first time for this to happen

[livetohunt72]

a first ever and need advice... this morning i was out from before sunrise will 12:30 started out foggy and cloudy with a light drizzle i tried locateing with a hoot owl and no response right at daylight 2 gobblers gobbled one i knew was there and no way to get to him since hes on someone elses property and the second i wasnt expecting to be there well i heard the fly down and if i assumed correct hes the bird ive been chaseing for 3 year which i knew he would have hens with him he went away from me after gobbling 5 times no other birds gobbled i went walking and trying to locate another bird which had no luck so i returned around the same area i had started then had 3 different birds gobbling i set up in the clearcut and the closest bird was on the other side of the creek and he got hung up and wouldnt cross it by the sound of his gobble its the jake ive seen the other two where prolly 200 yrds away on the oppisite end of the clear cut but were not together so i went after them as i got close to one bird he shut down and wouldnt gobble i waited and called no answer until a crow got him to gobbble he hadnt moved more than 20yards from where he was but the other was gobbling so i went towards him since i couldnt get any closer to the other one and when i got about 100 yrds from the other bird he quit gobbling then the other i had just left started again this kept happening until 12 any advice on what i should have done?

[Marc]

A first ever and need advice... This morning I was out from before sunrise will 12:30 started out foggy and cloudy with a light drizzle. 

I tried locating with a hoot owl and no response. Right at daylight 2 gobblers gobbled; one I knew was there and no way to get to him since he's on someone else's property.  The second I wasn't expecting to be there.  Well I heard the fly down and if I assumed correct, he's the bird I've been chasing for 3 years and I knew he would have hens with him.  He went away from me after gobbling 5 times.

No other birds gobbled.  I went walking and trying to locate another bird and had no luck, so I returned around the same area I had started, then had 3 different birds gobbling. I set up in the clear-cut, and the closest bird was on the other side of the creek and he got hung up and wouldn't cross it by the sound of his gobble.  It's the jake I've seen, the other two where prolly 200 yrds away on the opposite end of the clear cut but were not together, so I went after them.

As I got close to one bird, he shut down and wouldn't gobble.  I waited and called, no answer until a crow got him to gobble.  He hadn't moved more than 20yards from where he was, but the other was gobbling so I went towards him, since I couldn't get any closer to the other one. And when I got about 100 yrds from the other bird, he quit gobbling.  Then the other I had just left started again, and this kept happening until 12 any advice on what I should have done?

If I have two birds gobbling, I might try to get in between them...  Do some calling, and let those two gobblers get each other fired up both trying to beat each other to the hen (i.e. me ).

If I cannot get between them, I might try to get equidistant from them (like the point of a triangle)...  Do some calling, and see how things pan out...

If birds are slowly moving away from me, I might try and move away from them while calling, and double back (without calling).   If they start gaining ground as I am walking away, I might keep walking and calling, and then sit down and shut up...

[livetohunt72]

I got between both of them sort of and did the triangle thing but neither would move towards me that's why I'm asking what else I should have done cause nothing really made a difference

[Marc]

Speaking for myself...  Patience...  Sometimes they come right in, sometimes it can take a while, or a while longer.  I have a tough time sitting still, but more often than not, that is the tactic that works...  Soft calling, occasionally, and staying still...  Your only movements should be breathing and blinking.

Many times I think birds are closer than we think, and when we get up to move, I know I scare birds I am working on, as well as birds I don't even know are there.  I enjoy running and gunning, but the guys that are able to sit it out do far better than me.

I like to let the birds get really worked up, and then shut up...  Stay off the call for 10-20 minutes and get comfortable  (it can be an agonizing wait)...  With the Rio's I am shooting, I have noticed that they are very vocal until they come in.  They will gobble and gobble trying to coax that hen to them, even as they walk away from you...  But when they decide to go to the hen, often times they shut up...

Of course some come in gobbling all the way, and those are really the fun ones, but that does not seem to happen to me as much as I would like.

[livetohunt72]

thanks for the advice i have the same problem sitting still and i know i do but these birds are different than what i hunted in Ga them birds down there if they gobbled they where comeing but this place has a hen population thats unreal i counted 36 hens in one group while deer hunting and on the other side of the property my dad counted 25 more hens i know there is 3 birds around where i hunt and one on the other guys property so 4 gobblers to all those hens is a fight lol

[howl]

I pick one bird and concentrate on that one. Never was good at just generally calling. When I have one gobbling and it stops, or more usual I stop calling so it will stop gobbling, I assume it is walking to me. It can take a bird a long time to come on in, so I try to be very patient and give it time. An hour and a half would not be too long to wait.

[steinea286]

I may be beneficial to walk and see what they were hung up on that they weren't coming if that was the case. If not, they could have been expecting you to go to them. I have let birds walk off a ways and not call to them for 30 minutes or more and then slip in the where they were and call them back. Good luck!

[livetohunt72]

thats the problem the jake i know was hung up on the creek the other two had nothing to get hung up on one was on the edge of a small clear cut thats why i couldnt get closer the other was in a food plot where we deer hunt thats 15ft wide and 150 yards long with open pines around it

[silvestris]

Sit down.  You have already mastered the art of running them off.