Help needed with no fields turkeys

[srmturk]

I'm hunting in an area that is only woods...no nearby fields.  Modest amount of birds...have heard probably 4 different gobblers in about a 130 acre area all month.  I got one of them a week or so ago but am looking to fill my second tag.  The season ends in Maine on Saturday. While I saw a couple of toms still with hens just last week...it's definitely starting to get quiet out there...no gobbles this morning.  Question I have for those who are experienced is...how should I approach these last few days? I don't have fields to go to late in the morning or anything...I see no perceptible pattern of travel nor designated strut areas.  Not saying they aren't there...but I've been out there A LOT for the past many weeks and I see no pattern.  Several oak ridges by the way.  So any strategies to offer me in the silence in the woods?  Thanks!

[mikejd]

Do you know were your birds tend to roost. If so thats were you need to be even if they are not talking. do your light calling and be ready for a sneaky silent stalker. got picked off bad myself this year while digging for a call. be ready. if you had 4 gobblers in 130 acres thats real good. I know it seems like vague advise this does work. the key is patience and as i said be ready.

[srmturk]

Sorry for the double post everyone...first time...I'll get better.  And thanks Mike...every time I've found them roosting it was one of three ridges.  Obviously tough to know which one when they're quiet but point taken...pick one of the places and be ready. Thanks

[beardwacker]

If you can Roost the birds, then you can get in there, and give some "light call's before they fly down, this time of year majority of hen's should be bred, so once they fly down come check you out.  have to have patients.  If this doesn't work get little more agressive. 

[srmturk]

Think I'm going to try and roost them tonight.  Feel like I'm shooting in the dark out here with them silent and not sure where they are.  How does one roost them?  I understand I need to be out here at dusk when they go to roost but do you call?  If so what calls etc?  Never roosted them before.  Thanks in advance

[GobbleNut]

You are hunting Easterns, which typically means they will be less willing to gobble on the roost in the evening.  You should be prepared to be in position at sundown to hear them if they either gobble,...or their wingbeats as they fly up to roost.  You should wait and listen until full darkness,...they may not fly up until the very last light of the day is gone.

If they have been roosting in three different locations, try setting up near the center of the roosting areas.  If you would be able to hear a gobble or wingbeats at all three roost areas by setting up at one of them, then do that,...and be prepared for the possibility that a bird will come in the last thirty minutes before full darkness.

Watch and listen for indications of where the turkeys are roosting.  On calm evenings, wing beats can be heard quite a ways.  On 120 acres, I would suspect you would have a good chance of hearing them from any of the roost locations.  Better yet, if you get lucky and those gobblers are inclined to do some evening roost gobbling, you should be able to figure out where they are quite easily.

Finally, if you do not have a good, loud locator call,...crow, owl, coyote howler, gobble call, blow horn, etc.,...you should get you one asap and be ready to try that if you have not located your birds by the time you are ready to leave the woods (see the "crow call" thread recently discussed in this same section)  Using a very loud, abrupt locator will often get gobblers to involuntarily shock gobble at the sound of the call.

Good luck,... and remember to give us a report.

[srmturk]

You are AWESOME!  Thank you so much.  That is helpful.  I do have a crow call and owl hooter.  I'll try to get in position tonight and see if I can locate them. 

[OLD LONGSPUR]

Call softly, use long  purr and cluck of a lonely hen as a locator later in morning. hunt high. call from the edge of the thickest areas out into the more open hardwoods. be patient. Set up with your back to suspected nesting areas. listen more,  call less. travel through the areas that provide the least disturbance and provide you the greatest cover while moving. don't walk your woods out by walking through the main part of the woods. Sneak out the ridges or barely penetrate the egdes  . call your way.,slowly , quietly, move with the wind noise.. LISTEN THEN LISTEN SOME MORE  Come back around and set up within shooting distance of a break in the terrain,( before you can see where you called from before) on the spots you called from and softly ask if Mr Gobbler has come looking for that sweet little hen he heard softly asking for company an hour or so ago. Call into the adjoining areas beyond you 130 acres  then back off 100 yds to a perfect set up and wait . This way the silent creeping Tom doesn't slip up on you an hour later and bust you sitting right where you called from. Instead he will often come to that spot you called from and after not finding the hen ,he may Gobble thus  ASKING where she is. wait 30- 45 second and just yelp or cluck softly as if talking to another hen but NOT answering him directly. let him move ,use your toe to scratch in the leaves a time or two. Don't act or respond like you know where he is or you care. be coy.Act as if you ,the hen , are there but not hearing him or caring if you do.. Shoot straight.

[srmturk]

Well wasn't able to roost any and just ended the season without #2.  Oh well...not for a lack of trying.  I am thankful to the Lord for a lot.  Got a nice 2 year old mid-month, learned a ton this season and also discovered OldGob.com!  Plus was just a blessing to be out there.  I will say this...Tom Kelly says if he only had 10 days to hunt it would be the last 10 days of the season....I don't get that!  I found it to be far more difficult in the silence and I also didn't find all of these supposedly receptive, lonely gobblers late morning after the hens go to nest late in the season.  I found it quite the challenge trying to get my second one.  They didn't seem any lonelier or interested after 10 AM for the past two weeks than any other time.  Oh well...another learning experience.  Thanks to those that helped with the posts!

[GobbleNut]

Sorry to hear that it didn't work out for you, but it sounds like you had a great season anyway.
As for hunting early in the season, or late,....I have always found the early-season hunting to be much easier, as well.  I'm sure it depends on where a person is hunting and how much pressure has been put on the birds during the season.  Our public-land birds get way harder to kill later in the season than they are early on.  If I have to choose between hunting early or late wherever I go, I will take the early season anyday,...unless I know that there will be minimal pressure put on the birds before I get there.

[OLD LONGSPUR]

Congrats on your bird and perseverance.
    One last tip smrturk- NOW IS THE TIME to work on getting  more territory for next spring and exploring all the hunting area you have when it is in full leaf like it wiil be next spring..  The better you know your hunting area, the better shape you are in to go to the best setup location when Your Next Gobbler roars on the roost in 2014.  pick out possile ideal setup locations within you hunting area and trim them out - a place to sit and possible shooting lanes. revisit next spring for touch up but you will be way ahead of the game next spring or this fall for that matter.
   Don't discount public land- pressure wanes later in the season. Older birds lose some or all of their hens later in the season and or in  the morning.This can change day to day, place to place.
     my last 4 birds were 3- 1 1/4" and 1- 1 1/8" spurred  birds all taken after 9am on heavily hunted public hunting land in Ohio. 1 the  first week this year, 1 the last week this year and both birds the third week in 2012. good luck and gobblers aplenty in your future.

[srmturk]

Gobblenut...I would have to agree after this experience and I'm glad you said that...I was starting to think I was crazy.  Not saying can't get them later...just a very different situation clearly.  And I had the whole area to myself...I didn't see another hunter all month.  The only one pressuring those birds was me.  And as I said...reading Tom Kelly I thought it was actually going to be much easier later in the season!
Spur...thanks for that.  I actually thought about that as I walked out of the woods today.  I realized I had learned a lot and had found several good setup spots over the past month.  I'm thankful I got a bird and it was an awesome hunt...but I also messed up some setups and learned throughout the month.  Good point about keeping on top of the research