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Old 04-15-2014, 10:46 AM
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CalHunter
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern California
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It can get tricky. I hunted Sat/Sun on a buddy's cattle ranch here in CA. Perfect weather and at least 7-8 toms gobbling before sunset in different parts of the ranch. We tried till about noon on the first day to get them to respond to calls and decoys with no luck.

We tried calling again on the 2nd day till about 9:30ish with no luck so switched to plan B (run and gun). We located some birds at the top of a pasture hill next to a large patch of oak and brush. They can be hard to sneak up on (stalk) when the terrain is open with only a few large oak trees as your cover is limited to those oak trees. One of the toms was strutting but flew away when I was still out of range. I got to about 45-50 yards behind the closest oak tree and was able to get one of them.

I'm not saying either way is right all the time or in your particular area. Running and gunning sometimes flushes birds when they're too far away or keeps them moving out of your sight in heavy brush. Sometimes calling works well and it's definitely fun to gobble or hen call back and forth with a big tom. Just saying you may have to switch tactics if what you're trying isn't working that day.

Something else I forgot about is the use of a shock call, an owl or crow. Sometimes the toms respond (gobble) to that and it can help you locate them. Hopefully some, any or all of this helps. Good luck and let everybody know how it works for you.
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