Question for the Run & Gun guys

[Mossberg90MN]

I got a question for the run & gun guys...

Let's say you roost a bird, you get in tight in the AM, but turkeys do what turkeys do, and the Tom flys off in another direction, or runs into a hen and he never comes into range and leaves with the hen.

Here's where my question comes...

Do you sit tight and wait until he loses the hen and then hopefully come back to look?

Or do you try to follow them and wait for him to lose the hen and then go in for your attempt?

Or do you abandon that gobbler and instantly go looking for another bird and then maybe go back to that spot mid morning in case he shows up?

I really plan on trying to cover a lot of ground this coming season and I'm trying to map out a strategy.

[Sasha and Abby]

Don't call while they are in the tree... 

[Happy]

Depends. If I have a a noon, 1 pm deadline then sitting around waiting for him to get lonely isn't really high odds. I am not cut out to sit around much so I pretty much do one of 2 things. See if the hens are feeling sociable(usually they are not) or make them really,really mad. This usually involves badgering them and circling them to badger them some more. If I can eventually get the hens to at least get tired of swapping directions and mad enough to take a peek at me then I have had decent luck swinging the old boy off to the side enough to bring him in range. But usually my first reaction if calling him in off the roost is unsuccessfull is to slip around and see if there are any other lonely candidates out there. If my original birds seem to be the only game in town then I start working them. I just tend to hunt by touch and feel. A tom with hens can be a pretty frustrating customer. That's part of the challenge though.

[Brwndg]

"Or do you abandon that gobbler and instantly go looking for another bird and then maybe go back to that spot mid morning in case he shows up?"

This wud be my choice

[Upfold99]

"Or do you abandon that gobbler and instantly go looking for another bird and then maybe go back to that spot mid morning in case he shows up?"

This wud be my choice

X2.

[paboxcall]

"Or do you abandon that gobbler and instantly go looking for another bird and then maybe go back to that spot mid morning in case he shows up?"

This wud be my choice

X2.

X3. This tactic after flydown tends to be my MO, but I've learned to pay better attention to how the gobbler was responding - was his response cursory, or was there interest. If I suspect he's interested but currently distracted, I'll stay put, but give him plenty of space and time. Like Happy its not in my nature to sit still, but patience mixed with long periods of silence works.

[Mossberg90MN]

cool, that's what I planned on doing. If not that exact spot, an area close to that spot where he left from, then just do some blind calling for an hour or so before moving off.

I always seem to have the trouble of choosing between just sitting for a couple hours or moving on and keep looking.

[Marc]

Really depends on the size of the area you are hunting....

Assuming I have tried all my tricks (calling in the hens, gobbling at the toms, etc.)

Smaller property, I am more likely to set up in a high traffic area and hope for a different bird if I do not kill the bird I roosted...  Larger property, I am more likely to search for a willing bird.

I have had terrible luck calling birds back to an area there were shortly before...  I also enjoy engaging the birds.  Drumming up a gobbling bird and going after him, has a sense of excitement.

Hunting a well-traveled area with patience is probably more productive...  And I have no doubt I have scared more birds than I have killed, but covering ground and calling up a bird is the most enjoyable way to hunt for "me."

[dirt road ninja]

Once I find one, I try to stay with them until one of us makes a mistake. If I lose tabs on him then I'll go look for another, but it's hard for me to leave a bird to find a bird.

[Mossberg90MN]

Once I find one, I try to stay with them until one of us makes a mistake. If I lose tabs on him then I'll go look for another, but it's hard for me to leave a bird to find a bird.

I'm in that same boat. I have had them just disappear on me though. Which is why I'm looking at taking different approach this season. Which is why I do t mind coming back and revisiting the spot if I didn't have any luck anywhere else.

[Bowguy]

I currently have some medical issues and run n gun less but I did it since the 80s if the roost hunt didn't work.
There's considerations. One if it flies down w hens and you can't work the hens nor anger the bird w jake sounds I'd leave. In my scouting I'd hopefully have other birds located nearby. Better yet if I had another roosted nearby.
I'd simply go try n work a fresh bird. Too often guys chase after em only to push them away. If you stayed relatively non aggressive the bird may eventually come back.
If the bird flies off a mtn into fields I can't hunt why would I try n call em back into that mtn?

Trying to map out a statedgy imo means locating as many birds as possible. Roosting one or more a night so you have back up plans.
Letting a bird doesn't want to work do his thing and finding one that does wanna work. Sitting in one spot waiting imo isn't the best option at times. You could be working a bird.  sometimes a few minutes more are helpful. It depends on the situations there's no every time answer. There's actually different ones here and they could all work.
Experience will help you decide. More often than not though, even limited I'm not rotting in one spot too long after the birds leave

[GobbleNut]

Really depends on the size of the area you are hunting....
Smaller property, I am more likely to set up in a high traffic area and hope for a different bird if I do not kill the bird I roosted...  Larger property, I am more likely to search for a willing bird.

This^^    How I hunt an area begins with what I have available, as well as my assessment as to how many turkeys are there.  I absolutely hate the "patience game",...that is, sitting around waiting for a gobbler to show up,...but sometimes that is how you have to play it.  Running around helter-skelter on 200 acres hoping to find a gobbling turkey is a good way to either run the birds off the place or get them to clam-up altogether while sneaking around trying to avoid you.

However, you can extend a small property to something considerably larger by easing along the perimeter of the property and trying to strike a gobbler off of an adjacent property.  That is a strategy I have used many times hunting places where I was restricted to a small area.  You may be restricted to a particular piece of property, but gobblers don't know property lines.

On large tracts, I am going to go prospecting for gobblers pretty quickly.  The only exception to that is if I am aware that the woods are saturated with other hunters and that I might interfere with their engagement with a bird.  That is where having knowledge of the area you are hunting,...via experience or the use of good mapping systems,...makes a major difference.  Knowing where to head to get away from the competition (and being in condition to be able to get there) makes a world of difference in finding a gobbling turkey.

[hotspur]

Stay put, key word satellite gobblers

[Missouri hunter]

For me and where I'm at as a hunter there's a time to "run and gun" and I time for patience. Most of the time if your setup is good, in a good area, it's the time for patience. I try to give a bird a couple hours off the roost. Sometimes if your not right in the area they want to fly to and strut, you have to wait on them. Every situation is different but I've had better luck being patient the first few hours of the day. When I do run and gun, I go to areas I know turkeys to be or suspect if I don't know the property. If turkeys aren't gobbling a lot I will do a lot of 1 hour setups, cold calling just here and there.

[CALLM2U]

It goes without saying that every situation is different, however, it's hard for me to walk away from a gobbling turkey.  If he shuts up when he connects with those hens, and I can hear another turkey gobbling, I very well may leave him and go chase the other one. 

If he still continues to gobble, then I would try to circle around and intercept them (if I know where they're going) or try to pick a fight with the hens.