If you had 2 days

[Bill Cooksey]

I'm not sitting anywhere for more than ten minutes unless there's a bird working. It's just my preference. Often, sitting still for hours/days is the best way to kill one, but I'd rather go home with a tag than hunt that way. I turkey hunt to enjoy myself, and deer hunting is the most boring thing I've ever done in the outdoors.

[MISSISSIPPI Double beard]

I'd be walking and stalking trying to locate one.

[Cut N Run]

Before I got there, I'd be scouting with satellite images and a topo map.  Lots of time you can find favorable places to start without ever setting foot there.  Once I narrowed it down, I'd be listening hard at dawn the first day to pinpoint likely roost spots, then move closer hoping for success at fly down.  If no luck then, I'd head to the roost and try to call them back towards the roost, like a hen that came late to the party.  If that didn't work, I'd try to pull some shock gobbles to see which way he's moving, then circle ahead accordingly.  I'd also be keeping my eyes peeled for heavy sign along the way to possibly hunt those favored areas.  Sign doesn't happen on its own and there has to be a good reason it ended up there.

The second day I'd start closer to the roost and move to one of those favored spots quickly if he didn't want to play right of the roost.  Make it a moving chess match for as long as it took.

Jim

[DawgsFan1]

Do as much scouting with maps before getting there. Pick a good spot beforehand to where I want to go and listen. Go after him if he reveals his location, of course. If not, then I start to slowly make my way through the woods stopping every 50 to 100 yards and calling. If the spot looks really good I might sit there 30 to 45 minutes but with only two days you can't afford to sit too long with no results. You have to find the birds.

[saverx]

Run and gun, call too much and call too loud! It'll be the best two days of your life!

[Meatseeker]

Run and gun no questions.  If your bumping that many birds you are probably going to fast.  I would "walk and gun", with lots of 10 to 15 minute mini sets in between.  Especially if you have a good idea of where the birds are.

[Kylongspur88]

Stay on the high ground and walk slow/call. Hit the call every 50 meters or so and wait and listen and if nothing move on but stay quiet. Even if he doesn't gobble you may hear him drumming or walking through the leaves which is why it's important to stay quiet and move slow.

[Yoder409]

In other words..................sloppy seconds. 

You're welcome to have whatever I leave behind. 

[GobbleNut]

Spring gobbler hunting for me has always been about finding a gobbling turkey to hunt first, and then trying to call him in second.  So my first order of business on that 1000 acres is to find out if there is a gobbling turkey somewhere on it.  That process entails first, reviewing maps of the property to get an idea of 1) where any turkeys on the place are most likely to be roosting, and 2) what the most efficient way to audibly cover the property during prime gobbling time,....that is, at first light in the mornings.

1000 acres ain't much,...a little less than two square miles.  A well-planned route hitting the proper vantage points during prime time on the first morning will likely tell me all I need to know about how I am going to hunt the property.  If I hear gobbling from one or more locations, those are obviously where I will be focusing my efforts to begin with. 

The first day of the hunt, I will play the game from a distance,...trying to call a bird in, but at the same time making sure I am not disrupting the birds while learning all I can about what they are doing on a daily basis.  I will try to figure out where they roosted,...and where they went after flying down,...and what I am dealing with in terms of flock composition.  The rest of my hunting will be focused around what I have gleaned from that first morning.

Now, if I don't hear any first morning roost gobbling, the next thing I am going to do is try to find visible evidence that there are indeed turkeys on the place.  If I hear no gobbling and find no evidence of turkeys, I am outta there,...and trying to find another place to hunt for the next 1.5 days.

Assuming for this discussion that there are turkeys around, but are not gobbling, I am again going to plan a route around the property so that I can move stealthily from pre-planned point to point where I can call at optimum locations in hopes of locating a gobbler,...and while at the same time mentally noting any concentrations of evidence of turkey use and roosting areas.

If I cover the 1000 acres doing that and I have not gotten a bird to respond, my next step is to walk the perimeter of the property calling,...first softly, and then loudly,...in an attempt to get a bird that is not necessarily on the property to respond.  I have no qualms at all about calling a bird across property lines, although if I hear what I suspect is someone else calling or working a bird across the boundary, I will shut up and move along.  Doing the perimeter walk increases my huntable area from 1000 acres to at least twice that.

Finally, I am going to be "out there" at last light in the evening, and again at first light the next morning trying to roost a gobbler somewhere.  Assuming I have not heard gobblers that first morning, I will be rippin' it with a locator call trying to get one to sound off.  My focus that second morning will again be the perimeter boundaries with the locator, hoping to audibly locate a gobbler and then trying to get him to come onto the property,....first by going through all the "standards" of turkey calling,...and then throwing the entire book at him.

I may not kill one in two days, but I will leave knowing I gave it my best shot....

[hobbes]

On a quiet morning, you should be able to hear every turkey that gobbles on 1000 acres if you can find a high spot to listen from.  I always cover ground to locate a Tom that wants to play.  "Running and gunning" gives the impression  that I'm running like a lunatic with no plan.  I would methodically  cover the area calling looking for a response.  Sometimes  you have to be "closer" to get a response.  I have no interest in clucking a few times and hoping a silent tom slips in.

[kyturkeyhunter4]

If I couldn't roost any birds, I would definitely be running and gunning

[eggshell]

I think one of the most important things is don't be impatient or discouraged if you don't find quick results. I can't tell you how many times over 40+ years I have went through this very scenario. The single most common element of these new ground hunts is learning the land. More times than not the first day or two are spent simply learning the land and bird movement. If I kill it usually comes on the second or even third day. Sure there are times you walk right in and boom hit a bird and get a good set up and kill, nut they are not the norm. One thing I have not seen is find someone who has hunted it or the area before and talk to them.

[Bolandstrutters]

I'm putting miles on the boots.  Not just stomping around hammering a box call all day, but definitely gonna be aggressive in trying to strike up multiple birds.  I turkey hunt because it doesn't require me to sit in the same spot all day like deer hunting.  I feel like the guys who just sit in tents all day aren't getting the full experience of turkey hunting.  Then again, it may be your only option if youre hunting big ag fields.