Patience, Grasshopper

[Cut N Run]

It has been said; "More turkeys are killed with patience than with calling" for good reason.  You can be a world champion turkey caller, but if you lack the patience to sit still and wait a bird out, you will not be a very successful turkey hunter.  Turkeys operate on their own time schedule and are wary by nature. As soon as they hatch, turkeys are born knowing that they taste delicious and almost everything out there wants to eat them.  The sooner you learn to become part of the terrain in your set up, the better your chances will be.  The best camouflage won't hide unnatural movements.  Turkeys won't hang around to find out what that strange movement they saw was, they'll just put a lot of distance between it and them.

Turkeys don't constantly make noise, and sometimes there will be fairly long periods of quiet where your mind will be doubting the turkeys are still in the area.  Before you hop up to move off another direction, take several minutes and just hold tight.  That can often give you hints on how to play it next.  The turkey(s) may just be taking their sweet time getting to you and end up appearing without making a sound. They could just as likely have moved farther away, but if they're close and you're busted, it is game over. 

If you're set up somewhere when nature calls...and it will...look around slowly and make sure to scan the entire area before you make your move.  Then, don't just stand up quickly to take care of business, gradually ease up.  For whatever reason, turkeys seen to know when you gotta go, and they pick that time to show up.  I lost count of how many turkeys I've busted when I stood up to take a leak without knowing they were close.  And if you haven't ever done it yourself, then you haven't been turkey hunting very long.

Jim

[GobbleNut]

Although I agree that patience in many situations is a good thing, it should also be noted that there are times when deliberate and swift action is warranted in a particular situation.  The trick is using ones best judgement, based on the specific conditions at hand, in knowing when to hold,...and when to move.  Of course, much of that wisdom comes from experience,...and there will be times when your decision is the wrong one. 

However, the notion that "if I just sit here long enough, a gobbler will show up" only takes you so far.  Sometimes that works,...and others, you can sit all day watching the grass grow while there is not a gobbler in the country.  Not only that, but that is an awfully boring way to turkey hunt. 

Moral of the story:  Patience is definitely a virtue, but there will be times when impatience, in terms of getting a turkey killed, is one as well. 

[Greg Massey]

When you think it's time to get up and move to another hunting spot, i use the old stay put for 5 more minutes rule. Many turkey hunters can't ignore a gobbler sounding off a half mile away. They use this run and gun tactic to try to cut the bird off and most times end up spooking a wary gobbler that is on his way to your calling. It's not necessary to jump up and run to a gobbling bird. I want the birds to hang around for a while so i stay hidden so i don't alarm the birds. Keeping birds calm helps to keep them in your hunting area which lets birds be birds. I have learned to be patient with hunting birds and not do all this run-gun hunting to just spooking birds off my hunting area. This running in several different areas of your hunting property can and will move birds. I just feel less traffic in the woods and not spooking birds give you another day to hunt if your not successful on that day in killing a bird. PRESSURE is something i think is also over looked in the turkey woods. Just rely on your ability to call and work a bird and be patient just makes more sense, but if you think it's not a good idea, to stay put and want to take a chance on blocking that bird from coming to your calling, probably run - gunning then is all that will make you happy that day in the woods, then i guess that's the way you need to hunt. I just like to use my ability as a caller to bring the birds to me without spooking every animal in the woods. Rely on your instincts, be patient and do what makes sense.

[guesswho]

Although I agree that patience in many situations is a good thing, it should also be noted that there are times when deliberate and swift action is warranted in a particular situation.

I can't believe of all people you said that.  That makes twice since last turkey season we agree on something.  Must have been that whole eclipse and comet thing last night.  That last time we agreed was when we agreed that when we agree were both usually wrong.

I agree 100%,  Patience is a good trait to have, but you can patience yourself right out of a kill.   I tend to be aggressively patient.  Slow and steady!!!! 

And since this was posted for the benefit of newer hunters I agree, it's better to error on the side of patience.   But if you have sat there 30 minutes and he's gobbling in the same place, it might be time to move.  But plan your moves around gobbling if you can.  I don't like to move 20 minutes after he gobbles.  If I'm moving its going to be right after he has let me know where he's at.  Otherwise I may exercise that patience deal and sit there a couple of hours.

[GobbleNut]

Although I agree that patience in many situations is a good thing, it should also be noted that there are times when deliberate and swift action is warranted in a particular situation.

I can't believe of all people you said that.  That makes twice since last turkey season we agree on something.  Must have been that whole eclipse and comet thing last night.  That last time we agreed was when we agreed that when we agree were both usually wrong.

I agree 100%,  Patience is a good trait to have, but you can patience yourself right out of a kill.   I tend to be aggressively patient.  Slow and steady!!!! 

And since this was posted for the benefit of newer hunters I agree, it's better to error on the side of patience.   But if you have sat there 30 minutes and he's gobbling in the same place, it might be time to move.  But plan your moves around gobbling if you can.  I don't like to move 20 minutes after he gobbles.  If I'm moving its going to be right after he has let me know where he's at.  Otherwise I may exercise that patience deal and sit there a couple of hours.

What is this world coming to?!   

[Cut N Run]

A point I failed to make clear came from me watching a youngish guy hunt like he was in a duck blind and think he could get away with fidgeting around until the last minute and still kill turkeys.  Turkeys have great vision, plus they're pretty good at picking up movement, and noticing things that are out of place.  Once you know which direction the turkey is going, definitely move to get out ahead of him, but don't think that you can wait until right before the moment of truth before you need to be serious about being still.  It doesn't work out that way very often.  Don't hunt like you're cemented to the ground either.  This ain't deer hunting, just be prepared to wait a bird out if you need to and be prepared to move on him if that's what it takes.  One thing that has saved a lot of turkey's lives is cell phones.  I've been busted texting because I got sucked into paying attention to that little screen on my phone and failed to pay enough attention to my surroundings.  Turkeys will school you if you give them the chance.

Jim

[GobbleNut]

Ahhh yes, Jim.  Rereading your original post, I now understand more clearly the point you were making.  The title of the thread is what threw me.  Movement at the wrong time by turkey hunters has definitely saved untold numbers of gobbler lives.  Being motionless as much as possible is not quite the same as being patient,...but I get your message, and it is a good one.   

[Marc]

Some really good posts...

No doubt that patience is a key aspect in turkey hunting, and outside of that occasional bird that is fired up and gobbles all the way in, there is some degree of "waiting things out."

As GobbleNut points out, there is a fine line between patience and stubbornness.  Waiting on a bird that is gobbling and not coming or moving away is probably not prudent.  Either move on to a different bird, or move on that one. 

However, even moving on a bird takes some degree of patience...  I have found that moving around a bird (even though it takes more time and energy) can often prove successful...  I think that coming around the other side possibly stimulates that bird a bit to come in (thinks the hen got past him?), and that going straight at a bird creates a much higher chance of bumping him if he does decide to go to you.

Sometimes sitting on that bird that has gobbled and then shut up, waiting could end up being productive.  It seems that later in the year when those hens leave the gobblers, often that last couple hundred yards, the toms come in silent.

Also, if/when I do decide to move, I might do a sudden and loud series of aggressive calling, to stimulate a gobble or shock gobble.  If I have been parked a while and decide to leave, I give it 5 or so minutes of silence, and then a short series of loud sudden cutting...  Been a couple times when I got a gobble from a bird that was right there that I would have either bumped or walked away from.