encounter question
05-05-2005, 09:03 AM
#11
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: encounter question
well guys....just got in.....well..i got in there early...530ish....sun dont htink about rising till about 6...found his strut marks from yesterday..set off of them 15yds behind and right....the fenced in pasture is to the left....his zone is on the left of me and front....615ish its light......not hearing a peep....so i let out a soft series....nothing....625 i see a bird drop out of the tree...right on my flat....then another to the same spot..75yds infront of me....then 2 flew down across the gully....never saw them...never made a sound....they hit hte ground and a hen went nuts...yelping her head of...louder then any ive ever heard.....10 mins later i hear leaves crunching infront of me....one left coming toward the strut zone...one right....probably 25-30yds away...get up and ready...gun toward the strut zone on the first opening....head in the middle so i can see both ways....its real thick 10yds infront of me....lots of bushes....just over a turkeys height...waiting waiting.....then the hen let out a weird cluck.....wasnt an alarm putt.....i know that sound all too well....it was a rolling cluck like clllllllllllllllluuck......kinda somethin like that.....it was a wieeeeerd sound....she was probably 20yds to my right.....the other bird was 15-20yds to my left from the sounds in the leaves.....after that i heard nothing......nothing at all....i didnt even BLINK.....i know she didnt see me.....i think she was just mad another hen was in her terf trying to steal her bird....the other bird WAS my gobbler.....hour later i got up and walked that direction slowly and quietly.....i found strut marks in the leaves the whole way to me...fresh...and fresh scatchings where i heard both birds coming.....dont know why they left....the hen must not wanted to be there.....walked that top flat.....allll scratched up...nice open hardwoods flat....but they roost 100yds infront of me in a big oak......right where i betted my arse they did.....dont know what to do tomarow....sneak back in and wait them out again....only dont call....or what....my buddy left 15 mins before i did....and saw 2 gobblers and a hen in the field by the road 300yds away....i had them gobbling around 9 he said i got htem to go off 4 times...i thought i heard them..but traffic on the road was heavy this morning....he called and told me....i waited a while....then they made their way to another set of woods.....ahhhhhhh this turkey hunting!!! love it.....but its frustrating!!!!! any ideas for tomarow?? i can set up on the other side of the gully where the other 2 flew down too.....and probably sneak around the roost a little bit.....but that open field kills me....i cant do much more then that.....any ideas??
05-05-2005, 09:25 AM
#13
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Lebanon, CT
Posts: 71
RE: encounter question
mauser, i just got in from my first morning, got a nice tom on my own land, came running in with another gobbler, i coulda taken both with one shot but i dont like to kill alot of birds off my land, i kill the state's birds, i like seeing mine in my fields. i'll post pics, he's not my biggest bird, but he's decent.
if i were you i'de keep trying to coax him out of his strut zone, he is being so stubborn cuz of that other hen, he has a girlfriend already, why come to you? if your buddy is willing, have him sit 50-100 yards behind you and call, if the birds cautious he'll come to your buddy and wait just out of his range, but right in range for you to roll him. i gotta go breast my boy, but i'll take some pics for ya.
-sam
if i were you i'de keep trying to coax him out of his strut zone, he is being so stubborn cuz of that other hen, he has a girlfriend already, why come to you? if your buddy is willing, have him sit 50-100 yards behind you and call, if the birds cautious he'll come to your buddy and wait just out of his range, but right in range for you to roll him. i gotta go breast my boy, but i'll take some pics for ya.
-sam
05-05-2005, 10:03 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: encounter question
congrats cant wait to see the pics.......today he didnt make it to the strut zone...but the hen did take him away....i have a feeeling she was there yesterday but i didnt know.....think ill try to get a better angle on them....and not let them see me all morning.....i know htey had to watch me from the roost for an hour.......i got comfy.....relaxed....drank water......set out the calls.....moved a few logs quietly.....didnt make noise but i had no idea they were RIGHT there.....i bet htey watched.....so tomarow i think ill sneak in a diffrent angle....and try to get on them.....im nuts getting up at 445 tomarow....i got prom that night till 5am saturday morning!!! but im doing it....i got the best girl in the world....she told me to hunt saturday!! ahah...but im not going to.....too many yahoos will be out there.....and ill be BEAT....we will come back here and sleep......nice of her to offer though!!....
05-05-2005, 10:33 AM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SW Michigan
Posts: 1,906
RE: encounter question
Mauser,
I would try one of two things:
1) Setup closer to their roost, now that you have verified the general trees. Get between him and his strut zone, and call very softly and sparingly. Getting between him and his hen should lead him to you first, but if this hen is aggressive (as it sounds) she may come to him if you overcall. Be cautious.
2) Setup at the same area and do not call. Calling spooked the hen, who took your gobbler in tow.
In actuality, I don't think you can really overcall a gobbler. It's like a good girlfriend...you never get tired of her calling and asking you to come over for some "quality time". Now as for the hen, that's a completely different story...sorta like having 2 or 3 girlfriends...even if you get away with it, one of the women is always the "top hen"...
Good luck.
I would try one of two things:
1) Setup closer to their roost, now that you have verified the general trees. Get between him and his strut zone, and call very softly and sparingly. Getting between him and his hen should lead him to you first, but if this hen is aggressive (as it sounds) she may come to him if you overcall. Be cautious.
2) Setup at the same area and do not call. Calling spooked the hen, who took your gobbler in tow.
In actuality, I don't think you can really overcall a gobbler. It's like a good girlfriend...you never get tired of her calling and asking you to come over for some "quality time". Now as for the hen, that's a completely different story...sorta like having 2 or 3 girlfriends...even if you get away with it, one of the women is always the "top hen"...
Good luck.
05-05-2005, 11:01 AM
#20
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: encounter question
thanx for the tips..im going to TRY to sneak past that brush..and the woods open up there...nice hard woods...trees thick enough he will have to come lookin in range...but thin enough he cant hide forever.....nice bird too.....pics are small but i can make them out.....congrats!!! that hen sure did sound mad...ill do the same in the morning..just closer....let out one soft series close as i can get at the same time....and let them fly down and hope he comes to find me.........hes gota be a big ole bird.....