I have hunted all over west TN, and the rest of the SE, and rarely, maybe once a season have a morning where the birds are quiet on the limb unless the weather is total crap.

I have an entirely different style of hunting than 90% of the turkey hunters, and it is one that is based much more on patience than on the immediacy of making one gobble right now.

I have found over 20+ years and almost 200 dead longbeards, that a bird which gobbles on his own is far more likely to die than one that has to be shocked or beaten into sounding off.

I spend a lot of my mornings sitting in an area where I know birds should be close, and just listening. Not blind calling, and not using locator calls. It is absolutely stunning the numbers of birds that free gobble sporadically which most hunters never hear because they are constantly on the move, rustling in their vest for a call, or calling. I know because for a long time I was no different than most turkey hunters and used the same locating tactics that most still use.

A bird that free gobbles on his own after fly down is far easier to kill than a bird which has to be beaten into gobbling with locator calls. As many times the one that has to be helped has hens or is subordinate. While the free gobbler is generally alone and has gone to an area they feel comfortable to strut and seek out company.

If I get wild and do decide to try and strike a bird I use turkey calls. If you wisely use the terrain, know how the birds you hunt use the property, and don't over do it, than getting picked off is unlikely.

To each their own when it comes to how you enjoy your time in the woods. I'm just passing along what works for me each season, and has worked exceptionally well in bagging a bunch of longbeards over the years.

Ive lost more gobblers by hesitation. Even if only for a few seconds. Have confidence in yourself If you need to move,move. Bust him, so what, it happens.

Ive lost more gobblers by hesitation. Even if only for a few seconds. Have confidence in yourself If you need to move,move. Bust him, so what, it happens.

On those early season morning hunts, don't walk across a field after it's already light. Walk across before light, or walk around it. In the early season open woods, roosted birds can sometimes see you from an incredible distance, especially if you walk across a more open area.

And along this same thought, one of the biggest mistakes I see some hunters making is placing a decoy out in a field after it's already light enough to see, not realizing the roosted birds are watching them.

Ive lost more gobblers by hesitation. Even if only for a few seconds. Have confidence in yourself If you need to move,move. Bust him, so what, it happens.

I have hunted all over west TN, and the rest of the SE, and rarely, maybe once a season have a morning where the birds are quiet on the limb unless the weather is total crap.

Do I know you? I should since that's the same areas I have hunted since the late seventies. Left out Mark Twain in Mo.