In Your Lap Gobbling- April 2016

[slwayne]

Amazing work, as usual, Dave!  A master class in both videography and calling. 
...A key element to be pointed out regarding your calling in this particular video is your ability to recognize when aggressive calling was needed, rather than more passive, conservative stuff.  Excellent lesson in assessing the temperament of a flock of birds and then catering your calling approach to it.  Well done, my friend!

Another question,...did you have a decoy(s) out on this hunt?  Personally, I don't use one, but this is exactly the kind of situation where the use of a decoy can mean the difference between success and failure.  A bunch of gobbler eyes peering down a slope without seeing the hen that they think is calling to them sometimes results in an early departure from a group of out-of-range birds.

I had the exact same thoughts and same question about decoy use.  Also, I don't think I have ever encountered a situation where I had a hen so worked up and aggressive so soon after flying down from the roost.  Very cool video and top-notch calling.

[TauntoHawk]

just in time to get the mind switched over from deer to thunder chickens

awesome lesson in call the hen get the gobbler..

[Cove]

Amazing work, as usual, Dave!  A master class in both videography and calling. 
...A key element to be pointed out regarding your calling in this particular video is your ability to recognize when aggressive calling was needed, rather than more passive, conservative stuff.  Excellent lesson in assessing the temperament of a flock of birds and then catering your calling approach to it.  Well done, my friend!

Another question,...did you have a decoy(s) out on this hunt?  Personally, I don't use one, but this is exactly the kind of situation where the use of a decoy can mean the difference between success and failure.  A bunch of gobbler eyes peering down a slope without seeing the hen that they think is calling to them sometimes results in an early departure from a group of out-of-range birds.

No decoys. Just a yelper and determination, just the way I like it! 

The deal is, the hens were still in the trees and the gobblers knew that. They actually had hens on both sides of them. The only thing that sat us apart is we were the only "hen" on the ground and they were ready to get started. If you can get tight enough to the roost I've found it very beneficial to be the first "hen" on the ground.

And the set up was also key in not being busted. I would have loved to have been close enough to end the ordeal as soon as their feet touched but the woods were much too open for 3 guys to hide (esp one with a video camera). I chose that setup so they would need to crest the hill in or very close to gun range. They were also looking into some dense white pine saplings that we were just on the fringe of. The shooters were on a nice big tree and I found a blowdown to crawl into. Sometimes it may seem like you walk under them and plop down against a good tree but that's seldom the case. 

[Cove]

And thanks guys for the compliments!

[slwayne]

Amazing work, as usual, Dave!  A master class in both videography and calling. 
...A key element to be pointed out regarding your calling in this particular video is your ability to recognize when aggressive calling was needed, rather than more passive, conservative stuff.  Excellent lesson in assessing the temperament of a flock of birds and then catering your calling approach to it.  Well done, my friend!

Another question,...did you have a decoy(s) out on this hunt?  Personally, I don't use one, but this is exactly the kind of situation where the use of a decoy can mean the difference between success and failure.  A bunch of gobbler eyes peering down a slope without seeing the hen that they think is calling to them sometimes results in an early departure from a group of out-of-range birds.

No decoys. Just a yelper and determination, just the way I like it! 

The deal is, the hens were still in the trees and the gobblers knew that. They actually had hens on both sides of them. The only thing that sat us apart is we were the only "hen" on the ground and they were ready to get started. If you can get tight enough to the roost I've found it very beneficial to be the first "hen" on the ground.

And the set up was also key in not being busted. I would have loved to have been close enough to end the ordeal as soon as their feet touched but the woods were much too open for 3 guys to hide (esp one with a video camera). I chose that setup so they would need to crest the hill in or very close to gun range. They were also looking into some dense white pine saplings that we were just on the fringe of. The shooters were on a nice big tree and I found a blowdown to crawl into. Sometimes it may seem like you walk under them and plop down against a good tree but that's seldom the case. 

So that hen you had so worked up was still on the roost?

[Double B]

Nice work, thanks for posting. 

[Gobble!]

As always great video. I would love to hunt with the guy doing the calling a couple times.

[buzzardroost]

Excellent video. If that doesn't get you ready for Spring, I don't know what will.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cove]

Amazing work, as usual, Dave!  A master class in both videography and calling. 
...A key element to be pointed out regarding your calling in this particular video is your ability to recognize when aggressive calling was needed, rather than more passive, conservative stuff.  Excellent lesson in assessing the temperament of a flock of birds and then catering your calling approach to it.  Well done, my friend!

Another question,...did you have a decoy(s) out on this hunt?  Personally, I don't use one, but this is exactly the kind of situation where the use of a decoy can mean the difference between success and failure.  A bunch of gobbler eyes peering down a slope without seeing the hen that they think is calling to them sometimes results in an early departure from a group of out-of-range birds.

No decoys. Just a yelper and determination, just the way I like it! 

The deal is, the hens were still in the trees and the gobblers knew that. They actually had hens on both sides of them. The only thing that sat us apart is we were the only "hen" on the ground and they were ready to get started. If you can get tight enough to the roost I've found it very beneficial to be the first "hen" on the ground.

And the set up was also key in not being busted. I would have loved to have been close enough to end the ordeal as soon as their feet touched but the woods were much too open for 3 guys to hide (esp one with a video camera). I chose that setup so they would need to crest the hill in or very close to gun range. They were also looking into some dense white pine saplings that we were just on the fringe of. The shooters were on a nice big tree and I found a blowdown to crawl into. Sometimes it may seem like you walk under them and plop down against a good tree but that's seldom the case. 

So that hen you had so worked up was still on the roost?

Yes she was. You can tell the longbeards (especially one of them) was trying to veer to the right and that's where she was, about 75 yards away. When I saw this happening is when I stepped up the calling to help convince him venturing my direction was a good idea.

[slwayne]

Amazing work, as usual, Dave!  A master class in both videography and calling. 
...A key element to be pointed out regarding your calling in this particular video is your ability to recognize when aggressive calling was needed, rather than more passive, conservative stuff.  Excellent lesson in assessing the temperament of a flock of birds and then catering your calling approach to it.  Well done, my friend!

Another question,...did you have a decoy(s) out on this hunt?  Personally, I don't use one, but this is exactly the kind of situation where the use of a decoy can mean the difference between success and failure.  A bunch of gobbler eyes peering down a slope without seeing the hen that they think is calling to them sometimes results in an early departure from a group of out-of-range birds.

No decoys. Just a yelper and determination, just the way I like it! 

The deal is, the hens were still in the trees and the gobblers knew that. They actually had hens on both sides of them. The only thing that sat us apart is we were the only "hen" on the ground and they were ready to get started. If you can get tight enough to the roost I've found it very beneficial to be the first "hen" on the ground.

And the set up was also key in not being busted. I would have loved to have been close enough to end the ordeal as soon as their feet touched but the woods were much too open for 3 guys to hide (esp one with a video camera). I chose that setup so they would need to crest the hill in or very close to gun range. They were also looking into some dense white pine saplings that we were just on the fringe of. The shooters were on a nice big tree and I found a blowdown to crawl into. Sometimes it may seem like you walk under them and plop down against a good tree but that's seldom the case. 

So that hen you had so worked up was still on the roost?

Yes she was. You can tell the longbeards (especially one of them) was trying to veer to the right and that's where she was, about 75 yards away. When I saw this happening is when I stepped up the calling to help convince him venturing my direction was a good idea.

Very cool.  Again, excellent job on the video and the calling.  I have been hunting turkeys very successfully for 9 years (I know, not very long relative to most on this forum) and I learned a lot from watching this video.  Thanks.

[TNTRKYHunter]

Awesome video and calling! Always enjoy your videos. Thanks for sharing!

[HFultzjr]

32 degrees out.
Foggy/freezing rain
Snow/ice still on the ground.
Come on spring!