This is getting frustrating! HELP?

[muzzyman88]

I took off this week to chase the birds. I am having absolutely no luck at all. Not with seeing toms, but getting a good setup on them.

The problem I"m having is I keep getting surprised by them. They don't gobble much on the ground, but sneak in. And of course, usually off to my odd side (left). I got picked off this morning by two big toms. They didn't putt or alarm any, just snuck outta there. So, I moved around them once they moved out of sight. I set up in a different location and began calling. To my surprise, I had two birds hammering my calls at 9:30. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from. I finally gota bead on them and again, they were on my odd side. I turned ever so slowly to get in position. I never seen the damn turkeys as they were about 75yards out and seen me.......again.

Im ready to scream. Anyone else out there have this type of luck? They really got my number this year.

[tigerw10]

Sounds to me like your in a good spot with plenty of toms. Maybe your set-ups aren't the greatest. Try getting into thicker cover, or even using some kind of camo material to hind behind. I know this can be a pain to haul in and out of the woods. So..... i would just suggest finding some thicker cover to hide in/behind. Maybe a brush pile, a downed log, behind a tree. Just somewhere so even if you get surprised by an incoming tom you can still move into a shooting position without getting "picked off." Hope this helps, let us know how your next hunt goes..... goodluck!

[Strut&Rut]

Instead of moving your body, try going to the range and switching trigger arms. The only thing that will be moving is your gun, and most birds will tolerate that...

On another note, if you're getting birds fired up ~9am, that would indicate the hens are going to nest quite early. If that's the case, I would try to get as close as possible to them on the roost, and then start ambushing the birds after flydown.

I've found it's always easier to kill a bird in areas they frequent on a daily basis, simply because they are more comfortable with those surroundings. Every time you "call" a tom to an area of the woods he does not visit on a somewhat regular basis (for whatever reason), the bird's survival instinct is usually higher than the urge to mate...