Where’d the turkeys go?

[Marc]

Got it, thanks for all the helpful replies.  No gobblers have come in yet.  I have now seen a pair of hens working a regular pattern.  They came within 10 yards of where I was set up so I guess my Camo is working at least.  No Toms with them though.  Think I should keep on those same spots where I've seen the hen pair, or if there are consistently no Toms with them should I try to work someplace else?

50 acres is pretty small, but....

What time are you seeing those hens?  If it is later in the morning, maybe they are leaving some toms and heading of to their nesting areas?  If it is early morning, maybe they are headed towards a tom that is drumming that you cannot hear drumming?

Might be a stretch, but if I was seeing them late morning, I would hunt the direction they came from...  If it were early morning, I would head the direction they are going....

[Cketch80]

About the best thing you can do is stick with it. I learned to hunt turkeys essentially on the fly, on my own. The hardest part is making those quick little decisions real time where 10 yards here or 10 yards there can make all the difference. Remember every encounter and every mistake. Every close call and every time you get stumped . Read everything you can on this forum because for some people learning it's all they got for making references to their own experiences. Once you put it together and connect with a Tom it will get easier and easier. Trust the process. It will work out for ya. When calling, LESS is MORE. I don't think anyone on this forum will disagree. Never Assume a bird cannot see you. Don't hunt the Bird make Him hunt you. Keep it simple and you will bag your bird my man

[Greg Massey]

Turkeys have a wintering pattern and spring pattern . They change and move after the break up.. I hear people say i had lots of turkeys during deer season , but now i'm not see any .. that's the reason hens moving to spring nesting ground... gobblers following ...

[TeeGee]

Thanks again for all the helpful replies.  I spotted a flock w/at least one Tom on a trail cam, in a spot that looked promising, so now at least I've got someplace to start...

[GobbleNut]

More questions:
1) Have you determined where your turkeys are roosting by listening for them at first light in the morning, not only on your fifty acres, but also listening where possible on the surrounding properties? (public roads, for example)
2) Assuming they are roosting somewhere nearby, but not on your property, have you contacted the property owner where they are roosting and sought permission to hunt there?  ....And if not, why not?

Knowing where the turkeys are roosting is a key ingredient to success.  Even if you can't hunt there, knowing that location gives you lots of information that is applicable to your hunting tactics and set-ups.  Examples:

If they are roosted far off of your property, you will know to focus your efforts later in the day, rather than trying to hunt them early. 
If they are close enough to your property that they could hear you from the roost, setting up on the property line and calling loudly might get them headed in your direction (I called two gobblers off the roost from an adjacent property from 400-500 yards away a couple of weeks ago by doing just that).
If they are roosted way off of your property and only show up on occasion, it could be they are just randomly coming on your place once in a while.  In that case, I believe you should be putting more effort into finding a more productive place to hunt (i.e....doing more talking to your neighbors and relying less on those birds showing up on your land)

"Real" turkey hunting is not a "guess or by gosh" proposition.  Most consistently successful turkey hunters take a proactive approach to finding birds and establishing a carefully-thought-out plan to maximize their chances of success.  From your descriptions of what you are doing, it sounds to me like you need to be "thinking outside the box" (the "box" being your fifty-acre parcel) a little more in your approach to killing a gobbler.

Again,...just trying to help you be successful....

[rgref522]

Yes, i think most people vastly underestimate how birds will change over a season.  Every year i can watch 30 plus birds pitch down in a field by my house the first week of season mid april, 6 weeks later at the end of may when season ends I'll be lucky to find a track on that field.

i have attributed it to changing food source availability, ie fields greening up, fields having last year's crop reminants disced under, fields being planted, the woods greening up, bugs popping. etc...


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