Unresponsive Turkeys
 

Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:41 pm Post subject: Unresponsive Turkeys



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Took my little cousin out this morning on the youth hunt here in KY. Walked close to the spot where I thought the birds were roosting and blew on my owl call. Nothing. So we set up on the edge of a wheat field and sure enough not even 100 yards away a bird started gobbling on the other side of a small pond. He gobbled his head off on the roost. He then flew down at about 5:30 am. Walked down a small hill not 80 yards in front of usIyelped a few times never gobbled once at a turkey call. But gobbled all morning on his own. Heard a few more gobblers but none answered a call. Never had this happened on all the previous youth hunts I was really confused this morning.

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

did you try different calls? likea boxcall, diaghram,slate and glass,or a wingbone yelper when it gets tough. were there any hens with this gobbler?

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

Yes, we tried multiple calls with the same result. The gobbler was by hisself also.

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

Who can say what he was thinking. Probably had a certain strut zone to go to and wasnt stopping until he got there.

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

one day they may ignore you and the next they may run in at least he did not run away from you. I would go back at it. Try any dekes?

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

i didnt use any decoys because the turkeys have not split up completely from thier winter flocks.

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

Well, I wouldn't justify the fact that there weren't any hens with him or in his vicinity. In my experience, I've encountered many gobblers like this. When they are on roost, they tear it up, which is a natural trait they possess, but once they hit ground they either shut up, or just gobble hear and there. Why they gobble here and there is mostly because there's a hen in his general area and he'll continue to gobble until they within 10 yards from each other. Then he goes into full strut mode. He'll spit and drum until he breed her, which could take hours. Now my personal favorite time to hunt other than sunrise, is after 12 pm. Some states don't allow afternoon hunting, which really sucks. Because I've killed most of my nicest birds after 12. Reason being, is the tom has bred the hen(s) and is now just roaming the land looking for other hen(s) to bred. This is when a gobbler becomes the most vulnerable. Now, if you can roost a gobbler the night before the hunt, try slipping in as close as you can without busting him off the roost, and set up. Once flydown time approaches give him some soft tree yelps, followed by a fly down cackle. If this doesn't lure him in then I don't know what will. The method above (getting close before sunrise) lets you get to the gobbler before the hen does. Generally the gobbler flys down torward the hens at flydown time. So this opens up doors for a possible kill. Hope this helps and good luck the rest of 2006 season!

RE: Unresponsive Turkeys
 

They were that way for me here in Texas too. I'll try again on Saturday.