Get aggressive
04-17-2012, 06:50 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1
Get aggressive
The past couple years in my area of southern missouri the turkey hunting has gone down hill, the number one reason has been to many hens, and the season being set so late in the year.
I went from consistently killing a bird opening day of season, maybe one in the second week if i got lucky or none at all.
So I had to change my hunting style,the only way to combat a gobbler who is "henned" up is to be aggressive, now im not talking about aggressive calling all that is going to do is make turn and go the other direction in fact you want to use as little calling as possible the only calls i make our clucks and purrs with a pot or mouth call and raking the leaves on the ground as I do it.
I simply just walk and I walk alotwhere i live we have alot of flat pasture and alot of wooded hills and flats, so it makes for a pretty tough hunt, specially if the birds are not vocal (which in most cases they are not) I like to walk down logging trails thru the woods staying close to the treeline because for one, that logging trail most always goes somewhere, if your quite enough you can get close enough to where you can see the field ahead of you and be able to spot tom and his hens before they spot you, and be able to decide your next move.
Now most people in this case would sit down and wait him out and hope he comes your way and they useally get impatient and start calling to much, 9 times out of 10 the hens take him the opposite direction because they are jealouss, the best thing i have found to do is watch him see the general direction he is traveling and then i back off get back in the woods once again and head offa couple hundred yards ahead of him and wait him out DO NOT SET OUT A DECOY this will only make it worse, and do not call to much just enough to let him know you are there if you can see him then shut up and wait it out he wil come.
or if you are feeling like taking a gamble you can always throw a gobble at him to see if he responds useally if you are withing 100 yds and send a challenge gobble his way while he has hens he will come to woop your butt.
I hope this helps somebody these tips have worked for me many times and i hope they do for you to!
I went from consistently killing a bird opening day of season, maybe one in the second week if i got lucky or none at all.
So I had to change my hunting style,the only way to combat a gobbler who is "henned" up is to be aggressive, now im not talking about aggressive calling all that is going to do is make turn and go the other direction in fact you want to use as little calling as possible the only calls i make our clucks and purrs with a pot or mouth call and raking the leaves on the ground as I do it.
I simply just walk and I walk alotwhere i live we have alot of flat pasture and alot of wooded hills and flats, so it makes for a pretty tough hunt, specially if the birds are not vocal (which in most cases they are not) I like to walk down logging trails thru the woods staying close to the treeline because for one, that logging trail most always goes somewhere, if your quite enough you can get close enough to where you can see the field ahead of you and be able to spot tom and his hens before they spot you, and be able to decide your next move.
Now most people in this case would sit down and wait him out and hope he comes your way and they useally get impatient and start calling to much, 9 times out of 10 the hens take him the opposite direction because they are jealouss, the best thing i have found to do is watch him see the general direction he is traveling and then i back off get back in the woods once again and head offa couple hundred yards ahead of him and wait him out DO NOT SET OUT A DECOY this will only make it worse, and do not call to much just enough to let him know you are there if you can see him then shut up and wait it out he wil come.
or if you are feeling like taking a gamble you can always throw a gobble at him to see if he responds useally if you are withing 100 yds and send a challenge gobble his way while he has hens he will come to woop your butt.
I hope this helps somebody these tips have worked for me many times and i hope they do for you to!
10-28-2013, 03:05 PM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hatton, Alabama
Posts: 520
Aggressive calling isn't always a bad thing. Taking the temperature of a tome will let you know what he wants. The harder he gobbles sometimes the harder I'll call. I've had them fly off bluffs and cross hollows running to very aggressive calling. I've also had them sneak in to clucking. It's all about the mood of the tom.
