Hunting the same bird multiple times .. good or bad?

[AndyN]

You're not mad enough at him yet. I've found when I let the turkeys get in my head and I get real negative about things at turkey usually dies shortly after. I'd imagine I subconsciously change something in the way I'm hunting but I'm not sure what it is. If all else fails TSS and a tail fan...

[silvestris]

There is nothing better than than developing a relationship with a particular gobbler.  One thing no one has touched on is your calling signature.  Everyone develops one and gobblers quickly come to recognize them.  This requires the hunter to think about what he needs to say, and then say it.  Don't let your signature beat you as you encounter a gobbler in a marathon.

[CowHunter71]

You're not mad enough at him yet. I've found when I let the turkeys get in my head and I get real negative about things at turkey usually dies shortly after. I'd imagine I subconsciously change something in the way I'm hunting but I'm not sure what it is. If all else fails TSS and a tail fan...

Thats truly pathetic

[CowHunter71]

There is nothing better than than developing a relationship with a particular gobbler.  One thing no one has touched on is your calling signature.  Everyone develops one and gobblers quickly come to recognize them.  This requires the hunter to think about what he needs to say, and then say it.  Don't let your signature beat you as you encounter a gobbler in a marathon.

Good stuff

[Cutt]

Would it be a bad idea to try and go after him this Friday again?
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No, think about it this way, I only hunt Public and someone is always messing with them, as most birds here never seem to get a day someone isn't after them. So I don't concern myself with giving birds a break, if no one is there I'm hunting. As others said just have to hit it on the right day where he will co-operate.

The place I like to hunt had a hunter get in between me and a bird the first day which he shot and missed. Day 2 and 3 had hunters come in on me, checked the spot all most every day after working nights with vehicles there, and never hit it again till the 13th when there was no vehicle there. Got in the woods at 8:00 and killed a nice one by 8:45.

My point, these birds were harassed every day, hunters didn't give them a break, and he was still killable, as it was the right day.

[Dhamilton1]

Thanks for all of the advice! Was day dreaming about tomorrow morning, most of the afternoon at work today.

Got on my hunting app and looked at where I've got pins for him and where I've sat up the past two times.

Got a plan in mind and a new setup pin placed on the map!


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[mspaci]

Luv it when it gets personal w a bird. I call it fun. Done it many times. Mike

[Dhamilton1]

S$!T ... thunderstorms and hard rain this morning prevented me from getting in early before dark. Was going to go into work instead but checked the radar and saw an opening so decided to risk the rain.

Stuck to my plan and got to the spot I wanted to even though it was already 7:15 and completely light out. I called a few times on the way in and never heard anything...

Get to the spot and make a call then BAM!! Wings flapping and one soars over my head out of the tree tops over the hill and possibly one up the hill . Still roosted well after sunrise.

What now?!? I'm currently 50-100 yards from the busted location sitting down at a tree contemplating..


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[Yoder409]

Luv it when it gets personal w a bird.

Yep.  Same here.

Seems when a bird wants to be ignorant, that's when you buckle down and pay attention.  You'll learn more from the hard ones than you will from the ones that come running in tripping over each other.

There's a particular place on my property.  I've hunted it for well over 20 years.  Its a corner where turkeys nearly always roost in the spring.  There's two different fields and a park-like woods between the roosting area and the fields.  You could look at the area and pick out a dozen or more "perfect" setup spots.  Took me nearly 20 years of "difficult" gobblers to figure out that there is exactly ONE spot.  I've killed a bird in that corner for 5 or 6 years in a row now.   

[Yoder409]

Get to the spot and make a call then BAM!! Wings flapping and one soars over my head out of the tree tops over the hill and possibly one up the hill . Still roosted well after sunrise.

What now?!? I'm currently 50-100 yards from the busted location sitting down at a tree contemplating..

If you're 100 yards in the direction the bird went, and you fee confident he landed within earshot of where you are now...........stay sitting down and keep contemplating.  And listen.  Very good chance he's gonna fire up after while.  Especially if you get a rumble of thunder.

Game's not over or lost, either one, yet.

Patience.

[ejhandler]

Get to the spot and make a call then BAM!! Wings flapping and one soars over my head out of the tree tops over the hill and possibly one up the hill . Still roosted well after sunrise.

What now?!? I'm currently 50-100 yards from the busted location sitting down at a tree contemplating..

If you're 100 yards in the direction the bird went, and you fee confident he landed within earshot of where you are now...........stay sitting down and keep contemplating.  And listen.  Very good chance he's gonna fire up after while.  Especially if you get a rumble of thunder.

Game's not over or lost, either one, yet.

Patience.

This.  If you boogered him up, I would sit tight and wait for him to gobble on his own.  Then start the game over.

[Dhamilton1]

Day ended early due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.

He never showed himself or gobbler. However, I did have a hen come in on the ridge above me after I sat in silence, patiently waiting for an hour. So I ended up going back and forth with her for another hour hoping he'd hear all the ruckus and come investigate. That was somewhat fun on its own. She didn't care for my mouth call but the box call got her attention and fired up.

She never showed herself but she stayed close enough the whole time.


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[Cowboy]

You're not mad enough at him yet. I've found when I let the turkeys get in my head and I get real negative about things at turkey usually dies shortly after. I'd imagine I subconsciously change something in the way I'm hunting but I'm not sure what it is. If all else fails TSS and a tail fan...

Why would you mad at a WILD TURKEY?? lol

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[GobbleNut]

In my experience, there reaches a point when I realize that my calling only identifies my location and the gobbler has either learned not to go there or his hens drag him away from what they view as competition. At this point, I either need to seek another tom or change my hunting style to more of an ambush...

This.  If you must hunt the same bird over and over, the first thing you must do is accept the fact that just repeating the same tactics in your set-up and calling is most likely not going to result in a different outcome.  Gobblers absolutely have the ability to learn to associate turkey calling with humans and avoid approaching  any calling they hear that they cannot actually SEE the turkey that is calling to them.

However, if you are hunting the same gobbler strategically such that you are not boogering him up each time you hunt him, then you should be learning more about him and his behavior and patterns each time.  Once you have put enough pieces of that puzzle together, you should eventually be able to put yourself in a position to have any opportunity to kill him.  That "positioning" will also likely include accepting the fact that your success is more based on ambush rather than calling. 

Every gobbler can be killed, no doubt, but that result if often a function of the hunter realizing what he can and cannot do to in trying to kill him.  The "fly in the ointment", though, is whether you are the only one hunting this gobbler or not.  If other hunters are also hunting this bird at times, then all bets are off.  You can only control how you go about hunting this bird, not what other hunters might be doing to completely change the game.

[Paulmyr]

Thought I had one patterned today. Got into a landing about 50yds wide on and old logging rd. The previous 2 encounteres were in an older clearcut. One the boss was there with hens and he showed up. When the boss left with the gals he stayed for a few gobbles before filtering up near the landing and the boss? The boss didn't gobble much. Maybe 2 times on the roost 2 times after flydown and once when he was leaving out with the gals. Second time he was there by himself no boss around.  Couldn't get any replies and he filtered up to the the landing area.

This morn I was waiting for him in the landing area except he shows up from the other direction. Gobbled about 6 times right where I parked the truck. Wouldn't answer me or the hen that was roosted over my shoulder about 75 yds away. She started the calling so I joined in. She waited about 20 mins and called again so I answered back. The Gobbler was in uninterested. Of the times I've called to him he's only answered immediately 2 times. The rest were about 10 second delays.

I spooked her off the roost at 8 when I got up to move to where I heard far off gobbles earlier in the morn. I was thinking boss made them gobbles. She was still on roost when I came through that landing the previous weekend at around 9am while trailing said gobbler to the Clear cut. So I guess that makes 4 times I got on this gobbler.

I get over there and get a quiet gobble about 150yds away about 10 secs  after my 1st calls. Heard nothing for the previous 1 1/2 hours or  after only calling sporadically. I circled around , stopped and called from 2 more locations and nothing. When I got back to the truck, the size of his footprint in the road 10ft in front of it tells me he's a 2 yr old that don't want to get whooped by the boss and only answers when he knows where the boss is.

The boss has been tied up with hens the last 2 weekends. Seen him strutting in the Rd at 1pm yesterday with 2 hens. If course by the time I ease out of the truck and get set up an Atv comes by. Not saying he would have answered anyways because he's been awful quiet the last 2 weekends. Hoped maybe the hen would get going and drag him up as I just watched her flog and chase a hen away.

Got the boss real fired up late on morn last weekend but one of the hens came in dragged him away gobbling his but off as he went. Had him just out of sight at between 75 and 100yds.

Just because they don't come doesn't mean they are call shy.  There's plenty more factors other than pressure that maybe involved, like pecking order. If the boss is vocal and the sub knows where he's at you got a chance. Most likely he'll come quick or silently. If the Boss is quiet all bets are off.

If he's the only gobbler around, he's either tied up with hens or you got one of them hermit Gobblers. Gonna take some work to kill him.