Hi guys...I'll tell you the quick story of how my season is going then have a few questions. Got up here (central Wisconsin) Thursday night...did some calling trying to find where they were roosting, couldn't find where they were roosting, one turkey silently stalked us as we (my girlfriend and I) were walking down a trail calling to try to get a gobble. I turned around saw it's head poke up over a rise and then it was gone. Yesterday we set up at the corner of a field saw one hen in the morning. Last night we went somewhere else to figure out where they were roosting and heard them go up to roost. This morning, walk out to try and get kinda close to the roost (we didn't know exactly where it was) and we start hearing the alarm call...oops! We're in the middle, literally surrounded by turkeys. We quickly just sit down by a tree and a few got scared but many stuck around till daylight and the flydown. Finally today we got some responses from gobblers, couldn't find any...left our decoy and starting going towards a gobble that was far off, one thing lead to another and we ended up back by our decoy and scared a Tom that was sitting in a tree right by our decoy. Super frustrating! So anyways, this is my first year turkey hunting and i need help!
1) It's very windy here which makes it tough and we haven't heard many gobblers, any easy tips to be successful in wind?
2) How do you hunt mid-day gobblers, they're obviously around and I hear sometimes it's the best, but we can't get a gobble out of them and they could be anywhere!
3) How close should we set up to the roost, I know we were WAYY too close this morning obviously but how close should we be?
4) I couldn't get ANY shock gobbles this morning which is why we didn't know where they roosted, any tips on getting shock gobbles? I have an owl hooter and a crow call...NO gobbles whatsoever from either
5) Do toms and hens roost together or do they each sort of go to different roosting areas?
6) ANYTHING else I can do? I'm getting frustrated and it's hard to do much good when you can't get them to gobble because they could be anywhere!
Alright quick nap then back at it...thank you so much for your help!
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Psalm 23
I'm addicted to the outdoors, that's all there is to it!
1) It's very windy here which makes it tough and we haven't heard many gobblers, any easy tips to be successful in wind?
Stay on the lee side of the ridge or the edge of a field - by that I mean if the wind is from the West - sit the East side of the ridge or field and look for calm areas and wait.
2) How do you hunt mid-day gobblers, they're obviously around and I hear sometimes it's the best, but we can't get a gobble out of them and they could be anywhere! I sit and wait in high traffic areas - byt ath I mean where i avhe seen/heard/found tracks-poop-feathers, etc. I may or may not use a decoy. I call sparingly and softly.
3) How close should we set up to the roost, I know we were WAYY too close this morning obviously but how close should we be? Well being yur first year. you jus learned you got too close. rule of thumb most use is 100 yards - scouting helps if you know the way they will come fromt he roost.
4) I couldn't get ANY shock gobbles this morning which is why we didn't know where they roosted, any tips on getting shock gobbles? I have an owl hooter and a crow call...NO gobbles whatsoever from either If the pattern I ahve seen is the same - and because the temp is still cool - they gobble good from the roost but once down and WITH HENS - they follow along in strut. By now it should be getting better with gobbling after 9 or 10 AM at least that is what I hope for next week. I will kow more on Sunday as I start my WI scouting.
5) Do toms and hens roost together or do they each sort of go to different roosting areas? Same area and Same tree at times
6) ANYTHING else I can do? I'm getting frustrated and it's hard to do much good when you can't get them to gobble because they could be anywhere! If you are a runner and gunner - this phase is most frustrating to you - Welcome to turkey hunting! But if you can sit and wait in a scouted out highly used area - you will see birds.
Alright quick nap then back at it...thank you so much for your help
JW
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Turkey Hunting! ~ One Turkey Calling Another!
-About the gobbling - if you don't hear a bird gobbling to your calling they still may be coming in, a lot of birds come in silently, if you begin calling in an area try to sit there for at least a half hour to an hour because you never know what may show up without a peep.
Thank you guys! I don't necessarily want to be a runner and gunner, as I'd rather call in a bird. But when we scouted we found feathers and poop in lots of areas none of which seem to be HEAVILY used...We are hunting about a square mile of land that has ponds, farm fields, prairies, hardwoods(where they roost), and pine forests. None of it is very thick with lots of open spots and its bordered by a river. I scouted 2 weeks ago and we're still learning, we'll be back up in 2 weeks for another season but obviously I'd really like to tag out.... Since we spooked some birds off the roost this morning does that mean they won't roost there again tonight?
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Psalm 23
I'm addicted to the outdoors, that's all there is to it!
they will stay in the general area. proly move a coupl hundred yards away. if you know where they are roosting and coming down in the morning then half the battle is won. get in extra early and set up where you know they will be going. usually a gobler has a certain area he likes to fly down and gobble to gather up hens in the morning. find that spot setup and wait.
Well...I didn't get one, but every day of hunting got better and better and I could ALMOST pull the trigger yesterday morning. The birds roosted in the same area but about a hundred hards away from the night before. We got out there and set-up an hour before sunrise. As color hit the sky all behind us we heard 4-5 different gobblers just going nuts. Then the hens started cluckin and purring in front of us where we roosted them the night before. The hens flew down and I was just mimicking how they were calling while they were on the ground and I could hear a gobbler getting closer and closer then I heard it about 30 yards away, but on the other side of the tree I was sitting on (Lesson learned: always shift around the tree to where you hear the gobbling in the roost) so I couldn't really move and get around the tree for a shot. He saw another hen right by him and ended up getting with her. I kept mimicking the hens in the area and obviously one of them didn't like it and I noticed she was getting really sharp and angry with my calling. So I continued fighting with her for a good 15 minutes just cutting yelping and clucking back and forth. Everything she'd do I'd do but I would cut her off halfway through her calling. I saw a tom displaying as he walked over where she was...about 80 yards away through the forest...the hen got sick of me mimicking her and wanted to come over for a fight so I saw her start running my way but unfortunately there were a bunch of downed trees in between me and her and she couldn't figure out how to get over or around them. By that time she saw the displaying and instantly shut-up and walked off with him. I still never found out what they do in the middle of the day, I found some hens nest but have NO idea what the toms do. Now that I know where they roost my girlfriend and I both have tags for the 5th season, hopefully we'll be able to do a bit more good now that we learned so much from this season. I'll put a post up of the things I learned in my first season.
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Psalm 23
I'm addicted to the outdoors, that's all there is to it!
Day and a half left...HELP!
