How patient should I be on a gobbler

[paladin]

One week...two at tops and then I move on to another bird.

[bushwhacker]

Im not a very patient person when it comes to turks. I can sit in a treestand all day and not get bored, but if a turkey shuts up or walks away gobbling his fool brains out i'm outta there. If nothing else is gobbling I'll try to get ahead of him or just stay with him until he gets to where he wants to be then I'll try and work him from there. But the majority of the time I'll make a round and come back about ten and check his blood pressure again. And I always try to get real close to where he was at when he answered me that morning before I make a peep. I had an old timer tell me when I started hunting that if a gobbler ever answers your call he will be back sometime that day to check it out when his hens leave. I always just pray he comes back before 1:00 when time ends here in missouri. I know if I was more patient I'd be more successful but I love the thrill of the flash hunt, and the hard gobbling kamikaze's that are usually involved.

[jakebird]

Knowing when to sit tight and when you need to move, and sometimes move very quickly is a key to being more successful. Some of it comes with experience, for sure, alot of it boils down to gut instincts or simply making a judgement call and sticking with it. It may end up being the right choice or the wrong one, but only time will tell. Thats the thrill of the chase. One of the few times ive ever truly moved fast, a buddy and i had to scramble to get on a hot bird that fired up after heavy rain stopped in midmorning. He had moved down into a plowed field and gobbling like a fool. We had only minutes before he either attracted a hen or another hunter. No time to think it over, we pulled out and moved fast. Five minutes later we had a beautiful three yr old floppin in the dirt, he came in on a run. Had we lingered in our original set up, who knows? We took a gamble, made a critical move and scored. Patience is a virtue and a general rule, but its far from concrete.

[gunnerj]

If the birds have left, I'm gone. You will have much more success if there are toms there to shoot. If the birds leave, I go find more birds, and preferably toms that are aggressive!

[ssramage]

I have no idea. I'm probably more impatient than I should be. If nothing is happening, I try to make something happen. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[coyotetrpr]

Depends.  If a bird will continue to talk to me I will usually keep messing with him.  If you know he has hens with him my favorite thing is to try to get the hens to start calling back to me.  I will call real aggressive and get them fired up and "sometimes" they will come in to investigate and bring mister Tom with them.  Sometimes by staying patient and calling to a bird I have had other gobblers sneak in that I didn't even know were there.  I can tell you one thing for sure though I have spooked way more birds by getting up and moving around than I would have if I would have just sit tight and been patient.

Agreed.

[Bigmiah22]

You'll learn just as we did with experience. There is no EXACTLY wrong or right answer because ALL gobblers are going to respond a little different. Personally I like to be patient and a little more quiet and it works for me more times than not. When my hunting partner comes along he likes to get aggressive and that often works too but overall ive killed and called in more birds than he has. Its personal preference, if one thing isnt working for you for a week, change it up and do something else the next!

[ridgerunner]

You'll learn just as we did with experience. There is no EXACTLY wrong or right answer because ALL gobblers are going to respond a little different. Personally I like to be patient and a little more quiet and it works for me more times than not. When my hunting partner comes along he likes to get aggressive and that often works too but overall ive killed and called in more birds than he has. Its personal preference, if one thing isnt working for you for a week, change it up and do something else the next!

X2

[DirtNap647]

patience is a great hunting tool

[Spring_Woods]

I think turkey hunting is a constant pace of decision making. The days you make the right decision to sit or move are the small critical difference between killing birds or going home empty handed. What works one day, may not work the next.
I remember in the beginning of the learning curve (still learning) experimentation is the best tool.

[L.F. Cox]

"How patient should I be on a gobbler"....the only real answer takes years of experience to learn.

If a gobbler is gobbling and holding his ground....he most likely can be called in. If you have the patience and don't call too much.

If he goes silent it means one of two things to me....he could be coming or he could be just standing there on one leg testing your patience.

If you go towards him he'll most likely move away gobbling....timing your calling is everything when it comes to calling turkeys.

Ben Lee said it best...."Are you talking to the turkey or is he talking to you ?"

Figure that out and the rest is a walk in the park.

[jwhunter]

This question is tough to answer b/c I am not in the woods with you to give you my opinion on this bird on this day at this time in the morning.   

I would rather be patient and miss out on killing him today, then be over aggressive and spook him. usually if you do not bump him they will return to the same area... you might get him tomorrow and you might know where he is headed.,

[Vabirddog]

A friend says "dont leave a bird thats gobbling to look for one thats not". He kills a lot of turkeys. He didn't say sit still, you may have to relocate or change calls, be silent,  but if he is answering you are in the game!

Remember Turkeys are on their own time, they feel no pressure to get things done the way you do. If he's moving try to anticpate his destination or likely strutting areas.

[tnturkey]

every bird is different I but I hardly ever walk away from a gobbling bird. if he is henned up I will get aggressive and get the hens pissed and sometimes that works. some birds are just tough. patience is a very important thing in turkey hunting and I learned that the hard way. if you just cant take it no more take mental notes and set up different next time. but more times the not at some point that bird will loose his hens and then its game on.

[ridgerunner]

If the birds have left, I'm gone. You will have much more success if there are toms there to shoot. If the birds leave, I go find more birds, and preferably toms that are aggressive!

Being many older birds remain silent how do you know a bird has" left"...? With spring foliage and a silent bird hard to say if he " left " or just went silent...If I scouted the area prior to the hut and know birds are in the area I have the patience of a rock. Killed a lot of birds that just showed up I never knew were there until I seen them.. they were dead silent, gave no indications they were anywhere around until the materialized out of the woods.