Hunting pressured birds?

[owlhoot]

Pressure does affect gobblers, but they can still be killed. Patience is the key. I prefer to hunt greener birds, but that is not usually an option. My quick tip is know your bird's habits and the ground.  If you know he's spooky then tone down the calls and switch up. Listen to what kind of callers are being used round you and go to a new caller. I like my slates and pots for late season gobblers. Know where he likes to be and sit those areas. I have killed a bunch of the so called unkillable birds. I seldom kill them early in the morning, it's usually late morning or early afternoon. They are used to most hunters being gone. One of my favorite things to do is simply go stomping into a known strutt zone or hang out and act just like a hiker passing through, I'm not concerned with being quiet or sneaking at all. I simply stop and set up in the best area and wait. The rule is no calling of any kind for an hour, "NONE". Next is a little leaf scratching followed with some soft clucks or purrs and a couple yelps. after this introduction and about 10 minutes I will let out a hard run and cut. Then silence with only a single soft cluck now and then. Keep your ears wide open and movements slow. Many times the first thing you hear is leaves crunching or a spit. If this doesn't work do again and again and again and again, day after day. Every old gobbler has that day he is so horny he'll leave his good  sense and come, persistence kills old shy birds. This is why many of them are killed late season when they are lonely. Also late season try gobbler yelping. Gobblers will be looking to pack back up as spring winds down. Like old trophy bucks old gobblers usually take time and work, but they are killable. Do your homework!

good post, good advice, 

[GobbleNut]

Regardless of where I am hunting, spring gobbler hunting to me is about finding a bird that wants to come to my calling while carrying on a conversation.  Honestly, any other form of turkey hunting to me is just turkey killing,...and I am not enamored with just killing turkeys. 

Yes, I have been in situations where I realized, after covering the area I could hunt, that if I wanted to kill a bird on the property, I was going to have to sit in one spot and pretend I was calling turkeys while basically waiting in ambush.  Those instances have always been on properties that were small and I had no choice but to hunt that way,....and honestly, that SUCKS!

I have been blessed with being able to hunt turkeys most of my life on very large chunks of public land.  I cut my turkey hunting teeth on covering the country and finding a gobbler that wanted to play the game with me.  That game is,...I call, he answers,...I call, he answers,...and eventually we come together,...preferably with him strutting and gobbling all the way in.

Any place I go to turkey hunt, I am going to first find out if there are birds like that around before I resort to the waiting in ambush game.  Most places I have hunted, I have been able to find a gobbling bird that wanted to play the game "my way".  Frankly, if I can't find a bird like that where I am hunting,...well, I am just sadly disappointed. 

[Cutt]

Since the start of my turkey hunting, all I ever hunted and still do is Public Grounds, both in PA and Ohio. Pressured birds can be a challenge, although very rewarding when it all comes together. As I do believe the longer the Season goes on hunting Public Grounds, the harder they become to kill, but still killable up to the last day, without ambushing.

But actually love hunting late Season birds, as the hunters have thinned some, although most birds have pretty much  heard everything. Where one must approach it a bit different to be successful, but nothing more rewarding than a late Season bird, and usually when the more dominant birds bite the dust.

[eggshell]

I hear ya Gobblenut and I prefer to hunt that way too and usually will, but come late season and a bunch of pressure I will do what it takes to out smart an old wiery bird. I actually see it as a challenge to get the one that has eluded everyone else.  You  been back east enough to know that large tracts of land to roam are quite scarse. Many people are restricted to hunting what on a few small tarcts of land. Many of my spots are anywhere from 50 - 200 acres. I have one larger tract that is 900 and I am the envy of my friends for that. Public land here has I'd guess at least one hunter for every 100-200 acres or less, so it's not a lot of room to roam

[Dan Mallia]

Pressure does affect gobblers, but they can still be killed. Patience is the key. I prefer to hunt greener birds, but that is not usually an option. My quick tip is know your bird's habits and the ground.  If you know he's spooky then tone down the calls and switch up. Listen to what kind of callers are being used round you and go to a new caller. I like my slates and pots for late season gobblers. Know where he likes to be and sit those areas. I have killed a bunch of the so called unkillable birds. I seldom kill them early in the morning, it's usually late morning or early afternoon. They are used to most hunters being gone. One of my favorite things to do is simply go stomping into a known strutt zone or hang out and act just like a hiker passing through, I'm not concerned with being quiet or sneaking at all. I simply stop and set up in the best area and wait. The rule is no calling of any kind for an hour, "NONE". Next is a little leaf scratching followed with some soft clucks or purrs and a couple yelps. after this introduction and about 10 minutes I will let out a hard run and cut. Then silence with only a single soft cluck now and then. Keep your ears wide open and movements slow. Many times the first thing you hear is leaves crunching or a spit. If this doesn't work do again and again and again and again, day after day. Every old gobbler has that day he is so horny he'll leave his good  sense and come, persistence kills old shy birds. This is why many of them are killed late season when they are lonely. Also late season try gobbler yelping. Gobblers will be looking to pack back up as spring winds down. Like old trophy bucks old gobblers usually take time and work, but they are killable. Do your homework!

Great advice. Thanks.