One week left in the season and need some help
 

so I have been seeing 2 groups of toms and jakes almost daily and no matter what I do they just won’t come to my side of the field

any tips to bring them over to my side?

Probably need more information and others will follow with more ideas and tactics but...
Is this public or private property? Do other people hunt this field or near it? Are other people within earshot calling turkeys as well?

How big is the field? What is the terrain like? Is there some kind of food plot or naturally occurring food source for the turkeys? Is there brush or cover on your side of the field? Is there brush and cover all the way around the field? Do the turkeys stay on the other side of the field the entire day? Do you have any photos of the filed or perhaps some kind of drawn map (nothing that will give away your spot)? Do you have access to the whole field? Where do the turkeys roost? What time do they show up on the other side of the field or is that where they first fly down to?

What style or method are you hunting with? Calling with no decoys? Calling with decoys? Spot and stalk? Run and gun? Different members on here hunt with different styles and can give you different ideas and tips on their preferred style of hunting. I know I've asked you a ton of questions but without more info, people would be giving you generalized ideas or thoughts that might not apply to your specific situation at all. Hopefully this generates a lot of help for you.

The birds are telling you the area they like.
Be on 'their' side before them.
Dont have permission to hunt that side?
Move as close as you legally can keeping in mind not to shoot across property lines.

Use decoys. Start with a hen or 2. Carefully on using Tom's or Jake's but if you witness Tom's chasing iff a Jake or two get your Jake decoy out there slightly in front of a laying hen.
And if you use a strutter remember sub dominant move by Tom's is to put their backside at another Turkey. Tom's seeing the butt fan if another Tom may come in quicker.
lastly dont over call. It's a cat and mouse game.
If you call, he answers, wait him out till he calls and then you answer.
If you get lucky and you get into a bitch fest with another hen. A hen answers your call. Concentrate on matching what she us saying but just do it a bit louder and quicker.
Cut the hen off each time she calls to you.
If she goes quiet so do you. Usually that sucks the hen right to you.

if you have permission to go to where they are, go there before sun up and be set up when they get there, if not
as you said, they won't come to you, MOVE on else where, lots of turkeys out there, why keep messing with one's that don';t want to be where you are?


option 2, if the place there at is AGAIN< open to hunting by YOU< you can always go in and BUST them up, make them leave in all different directions
and they try and call them back together, as one might do in the Fall, but this, again might make them even harder to call too, pending how much time they have hearing you call,
turkey's can be pretty smart critters and learn who is after them to a point( sounds your making they maybe can ID) they talk to each other daily and know new birds as to there regulars! IMO!

Here the birds have learned not to come out in the open. So the hunting can be different. I set up back in the woods a little so they wouldn’t need to be in the open. So it maybe different but they are still turkeys. Then once I know that they are flying down I will give a call and shake my cap to sound like a fly down. Then give it a minute and give a call. Then shake my cap and give another call. After that wait for a half hour and give one more call and wait them out. I just want them to think that a couple of birds flew down to help get their interest. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But if one gobbled then it already knows you are there. So just wait him out.

ok sorry for the delay, the red is where my blind is and i can hunt most of that whole east edge of the planted field. the blue is where they come in. and they roost somewhere in the black (dont know exactly where cause i cant hunt there) i cant shoot into the field so i have to use a trail on my side. where the blind is at its at the highest point of the field (the field is pretty hilly) they arent henned up its just a group of toms and jakes. i usually see them around 9 but the owners say they see them in their yard at like 11. i have tried a solo jake and hen with a jake. ive yelped at them but when i do it seems to clear them out for some reason. they do go to the middle of the field every now and then but not a ton so i have to try to call them up from the opposing edge where they enter so they can see the decoys but they clear out when i call. the other hunters hunt both opposing edges of the field.

This is an interesting challenge and I can see why you're determined to prevail (I would too). Your post above shed a lot more light on your hunting area. I'm more of a run and gun style hunter but I hunt on a private ranch with nobody else hunting within a mile or so. I call some but not a lot and am not nearly as good or knowledgeable about it as JW (he teaches turkey hunting). After looking at your picture, am I correct in assuming that you have access and hunting rights to the clear cuts to the right of your red mark in your picture? If so, I would be curious if you can set up decoys and call from further back. You mentioned other hunters are hunting on the other side of the field. It's possible they can push turkeys across to your side if they hunt them hard enough. From the times you mentioned, I would be curious if the turkeys maybe don't come towards your side of the field until later in the day. Also, you mentioned property owners telling you about where turkeys are during certain hours of the day. That's very helpful.

Where I hunt, turkeys often don't show up in a given area until around a certain hour of the day. And when they do, they're still mobile and grazing so to speak. Timing is everything if you run and gun. If you're sitting and calling with decoys, patience becomes everything. Read what JW and Phil are telling you about calling a little and waiting. I know that's really hard to do (part of why I run and gun) but it can make a huge difference if you exercise the patience and don't get busted moving. I'm sure the other guys will give you a lot of even more specific advice and tactics to try. Good luck and let us know how it works out for you this season.

Ya i would love to try and run and gun but im 15 and so i can only hunt with a bow without my dad. I might stop calling all together, every call ive done seems to spook them for some reason so I might just end up trying an all day sit sometime. Ive never heard them make any sound either which is strange cause all the other neighboring propertys have them still gobbling. And yes I can hunt all the open fields to the right but im not sure how often theyre back there so i set up trail cams. Thanks for the help CalHunter.

Ok thanks JW, not sure what decoys to use at this point cause any call i do seems to make them clear the area for some odd reason.

Well sorry for bring so slow to respond.
Have you tried a single struttin Tom 5 yards (5 steps) on a field edge you know they use to feed and you can hunt.

Be cautious with your calling. Very soft clucks will be about it. The softer the better. Dont get aggressive.
With you mentioning other hunters you might be in a quandary as the birds have been bombarded with over calling.
We wish it was easier to post pictures.

AND THANKS CAL.
JW

JW, you're welcome. You do bring a unique skill set and level of experience to the forum. It's a definite asset to all and a particular benefit for the OP.

For the OP (Tyler). You've given us a lot more pieces of the picture so you should end up with more specific advice that is tailored to your specific hunting scenario. I'll throw out a few more thoughts for you to consider but JW will likely be able to fashion a workable tactic or plan for you.

In general, run and gun hunting works way better when you're alone in a large hunting area and there are no other hunters nearby. Trying to sneak up on a Tom when other hunters are nearby is not recommended for obvious safety purposes. Even if you wore hunter orange to do so, you just never know when you're on the other side of a Tom and another hunter is getting ready to shoot at the same Tom and honestly can't see you or is just tunnel focused on the bird. You wouldn't deliberately walk into somebody shotgun shooting impact area and such a scenario presents a lot of the same potential dangers. Not to mention that if you spook a tom (they can spot your movement easily), the other hunter probably isn't going to be too happy with you. So for your situation, I would not recommend run and gunning. YMMV but I like to worry about safety first.

I didn't realize that you are a minor and require a parent to hunt with a gun. That can change the setup slightly. I don't bowhunt (someday maybe) so will defer to those who do. What is your max distance with a bow that you can hit a small target? If it's only 20 yards (as an example), you would want to setup any decoys closer to you than your 20-yard limit. If your dad can't hunt with you everyday due to work and other obligations, you might be looking at mainly bowhunting with only a day here or there with your dad and a shotgun.

You mentioned that you can't shoot out into the main field and that some neighbors usually see turkeys in their yard around 11. Are you able to hunt next to those neighbors yard? Any time you can figure out where turkeys are going to go on a regular basis, you can always set up an ambush. Cover your face and hands with some gloves (turkeys can't recognize camo if you don't have that) and find a comfortable pad to sit on so you can remain still longer. Have your bow and arrow more or less in ready position so all you have to do is lift it and shoot. If there is any brush you can hide behind, so much the better.

You also mentioned that you have a shooting lane in the brush on your side of the field. You said that you see the turkeys around 9 each day and the neighbors around 11 but you haven't tried an all day hunt. That may be what you need to to try. Anyway, this stuff is lots of fun to figure out. I think JW will be able to help you refine your tactics even further. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

If you have permission you need to be on the other side of that field. Go in earlier and cross the field.

If you don't try an evening or midday hunt. You can still call them in or catch them transitioning around the area, won't be gobbling like the morning so you never know where they could show up.

Are you hunting from a blind? A blind will help you. I shot my first turkey with a bow and it was awesome. I also missed them with a bow. Hunting from the ground with a bow can prove to be difficult to say the least. You really need to the distances well. I over shot two last spring. For as far as the time that the turkeys travel around that can change quickly. I had them traveling just outside my window this past spring. They would travel threw anywhere from 6:30 to 9:00. These never went on schedule and wander by anytime they wanted to. So you really never know what they will do. But if they are being hunted I would set myself back in the woods a little. Check for a small clearing in there and set up on it. Turkeys don’t need much to strut in. If you are using decoys stick with the hens. You can use a jake as well. But I set mine up differently than most do. I would have a hen laying down and that would be the closest one to me. Around ten feet away set up the jake facing away from you and around ten feet out from the hen that is laying down. Just beyond that have a hen standing to make it look like the jake is watching her. This way a tom could come in and while starting towards the tom will spot the hen laying there and come in for her. But whatever you do good luck to! As stated keep the calling limited..

Thank you Cal..

No i have not, i will try though, willing to try anything at this point. Thanks JW

Cal, I easily have groups 2 inches or less at about 40 yards. Today was totally different then other days though, they were responding to calls and strutting a fair amount but 3 out of the 4 groups of toms i saw were henned up. Every group was fairly interested in the calling i was doing but never came over. And ya i'd usually be with my dad but hes in the hospital, he didnt abandon me lol.

Tyl3r, best wishes and prayers for your father. That's a tough thing to go through under normal circumstances but is even worse with the corona virus going around. It sounds like your calling is at least getting their attention. Phil mentioned a clever setup that I'm gonna have to try just cause next season. Very well thought out and would be fun to see how it works in my neck of the woods. As always, an enticing decoy setup does give the birds something to see if they choose to investigate your calling.

In my area, toms start the season gobbling in response to my calling at the beginning of the season but as the season progresses and more hens have already been mated, toms stop gobbling in response as much and often don't respond at all but can still come in silently to see what my calling is about. This makes it very easy to get busted if I'm moving or just happen to stand out where I'm hiding. By the middle of this season, I was seeing groups of toms hanging together, sometimes without any hens present at all. Every area and state can be a little different at times, depending on how the mating season, weather, etc. is. So what I experienced this season in my area could be quite different in yours (especially since you have other hunters nearby and I don't). But that makes it a fun and exciting puzzle to solve.

Update: still been seeing them all day but with hens now. Feels like ive tried everything but nothing will bring them in. Any idea how I would call the hens in? There are a group of three hens thatve been with the toms recently that arent vocal so im not sure how to call them. Yelps? Clucks? Absolutely no idea.

I always had the same problem it really hurts but I recommend you to go and out for hunting with an expert it will be the best way.

Be cautious with your calling. Very soft clucks will be about it. The softer the better. Dont get aggressive.
With you mentioning other hunters you might be in a quandary as the birds have been bombarded with over calling.

good post keep it up

You are doing great work like me.

you can share your experience and win

there is no chance to post without 10 post