newbie advice

[jard]

I've hunted my entire life, just not for turkey as I am usually crappie fishing in April. But this year I am going to kill one.

Opening day I set up on a field and heard gobbling all the way on the other side of the farm (110 acres). I moved towards them and got them to answer a call. I could also hear a hen answer them.

Learned lesson number 1: I completely underestimated how far off you can actually hear them loud and clear. I thought they were right over a ridge and I bet I was still 200 yards away and never even saw them.

Left after he shut down. Later moved to another one. I thought I new where he was and I think I got too close to this one because as I got setup, he shut up and never gobbled again.

But, I know where they are roosting now so we'll see how this week goes. After the birds fly off the roost and you hear them gobbling, how close do you get to them before you sit down and start calling. Also, will turkeys cross ridges, or walk up and down big hills to get there?

 

[catman529]

Yes turkeys will come up big hills or cross anything to come to your call, but often they will also hang up on stupid things like a wire fence or a creek. Depends how hot they are I guess. A general rule that I like to go by is get the higher ground, try to call him uphill if you can.

When setting up on a gobbling bird, I try to get as close as possible without risking getting busted. This may be 50 yards if the terrain drops in front of me and there's no way he can see me. But in a wide open, flat hardwood bottom, you won't be able to get very close because you (and the birds) can see a long ways. If I'm set up within 100 yards of a hot gobbler I think that's plenty close enough, but given the terrain and vegetation I might try and get closer. In wide open terrain you might be 2 or 300 yards when you set up.

About hearing them from far away.... it also depends on terrain. I've heard one on the roost across flat fields that was several hundred yards farther than I originally thought. I've also heard one gobble on the ground through some thick woods with slight change in terrain that I wasn't sure if he was close or if he was across the nearby creek below the bluff. He turned out being close by, on my side of the creek.

your opening day sounds like a typical henned up gobbler. They will sometimes answer your calls, I guess to probably get more hens to join him, but most of the time he stays with the hens wherever they take him. Mid day is usually a good time to find a lone gobbler looking for love, sometimes they fire up and gobble by themselves before you even call.

Good luck, sounds like you're in a good spot and will get one soon if you keep at it.

 

[Roost 1]

Patience will kill more birds than anything. On a small place like you mentioned if you move around too much you will just bump them off your property. Sometimes its best to stay put in a centralized location and let the birds work to you.....PATIENCE