoy that moment before taking the time to take some nice photos with good lighting, etc....

Last season I killed such a bird...  About a 1.5 mile walk down into a steep canyon, and killed him at about 1 pm...  For an old guy like me, it is an awful walk out of that canyon, but I was smiling the whole time.

[silvestris]

I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you what not to do.  Do not let him know that you exist (as a human).  Call very softly and not much of that.

[Uncle Tom]

silvestris, thanks and you are spot on. That is one thing a ole bird will figure you out soon as you make a call to him, and why I am reluctant to do nothing but clucks, purrs, and scratching in leaves. Some days I will not do anything until I know one is coming my way, and then only after he gobbles, throw a one or two clucks to him. If he keeps coming I shut up. I am of the thought that the first time you set up on him is your best chance to kill him, and by sitting there calling you are just educating him and he knows your sounds the next time you in his area. Thanks.