How would you approach birds here?

[nso123]

Birds come in and roost regularly in the red circled area. The river is behind them and the field is wide open in front. They fly down and come out in the field in the yellow circled area and hang out around that spot quite a bit during the day, probably 150-200 yards from the wood lines. The blue circled area is pretty much impossible to navigate unless you are a mule or goat. This brings me to the green circled area. That's the only way I know to try and get close to the birds. Would you try to get in that corner area between the green and red and call a bird as they come off the roost, or am I overlooking something else that is obvious? Maybe let them come off the roost and try to slip into the red area in the afternoon before they come back to roost?

 

[REN]

Either your green circle on the woodline or down from the red circle woodline is where I would start. However it would depend on where they generally go when they leave that field, because where I started would depend on that. If they hang out there for a few hours and then go to one side or the other then i would start over on that side. For field birds I like to start when they generally head leaving the field so its an easy move if they get into the woods

and just to add. Be sure where ever you pick make sure you pick a spot that has an escape route incase you have to move. Nothing worse then picking a set up only to realize you have no way to move from it without getting busted.

OR just slap a blind in the middle of that yellow circle and shoot them when they land hahahah.

 

[nso123]

Either your green circle on the woodline or down from the red circle woodline is where I would start. However it would depend on where they generally go when they leave that field, because where I started would depend on that. If they hang out there for a few hours and then go to one side or the other then i would start over on that side. For field birds I like to start when they generally head leaving the field so its an easy move if they get into the woods

and just to add. Be sure where ever you pick make sure you pick a spot that has an escape route incase you have to move. Nothing worse then picking a set up only to realize you have no way to move from it without getting busted.

OR just slap a blind in the middle of that yellow circle and shoot them when they land hahahah.

There are days they leave the field and go up into the field at the top of the picture and cut over somewhere in the woods to eventually reappear in the field returning to the red area, but some they never leave the field and just go back to the woods at dark. I have thought about sticking a blind in the wood line close to the yellow/red just to see if they slip up coming off roost. I can get in and out of that area without having to go through the open field. There have been some trophy birds in that field through the years that taunt me all season.

 

[bloodtrailing]

I would not try to get in on the roost in that situation. I would stay around the top edge near those gaps they probably cross. Move them off the roost and you are done.

 

[nate17]

There isn't much that can be added that hasn't been said but i hunt a field situation similar to this where i set up to have birds fly over my head into the field. When I am hunting with a child, I hunt with a blind and decoys. When I am alone, I prefer mobility. The field birds I hunt have to see something before they will get off their spot. It takes the right bird to call them off the field but most times I have to figure out where the bird wants to be and move into place while he is distracted breeding a hen and catch him when he returns. On occasion a hen will pull one past me.

I greatly prefer hunting birds in the timber but you have to hunt them where they are sometimes.

 

[REN]

I would not try to get in on the roost in that situation. I would stay around the top edge near those gaps they probably cross. Move them off the roost and you are done.

thats what pitch black darkness is for.

 

[megalomaniac]

Is this entire block easily accessed? I'd start here in the morn, may pull a satellite gobbler thru the timber to you. If not, the toms will seek the shad here mid morn sunny days when it gets warm.

I hate field birds.

 

[nso123]

Is this entire block easily accessed? I'd start here in the morn, may pull a satellite gobbler thru the timber to you. If not, the toms will seek the shad here mid morn sunny days when it gets warm.

I hate field birds.

There is not a way to access that part without going through the field or going through the roosting area. The river goes all the way around that bottom section.

 

[megalomaniac]

There is not a way to access that part without going through the field or going through the roosting area. The river goes all the way around that bottom section.

If the river is on the south end of that wood block, just wrap around the field in the dark

 

[Gravey]

Figure out where they go most of the times after they leave the field and start there. You can always setup in the afternoon back at the roost area but I typically don't hunt the afternoons and don't like to deer hunt them like that. Just personal preference.

 

[MickThompson]

I'd be inclined to not attack a spot like that right at flydown. Give them 2-3 hours and call from 200 yards or so back in the woods after the hens go down hen things. If you get an answer, cut the distance and shut up.

 

[prstide]

Birds come in and roost regularly in the red circled area. The river is behind them and the field is wide open in front. They fly down and come out in the field in the yellow circled area and hang out around that spot quite a bit during the day, probably 150-200 yards from the wood lines. The blue circled area is pretty much impossible to navigate unless you are a mule or goat. This brings me to the green circled area. That's the only way I know to try and get close to the birds. Would you try to get in that corner area between the green and red and call a bird as they come off the roost, or am I overlooking something else that is obvious? Maybe let them come off the roost and try to slip into the red area in the afternoon before they come back to roost?
View attachment 311168

I can already tell by looking that this place will drive you crazy. Hunted one similar for several years. Your suggested tactics are sound—you just going to have to catch one on the right day at the right time and it'll work out in your favor. There will be a bunch of frustration in the meantime.

 

[Setterman]

Tough spot, is this a pattern you're seeing now or one you've seen in past seasons?

 

[Andy S.]

I hate field birds.

I've read all of the advice, but this was the first thing that came to my mind when I first read your post. ESPECIALLY if you go head to head with them old school, no decoys. Oftentimes during early season when he has a harem of hens, this scenario is an effort in futility until the odds are in your favor (hens sitting on nest), or you catch him midday when he is possibly more vulnerable and willing to respond. Good luck!

 

[nso123]

I've read all of the advice, but this was the first thing that came to my mind when I first read your post. ESPECIALLY if you go head to head with them old school, no decoys. Oftentimes during early season when he has a harem of hens, this scenario is an effort in futility until the odds are in your favor (hens sitting on nest), or you catch him midday when he is possibly more vulnerable and willing to respond. Good luck!

I'm not kidding when I say I have been chasing these birds for 15 years. There are some true long beards that get out in that field. I feel like they have been making a mockery of me over and over. I managed to bushwhack one during the fall season several years ago when I was able to figure out where they were moving, but that's it.

 

[REN]

I personally LOVE situations like this. Its the ultimate test of woodsmanship and effort. Its HIGHLY risky too because if you bump or put to much pressure on them they can leave or change their roost or behavior so you have to really think though the entire set up for cover, escape routes, etc while still trying to give yourself the best opportunity. its one of those spots you may not even be able to fool with if you have to be out of the woods at a certain time

 

[Joe2Kool]

... I feel like they have been making a mockery of me over and over....

We all know how it feels to be outsmarted by a bird with a brain the side of a marble!

Lots of good suggestions on here. Figure out where they leave the field and be there well before they head that way. But it sounds like it's time to take the gloves off and put up a blind in the field a few weeks before the season. They'll be used to it opening day. Actually, my experience is turkeys don't pay any attention to blinds on day 1, but just to be safe.

 

[trout]

Really good advice here! I too have been frustrated by a flock of very wary turkeys. They see and hear so well that often they fly down away from any pre-dawn noise. I have better luck hunting them like deer. Setting up quietly near a travel route to feed or on return route to roost. Calling less is much more effective. I will yelp to try to get a response and then sit quietly. If I can hear birds close but don't see them, I may purr to mimic a relaxed and feeding bird. Without decoys, a tom will come in silently. With decoys, they are more vocal, may strut into view, or even run to the decoys. If I use decoys, it is two hens and a Jake in a small opening.

 

[Woodsman10]

I wouldn't show everybody where I hunted is what I'd do.

Everyone else has said it. Just try to get in front of them.
Mid and late season when the hens are really setting, you will have a better chance of calling up a gobbler in the woods.

 

[TiminTN]

Catman says he hates hunting field turkeys....he does not use decoys. Shane Simpson does use a Jake and Jenny decoy and have seen him have success. I have used decoys in huge fields , and had success. I came home and found the field my son and I hunted, used the map tool that gives feet, and I had to get out my loudest call but called in one from 700 yards. Halfway thru the hunt when he got within 300 yards I saw he would stop and strutt as soon as I called, but would walk normal if I hushed. So I slowed down calling. My oldest shot him at about 40 yards when he got to the decoy. The opposite end of the field was not part of the property we had permission to be on.
I see there is a road all the way to the field, where are you parking the 4 wheeler?

 

[nso123]

Catman says he hates hunting field turkeys....he does not use decoys. Shane Simpson does use a Jake and Jenny decoy and have seen him have success. I have used decoys in huge fields , and had success. I came home and found the field my son and I hunted, used the map tool that gives feet, and I had to get out my loudest call but called in one from 700 yards. Halfway thru the hunt when he got within 300 yards I saw he would stop and strutt as soon as I called, but would walk normal if I hushed. So I slowed down calling. My oldest shot him at about 40 yards when he got to the decoy. The opposite end of the field was not part of the property we had permission to be on.
I see there is a road all the way to the field, where are you parking the 4 wheeler?

I can park in several different spots where the birds would not see me coming in. There is some elevation that is hard to see in the pics. It's also a working farm, so seeing vehicles is not a big deal for any of the wildlife.

 

[nso123]

I wouldn't show everybody where I hunted is what I'd do.

Everyone else has said it. Just try to get in front of them.
Mid and late season when the hens are really setting, you will have a better chance of calling up a gobbler in the woods.

Even if someone figures out the spot, good luck to accessing it. It's a working farm with a farmhouse at the only entrance to the property. I'm not worried about someone getting to this part of the farm.

 

[ImThere]

I love field birds!!
Are they roosting above the green or above the red?
If you set up in the blue near the field cam you navigate in the woods unseen to the green or the red? Which ever way the birds move?
And by set up I mean stand there silently watching which way you need to go to close the distance to where they are going and call them to the gun. Don't let them know you're there until you are positioned for their arrival.

 

[TiminTN]

I can park in several different spots where the birds would not see me coming in. There is some elevation that is hard to see in the pics. It's also a working farm, so seeing vehicles is not a big deal for any of the wildlife.

I ask, because being seen is different from being heard. I would walk. Catman does not use a 4 wheeler nor Shane Simpson. Both very sucessful.

 

[nso123]

I love field birds!!
Are they roosting above the green or above the red?
If you set up in the blue near the field cam you navigate in the woods unseen to the green or the red? Which ever way the birds move?
And by set up I mean stand there silently watching which way you need to go to close the distance to where they are going and call them to the gun. Don't let them know you're there until you are positioned for their arrival.

They roost in the red and there's no real way to get in it without them having a good chance of seeing me come in. I can get to the corner of the green and blue and be pretty well hidden. I honestly think it's going to be a matter of being luck enough for them to come into that area off the roost one day.

 

[nso123]

I ask, because being seen is different from being heard. I would walk. Catman does not use a 4 wheeler nor Shane Simpson. Both very sucessful.

I can absolutely park far enough that they wouldn't hear me. I'll park a little farther away and see if that influences them at all. I'm actually thinking about putting two hay bales out in the crop rows and seeing if I can hide behind them until the birds move close enough. Worst case I will possibly get to see where they are going.

 

[TiminTN]

Great idea, get a Jake decoy

 

[Joe2Kool]

I wouldn't show everybody where I hunted is what I'd do.

Don't discourage the man Woods!

 

[Joe2Kool]

It's a working farm with a farmhouse at the only entrance to the property.

That changes everything! Dress up like the farmer, Massey Ferguson hat, overalls with one pants leg tucked into the boot, carry post-hole diggers and just walk out there and whop one over the head! Heck, drive the tractor out there if you want to!

 

[nso123]

That changes everything! Dress up like the farmer, Massey Ferguson hat, overalls with one pants leg tucked into the boot, carry post-hole diggers and just walk out there and whop one over the head! Heck, drive the tractor out there if you want to!

I may or may not have incorporated a tractor into deer hunting before.