......either I don't understand, or I just suck..........
I made a commitment to change some things this year:
1.) Find a better place to hunt with more turkeys
2.) Make some changes in my style and get more aggressive, if needed.
I got into a better place that only I have access to that is actually loaded with turkey, maybe too many ?
I scouted this joint well before season, learned everything I could about the land and how the birds used it day-to-day, and anxiously awaited the opener....
I still don't get it......
Opening monday I called a screaming gobbler to 30 yds and when he crested a rise in the woods, he bolted at something, still not sure, and walked off gobbling.
Next morning he was still gobbling strong in the rain but wouldn't come into the field with all the other birds. I had a silent strutting bird at 53 yds that I refused to shoot til he got to 40...he didn't.
Since that day i've called 7, that's right, 7 gobblers to less than 50 yds and ain't got a shot yet...
I've tried everything that hasn't worked. Usually the gobblers attract multiple hens and the game goes south real quick, but here's what I don't understand:
No 2 days have ever been the same. One day they're flocked up, next day they're in groups of 2 or 3. One day the toms are solo, next day there's 2 running together. One day every bird is alone, next day they are in small groups again. There has been no pattern to their movement, no bird does the same thing 2 days in a row. Can't get a tom to answer a box or a pot call, but they'll hammer a mouth call. Next day they'll hammer a locator call, but not a turkey call. They don't gobble good at all on the roost, but they go bezerk when they hit the ground, just walking away.
If I zig, they zag. If I zag, they zig. I have been truly blessed to hear 10,000 gobbles this year vs.last year hearing none, but this is getting weird........
I've tried dekes in the rain, dekes in the woods, no dekes, slipping in close to 60 yds or less, aggressive calling vs. subdued calling, roosting them at night, blinds in the rain, run and gun....you get it....
I've hunted 17 days, never over-slept, never missed a chance to go, always there on time, always on gobbling birds, always around a ton of hens and jakes, bunches of turkeys, just ain't shooting. I can honestly tell ya'll that every night that i've went to bed, I had a plan for the next day, I never went hunting on a whim. Every morning I had a trap laid for a gobbler....
My cardio has gotten better as my heart rate has gone thru the roof 30 times just knowing THE shot was coming any minute.....dang, I got 1 week to get it done and my poor 'ol heart can't take much more.............ANY ADVICE ??
