LKing

Yesterday I set up on the edge of a field and the action was hot. Lots of morning gobbling, saw 3 toms and 5 hens, just a little too far out. This morning, NOTHING! Not a gobble. Is it worth it to set up there again tomorrow morning? Roosting at night right now is pretty tough and not a good indication of birds being present.

snowdog2

What are your options?

LKing

I really have 3 options. I can go back to where I shot my bird on Saturday (21 lbs, 6oz, 10.5 inch beard) but I haven' t been able to roost anything there since. I can go back to my original spot where several HAD been gobbling but has seen a significant amount of hunting pressure, although it is private land, or I can go to a field edge where I was seeing birds 3-4 weeks ago (3 toms) but have been very inconsistent there. What do you think???

TomC

If you have all morning to hunt.
You might not want to do any calling ---just listen.
If you hear even just one gobble, ease over in that direction--keep your eyes peeled, move slowly. You might spot the birds--the tom will most likely have hens with him--note the direction they' re moving--get around them--try soft calling when you get close--work on drawing the hens in and forget about the tom until the hens bring him in. If they are call shy and move away --you might want to consider trying a different gobbler somewhere else.


Best of luck

snowdog2

I' d go after the inconsistent field birds, but I' d try to set up near where they enter the field, if at all possible. If they fly down into the field from a roost site along the edge, I' d try to roost ' em the night before, though, as you note, a lack of response gobble may not assure their absence. If they walk in later in the morning from a long away roost site, if you have their entrance to the field covered, you can nail one before they get out in the field and that way you can avoid the risk of a mid-field hangup. Even though they were not there yesterday, from what you tell me of the options, I' d prefer the strut zone of two days ago over a heavily pressured area or a spot where you might have killed the only tom. I' d be sure to put out a hen decoy or two, however, and (you decide) probably not a jake, unless you have one of those passive jake decoys.
This time of the year, you must be getting into the secondary gobbling peak and any redheads (jake decoy) might spook a gobbler, unless he thinks he is the dominant gobbler in the area and wants to fight. Even the dominant gobbler might decide to avoid a fight, this time of the year, though, which is why I would be hesitant to put out any redheaded decoys. But I didn' t see what you saw two days ago, so I can' t tell you if the toms are still aggressive. Tie some monofilament fishing line to your hen and give her motion from time to time.

LKing

Thanks for the advice fellas. I really am stumped, and tonights roost may tell me a little bit more. I don' t plan on going back to where I got mine, but the other options have got me a tad confused right now. I wish I could pattern these birds in the other spots but the problem is they have no set pattern. Yesterday was an awesome display of strutting and today.... Not a sound. I' m baffled.

sour01

They are funny birds and sometimes so unpredictable. They do move around some as well. I took a bird out of a field that the week before showed no sign of a gobbler in the morning. I knew there were turkeys in the area however and decided to give the place another try. It paid off!!