This bird I'm after did it again! Took a buddy with me this morning and put him on the opposite end of this small ridge this bird roost and struts on. My buddy was going to leave at8 a.m. I saw the bird fly down this morning, headed toward my buddy.
Our plan was, if he went towards my buddy I would do the calling because he normally ignors my calls and keeps going away.If he came my way, my buddy was to do the calling.I started calling, he was doing as I fiqured, but he turned around and came back. Was out about 80 yds puting on a show, couldn't move him. Six or 7 hens passed behind me at about 20 yds, as they went further into the swamp, he went after them. At 8 a.m., he came back with some hens and started struting again at about the same place, then followed the hens off. Guess he was showing me who's the smartest. I stayed til noon and never saw him again, heard 2 or 3 more birds but wouldn't leave this area.
I went back at 3 p.m. and waited for him to come back to the roost. I heard a bird fly up but didn't see him. Will be back there in the morning. Sooner or later, he's going to make a mistake.
dog1
__________________
It ain't the killing, it's the going and doing.
dog1, keep at it...sounds like you've got this bird patterned...just a thought tho...maybe slip in a bit closer to his roost and use just clucks after he pitches off roost..you might get lucky enough to have him fly down into your lap...good luck with that bird
I encountered that same problem last year. The bird I hunted turned from me everytime I called. He'd strut and gobble while walking away from me. I hunted him for four days. On the fourth day I snuck into his strut zone while he was at the other end of it and sat still. I sat for 3 1/2 hours. I never called or moved. He strutted and gobbled the whole time. It was rough, as I like to run and gun. Patience paid off and he walked past me at 30 yards. I clucked twice and he about shat down both legs thinking a hen had come in that close without making a noise. The only thing that went through his head was my wad! Stay patient and don't spook him. He will mess up. Good luck.
Are you in the same spot every morning? Change it up. Get in there and put a few dekes up in the dark so that when first light comes he might be able to see them from his roost. Just before he flies down cluck and purr and then be quite. He knows where the hen is now he just has to come take a look. Another thing you might try if he is very big is a gobble tube. I would only use it right after he flew down and is on the ground. Only a couple times. See if that helps. Patience is a virtue, no patience is a pain in the a$$. Good luck
Here comes some free advice, so take it for what its worth.
An old friend and turkey hunting mentor of mine once told me that the best thing to do when you find a turkey like that is to go find another turkey. Obsession is not healthy, and you will spend all your time fooling with thissharp oldbird and miss opportunities to have fun with other turkeys. If you try to work him every day it won't take him long to pattern you.
I've seen several of these types of turkeys, both on public and private ground. They will gobble and stut when you call but won't come in. Some, in fact, go the other way as you mention. You are going to have to wait until later in the season when the hens don't come running to him every time he gobbles. I would also suggest that you spend early morning time with other gobblers, and return to him at mid-day when he may be lonesome.
Many times these types of birds won't be big at all. They spend all their time strutting, fighting, and chasing hens around.
I finally got to pull the trigger on a bird last year that I hunted for two years ('04 & '05). He would roost in a steep gully that was essentially inaccessable. This turkey would gobble his head off from the roost but would not fly downuntil he saw a live hen or else he would fly down into the middle of an adjacent field. I tried everything I knew - setting up close, setting up in the field with decoys, not calling until he flew down, calling a lot, calling a little, gobbling at him and doing fighting purrs, etc. One dayI took a garden rake and raked outa cleanwalking path through the backside of his roosting place. The next morning, wearinghouseshoes to be extra quiet, I slipped in there while it was still dark without making a sound. I'm sitting in there tight and he starts gobbling.I waited until he gobbled 3 or 4times andmake some soft tree calls and he explodes with double gobbles. Thats it, no more calling. That crazy thing sat up there and gobbled for 45 minutes and finally flew down into the field on the other side of the woods away from me. He just wasn't interested in flying down in the woods unless he saw a hen.I got up and looped around to the field where he flew down and heard him gobbling about 100 yards away around a corner. I got as close as I could and sat down in some weeds. I clucked on a slate and he gobbled. He came around the corner but stopped at 75 yards. That turkey stood there for about 15 minutes and must have gobbled 50 times, walkind around in a strut butnot taking one step to get closer to me. Eventually two hens walked out of the woods and he joined them as they made their way to another part of the farm.
I finally killed him one day at about 12:15 after following him around from a distance as he strutted and gobbled with hens. I had stopped yelping at him with a diaphram so I was only scratching in the leaves and clucking and purring on a slate call. He made a mistake that day and dropped his guard,slippingin behindme for a 35 yard shot. He was a 3 or 4 year old bird that only weighed 17 lbs.
This type of turkey provides the ulitmate challenge the sport provides.That is why it is called turkey huntin' and notturkey killin'.Just don'tlet him get under you skin and drive you to drinkin'. Obsession is a bad thing.
Good luck
Mouthcaller
__________________ Captain, Team 1 - The Last Gobble 2009 HuntingNet.com Spring Turkey Contest Champions
Iam going to have to agree with mouthcaller on this one. If you have other places to hunt I would try them out for a few day's. I had a bird like this 3 years ago, he was dead set on making me look like a fool. I stayed away from the area for a week and ended upgeting him on the last morning of the season.
Man...these are the birds I live for!!! All of us get lucky once in a while, have seen birds killed with bad calling, bad setup etc...we get cocky...and along comes a bird like this that actually makes us think...and hunt...
I would use two different tactics...one has been mentioned...Get in early, put up a couple of hen decoys and a jake...When he starts his tree gobbles...call to him one time, let him answer, and pack your calls away, don't dare call to him again...He knows exactly where you are...I had a bird similiar to this three years ago...I did this...it took him 1 1/2 hours to make his way to me...but, I knew I was in his preferred strut zone...thats where you have the edge on him...and he won't stand for that jake with the hens...I collected that turkey at 15 steps....he only gobbled 3 times on the way in...
On another one just a couple of years ago...I waited until 10:30 am to go hunting...put out my decoys...called 3-4 times and had an answer....I shut up...45 minutes later I had him on the ground....What was so cool is that 2 of my hunting buddies had been after that turkey for 2-3 weeks and gave up on him...told me about it and I asked if I could try my hand, they said go ahead we are through with that bird...gonna go find another one...They had the bird patterned, knew his strut zone, knew some mornings he picked up his hens before he got there...I just waited until he got finished with his 1st of the morning (you know how that makes you feel sooo cocky???)...and then waited for him to come back to the area, looking for another....
Day 6, He did it again!
