Hunting a field.

[deerbasshunter3]

Does anybody have any success just sitting on a single field all day? It could be with either a decoy, or no decoy. It seems to me that if you have a nice field close to where they are roosting, it might be beneficial to sit all day and be patient, and wait for a bird to eventually come to that field.

[Bowguy]

It can work I'm sure but I'd never use a day like that. It'd kill me

[deerbasshunter3]

The turkey that I shot last year (My first turkey) was shot in a situation sort of like that. We followed a bird for an hour or so and never could get on him. We finally just went and sat up against a tree on a field that had been disked (spelling?). Eventually, a nice gobbler just came walking out to eat. The guy I was hunting with hit the call a couple of times and the bird just looked over at us and kept on eating, like he wasn't interested. Well, he eventually started making his way down the edge of the field. Maybe five minutes later, he was flopping around at twenty yards. That day, it paid off to just sit and wait. I do not know that I, personally, would have the patience to sit for hours on end, heck I have trouble doing that in a deer stand. It does, however, seem like it could/should pay off more than once in a season.

[Jbird22]

I personally don't have the patience to sit on a field and wait on one all day. However, I did stay with one in a field last yr from around 9 am til I killed him around 4 pm. I either had a visual or could at least hear him the whole time. I didn't use a decoy but that's because he was already in the field when I got there. It's a flat field with very short grass so no cover to crawl and stake one out. Either way, I think I set up on him 4-5 different times and finally had to belly crawl 80 yds or so to a better vantage point where I would be in range. He was henned up the ENTIRE time. I was all but dehydrated when I got to the truck. I'm not sure I want to do that again honestly.

[J Hook Max]

It can work if you have enough patience. However, the turkeys are much easier to call up in the woods. Gt between his roost and the field and your chances are very good.

[bamagtrdude]

Does anybody have any success just sitting on a single field all day? It could be with either a decoy, or no decoy. It seems to me that if you have a nice field close to where they are roosting, it might be beneficial to sit all day and be patient, and wait for a bird to eventually come to that field.

Not a "criticism" here, but this strategy you're describing is what I call "Deer Huntin' for Gobblers"...  IMO, the whole allure of turkey season is that you do NOT have to sit still as a board, freezin' your cajones off, waiting & a hopin' & a prayin' for something to come along... 

I'm not saying that what you're saying will NOT work, but ...  Man, move around some, if that seems like your hottest spot, HUNT IT, but ...  ALL DAY LONG??  I personally have NEVER done that in almost 20 years of turkey huntin'; defeats the purpose, to me...

Again, just my 

BGD

[K9Doc]

Funny.
How many guys will tell u that's not true turkey hunting.
We ALL want the "Classic"  early morning gobble, setup, fly down,
Strutting/Gobbling all the way and BOOM !!!
That's not gonna happen but a few times in a season,
If u hunt a lot! 
I am hunting turkeys!!!  Be it sitting and waitin' on a field,
Or walking and calling.
I'm gonna do what gives me the best chance to
Get a close encounter and kill a gobbler!
There will be those that tell u that it not turkey hunting.
That's B.S.  They won't kill as many as I do.
That's a Fact Jack!
Have fun. Take in every min of it and any good
Day in the field is better than a day at work!!

[shaman]

It works for me, buy then I have a combination of factors:

1)  I hunt a single 200 acre farm. I've had it since 2001.
2)  I'm now hunting the great-great-great grandchildren of the birds I hunted the first year
3)  I can scout just by sitting with a cup of coffee on the front porch.

Because of this I know pretty much where the turkeys are going to be.  It's rather silly to go putting that knowledge on hold and running around the farm like I don't know.  My only questions are:

1) Which blind to got to.
2)  How long to sit.

It's a little like having your own bass pond.  It's just a matter of deciding if you're going to go throw plugs from the dam, worms off the dock, or dabble a rubber frog in the weeds.

Last year I ate tag soup for myself after calling in a bird for #3 son on the Opener. The birds just were not cooperating.  My neighbors all gave up and went elsewhere. Me?  I stuck it out and tried my best with what I had.  I had some good action, but it all ended up in bad luck. Gobs came up on my blind side or a bush blocked the shot -- the usual stuff. 

Is plunking your butt in one field a good idea?  Some years I  tag out. Some years not.  If you are dead-nuts sure the turkeys are coming to a field to feed, or coming to one end  to loaf in the shade or whatever, that's worth spending the whole season pursuing.  I have a barn where the flocks have dusted themselves for generations.  I can go there in the afternoon and sit in the barn and let hens dust themselves in one door, while I patiently wait at the other  for the gobbler to come strutting by.  Eventually it is going to pay off.

[stinkpickle]

Yes, a couple of properties I have permission to hunt on are almost 100% crop fields...no timber whatsoever.  The birds roost on the neighboring properties, and then pitch down and hang out all morning in middle of the field, as far away from any cover as they can get.  I don't give two poops...I stake up ground blind right in the middle of that sumbeech.   

[bamagtrdude]

Yes, a couple of properties I have permission to hunt on are almost 100% crop fields...no timber whatsoever.  The birds roost on the neighboring properties, and then pitch down and hang out all morning in middle of the field, as far away from any cover as they can get.  I don't give two poops...I stake up ground blind right in the middle of that sumbeech.   

Now, THAT is a GREAT REASON to sit on a field all day long... 

[deerbasshunter3]

If I thought the turkey would be where I saw them during deer season, I could go plop myself up under a tower stand and just wait for them to walk out. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that where I saw them during deer season is not necessarily where they are going to be come April.

I must admit, snakes are what keep me from wanting to run and gun on the property that I hunt. Our property sits on the edge of the swamp, and a good majority of birds roost in the swamp. That being said, there are some fields that border that swamp. I just figured that the turkey would eventually come out into the fields. I don't care for old Joe No Legs and will most likely be hunting alone, so I do not want to go walking around the swamp. Call me a wuss, call me whatever, but I do not like snakes. 

[bamagtrdude]

Call me a wuss, call me whatever, but I do not like snakes.

10-4; not calling you a wuss AT ALL; I nearly got bit by a HUGE rattler a few years back, myself...  But, they make snake boots & bird shot for a reason...  I'll be d*mned if I'm gonna let snakes stop me from doing what I want to do, bro...

Again, I'm not calling you a wuss, but snakes & spring-time come hand in hand...  Never gonna change that fact...

[wvlimbhanger]

It depends on the property I am on and the birds I am after. 

I have a field behind my house that the birds roost across the creek on another property.  I have no trees whatsoever so I will hunt from a blind there on rainy days (the birds seem to spend more time there then) or on Saturdays (other people hunt on the places I hunt Mon-Fri on Sat, no one but me is on my place.)

Just remember one thing, every bird is different and every situation/property is different. 

I try to come up with a plan that will let me harvest a bird given my knowledge of how I believe a bird will be acting and the situation/property I will be on. 

[Redfish]

What's a field? I would love to have a field to sit on. Unfortunately all I have available here in Florida is swamp and a few small areas of pines . I'm not crazy about cotton mouths but if I didn't hunt where they are I wouldn't be able to hunt. It's not uncommon to run up on several a day when it's warm. I miss seeing a lot of deer and turkeys before they see me because I'm watching where I put every step. My lease looks like Vietnam. Every time I watch a turkey hunting show and they are hunting a field I am jealous.

[deerbasshunter3]

If I hunt with my friend again, we will be running and gunning. If I am by myself all weekend, I will probably try both. There is something about the peace and quiet of just sitting in nature that I enjoy.

I wore my snake boots last year and that got old after having to walk through a bunch of water (They are not waterproof). If it is cold out still, I will most definitely be wearing my rubber boots.