MarylandGobblers

Great tips! I recall my first bird in 2005. It was my second year turkey hunting. It was gobbling from the roost just before first light. The previous year in the same location, I was working a bird that I kept calling to. That bird never came in. This year, however, I was determined to call just enough to let the bird know where I was. So, I did some yelps on my box call. This drove him crazy, and he continued to gobble from the roost. Still, I remained quiet, except for doing the 2-1 scratch (two scratches, pause, then one more). When he heard this scratching, he gobbled in response. But, I did not call anymore. Moments later, I heard him fly down and head towards my area, causing all sorts of noise and commotion. I pointed the gun in that direction, and seconds later he entered my area. When he was about 25 yards away, he passed by a tree, which enabled me to adjust the gun, aiming for his neck. He cleared the tree and I pulled the trigger, rolling him.

A year earlier in the same location, I worked a very vocal gobbler from the same spot, although he was already on the ground. He cut me off when I yelped with my box call, and I then quickly set up and continued to call to him while he continued to answer. He never came in, of course. I was calling too much. I should have just set up and waited for him to come in after his gobble cut me off the first time. I learned my lesson.

Another thing that helped me was watching turkey hunting videos from that era (2004-2005), before they turned into infomercials for turkey hunting supplies and then largely disappeared altogether. Fortunately, I still have 20 or 30 DVDs from the early to mid 2000s, and they are very informative and fun to watch.