when entering woods the first thing in the morning, do you sound off to get them to gobble or do you let them gobble on their own.i like to get there early and wait for the crack of daylight and listen and if nothing and then i will call with a locator.also if their is alot of hunters, especially on public land and where everyone and their uncles start using a locator. then its going to be tough to get onto a bird.

All depneds on time of season and hunting pressure. Private land and early season can usually mean using a locator first thing. Public land and late season usually requires sitting back and let the gobblers start on their own.

I let them gobble on their own. By the time the season opens, I already know where they are roosting anyway. They usually start gobbling plenty early the way it is!

I Hunt public land. So I usually get there early and let the real owl and crow locators work there magic. One morning I tried to use my owl locator call, that was hung up, when the real owl came thru for me. Turkeys gobblin everywhere. So now I will let the real ones do the work. Only if they don't come thru will I try to locate them myself.

Chad

I usually wait for the crows before any calling, or the gobblers.

Really Good Question,,

At first light I tend to wait out a Gobble that is done on the birds own, this will tell me if there is a workable bird that may respond easyer to the calls.
If it seems to start getting too light and I know I'm running out of low light to make a move , I will use a Locator to see if I can get a strike gobble. This will tell me weather to hang in or maybe head for another location...BT

I like to let em gobble on their own.Like Mo, I already know where they're roostin.Like Adrian said a bird who gobbles on his own is usually more workable.

I'm a preperation freak!So consequently I like others have said here, already have a good idea where the birds roost from my preseason homework and I try and make a habit out of roosting my birds the night before!I have had pressured birds gobble more the evening before than the next dawn!Gobblers can pattern hunters just as we pattern them!If I have time to head to the woods the evening before than I'm there!On a # of occasions I have been set-up on a gobbler before he even made a sound that next dawn because I was able to put him to bed the night before!Great way to get the jump on the competition who are standing around waiting for the birds to sound-off the next morning!!

i use the locator......i use something different i use the goose call....works good......

wait, see what the bird will do, but don't call too much while he is on the roost. If you do, he will take his time flying down. If you're going to call to him make it light, a few yelps and shut up. Just enough to let him know that you are there.