totally stumped

[mauser06]

i need some help from you seasoned vets...this is my 9th season chasin birds...ive only pulled the trigger on 2...but i call in many mature birds each season. im no expert...but ive been around a bit...

this AM was our opener. overcast, light rain off and on. 5:53am im a couple yards from where i wanted to setup and one hammers. about a 100yds infront of me...perfect. i crawled in, set up a hen decoy 10 yds infront of me and crawled back and got out some calls...i was on a corner of a treeline where 2 treelines meet. to the right is crops to my left and infront of me was some shrubs and bushes and a grassy opening..to the left was oaks and a 50ft creek high wall and infront of me passed the shrubs was oaks..where the bird was

while setting up another one hammered..just about the creek(30yds to my left) and about 50-60yds out. done deal right?? he seen the decoy and its as good as over huh?? i wait a WHILE before making a peep or moving. daylight starts to break...the birds are both double and triple gobbling just to ammuse themselves..good deep long throaty gobbles...no short gobbles. i couldnt have asked to be in a better opening day position...as it approached 620-630 i figured they should hit the ground any second so i did a soft tree yelp...they went bonkers. 10 or 15 mins later they were still going bonkers but still on the limb so i gave another little tree yelp..

finally dang near 7am i saw wings flapping..i could sworn i had the far one talkin to me on the ground for a good 5 minutes..but the close one wouldnt move...all the sudden the woods fell silent...ok gun up and ready...they going to come down the tree line or pop through a bush? nothing..15mins later i cut hard on the box call...nothing. then i put it down and looked down across the 50ft highwall...low and behold there they were...both big longbeards strutting..when i looked down there they hammered at the same time...kinda laughing at me...

ok waders are in the truck a 1/3 of a mile away..theres a bridge a mile down the road...nah no time for that...i walked about a 1/4 mile and crossed the big creek..up and over my rubber boots..but i was determined..setup,called, waited..nothing...they dissappeared..i highly highly doubt they busted me...i litterally crawled out of sight..and didnt get super close to them...

my question is what was up with them...2 lone longbeards double and tripled gobbling on the roost...they gobbled an honest 100 times or so EACH in that first hour..they wouldnt shut up.

2 problems....they stayed on roost pretty late..and they flew across the creek to a nasty flooded field...theres literally flocks of geese on that field ..its a flood plain for that big creek.

my only guess is they thought they should have been able to see the hen and couldnt. and i doubt they could have...the decoy was behind a shrub between me and them[:@] i put it there just incase one hung up to the right in the field...i had them do that in the passed...

or they simply wanted to goto the flooded field...i dont know.

advice? tips? anything?

i never use decoys except in situations like that..open fields etc...ive never had a bird come into it honestly in 3 years..i gave it back to my friend today...im going to revert to my old methods...setup 30 or 40yds back away from the birds in a nice patch of oak trees..that way they hear me but know they cant see me..

i know calling on the roost isnt smart...i kept it minimal just to get and keep their attention..i was only going to do it once but they must turned around..they sounded different once when they gobbled..i thought they hit the ground....but they didnt

[Mr. Longbeard]

I've had similar situations happen to me... All I can say is I think the gobblers are so use to the hens coming to them that they just go to the places that they normally go to with the hens... Once the season pragresse and the gobblers finally relize that the hens aren't comeing to them. Maybe they will start coming to the call...Sorry for the spelling. I'm a Mechanic

[JW]

Well it might of been the luck of the draw......
But.......
If they continue to go to that field - that is what you need to find out! Then I would set-up on that field and wait them out.

JW

[mauser06]

thanx guys...i really dont know what was on their mind. that spot is a tinnnnny strip of woods..no joke 40yds wide and 200yds long. its REALLY hit or miss...but when its a hit theres always a couple gobblers in it..usually no other birds. the birds in the area seem to roost in different little patches throughout the farmlands..ive never in my wildest dreams imagined they would hit that flooded field. i thought for sure hens took them there...but to my amazement just 2 longbeards like i thought i had...

if i find them there again and setting up back in the woods doesnt help and they still fly down there i'll find a way to get there. theres a driveway that goes pretty close to them..im betting i can drive to the end and park in the field..be setup in the tree line they flew down near and let them have it when they hit the ground..

we will see...i hunted that spot 2 years ago on opening day and had gobblers going nuts and come in..never heard a single peep there again that season...granted, i got busted...a jake came in and starred me in the eyes for about 2 minutes while i was waiting on the strutting longbeard at 40yds. he brushed my pants and started putting...

we will see what happens...may be a spot that i need to roost them so i dont waste flydown hunts to find they didnt roost there..

[matt068]

Being that close to them they may have seen you or heard you. That may explain there late exit from the tree and their reluctance to go toward your deke. Its also possible they just did it to test your sanity. Stay in the game think of it as you're wearing them down!!!!!!! Good Luck

[Champlain Islander]

Perhaps you were too close and the calling bothered them since they didn't see the deke.

[mauser06]

the problem i have with the too close theory is that if they seen my they wouldnt have gobbled their heads off like they did. ive seen that happen 100004 times and every time the bird completely shuts down...he usually watches you until you get anxuios and move and then he will fly away laughing at you.

i think it was a bad setup...i agree..too close...but like i said...only because he didnt see the decoy. if i would been farther, or he seen the decoy i think id have a different story...i truely do.

i honestly think they sat up there looking for the hen all morning..i should either never called or went farther into the woods and not into that clearing....

i do this every year...i have a habit of calling to them on the roost..i think that if i dont let them know im there before they fly down they will fly down elsewhere...but i cant do that when im setup in the open..

the more i think about it i KNOW they were looking for me...sometimes they would gobble facing me others i know they were turned..i could hear the difference..and i know the far one hit the ground infront of me..then flew off the highwall after the close one did...

oh well...9yrs at it and i learn every hunt...thats what i love about it..

and i'll never wear them birds down....birds will wear me down a heck of alot quicker than me wearing them down!! ive devoted seasons to single birds...by the end of the season im on my last straw..not the birds...he laughs at me...

[Roadkillwarrior]

I have been haveing the same thing happening to me the last three mornings, and I put all my calls and decoys away and go into comando mode. I try to do everything I can to cut the distance between us, get as close to were I think the turkey is going to fly down, set up in places I have seen birds before, or wait till later in the morning or the afternoon and glass the fields and try to make a stock on the long beards. Hope this helps you, good luck!! I need a little luck to.-lol

[mauser06]

roadkill...no offense..i will NEVER turkey hunt that way. its an excellent way to hunt...but not a way that i will personally hunt. to me killing a turkey is icing on the cake. saturday morning i didnt kill one...but was a memerable, exciting turkey hunt. probably a record for the most gobbles from single birds ive EVER heard in my life. rolling one of them would been awesome and icing on the cake...but i wont shoot birds that i dont get that rush and excitement from. pulling the trigger tops the cake...but when im turkey hunting i like to work the birds and make them go bonkers.

thats why im impatient. once the birds shut down i give them a half an hour to gobble and respond...if they dont i run and gun looking for a bird that WILL gobble and play the game.

i can sit in a tree stand for 8+hrs waiting on a deer...but i cant sit and wait on a turkey to mosey on by...thats not as fun as workin them and hearin that gobble..

now if i work a bird for a while and he shuts down and then sneaks in silent ill take him...ive had that happen numerous times...they will gobble their heads off an completely shut down...that to me means get that gun up and ready coz hes sneakin in silently...usually birds that been around the block once or twice will do that...

if i REALLY wanted to kill a turkey id shoot one from the roost or drive around glassing the fields till i found one...

your way isnt wrong...its an excellent tactic...just not one id enjoy..

best of luck to you...your methods will pay off if you pattern the birds correctly...

[uncle matt]

mauser, you know how that coyote population just keeps on growing and growing ALL ACROSS North America?

Notice the decline in number of pheasants you've been seeing?

Notice the decline in number rabbits you've been seeing?

Heck, notice the decline of all the critters coyotes will munch on?

Like turkeys?

The coyote is a scavenger but he is also a highly skilled killer.