i need help
03-04-2010, 10:46 AM
#11
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 221
Traperbob one hen decoy is enough and a hen and a jake decoy is plenty.
I don't know what calls you've got but borrow some video on calling to make yourself confident on what you are doing. Next just set up within 100-200 yards of the roast selecting the most open area so you can see what's happening, the more open the better. Answer the first gobble with your hen call. The more he gobbles the more you answer.This is important you are answering him he is calling you.If you keep at it he will come, and he knows where you are even if it is 1 hr. later.
I don't know what calls you've got but borrow some video on calling to make yourself confident on what you are doing. Next just set up within 100-200 yards of the roast selecting the most open area so you can see what's happening, the more open the better. Answer the first gobble with your hen call. The more he gobbles the more you answer.This is important you are answering him he is calling you.If you keep at it he will come, and he knows where you are even if it is 1 hr. later.
03-04-2010, 10:56 AM
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 221
The reason why he is going somewhere else is he's got a girlfriend going that way.
When you answer him a soon as you can you might get him to think you are the hen of the day, and come to you instead,besides sometimes the hen is roasted somewhere else. If he is gobbling going away, just keep on answering. He'll take note of your position and come back later when the hen he is with is laying an egg. Don't move from your spot but call every now and then. There could be another one silently coming to check you out.
When you answer him a soon as you can you might get him to think you are the hen of the day, and come to you instead,besides sometimes the hen is roasted somewhere else. If he is gobbling going away, just keep on answering. He'll take note of your position and come back later when the hen he is with is laying an egg. Don't move from your spot but call every now and then. There could be another one silently coming to check you out.
03-04-2010, 11:35 AM
#13
Spike
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 18
If you can't get close enough in the mornings without busting them off the roost, then try this, it has worked for me more than once.
Go in after they go up to roost in the evening from the opposite way you have been going in during the mornings. Walk and make a lot of noise and bust them off the roost. Hopefully the gobbler will fly back towards the way you have been coming in during the mornings. If so, he should be easier to call to you since he will be sleeping without his lady friends.
Make sure though that if you are going to do this that you wait until it is good and dark. If it is still light and they spook from their roost, they can still see better once they take flight above the tree tops than you can see from the ground and if it is still light enough for them to see they could all fly the same direction. What you are wanting to do is make them spread out, that way the gobbler is hopefully separated from the hens..As soon as it gets light, the ole boy will be anxious to find a girl again. That could be your ticket.....
Go in after they go up to roost in the evening from the opposite way you have been going in during the mornings. Walk and make a lot of noise and bust them off the roost. Hopefully the gobbler will fly back towards the way you have been coming in during the mornings. If so, he should be easier to call to you since he will be sleeping without his lady friends.
Make sure though that if you are going to do this that you wait until it is good and dark. If it is still light and they spook from their roost, they can still see better once they take flight above the tree tops than you can see from the ground and if it is still light enough for them to see they could all fly the same direction. What you are wanting to do is make them spread out, that way the gobbler is hopefully separated from the hens..As soon as it gets light, the ole boy will be anxious to find a girl again. That could be your ticket.....
03-04-2010, 03:33 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Waipahu HI USA
Posts: 2,915
I saw that you have a 16ga. Is it an older gun? Have you shot it before?
Check the choke on your gun. If it has a fixed (can't change it) choke, you'll need to check what the choke is. A full choke will do, but anything wider will limit your range. Having the right tool for the job is important.
Without going too far off topic, you'll want to make sure you can get 16ga shells up to the task. 16ga shells are often hard to find these days, and 16ga turkey loads may be even harder.
Check the choke on your gun. If it has a fixed (can't change it) choke, you'll need to check what the choke is. A full choke will do, but anything wider will limit your range. Having the right tool for the job is important.
Without going too far off topic, you'll want to make sure you can get 16ga shells up to the task. 16ga shells are often hard to find these days, and 16ga turkey loads may be even harder.
03-04-2010, 03:53 PM
#15
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 650
All of these posts are full of good info, but my best advice would be to track down a local chapter of the NWTF. I know our local club does a Jakes hunt every year, and there are probably several seasoned hunters in your area that would love to give you some tips and even go hunting with you to show you the ropes.
I hunted on my own for 3 seasons with no luck. My first hunt out with a veteran taught me more than the 3 previous years together!
good luck, be careful, and have fun!
rw
I hunted on my own for 3 seasons with no luck. My first hunt out with a veteran taught me more than the 3 previous years together!
good luck, be careful, and have fun!
rw
03-04-2010, 04:07 PM
#16
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7
no my 16ga is pretty new i got it last year new single shot with a full fixed choke and the turkeys eather fly down over top of me and land in the field in frount of me and woek there way up and over to my right or just go the other way ive just never been able to get them to do this while im there hunting ive watchd them from the house do this and i know about where there going as long as it dont change from last year and last year i know there was atleast 2 there oh yea im in va our season dosent start till april
03-04-2010, 06:04 PM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
no my 16ga is pretty new i got it last year new single shot with a full fixed choke and the turkeys eather fly down over top of me and land in the field in frount of me and woek there way up and over to my right or just go the other way ive just never been able to get them to do this while im there hunting ive watchd them from the house do this and i know about where there going as long as it dont change from last year and last year i know there was atleast 2 there oh yea im in va our season dosent start till april
Good on you for watching from afar. It seemed early on that you might have given in to temptation and gone to play with them a bit. Pretty sure way not to kill one is go fooling with them too early. Keep watching what they are doing and think about what they did last year. They have a way of following the same MOs as long as their food sources don't change and the hen's nesting cover stays good. Been plenty (almost too much) water this winter, so that won't be an issue unless theres a flood.
Rule of thumb for me in a field that can be seen from a roost tree.... decoys are generally a bad idea. They have plenty of time to survey the scene. Its a 75% no-go in my experience. If you can set yourself up above the birds (AND AVOID SKYLINING YOURSELF!!!) Then a decoy can be advantageous.
03-05-2010, 02:43 AM
#19
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Pewee Valley, Ky.
Posts: 16
I'd bet you get frustrated early & patience is the key.
Those birds have all day, do you? I use to run every hill & holler chasing those birds & more often than not I would end up at the starting point. I do enjoy a good chase but now I sit & wait in a clearing & let the decoy & call do the work. Prime time is 9-12.
Those birds have all day, do you? I use to run every hill & holler chasing those birds & more often than not I would end up at the starting point. I do enjoy a good chase but now I sit & wait in a clearing & let the decoy & call do the work. Prime time is 9-12.
