Got a question about running and gunning

[singlestrand]

I have been trying to run and gun on public ground that I am not that familiar with.  I just took off walking and every now and then I call.  I have learned a lot about the area and I've seen some beautiful woods, but I haven't had any luck getting on a tom.  How have you hunted by running and gunning and had success?  How far do you walk before you call?  How long do you call before you move again?  When you call do you just do a series of yelps?  Or do you cut first thing trying to get him to shock gobble?  What is your technique that works?

[Happy]

First off, whoever named it running and gunning should be kicked in the junk.  sneak and call would more adequately describe it. If you just blunder through the woods aimlessly while calling you are going to disturb more birds than you will work. That's one of the best ways to shut turkeys down. Scouting really helps and you should be doing that as you are hunting anyways. I prefer slipping around areas I know turkeys prefer and then calling. Don't overdo it. If I can get a response then it's game on. In my younger days I would just try and cover ground trying to find a hot bird. I spooked more than I killed. Call me crazy but when I called every hundred yards walking through the woods I often ran smack into a tom and you can predict the results. When I sat back and thought about it it made sense. A tom hears a hen moving and calling and he heads over and try to cut her off. No need for him to gobble with her yakking every five minutes. He gets in front and waits and here I come to scare the crap out of both of us. Nowadays I play it softer.  I still move but I will slowly still hunt an area and then move on to my next area if time permits. No need to tromp thru their favorite areas, just hang on the outskirts until the time is right and then move in for the kill. That's how I do it anyways. Course by the third week of season the  birds round here have been harassed about every way possible and you can tell. Gobbling becomes very scarce in many spots. Others may do it differently by that's my preferred method.

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[LaLongbeard]

Not even sure were to start...
Scouting before the season to know your in an area that has birds would be step 1.
If your new to turkey hunting and especially if you don't have anyone to get you started there's a long learning curve so less is more until you get some experience.Running around the woods all day will likely get you exercise and not much else.
When I started I would find a good hiding place and call every 15 min. or so for an hour move a few hundred yards and repeat. I killed one the first season and built confidence a long the way.It was a few years before I knew what to do with one at daylight.
There is no book,DVD or person that can learn this for you time,patience and persistence.

[Strutr]

"Running and gunning" is a bit of a misnomer.  When I use this term, I mean that I am moving from one likely area to another without spending a lot of time in any one spot.  I'm simply trolling for a talkative gobbler and am relying on my having scouted various areas and either saw or heard gobblers or found tracks, droppings, feathers, etc. which indicate they are using the area.  I try to move through the woods quietly, using terrain and cover to mask my movements.  I may make some calls from a couple of different spots and if I don't strike up a gobbler within 30-40 minutes, I'll move to a new area.  This often means going back to my vehicle and repeating the process in another location that I've scouted.  Some guys use this tactic all the time.  I prefer to use it later in the season if gobbling activity has tapered off.

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Never liked that "run and gun" term either.  We call it "walk and yawk".  I'll cover much more ground, and more quickly, looking for Merriam's out west than in a hardwood forest back east.  I've had the best success using the terrain to hide my movement, using my eyes and ears a lot, and not yelping until I was in a good spot to kill a turkey.  So I might only move 100 yards or less between stops, and then a quarter mile before the next stop depending on the terrain and hides.  Convince yourself there is a turkey just over that next rise or just beyond the rim to the shelf just below you.  A turkey might ignore you at 200 yards and gobble his head off at 50.  I particularly like using a trumpet when walking and yawking for the volume I can get and the ease of handling the call.

[Rzrbac]

I joke sometimes and call it crawl and call. I almost never sit down and am on the move but I know where I'm going and where I'm going to call. It's a technique for sure and I do spook birds but it serves me well as I enjoy seeing the country. I'm sure everybody does it a little differently and terrain will be the biggest factor in how you refine your technique.

[Bigeclipse]

I have been trying to run and gun on public ground that I am not that familiar with.  I just took off walking and every now and then I call.  I have learned a lot about the area and I've seen some beautiful woods, but I haven't had any luck getting on a tom.  How have you hunted by running and gunning and had success?  How far do you walk before you call?  How long do you call before you move again?  When you call do you just do a series of yelps?  Or do you cut first thing trying to get him to shock gobble?  What is your technique that works?

I have had more success runnin and gunin than anything else. As others have stated scouting is key but if you have a LOT of area to hunt then chances are you could likely "find" a bird without previously scouting. If I am not able to scout then what I do is set up before dawn in an area I "think" should hold birds. If I hear some yelping or even a gobble at first light then I stay put for a while. If I do not hear any yelping or gobbling at grey light/first light then likely There are no birds near by and I will start moving even earlier. Either way...if I have not shot a bird by 8am (unless of course im working a bird or I have previously scouted and know birds are near by) I am getting on my feet. I like to walk ridge tops. I will walk/sneak about stealth like yelping every 100 yards or so. Before I yelp I look to make sure I have some cover to run to should I hear a gobble near by.  This has worked for me in the past when I was not able to scout the area. The truth is though...where you hunt may simply not hold birds and this is why scouting is a key factor but not everyone can scout the night before a hunt.

[terp]

You can't forget that about 50% of birds that respond won't gobble.   So you have to give them time to respond before you move.  I'll call 3-4 times from a set- up them wait 15 minutes more being quiet.  Then I'll move 3-400 yards or so.   

[grayfox]

What I do I don't call running & gunning. It's more like move a few hundred yards, setup & call a few times. I mostly like to do this later on during the season when the hens start nesting. I like to start late morning & continue throughout the day. I start off with mostly a soft cluck or two. If I don't get a response within a few minutes I will do a light yelp. I usually stay put for about 20-30 minutes or sometimes an hour depending on what's going on around me. Most of the time if there's a gobbler around that hears you and is interested in coming he will cut you off with a gobble as soon as you call the first time. There's a good chance he will come unless he has hens with him that may try to pull him off. He may not gobble. Lots of times you may only here a light a cluck or two so keep your eyes & ears on high alert. He may come in totally silent. I've used this tactic on public land the last 5-6 years & killed 3 of my last 4 birds doing this. It can be hot & frustrating moving & setting up many times sometimes before you ever strike one. It does work. If you know what area some birds are in it increases your chances dramatically. Another thing I've done is if I've been in area sitting for over an hour or so & I'm getting ready to leave to go to another location I will get out about 3 calls. I may use a box call, mouth call & pot call or a double sided pot call & mouth call to produce the sounds of multiple turkeys. I basically sound like a bunch of turkeys cutting up. I was using this method a few years ago in an area where I had got on a gobbler that would not come to me in the afternoon because he probably had some hens with him. I went back about a week later to try him again & was having no luck so I tried this tactic as a last ditch effort. He came in silent a few minutes later to check out the chaos. His Mistake. The last call he ever heard was a HS Raspy Hen mouth call. God rest his soul. Hunting high pressure public land can be very challenging but it will make you a better turkey hunter in the long run. This has worked for me & it will work for you. Hang in there & you will be successful.

[Marc]

I am hunting Rio's in rolling oaks and some steeper canyons...

In the morning, if I do not have any idea where birds are, I get to a higher spot that gives me a good ear of the area... 

Walking through the woods, I use the terrain and background to keep myself hidden from view; never walk a ridge where you are sky-lined.  If I come to an open area, I always try calling before crossing, and I will pull out the binoculars...  I do not like to cross large open areas.

Also, if the woods are quiet, I might throw in a gobble or two every once in a while...  I do a hen call, follow with a gobble, and another hen call...  Reason being, I have found that gobbling is contagious.  Often, the woods will be quiet, and then you finally get a bird to answer, and often another 1 or two birds will then answer.  I do not usually get an answer to the gobble itself, but I do feel that when used in conjunction with a hen call that I often do get a better response in quiet woods.

And, I usually make some sort of loop (circling back to areas that I think do or should hold birds).  I cannot tell you how many times I have covered significant ground, only to have a bird gobble right from where I started after looping around...  Maybe that tom thinks the hen left him the first time and is a little more assertive about responding the second go???

Also, I often hear birds gobble from whence I just came, as opposed to ahead of me...

Also, if I leave a gobbling bird that is hung up, or not coming closer, I walk and talk (cluck and yelp as I am walking out) as I leave (especially if I can hunt the following day)...  If he starts to follow me out, I sit down and shut up...  If he holds his ground (or only gains a bit), I walk out faster and continue calling...  Sometimes, after being left in the dust, that bird comes in a lot better the second day.

And, if I do get a gobble, and it is within 500 yards, I sit a bit and see what the bird does, and try to figure out what direction (if any he is moving).  If that bird is coming in fast, I will sit down for a bit...  If he is not moving, I will move in on him...  If I do not get another response, I will cut some distance and try again (being extremely careful to use the terrain to stay hidden from a bird coming in silently).