Calling while walking?

[Marc]

Anybody on this forum call while repositioning on a bird...

It is a method I have used with both great success and great failure...  Running & gunning, locate a bird, and while cutting some distance, I call while walking to the bird.

I cluck and do some searching yelps while trying to gain some ground on the bird...  The closer I get, the quicker I move from tree/bush to tree/bush...  Once I get as close as I dare, I shut up for some time, and maybe give a soft yelp or cluck for reassurance.

A hot bird will let you know where he is...  Most of the time, they come in silently, and it takes some time for them to wander into you.

It the harm/benefit ratio seems about equal to me...  Sometimes this strategy makes the bird come towards me a lot quicker (and silently) and I end up bumping them while walking.  (Or maybe I have called a bird I did not even know was there, and his/her alarm putt quashes me).

Sometimes, if I have a hung up bird, I walk away and call...  I like to yelp with some urgency and walk away from the bird...  If he is alone, he will generally start to follow you...  Then shut up for about a half hour and sometimes they show up...

I think the terrain often dictates the success for failure of this method...  Hunting a canyon, or area where birds cannot see you for long distances, this method is far more appealing.  I do not like to call and walk across large open areas, or areas where birds can see me from a long ways off...

.

[Red Huck]

Not where I hunt in the NF, Birds usually come in silent if you don't know if he's coming you will likely bump him if he is. Then  for safety I like to stop and put my back to a large tree when I'm walking and calling on public land.

[Farmboy27]

I'm usually reluctant to move on a bird that isn't gobbling enough on his own for me to keep tabs on. When I do have to I'll use a crow call to try to keep track off him while I reposition. The only exception would be that I have sometimes reset on a bird that wants to hang up just alittle out of range. Then I might move around on him, call a time or two, get 30-40 yards closer and shut up.

[Happy]

I will walk and call on a bird. Trying to curb my ways but it's hard for me to do. I have had mixed results myself. Overall I know I am too aggressive and push things to hard. Getting better at that. I hope.

[GobbleNut]

I absolutely do this,...if I am pretty certain I can get away with it,...and I, too, have bumped birds in a number of cases where I thought I could safely move without getting busted.  There's nothing quite like that sinking feeling you get when you know you just busted a bird that was hell-bent on letting you kill him if you had just stayed still.  ...Happened to me just last spring, and that memory is still fresh,...and painful.

On the other hand, I have also killed birds that I doubt I would have if I had not taken the "call while moving" strategy.  For me, playing that game of chess with a gobbler is what this obsession we have is all about.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

[jordanz7935]

I rarely walk and call to a bird I have already located. 90% of the time I won't call to him unless I'm in a spot or setup where I think I can kill him. But sometimes switching tactics on a pressured bird you've been after is what it takes to kill him though.

[MK M GOBL]

Not when I have one working, but if I am looking/locating then yes. I call it "Walking & Talking"

MK M GOBL

[Bowguy]

Not when I have one working, but if I am looking/locating then yes. I call it "Walking & Talking"

MK M GOBL

On the money

[Dtrkyman]

Often, really trips there trigger when there hung up many times, if the terrain or cover allows me to move I will do it!

[Cut N Run]

These days I usually look for a place with a good enough cover to set up before doing any calling.  Be ready to shoot if he comes on fast.

Once at my old lease I was calling beside a logging road in a transition area between cutover to taller woods. I got a reply from right close.  That gobbler busted me when he came sprinting down the road right to me.  He was on me before I could lift my gun.  If I had been set up behind any kind of cover or off in the edge of the woods & ready to shoot, it would have been a slam dunk.

I had another time hunting on some public land where I stayed below the crest of a steep ridge and called to a gobbler across the other side of the spine of the ridge.  I figured he was a good ways off and I'd get to the saddle in the ridge ahead of us before the gobbler did. Instead, he came over the top of the ridge and caught me moving, game over.  He was likely closer to me than he sounded.

Calling while walking works better if he's a long ways off in my experience.

Jim

[Marc]

Calling while walking works better if he's a long ways off in my experience.

Jim

I would certainly agree with that.  And I cover ground fairly quickly when I do so...

Only time I try to move in on a close bird, is if there is terrain between us that will likely prevent him from coming to me.

[wvmntnhick]

I absolutely do this,...if I am pretty certain I can get away with it,...and I, too, have bumped birds in a number of cases where I thought I could safely move without getting busted.  There's nothing quite like that sinking feeling you get when you know you just busted a bird that was hell-bent on letting you kill him if you had just stayed still...

What he said. I've bumped several that have closed the distance quicker than I thought the could/should/would. Just regroup and start over later.

[Marc]

Almost worked for me today...  Almost.

Grinds my gears to get sooo close and not get the shot.  Worked a pair of birds for about 2.5 hours this morning, and got them close enough to shoot, but on the other side of a hedge row.  About jumped out of my pants when the went to gobbling...

They walked off, I worked to the edge of the hedge row, but they would not come back (I heard a hen come into the picture, and not quite sure how she fit into the game).

When I left, I walked out yelping away (which really fired them up), but they did not follow...  Gotta' wait a week to try again, and it will be a looong week.

[Captain Hooks]

I'm going in quiet when relocating on a bird.  The last thing I want to do is give myself away when I'm not ready for the bird.

[GobbleNut]

Gotta' wait a week to try again, and it will be a looong week.

Been there, done that,....ain't it the truth!