(public land) Calling from the Roads

[knightrider]

not my style to each his own

 

[muddyboots]

Killed one doing that at LBL. Stopped, got out and heard him gobble. Called to him and he answered. Parked truck and walked about 300 yards and 1 1/2 hours later killed him. It will work.

 

[bvoss]

I dont do it that way and have no desire to hunt that way, but when I become old as dirt and can hardly walk I probably will.

I want to hear Setterman's take :grin:

 

[jb3]

Not my way to hunt turkey's. I'd rather deer hunt that way than turkey hunt.

 

[spitndrum]

Public land birds have heard alot over there lives but if they gobble IDC if he is in the mcdonalds parking lot I'll kill him if I can!

 

[muddyboots]

Public land birds have heard alot over there lives but if they gobble IDC if he is in the mcdonalds parking lot I'll kill him if I can!

I like your style.

 

[VolDoug]

It works ;) !

I NEVER turkey call until I am set up on a bird. But, I have had a lot of success locating birds by driving/stopping/waiting a bit to see if one gobbles on his own/and then hitting a locator call. I think the key is waiting.

I was working a bird one morning fairly close to the road (he had answered my owl call earlier), and it was a real battle to get him in range.

A good while had passed when I heard a vehicle come down the road, stop, and the guy got out and shut the door. He then hit a crow call. I distinctly remember muttering, "please don't gobble, please don't gobble, please don't gobble"! He didn't, and the guy got in the vehicle and drove on. After my staying silent for a good bit, I started calling again softly, which got the old boy fired up again. I killed him a short time later.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Thats pretty much how I got into turkey hunting, because thats all my friend did. We would drive all over BSF and Pickett locating from the truck, not with turkey calls but with locators. We did kill a few birds that way but it wasnt my cup of tea.

 

[VolDoug]

We did kill a few birds that way but it wasnt my cup of tea.

You got something against killing turkeys :D ?

I try to hunt gobbling turkeys, and I will do whatever necessary to find them.

I will take one bird that will gobble to 10 silent ones, but that is just my cup of tea.

 

[Lawrence]

Not for me
I spend my time hunting the areas I pre season scouted
and normally stay in that area the whole day

 

[PickettSFHunter]

We did kill a few birds that way but it wasnt my cup of tea.

You got something against killing turkeys :D ?

I try to hunt gobbling turkeys, and I will do whatever necessary to find them.

I will take one bird that will gobble to 10 silent ones, but that is just my cup of tea.

I just like walking getting far from a road. But I will admit that driving around and locating is pretty effective for getting on birds in these big woods areas where birds are scattered out.
I know several times we got on birds roosted not more than 100 yards from the road and killed.

 

[easy45]

never tryed it

 

[VolDoug]

The birds get accustomed to that and more times than not will not respond.

The area I am talking about is up high, and you can hear for a LONG ways. Very few of the birds I have heard from the road have been very close, and usually take some effort to get to them.

 

[RAFI]

I have done it on big wma's to find birds that don't gobble much on those places.i would rather drive and find one on the place that is gobbling than to sit and call in one spot and shoot the silent bird.

 

[cruff10]

I do it all the time.... Mostly on 4wheelers. Somedays I will ride 60 miles to kill a bird....

 

[Setterman]

Laziest crap a person can do, educates birds badly, and generally is low class. Period. No different then riding atv's and doing the same thing.

If the ATV folks only knew how many birds they drive by, and how many hunters they screw up they might quit. Nevermind, those folks don't care about others.

 

[knightrider]

I do it all the time.... Mostly on 4wheelers. Somedays I will ride 60 miles to kill a bird....

hard earned bird right there

 

[splitter]

if it works for you then do it

 

[Andy S.]

I was working a bird one morning fairly close to the road ........

A good while had passed when I heard a vehicle come down the road, stop, and the guy got out and shut the door. He then hit a crow call. I distinctly remember muttering, "please don't gobble, please don't gobble, please don't gobble"! He didn't, and the guy got in the vehicle and drove on. After my staying silent for a good bit, I started calling again softly, which got the old boy fired up again. I killed him a short time later.

I have had this same thing happen to me several times over the last ten years. IMO, it would make more sense for the other hunter to stop the truck, get out, and LISTEN for several minutes rather than blowing all the locators known to man. Most hunters would be surprised at how effective LISTENING is compared to blowing a locator call in an attempt to "pull" a gobble out of a turkey. I would rather hunt a turkey that gobbles on his own than one I have to "pull" the gobble out of with a locator. I rarely if ever use locator calls anymore for this exact reason. My .02

 

[VolDoug]

it would makes more sense for the other hunter to stop the truck, get out, and LISTEN for several minutes rather than blowing all the locators known to man.

Shh, don't tell anyone ;) :D !

However, if one hasn't sounded off after a bit, I will hit a locator call. What's the difference if he gobbled to a real owl/crow or to me, as long as he gobbled to something :confused: ?

 

[REN]

Laziest crap a person can do, educates birds badly, and generally is low class. Period. No different then riding atv's and doing the same thing.

If the ATV folks only knew how many birds they drive by, and how many hunters they screw up they might quit. Nevermind, those folks don't care about others.

hahah i knew it wouldnt take long!

 

[Setterman]

Laziest crap a person can do, educates birds badly, and generally is low class. Period. No different then riding atv's and doing the same thing.

If the ATV folks only knew how many birds they drive by, and how many hunters they screw up they might quit. Nevermind, those folks don't care about others.

hahah i knew it wouldnt take long!

This is a major pet peeve of mine. Nothing, and I mean nothing will change my opinion of the above. One of the lowest forms of hunting there is, and just down right lazy.

 

[catman529]

setterman I'm going to blow my Primos power crow out the car window on opening morning just for you :)

kidding aside I would rather call in the woods but I'm just starting out so I can't have much say on the matter.

 

[Andy S.]

What's the difference if he gobbled to a real owl/crow or to me, as long as he gobbled to something :confused: ?

I was mainly talking about the difference in a turkey that is gobbling on his own or in response to a hen call of some sort, whether it be real or another hunter. I have seen numerous gobblers being worked and gobbling in response to a "hen call" only to be shut down by a hunter repeatedly blowing a locator call. I'm not saying that is always the case, just my experience. Another bigger difference for me over the past 10 years has been my success rate with ones that gobbled "on their own" versus ones I have had to "pull" a gobble out of. Just my preference here, but I will take the former scenario every time as I have had lot better odds killing those birds.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Laziest crap a person can do, educates birds badly, and generally is low class. Period. No different then riding atv's and doing the same thing.

If the ATV folks only knew how many birds they drive by, and how many hunters they screw up they might quit. Nevermind, those folks don't care about others.

hahah i knew it wouldnt take long!

Setterman, that is so funny but true at the same time, my neighbor hunts turkey a lot and it seems everytime he hears me calling he will drive his atv up and down the ridge on the property line, seems like he is trying to scare birds away from me because he is selfish and wants them all to himself

 

[cruff10]

Ok, where I hunt is a lot different that others. You can not hear a bird unless it is right on top of you. We have many deep hollers, and pointy ridges that birds are just on the other side mountain, if you don't get on that side you are not going to hear him. The only way to to ride or drive to them.

I hunt mountain birds, not field birds or hunt in a place where you can hear a bird from a mile a way and go to him.

It is not lazy, it is a different area where I hunt at.

If a bird is not gobbling I'm not waiting in a place where he is not.

For instance this is how I hunt.

Get on 4 wheeler, drive to a point of a ridge, Hoot, hear nothing, crow, hear nothing, then try to call, if I hear a bird then I have something to work with, if not I will go anywhere from 100 yards to 1/2 mile to the next ridge. I may stay at that ridge for 30 minutes or less, If nothing is willing to gobble or respond then why stay?

We don't hunt where birds are by the 1000s. We have to search all day to find a bird. We have a ratio of about 20 hens to one gobbler.

So yes when driving 60 miles a day to find that one lonely gobbler is not lazy.

Try and go with me one day hunt from daylight to dark. You will be tired. I may go after 2 birds a day, If one bird don't work well, after an hour I may go and try another.

Once again, I'm not going to Deer hunt a bird. I'm not going to set hours upon hours for something that could not be there.

The pro's will even tell you, don't stay at the bird to long when a bird at the next ridge could be willing to come on in.

I think the opposite of a lot of the comments on here. You say that I don't know how many birds I've missed.

I'm going to say you don't know how many birds you all have missed that stay working at a bird or setting in one spot all day, or walking either.

Besides even if I don't do any good, I have spent all day in the outdoors on a GREAT 4 wheeler ride.

IMOH this is the only way to turkey hunt.

Will I run over a turkey hunter? One time in 10 years only because I was going to a bird he was calling to. And I walked to him.

The way that I turkey hunt is not just simply running a 4 wheeler all day. It has become a skilled way of turkey hunting. We have learned things of when to turn the 4 wheeler off to coast down a hill to be quite, or when to stop and walk to the point of a ridge to keep the noise of the 4 wheeler from going around ridge and spooking birds.

Before you judge on how "LAZY" it is you need to realize that it is very successfully way of hunting birds..and I guarantee that I will have more fun than sitting in a blind Deer hunting birds.

 

[WRbowhunter]

You go cruff!!!!

I'm not much into sitting on the ground waiting on turkeys either. Did enough of that during deer season.

 

[REN]

i dont hunt public land or ever get on a 4wheeler during turkey season so i have no dog in this hunt, however i can see both sides and tend to lean to settermans on the public land aspect.

IMO doing my daily 3-6mile walk in a day is part of the hunt i love. Just walking around and enjoying what nature has to offer. again I dont do much on public land so i cant really say why or what people should or shouldnt be doing out there.

 

[Blount County Hunter]

i dont hunt public land or ever get on a 4wheeler during turkey season so i have no dog in this hunt, however i can see both sides and tend to lean to settermans on the public land aspect.

IMO doing my daily 3-6mile walk in a day is part of the hunt i love. Just walking around and enjoying what nature has to offer. again I dont do much on public land so i cant really say why or what people should or shouldnt be doing out there.

I honestly think you would hear more walking all day, then riding a atv all day anyday of the week, and you couldn't pick morel mushrooms from an atv either lol

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

good way to locate them