Tomorrow's hunting tactic!~

[Lon0121]

the morning calls for showers and a little thunder and a little wind.   should i hunt a field or a woodland bottom hollow.?

[Hootowl]

Thunder I can handle, Its when the lighting starts is when I head for the truck and wait it out. Oh I would go with Ground Blind on a Fields edge....

[Gobble!]

fields. They are calling for rain where i am so i will be useing decoys and a blind in the field

[Basser69]

I would go with a blind on a field edge. Those birds will sound off at the thunder. Best shock call I have ever hear

[30_06]

Well...what and how did you do?

[K-ZONE]

the morning calls for showers and a little thunder and a little wind.   should i hunt a field or a woodland bottom hollow.?

Pattern the birds be where ever their feeding.

[Lon0121]

woke u this morning to no wind...no rain and no thunder.  so i heard gobbiling half way up a hill so i set on top of the hill right above the gobbler and that when i soft yelped and he shut right up.  so i got up after 10 mins of him being quiet and sat in a field nearby!.   heard some gobbling some 200 yards to my front right.  he was still on his tree im thinking but i had him all fired up with cuts and purrs from the box call.  After a while he just kind of shut up!  im thinking he either flew down from the roost and met hens whom silenced him or he got sic of trying to get me to come to him because he was in a good strutting area he liked.   I then got up and went to another field and no dice so i got up and staretd walking the ridge line stopping at every hollow to yelp down into.  Thats when it started raining and thundering,  so i ran up hill again to the field i bheard the gobbling the first time in and there was a turkey some 150 yards in front of me.  could tell if it were hen or tom but he/she wandered over the hill and to the road out of sight.  

Under the cover of hard rain drops and some rolling thunder,  i tried to sneak up the hill i heard the previous gobbler that stopped gobbeling after he met with hens.  there was hen crap leading all over the side of the hill.  i got to the top and seen some scratches and then i peeked my  head into a small field only about 150 yards long and 40 yards wide a slight up hill,  i seen a toms rear facing me half way up the hill so i imidiatley sat and started calling.  i left my decoy at the bottom of the hill as i was too tired to carry them.  i started some soft yelps mixed with cuts and he just stood there with hens.  for about 10 mins just standing in the same spot in full strut here and there.  i figure it was raining hard enough for me to sneak into the woods deeper and move close enough to take a shot.  as soon as i got up he gobbled and looked right at me and bolted.  

i wen to another are later around 2pm,  heard some gobbling down a short hollow,  picked out a nice white oak to recline in and started calling soft,  no response, then a little agressive with some cuts and still........no response.  after 40 mins of calling here and there i just left.

that was my day and its like this every single day.

[30_06]

Sounds like you are in the thick of things! Maybe just a little more patience (I hate that word), and you will close the deal.
Good luck, and have fun!

[mightyjoeyoung]

Sounds like you are in the thick of things! Maybe just a little more patience (I hate that word), and you will close the deal.
Good luck, and have fun!

Why do hate the word patience?!  It is without doubt one of the most important attributes a turkey hunter can posess!  
Lon, I am not jumping on you here, but it sounds like you're moving around WAAAAY too much.  If the birds are sounding off on the roost and then shut up when you call...don't call to them on the roost, but try to PATTERN those birds and position yourself in the area they want to be at fly down.  If that first bird was half way up the hill side next to a field, it only makes sense to set up on THAT side of the field edge, maybe 10-15 yards in facing up the hill to break up your sillouette and call to him only AFTER he hits the ground...and keep it SOFT.  A couple decoys off to your left and behind you (if you're a righty) will draw his attention to the deeks and away from your position.  Big thing is, if what you're doing isn't working, why keep doing it???  Gotta be flexible to be a turkey hunter.  and you MUST, MUST, MUST be willing to learn from your experience and use that the next time you set up.

[Lon0121]

the thing is that i know your right,  i think i move around too much.  with that being said when they fly down from roost they hit the tick woods, when i try to sneak in the leaves are so dang loud.  I try to locate them off the roost at dusk to know where to set up in the am but they dont answer any locator sounds.  i need to pick one good spot and call for a long time in thier direction of travel.  i hear from so many people they wont travel down hill to a call.

[K-ZONE]

Patience,Patience,Patience and stealthx3...Give your setup time to work..Sometimes it takes 5min and sometimes it takes 2 hrs and sometimes they dont show up at all.When i first started turkey huntin i couldnt tell u how many birds i bumped from not sittin tight long enough.You need to slow down and it will all come together.

[mightyjoeyoung]

the thing is that i know your right,  i think i move around too much.  with that being said when they fly down from roost they hit the tick woods, when i try to sneak in the leaves are so dang loud.  I try to locate them off the roost at dusk to know where to set up in the am but they dont answer any locator sounds.  i need to pick one good spot and call for a long time in thier direction of travel.  i hear from so many people they wont travel down hill to a call.

For the most part that may be true...but if the fields they wana be in are down hill from the roost then...
A better way to locate them on the roost might be to get there to the general area that they roost, the evening before, and just sit down and BE QUIET.  Just see what you hear and try to locate them going to the roost not first thing in the morning.  
Try to get where they wana be way BEFORE they get there can work well too...without having to make a peep.  Some guys frown upon "ambushing" a bird. I call it good tacticts.  Just call to them quietly and if they respond, work em accordingly.  In PA the law even says (and I think is mis-interperited way too often) that hunting spring turkey is by calling only.  What the heck does that mean anyway??!!  I take it as as long as you call...once...you're all legal.  Haven't every hunted your neck of the woods, even though I have family down thataways.  

[K-ZONE]

the thing is that i know your right,  i think i move around too much.  with that being said when they fly down from roost they hit the tick woods, when i try to sneak in the leaves are so dang loud.  I try to locate them off the roost at dusk to know where to set up in the am but they dont answer any locator sounds.  i need to pick one good spot and call for a long time in thier direction of travel.  i hear from so many people they wont travel down hill to a call.

Forget tryin to move to them its  far to risky...try it  only when conditions are perfect.An ambush method is best.The smarter u make the birds the harder they are to hunt.When in dout back out a bird not spooked today can be killed later or tommorrow. In another post i said i killed alot of birds doin what they were not supposed to be doin.This translates into about 85% of the birds i've killed were called down hill.All depends on what part of the breeding their in and how hot they are.

[Lon0121]

why dont they answer a locator at dusk??  another thing is I cant get out until Monday,  i hope they are still strutting then.  our season ends may eighth and it started last saturday.

[30_06]

Why do hate the word patience?!  It is without doubt one of the most important attributes a turkey hunter can posess!  

I am agreeing with you, but having learned an inkling of patience was difficult for me. I always used to be a make it happen kind of guy, but thru years of hunting experience the long lesson of patience was finally drilled into my brain.
In short, patience and I have a love hate relationship.