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[the_outlaw]

the season ends this weekend here!! the hunting pressure seems to be high where we hunt. we are hunting on public property. the property has moderate hills, some fields, and woods!! the turkeys gobble in the morning, but once they fly down thats it...no more of anything!!! we have been setting our decoys (3 hens and 1 jake) up in the fields and have had no success!! we set-up in the woods, where we had found evidence of a roost about a week earlier, and no luck there either. since the start of the season we have seen NO birds. i' m wondering if anyone can help us out?? what are we doing wrong?? what could we change?? any and all tips, advice and/or help will be great!!! we also do not call very often, once an hour just about!!!

Many many thanks,
Outlaw

[huntnma]

just bein' out there will help... spendin' every available second ya' ll have out there helps......i' d also stay in the woods.....where i hunt is by quota only, there are 3 seperate hunts, 3 days each....i also work out there so i am out there 5-6 days a week , working and watchin' of course...i learned that the birds we kept seeing out on the powerline were all just going into the woods about 200 yards in , if that after that first hunt......they knew after that first day not to be in the open, but then they would come out onto the powerline a few days after the hunt ended........it was a routine..... hope whatever you do will work for you....good luck.....

[Legacy357]

the best thing i had done when there is a lot of hunting pressure is too try and roost a bird the night before and just get in close to him in the morning with decoys set up and barely call. If you can' t roost one, in the morning walk in and listen for gobbles at first light. sneek to the closest bird and try it again....sometimes you just need to sit and watch like you were deer hunting and they might come strolling by......it worked for me this year....i could not roost a bird but i knew where the roost and slipped in a never even called.....other than that, i have no idea.....GOOD LUCK!

[determined]

this was my first year and i walked a bunch in my first three days.to make a long story short.on my last day i heard a bird gobble early[i was out 1 hour before daylight],the same roost tree i heard him 2 days before in the woods and he flew to the back of me i assume to a hen and he was gone.this day,i set up one hen decoy in a feild nearby,he was about 120 yards.made 2 soft tree yelps,heard him land and gobble approx 70 yards away.gave him 2 very quiet purrs and clucks and put my call down.sat like a stature for 20 minutes and there he was,didnt make a sound.24 lbs,11 inch beard,1 inch spurs.lessoned learned,they like flying down into a adjoining feild,call sparingly be motionless,be vigilant.if you dont get a bird in the first couple hours,dont give up,try to locate one to work,or think about a prime place for a ambush.and the veterans,tapes and books are right,you will see turkeys in open feilds in the rain and wind.poke your head out of timber etc in open feilds and glass them carefully,they might hold birds.good luck.

[benhuntin]

Make sure you hunt until the end of legal time. Most turkey hunters on public land
head home by mid morning. I have had good luck in the past by hunting the 10:00 to 2:00 time period on heavily hunted public land. If the sign is there and the turkeys are gobbling on the roost, stick it out in the area as long as you can.
I have seen turkeys fly down from the roost and mill around their roosting site until mid morning before heading to other parts. Pressured birds dont like to move around much. I cant tell you how many times Ive hunted the wma' s by my house
until noon and not seen or heard a thing and then came back scouting in the early afternoon only to see gobblers and hens running around in the roads like chickens.