How do you start?

[honker22]

It's a textbook pre-dawn setup on a gobbling bird in the South (big woods).  You get to a comfortable range, personally I like 100-150 yards without him knowing and he's still on the limb.  How do you start off?  Do you do some tree yelps, perhaps a flydown cackle as it get's later, do you try to out call the other hens?

I always find myself second guessing my early morning setups.  Did I call enough? He doesn't seem to be responding to my calls, did I call too much... etc etc

I've killed a ton of birds, but for some reason I am rarely confident on my pre- flydown calling.

[Skeeterbait]

Unless you are competing with hens, a little soft calling till he answers then shut up till you know he is on the ground.  If you get too elaborate with it he will sit up there expecting the hen to walk to his tree before he flies down.  Make him fly down and come looking for you.

If you got hens competing with you and if there is any distance between them and him, try to manover in between them.  Flush them away if you can get away with it.    If they are roosted right with him or if they get by you and get to him, you got a long waiting game ahead of you.  If there is a better game in town, go play it and come back later.

[bowhunter84]

Unless you are competing with hens, a little soft calling till he answers then shut up till you know he is on the ground.  If you get too elaborate with it he will sit up there expecting the hen to walk to his tree before he flies down.  Make him fly down and come looking for you.

If you got hens competing with you and if there is any distance between them and him, try to manover in between them.  Flush them away if you can get away with it.    If they are roosted right with him or if they get by you and get to him, you got a long waiting game ahead of you.  If there is a better game in town, go play it and come back later.

[ericjames]

Unless you are competing with hens, a little soft calling till he answers then shut up till you know he is on the ground.  If you get too elaborate with it he will sit up there expecting the hen to walk to his tree before he flies down.  Make him fly down and come looking for you.

If you got hens competing with you and if there is any distance between them and him, try to manover in between them.  Flush them away if you can get away with it.    If they are roosted right with him or if they get by you and get to him, you got a long waiting game ahead of you.  If there is a better game in town, go play it and come back later.

could not have said it better myself!

[Muskie03]

 

[lmbhngr]

good answer skeeter

[Finch]

I always have trouble figuring out what to do when a bird has been answering my every call but doesn't commit.  It appears he is coming in on a string but shuts up and not to be heard from again until he a hollow or two over, presumably with a hen or two.

Do I go and try to cut him off? Make his lady friends a bit unhappy with my calling? Or patiently wait there until he decides I'm "good enough"?

[reynolds243]

Do I go and try to cut him off? Make his lady friends a bit unhappy with my calling? Or patiently wait there until he decides I'm "good enough"?

there is not a TRUE answer to that unfortunately...each bird is different as is each hunt, what worked the time before may not this time. IF IT WERE ME i would try to piss of the hen first but after a few calls you are not getting anything back from the hen then i would prob move to try and get around him if property lines allowed me to.

[Shotgun]

Personally I seldom ever call until his feet hits the ground.  The only instance I ever do is when I know for sure he has hens with him and even then my calling is at a very minimum if I call at all.

[Finch]

Do I go and try to cut him off? Make his lady friends a bit unhappy with my calling? Or patiently wait there until he decides I'm "good enough"?

there is not a TRUE answer to that unfortunately...each bird is different as is each hunt, what worked the time before may not this time. IF IT WERE ME i would try to piss of the hen first but after a few calls you are not getting anything back from the hen then i would prob move to try and get around him if property lines allowed me to.

I like your answer. I've never been one to sit down and wait when I know a bird is leaving the area with a hen or two. I always try to head them off but have rarely been successful. I love constant action during spring gobbler.

I have a good friend that lives in Lebanon. He lives near the cracker barrel guy's home (or one of them I guess). I think its near Wilson Boat Dock Rd.

[Finch]

Personally I seldom ever call until his feet hits the ground.  The only instance I ever do is when I know for sure he has hens with him and even then my calling is at a very minimum if I call at all.

So you make your presence known and then just wait him out? Has experience taught you to be patient when he hasn't gobbled in "a while" and just to wait him out?

[reynolds243]

thats cool finch i know where you are talking about...

[Duke0002]

I always have trouble figuring out what to do when a bird has been answering my every call but doesn't commit.  It appears he is coming in on a string but shuts up and not to be heard from again until he a hollow or two over, presumably with a hen or two.

1) He may have picked up sight of a couple of hens and left with them. 
2) He may be scanning the area of your calling, looking for the source of your calling.  Not seeing a hen (or maybe spotting you), he may have split.
3) He may be waiting for the hen (your calling) to come to him.
4) A decoy or two may bring him in closer for a shot, but he still may hang up too far away.

Lots of "mays" and Maybes" in turkey hunting.  Only the gobbler knows why he's doing what he's doing.

I have to remind myself all the time, turkey hunting is about putting myself in the best opportunity/situation to take a bird.  Just pure luck takes many birds!  IMO, turkey hunting is an art, not a science  -maybe!

[Gobbling Buck]

Sometimes I will give a few soft tree yelps and maybe even a flydown cackle with a wing.  But normally I have a good idea of where the bird is going and try to set up where he wants to go when possible.  If the bird hits the ground and starts away from me with hens, I'll try to fire him up while he's walking away.  I do this for a couple reasons.  #1-There may be another gobbler around that wants to come in silent.  #2-If I'm sure he's gone, I'll leave and see if I can get another to play the game.  If not, I'll go back to the same set-up location about 9:30 or 10:00 and try the early bird again.  Especially in late season (when hens are nesting) he may return to the area to breed the hen that never came to him that morning.

This has worked for me a few times in the past, but a lot of times he'll just walk off and nothing else comes in and I wake up a couple hours later with a mouth call stuck to my lip and thirsty.  I pull the skin off my lip removing the mouth call and flush a bird when I move to get the water bottle out of the vest.   

[archery1]

ha ha good one..